Food Porn: Post-Beach Pasta

Today I went to Newport Beach to help my production group buddy, B shoot her project. It was an absolutely gorgeous day even though it took a long time to find traffic. But it was so worth it. Travel+swimming+beaches=hunger, so the best way to remedy that was to make pasta for dinner. I'm not one for fancy sauces that pile on the herbs because it can detract away from the taste of the other ingredients, and even the taste of the pasta itself. Pasta isn't a tasteless tabula rasa, it has its own flavors. After all, a lot of great and simple pasta sauces are made using pasta water.

The bowl on the left is leftover Hot & Sour soup from the Chinese restaurant.....
just so you won't be confused.

Ingredients

• Whole wheat penne pasta from Trader Joe's
• Tomato & Basil chicken sausage also from TJ's
• Red pepper flakes
• Extra virgin olive oil
• salt & pepper
• 3 cloves of crushed garlic
• chopped mushrooms
• Asparagus that's been sitting in the fridge for a week and screamed to be used. Sliced on the diagonal.
• Fresh basil in a chiffonade (pile the basil leaves on top of each other, roll like a small cigarette, and slice perpendicular)
  
• Fresh mozzarella cheese from TJ's, cut into small cubes

Hi, I'm a big clump of melted mozzarella and I want to be inside your mouth.

Directions

• Bring water to a boil. Once the water begins to boil, lower down the heat a little bit, and add a generous handful of salt, put in pasta and stir
• In a saute pan, heat up olive oil, then add garlic and pepper flakes. The amount of pepper flakes depends on you. I like a little heat so I put in about a generous tablespoon. Put it on medium heat and let the garlic lightly brown.
• Add sausage and brown, lowering the heat just a smidgen. The fattiness of the sausage basically creates this sauce, so pay attention while it cooks. Add a bit more olive oil.
  
• Add asparagus and mushrooms, then add salt and pepper to taste. Add about a half ladle full of pasta water.
  
• Let all of these ingredients simmer and make love happily for a few minutes. While this happens, the pasta should be about ready, so turn off the heat.
  
• Using a slotted spoon or one of these bad boys, take out the pasta and place into the saute pan with the sauce. Mix and let them mingle.
  
• Top with basil and mozzarella.

I was tired from the beach and hungry, and this baby only took about 20 minutes to cook, so it's possible to cook quick and gourmet-ish meals. So please, no Chef Boyardee or Cup of Noodles (unless that's your thang and you just crave the stuff).


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