super herby pasta

since kris gets home from work before me, i often come home to him concocting in the kitchen. i love it! we had a fridge full of fresh herbs leftover from various things and decided to make a pasta dish bursting with fresh herby flavors. kris's take was a whole wheat pasta tossed with a lemon dill sauce and topped with parsley and rosemary-broiled zucchini slices. we had some oil-braised garlic leftover from something as well that went into the sauce and added a wonderful soft buttery garlic note (if you don't have any on hand, you could just sautee some minced garlic in stead). here's a loose recipe to follow:

herby pasta
ingredients:
1/2 pound pasta of your choice
juice of 1 lemon
white wine vinegar
handful fresh dill, chopped
handful fresh parsley, chopped
several cloves oil braised garlic, chopped (recipe below)
margarine
1 zucchini
fresh rosemary
salt and pepper to taste
olive oil

cook pasta according to instructions.

slice zucchini and toss with olive oil, salt and pepper and place on a baking sheet with a few fresh rosemary leaves. broil or bake until tender.

meanwhile, in a small saucepan add chopped garlic and sautee a few seconds to heat through. add lemon juice, a splash of vinegar, dill and a small amount of margarine. continue to add margarine in small quantities and cook until melted. adjust the flavor with salt and pepper and more vinegar/margarine. continue to cook over medium heat. you should end up with a nice sort of thick sauce.*

toss pasta and zucchini with sauce and parsley, adjust seasoning with salt and pepper if needed, and enjoy!

oil-braised garlic
2 large bulbs garlic, whole cloves peeled
1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
2 rosemary sprigs

preheat the oven to 350. place the garlic, oil and rosemary in a baking dish. cover with foil and bake for 30 - 40 minutes, until the garlic cloves are very soft and just starting to brown. (can be stored in an airtight container up to 2 weeks).

on a side note, kris and i leave for boston tonight! we're so excited to see old friends, new babies and eat some bagels already!!! erin and i will once again be reunited and should have another delicious foodie post coming soon.

*is that vague enough? sorry.

-d