A WINTER PASTA NIGHT

Recently, our dear friends Hilary and Michael invited our family and another close family friend over for a dinner night in their cottage behind their home. This is not an ordinary cottage; it’s more akin to a “test kitchen” where the baking steel was created (more on this later), which features an oversized island, large range, and a pizza oven. Basically, a perfect destination for cooking gatherings. So any chance we have, we love going over to Hilary and Michael’s. They are both Italian and love to cook, which means Italian is usually on the menu. We gather around the island, grazing on apps, sipping on wine, and chatting as the kids all play.

This particular dinner featured a memorable pasta night. Our evening began nibbling on preserved lemon hummus, green olives, and Manchego cheese with sour cherry jam. Thanks to our host, most of the pasta dough was made ahead of time (thank you, Michael!), and he had the foresight to save extra dough for the kids. During our apps, the kids worked on creating bow ties by hand (a great for exercise for fine motor skills).

To pair with the pasta, our friends were busy creating three types of sauces: Marcella Hazan’s tomato sauce, pesto, and a ricotta lemon. The Marcella is a tried-and-true sauce that I frequently make thanks to the short list of ingredients and steps. The pesto was from a family friend’s treasured recipe. It was fresh, tangy, and featured a surprise ingredient for me - a bunch of parsley! And, the ricotta lemon was rich and creamy. We paired the pasta with a winter salad that featured little gem, radicchio, endive, candied walnuts, sunflower seeds, pomegranates, sliced pear, and shaved parmesan that was finished with a balsamic dressing.

Throughout the evening, we sampled three types of red wines, and finished our evening with an ice cream cake from Dribbles and a coconut cream pie from Mainstay Bakery. We had the best time sampling the pasta and various sauces, and the kids were particularly proud of their homemade creations. A perfect and delicious evening in the midst of winter.