One blog that I read regularly is Two Fat Als. The blog is written by Alanna and Alex, and it documents their foodie journey now that they’ve moved to NYC. I love the recipes, because they’re simple, often good for you, and they appeal to a young crowd.
One recipe that I tried a few days ago especially hit home for me. Al and Al called it Pasta with Dueling Sauces, but I thought of it more as Pasta for the Indecisive… namely me. I can almost never decide what I want for dinner, and the scene in front of the fridge deciding between pasta sauces that Alanna outlined in her post is a familiar event in my kitchen.
I had purchased some gorgeous September tomatoes on the vine on sale at my local supermarket and was looking for ways to use them, so the second I read this recipe, I not only bookmarked it, but I moved it straight to my weekly menu (as opposed to the ever-growing list of things to try that only gets longer and longer. I believe I’m nearly at 25 pages now. How embarassing.)
I had to replace the ricotta with a somewhat similar French cheese known as fromage blanc. For those of you who have tried fromage blanc, you may not see the similarities: fromage blanc has a lot more in common with yogurt than with this Italian cheese, but after buying expensive ricotta one too many times here in Paris, I’ve realized that while fromage blanc lacks the curd-y texture of ricotta, it can often be used to serve the same purpose in recipes, namely adding an faintly cheesy flavor and the cooling quality of dairy.
Although I used a jarred pesto instead of the pesto recipe included, the pasta dish was genius. Instead of tossing it together as Al and Al did, I scooped sauce out to individual pieces of pasta (I used farfalle), relishing the separate flavors coming together on one fork.
The next day, I made a similar version, replacing part of the pasta with a combination of frozen peas and string beans that I just tossed into the pot of cooking pasta a few minutes before it was done. It’s a lot healthier and just as delicious!
For the original recipe, click the link above… and get on this dish before all the tomatoes are gone for the winter!
Oh my goodness this looks beautiful! I’m so glad that you enjoyed the recipe, and I’m definitely going to have to try what you did with the green beans and frozen peas. What a beautiful web site, too! I can’t wait to keep reading.