You know that terrible Christmas song “Baby It’s Cold Outside”? You remember, the one that portrays a low-life, chester of a man attempting to come off genuine to a vulnerable mare who is trapped in the confines of his domicile where he coaxes her into sipping alcoholic elixirs so he can render her a virgin no more.
It’s a very rape-y scenario if you ask me. Not my favorite yuletide singalong.
Anyway, it’s cold outside my house today.
The snowstorm is pummeling my ethos deep, buried somewhere in an unproductive juxtaposition of working out versus binge drinking prosecco and watching Jamie Oliver reruns.
I may or may not have lifted a few weights just to cleanse my eager, dwindling mind of the consequences that lie within the latter.
Anyway, the blog dogs and I got a few frisbee tosses in, then came in by the fire to hunker down and think about dinner.
I love thinking about dinner. I love dinner. It’s cold outside.
We need something hearty – embracing of these wintertide conditions.
Jamie’s making pasta. And, baby, so am I.
Feeds 4; Takes 25 min (minus pesto refrigeration time)
Ingredients for Pasta
- 1 package tagliatelle
- 1/3 cup sun dried tomato pesto
- 1/2 cup hazelnuts, roughly chopped and toasted in a dry pan
- 3 slices day old sourdough bread
- 1/3 cup castelvetrano olives, pitted and roughly chopped
- 2 balls fresh burrata
- 4 tbsp mascarpone cheese, at room temp
- 2 tbsp salted butter, divided
- 1 tsp anchovy paste (optional, but do it)
- 2 tbsp fresh basil, julienned
- 1 tsp dried oregano
- Salt, pepper, olive oil, water for boiling pasta
Method
Start by making my super delicious Sun Dried Tomato Pesto. Refrigerate for at least 2 hours.
In a food processor with the blade attachment, pulse the bread until it becomes crumb size.
Toast bread crumbs in a sauté pan with dried oregano, a pinch of salt, a good glug of oil and 1 tbsp of butter. This should take 5-ish minutes. Set aside.
Boil 8-10 cups of salted water and cook pasta according to directions (mine took about 11 min).
Before draining, reserve 1 cup of pasta water. Then drain the pasta.
Mix the pasta with the other tbsp of butter, anchovy paste and mascarpone until incorporated. Add some of the reserved pasta water if it’s too dry.
Mix in the pesto. Taste and adjust the seasonings.
Plate the pasta and top with olives, bread crumbs, basil and decadent burrata balls.
Would you like more Italian inspired fare? Try:
- Christmas Risotto
- All Day Marinara
- Carbonara with Pancetta and Meyer Lemon
- Turkey Calamarata
- Rigatoni with Drunken Pepper Sauce
