tomato artichoke pasta*

Let's talk pet peeves for a second. My pet peeves include: drinking the milk left over from a bowl of cereal (I literally have to leave the room), watching someone else brush their teeth makes me gag every time, food that looks and smells AMAZING - but it's really not (apple strudels for instance), and overcooked pasta. Pasta is one of my very favorite things ever to eat, but when it's overcooked I seriously get upset. Not only cooking the pasta wrong irritates me, but eating unseasoned pasta. Seriously people, it takes 2.2 seconds to put a sprinkle of salt in your boiling water so take that 2.2 seconds and for the love of pete ADD SALT TO THE BOILING WATER! Phew...ok I'm done! It's been a LONG day...what's your pet peeve??

So this amazing pasta is called Tomato Artichoke Pasta. I found it on Our Best Bites blog and added it to my Spring menus and we tried it for the first time today. I added a tad more salt and pepper, as well as a little bit of sugar to balance out the tomato paste. I also topped it with some mozzarella, because if it has cheese on it the kids will eat it no matter what :) that's my philosophy.

Tomato Artichoke Pasta
from Our Best Bites

Extra virgin olive oil
5-6 cloves garlic, pressed
1 can diced tomatoes
3 oz. tomato paste
3 oz. white cooking wine or chicken broth
1/2 tsp. Kosher salt
1/4 tsp. black pepper
1/2 C chopped green onions
6-7 oz. marinated artichoke hearts, chopped
1 package fresh pasta (or 1 lb. dried)

In a large saucepan, heat 1-2 tablespoons of olive oil over medium heat. Meanwhile, bring a pot of salted water to boiling. When oil is hot, add garlic, green onions, and artichoke hearts. Saute until garlic is fragrant. Add tomatoes, tomato paste, wine or chicken broth, salt, and pepper. Heat through and toss with cooked pasta.

And then if you want to get real adventurous (like me - HA yeah right!), top with mozzarella and some fresh basil.

Artichoke hearts are my new favorite thing. I don't really like to eat them plain, but they make a nice compliment to a lot of different dishes. I recently had a panini with artichoke hearts in it and it was AMAZING! Also, our grilled chicken wraps have artichoke hearts in the aioli and I absolutely love those things! If you have any recipes that you like just in general or that include artichoke hearts PLEASE do share!!

*remember tomorrow is St. Patty's day and boy do I have some deliciously wonderful recipes to share with you!!*

-alyssa*