Succulent Squash Pasta Toss

I must once again thank my friend Leni for the influx of magazines. Recently BAMBI came home with 4 or 5 different magazines, and then proceeded to methodically start looking through them for recipes she wanted me to make for her. I am not sure how many she has earmarked for me, but I am sure that it will take me quite a few weeks to get through everything. I don't think I can manage a new recipe every day, and I also still need to produce meals that my kids will eat. Today's dinner recipe came from the July issue of "Cooking Light" magazine.

This Basil Squash and Tomato pasta toss was bright, full of flavor, and easy to make. I was even able to convince my oldest son to help me with some of the prep work on the dish, though I think the big attraction to that was him being allowed to hold one of my sharp knives. I will say that he did a reasonable job cutting up my summer squash for me, and stayed very safe while holding my 6" utility knife. I WAS hoping that by enlisting his help with the cutting of the ingredients I would be able to get him to taste the finished dish. While he did eat most of it, he still stayed well away from pretty much anything that was not pasta.

The thing that really made this dish good - for me - was the parmesan cheese. I normally think of parmesan cheese in something really heavy, like on a big pile of pasta with red sauce, in an alfredo with shrimp, or - perhaps my personal favorite - melted in a mushroom risotto. The thing about all of these dishes is that they are really heavy, wintry dishes. I was expecting a dish with as much parmesan as was called for to be a lot heaver than this was. The sauce was fresh and airy, the cheese added the right amount of umami to the dish, and the rest of the ingredients were light as a feather mixed in with the pasta. I will say that I used a whole box (12 ounces) of rotini pasta - rather than the 8oz that was called for in the recipe, so I used a little bit more cooking liquid and a little bit more parmesan than was in the recipe, but it all worked out well in the end.

Basil squash and tomato pasta toss paired very nicely with a shandy. 

So this was tonight's dinner - keep an eye out for more magazine-inspired dinner menus in the weeks to come. I am sure this meal will not be the last one from this latest batch of magazines. Where do you get your inspiration for new dinners? Blogs? Websites? Email newsletters from recipe sites? Let me know how you find new meals in the comments below or on Facebook!

Ratatouille

Those who are in the know, know. Pixar does a great job making movies. Not just movies for kids, but movies in general. They've taken us inside the secret lives of toys, under the sea, into the closet to where the monsters live, inside the head of a young girl, and into a world populated by automobiles. 

But by far my favorite movie from Pixar studios is Ratatouille. 

If you're not familiar, it's the story of a rat who figures out how to cook and ends up puppeting a human being. Of course, since rats are not allowed in kitchens, hilarity ensues along with a happy ending for everyone - because it's Disney and it's a kid movie. But the climax of the movie is centered around one final dish, prepared for the primary nemesis - a food critic. That dish is a take on the peasant stew ratatouille, arrayed in a shallow baking dish and cooked en papillote - or under parchment paper.

Recently, I found a recipe for this dish and began making it. It is like bringing a bit of the movie back into real life. The recipe can be found HERE on Allrecipes.com. I do mine in a oval pan, mostly because I like how it looks better.

Ratatouille before cooking

The easy way to keep all of the ingredients in the same order is to use separate tupperware bowls for each of the veggies. Once you have sliced your summer squash, zucchini, eggplant, and red peppers put them in the order you want to have them in the dish, and go from one end to the other. Here is mine in process.

Ratatouille in process

Once you have the dish cooked, I highly recommend serving with some fresh soft bread (this is my homemade oatmeal bread) and some mascarpone cheese. The cheese melts and gives the overall dish some lovely creaminess. It is also fantastic spread directly onto bread. Like butter, it will melt into the bread and add a level of fatty creaminess that pairs wonderfully with a fresh loaf of bread.

Mascarpone on bread

Of course - as difficult as it can be to cook a dish in a professional kitchen, It can be doubly difficult when your kitchen looks like this:

My kitchen "helper" tonight...

Regardless of my "helper", I did manage to end up with a very nice looking plate, once everything came together.

Ratatouille topped with mascarpone quenelle with a slice of fresh bread

If you're not familiar with the term quenelle, its a fancy term for a three sided shape of anything that it soft or moldable, like mascarpone cheese or ice cream. I had my 6-year old act as a cameraman so that you can see just how easy it is to make these fancy-looking toppers. 

And just when it couldn't get any better - it does. 

What do you think my two boys ate tonight - this fabulous meal with soft fresh bread and creamy mascarpone cheese, or something completely different? 

If you went with option two, you'd be correct. 

Liam's Plate

Ezra's Plate

Oh well - can't win them all. One day they will be old enough to appreciate the cooking they get. Until then, I just keep cooking like I do and their tastes will catch up sooner or later. Right?