Refrigerator pasta. I tried doing “Clean out the refigerator pasta” in Babelfish, but it wasn’t quite translating the way I was meaning… Oh well. I guess I should learn Italian and not rely on free internet services. But I digress.
Tonight’s dinner was brought to you by Burrata. I had some in the aforementioned refrigerator that I really wanted to have tonight as a part of dinner. Burrata – for those of you not in the know – is fresh mozzarella filled with cream. Yes. Cream. Actually, it’s a mixture of cream and mozzarella. Fresh mozzarella is fantastic. Burrata is orgasmic.
So…
I started by cooking up some bucatini (that’s spaghetti with a hole in it). Then I emptied out all of those odds and ends in the ‘fridge…
- A couple of slices of bacon from yesterday’s breakfast that I didn’t cook
- a broccoli crown
- baby bella mushrooms
- yellow squash
- red bell pepper
- red onion
- radicchio
- grape tomatoes
- about a cup (grated) of fresh parmesan
- parsley, oregano, and basil from the garden
- burrata
- and a big ol’ chicken breast on the bone.
I had roasted the chicken breast earlier in the day…
While the pasta cooked, I sauteed the onion and pepper with the chopped bacon, added the rest of the veggies and about a 1/2 cup of white wine and about the same of chicken broth. Let it cook down. I then added the chicken, cheese and the fresh herbs, salt and pepper. And, finally, the sliced burrata on top.
The richness of the cheese with the simplicity of the various vegetables worked well. The chicken was almost unnecessary (except I was cleaning out the refrigerator) and it could easily have been a vegetarian dish.
It was pretty much a 15-minute meal.
Who says they don’t have time to cook?!?