Nicole Kidman's Pasta

Tonight was crazy! I had to pick up the kids after school, then make dinner, eat, clean up, then bring Will with me to run a couple errands in Hopewell before coming back, helping with baths, reading books finally throwing both children into their cribs.  I'm totally pooped!

Anyone with kids knows that it is a logistical nightmare to feed and bathe two of them, especially on a weeknight when you have to run errands.  The only way to make tonight work was for us to eat dinner at 4:30pm.  That's right, our house might as well have been the Sizzler early-bird special. 

On the menu: Nicole Kidman's Crispy Orecchette with Broccoli.  As I mentioned before, I got this out of People magazine and it has now become one of our favorite meals. It's so good, that it's in the every other week rotation. Here's the recipe:

Ingredients:

• One pound of pasta (I used rotini, but you can use whatever you have)
• 2 heads organic broccoli florets
• 1/2 cup pine nuts
• 1/4 cup parmesan cheese
• 2-3 tablespoons butter
• 2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
• 1 tablespoon minced garlic
• olive oil, salt & pepper

First, toast the pine nuts in a small pan (you can totally skip this step if you want).  Then, cook the pasta in salted water according to the package directions. While it's cooking, heat the olive oil (enough to cover the bottom of the pan) in a large skillet, then add the garlic.  When the garlic is fragrant, add the broccoli and season with salt & pepper.  Saute the broccoli until it's cooked to however you like it - I prefer it a little undercooked, so it's still got some crunch, but it's up to you.  When the pasta is done, drain it & put it back in the pot.  Add the following to the pasta, mixing after each: the butter, the broccoli, the balsamic vinegar, the pine nuts, and the parmesan cheese. You're done! 

In Nicole's version she has us adding white wine and lemon juice, toasting the pasta in the skillet after it's cooked, blah, blah, blah.  I've found you don't need to do that.  It does taste a little better, but it's not worth more dirty dishes and added time.  It's lost on the palate of a 2 year old.

Enjoy! Tomorrow night is sloppy joes! I'm already dreading the clean up.  Is it inhumane to just hose Will off after dinner?  Darn 40 degree evenings...