Peaches and Pasta!
A friend and I met at Nam Dae Mun Farmers Market
in Smyrna, Ga.
I love multi-cultural farmers markets, I find them to be so inspiring and yes,
invigorating!
There is something about the fresh produce, the variety, the beauty and color…
It speaks to my creativity, kind of a salute to Mother Nature.
The peaches were
gorgeous, fragrant, juicy and delicious! So, I brought home peaches, and
that inspired the title of the second edition of
The Painted Artichoke!
Beaches, Peaches and Pasta!
Sounds like fun, doesn’t it?
Imagining a Peachy Pasta Salad, I went to work!
The basic recipe:
3 peaches diced
about 1/4 English cucumber, thinly sliced
1/2 ball of fresh mozzarella, broken into small pieces
a cup of pasta
I thought I had orzo in the pantry ~
I did not.
I didn’t have couscous either.
I had quinoa, so quinoa it is!
I have never prepared quinoa and for some reason I thought it was quite labor intensive. It’s not!
I prepared the quinoa as I would rice.
2 parts water to one part pasta.
Easy Peasy!
For the dressing:
A couple of tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil
about a tablespoon of white vinegar
a bit of minced garlic
drizzle of honey
and salt and pepper to taste
Placing a couple of leaves of Romaine lettuce on the plate
I layered the quinoa, peach mixture, chopped walnuts, fresh basil
and dressing. Voila!
A Perfect Peachy Pasta Salad
The following day, I had the salad again
this time adding dried cranberries and feta cheese.
Perfect! Just enough!
If you have weekend guests, this could easily
be served twice, with a simple adjustment
For the next peach and pasta challenge, I wanted to make a lovely, fresh entree.
Envisioning a lunch or brunch, I thought about
homemade peach, basil ricotta ravioli.
Wonderful plan, however, I ran out of time to make the
homemade ravioli. I’ll plan on a homemade pasta edition
in the future.
I picked up Farfalloni Pasta. It’s a little bit different,
and kind of fun!
Bear in mind, I had planned on making peach ravioli, and had already
gone to the market for those ingredients. It was time to get creative in the kitchen!
The basic recipe:
Cook the pasta in salted water
Cut peaches into slices, I cut in 1/4
heat thoroughly in skillet with extra virgin olive oil
once cooled, peel the peaches
Pulse in food processor or blender quickly,
leaving it a bit chunky
combine 6 ounces of ricotta,
1 egg, basil and
about 1/4 cup of shredded Parmesan cheese.
Bake the cheese mixture until
cooked through. (Not jiggly)
Plate the pasta, top with the cheese mixture, peaches, fresh basil, a bit more Parmesan cheese,
and salt a pepper.
I have a savory palate, so I added thinly sliced, fried and salted
eggplant.
Bacon or Prosciutto would be an excellent choice as a topping
if you aren’t a vegetarian, like I am.
This presented beautifully, tasted fabulous!
I would definitely serve this for a luncheon, or brunch.
