Drunk Noodles

I have to say that Will and I are thoroughly enjoying our new kitchen.  It is very easy to use: lots of prep space and lots of cooking space.  One of the recipes that he wanted to try was from a Top Chef contestant that has his own 5-8 minute cooking videos on Yahoo! Shine.  The chef is Fabio and the show is "Ciao Chow"-- it is really fun and you should check it out.  

We decided to make his drunken noodles, only I had goat's cheese and spinach, and not ricotta and nuts.  

boiling water and wine

The idea is that you take spaghetti and cook it in a mixture of water and wine.  The pasta takes on some of the wine flavor, not to mention color.  I think that should one use regular pasta-- or, better yet, home made pasta, the flavor would be more pronounced.  With wheat pasta (what we used), the additional flavor and coloring isn't as strong. 

insert pasta and watch turn pink

Still, you boil the pasta in a large pot in a mixture half water/half wine.  Do not use good wine--that should be consumed the regular way *hiccup*.  This is for the wine that you didn't finish when you opened up the bottle over the weekend and it has been sitting there, undrunk, for a few days.  Believe me, that doesn't happen very often in this house.  

steaming the spinach

At the same time as the pasta was boiling, I steamed some spinach, adding a bit of salt, pepper, oregano, and dried basil.  Oh, and some garlic salt, but just a pinch.  

my goat cheese... sampled, of course

pink noodles!

Once the pasta is done, drain.  I had plated the spinach already so I put the pink noodles on top of the spinach, and tossed in the goat cheese.  I topped it off with freshly shaved parmesan cheese and some herbs, and then served.  Delicious and pretty and very quick!  All the things I want when I come home from the office and need to fix dinner immediately because I am famished.   

delicious and very colorful!