Guest Post - Pasta Raphael

Remember my sister's Guest Blog Number One? Well today I'm introducing you to another guest blogger. This time, though, you've met this woman before. Her recipes have been featured numerous times, and I know you've all been waiting for another. I asked both of the guest bloggers to prepare their posts awhile back so this entry has been on deck for a couple of weeks now. Now as you're rushing to make the best of all the last of the summer produce, today's recipe is perfectly timed. So before you begin pulling out your shopping bags, let me introduce you to my mother, who will having you reaching for those ripe tomatoes and the fresh basil here in the last days of the season. From here on out it's in her words.

The title banner of this blog states that it is written by ex college students. Let's just get this out in the open right away. As Lindsay's mom, I must confess that I am more an ex, ex...maybe even another ex...college student. So how great is it that my daughter invtes me to guest blog? I will also confess, that I think (hope?) it is from me that Lindsay gets her foodie tendencies, and her healthy eating habits. (All that hand-ground organic baby food paid off!) I have often shared with Lindsay that for me, food is about much more than just satisfying our physical needs; it is about relationship. In our family, life in all of its glorious ordinariness has often taken place around the kitchen island. My own mother taught me to cook early in life by assigning me the task of planning and preparing a couple of meals a month for our family. For those of you out there who are flaming feminists as is my daughter...never fear! In my egalitarian family, this task fell to both boys and girls. As a result, my brother is a good cook as well, although his repertoire is somewhat different from mine. So Lindsay and her siblings may not have been born with a silver spoon in their mouths, but they were definitely born with a wooden spoon in one hand and a wire whisk in the other. Lindsay has mixed, stirred, and experimented in the kitchen with me ever since.

For those of us in the three-digit temperatures of Texas, this pasta is de rigueur for those long, lazy days of summer! Paired with a crisp, tender mesclun salad and some rosemary onion focaccia bread, it is the perfect al fresco dining after the sun has set, the stars have come out, and the temperature has dropped into double digits. It is also an impressive picnic option. Just pack away in a beautiful jar, throw it in a cooler along with a fruit salad of those lucious summer fruits--think strawberries, bluberries, blackberries, watermelon, and peaches--and head for the nearest source of water. Makes me long for the beach!

Pasta Raphael

Ingredients

-4 lbs. ripe meaty tomatoes
-2 jars (6 oz.) marinated artichokes
-1/2 cup best olive oil
-2 cups coarsely chipped yellow onions
-4 garlic cloves, peeled and finely chopped
-1 chopped chopped fresh basil
-1/2 tbsp. chopped fresh oregano (can use dried)
-1/2 cup finely chopped Italian parsley
-1 small dried red pepper, finely crushed
-1 tsp. salt
-freshly ground pepper to taste
-1/2 cup shredded imported Romano cheese

-your favorite pasta noodles*

Method

Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Drop tomatoes into the water a few at a time. Scald for 10 seconds, then remove from the water with a slotted spoon.Transfer the tomatoes to a bowl of ice water. Drain toatoes and slip off the skins. Cut crosswise into halves, squeeze out seeds and juice, and chop coarsely. Reserve.

Drain artichokes, and reserve marinade.

Heat olive oil in a large saucepan, and saute onions, garlic, basil, oregano, parsley and red peper over medium heat for 5 minutes. Add fresh cracked pepper. Add tomatoes to the sauce. Season with about 1 teaspoon salt, and simmer uncovered over medium heat for 1 hour.

After the sauce has simmered, add reserved artichoke marinade, and simmer, stirring often for another 30 minutes.

Stir in artichoke meat, and continue to simmer until sauce is rich and thick--another 20 minutes or so. Stir in Romano cheese, taste, and correct seasonings. Serve over your favorite pasta, garnished with extra shredded Romano cheese.

*If you can get it, fresh pasta is worth the expense and trouble, but frozen is an acceptable substitute--much better than dried!