My friends and I have recently started a Monday night tradition: trivia night at a local bar. We have placed almost every week, taking home first place a few times and occasionally winning third, the prize for which is a pull from “The Bag of Mystery.” We typically arrive around 8PM, which I felt lent itself perfectly to getting together for dinner before.
When cooking for friends, I prefer to use recipes from my library rather than create something new. My dinner party nightmare preparing a dish, having a room full of people waiting, and only having an inedible mess to serve. Luckily, things have turned out alright over the past two weeks and I prepared two pasta dishes that are now going into my regular dinner rotation. I didn’t initially plan on posting anything about them since I didn’t create them myself (which is why there are no photos), but they’re so delicious and easy I had to share. They are from The Splendid Table’s How to Eat Supper and I’ve provided links to the recipes below.
Greek Cinnamon-Scented Tomato Sauce with Pasta: I have never thought of adding a dash of cinnamon to a tomato sauce, but this was truly fabulous. The warmth of the spice adds a real depth of flavor and the goat cheese is an added twist. You can easily forgo the chicken chicken or lamb for a vegetarian version.
Pasta with Chopping-Board Pistachio Pesto: This recipe is so simple to prepare and full of great flavors. It calls for a chopping board, but I decided to make it even easier and just pulse the pesto ingredients in my food processor, taking care not to puree it them oblivion. Serve the pasta up with some garlic bread on the side and you’re set.
