I think that I will start a new category on my blog which is Tart it Up… as a way to take food from the grocery store with additions to make you go yuuuuummmmm. The reason I am writing this today is because in the past I had purchased some frozen 4 cheese ravioli from Costco, which was pretty good and boiled from frozen in 3 minutes. I don’t always have 2 hours to cook so this was quick and easy, and vegetarian for a change. The problem is that I had run out of said pasta. On my last two trips to Costco I could not find it in stock, as with all things in this store they come and go. So I stopped by the fresh pasta and noticed the little “you can freeze this” icon. Further investigation on the cooking instructions: If cooking from frozen add 1 minute – BINGO!!! This is what I picked up.
I also scored some grass, which is my term for asparagus.
I store it like cut flowers, cut a bit of the ends off and then put them into a glass vessel and add a little water to the bottom (change the water every other day). I think that I have mentioned dead ending before but here is the scoop on this. It seems like a waste, but it is better than a mouthful tough fibrous green stuff. The bottom of the grass is tough. So to find where the tender part is you take the stem with the top on your left hand about half way down. Grasp the cut end between thumb and fore finger, as little as you can. Then bend the stalk and it will snap. Left hand yuuuummmm, right hand compost heap.
I was going to add some finishing’s to the pasta and steamed asparagus (10 minutes) to Tart it Up:
Balsamic Vinegar
Garlic infused Extra Virgin Olive oil
Parmigiano-Reggiano
I don’t grate the cheese as it seems to disappear into the pasta, but instead I use a vegetable peeler to create cheese curls. They look good, and give you a real taste of the cheese when you bit into them.
I put the steamed asparagus in a bowl along with the boiled pasta and then added the Balsamic and Olive Oil. Then I sprinked it with some Cracked black pepper.
Topped with the curls of cheese this is it plated up.
First couple of bites were nice but there was something missing, a sprinkle or crushed sea salt.
Now it is Tarted Up and yuuuummmm.