Recipe + Vintage Apron: Red Wine Pasta

This recipe is delicious and beautiful-the trick is boiling the pasta in half red wine, half water, so that the noodles soak up the flavor and color of the wine as they cook. You can make a whole package of pasta in the wine/water mixture and freeze the leftovers so you don't waste the wine, and because it is whole wheat pasta, it is a bit heartier, and freezes/thaws well.

Ingredients:
8 oz whole wheat noodles
Half bottle of cheap red wine
Water
Olive oil
2 cloves of minced garlic
2 cups chopped fresh spinach
1 cup fresh mushrooms
A few sprigs fresh rosemary, leaves removed and finely chopped
1/4 cup toasted chopped walnuts
Splash of cream or half and half (optional)
Grated parmesan cheese
Freshly ground pepper

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Place walnuts on cookie sheet in a single layer and bake for 8-10 minutes until toasty.

2. In a large pot, bring half bottle of wine and an equal part of water to a boil with a pinch of salt. Add noodles and cook according to package directions. Drain when al dente.
3. Heat olive oil in a pan, add garlic and mushrooms and cook until mushrooms start releasing their liquid.
4. Add spinach, cooking just until bright green and slightly wilted, add rosemary, walnuts, and splash of cream (if using).
5. Toss pasta with sauce until well coated. Top with parmesan and pepper to taste.

I also love that this apron looks like bloomers! How cute. Look for it at the Mighty Swell sale.

-Twill

Recipe + Vintage Apron: Butternut Squash Soup Deux

Autumn is one of my favorite seasons: the abundance of food, the colors and the smells make my senses dance. Butternut squash soup is one of my Autumn staples.  It is packed full of nutrients and uses seasonal and local produce.

I noticed that Twill made a similar soup last week. Two soups, two cities, two aprons, one main ingredient! How great lovely minds think alike!

This recipe is so simple, perfect for a lazy Sunday.  Today this soup was especially apropos, being that it is Halloween!

***A note about my cooking. First of all, soups to me, are a lot about what I have on hand, or mixing interesting combinations. So I hardly ever measure things out, if I have more carrots, I use more, if I am feeling spicy I will amp up the ginger or cayenne. So although I have a list of ingredients, I hope this doesn't limit you. Second, this soup is so flavorful, that I don't use any vegetable stock, just water.  I am a vegetarian, so I of course do not use animal stock, but feel free to use what you like. 
 Using water also cuts down on the sodium.

Ingredients:
1 butternut squash
10 carrots
1 small apple
1 red pepper
fresh ginger root
2 cloves of garlic
olive oil
curry powder
cayenne pepper 
sea salt
salty cheese
cashew nuts
water


First, I wash and chop all the ingredients, the squash is rather tough, using a really sharp knife helps. I love when you cut into the squash and the moisture starts to bead up on the surface. Beautiful! Today, I only had a very large apple on hand, so I used about 1/4 of it. I don't bother peeling it, because it softens in the boil. I love ginger so I used a lot, but my suggestion if you are unfamiliar with the strength of this root, is to just chop up about 2 quarter sized chunks.

Once everything is chopped, I throw in a drizzle of olive oil into a large soup pot and lightly saute the garlic. I always buy a big head of garlic and then mince it and put it in a glass jar for later use, this way it saves me time and my hands don't smell like garlic every time I need some. Then add in all the ingredients, water to just about cover all the produce, add some curry and cayenne (not too much, you can always add more later). Then let simmer until the carrots are tender enough to stick a fork through them with ease.

Once everything is tender, add a little salt, and blend it, I love my immersion blender for soups.

This soup looks, smells, and tastes like autumn, serve hot with crumbled salty cheese and cashews. I used feta because I had it on hand, but I also like cotija.  Enjoy!

-Ladybird