Hiatus, part two; and some pictures

Once again, for the second time this year, I've been away from from this blog for longer than 2 months. That doesn't make for a very good blogger, I suspect. I am still having trouble getting into the rhythm of blogging, and being comfortable enough to share it all so openly on a public platform. I suspect that is also my issue with writing. I can feel that there is a lot in me I want to express, but I sometimes struggle with how best to do it, or get bogged down while beginning to do it. I am going to try to make this blog a more personal blog from now on- with writing vignettes and other random postings about things I find interesting. It is after all about expressing myself- not to show anyone else, but see what I can do and achieve with this space, at least for myself.

I struggle with being organized and disciplined. Therefore, it is hardly surprising to me, that I cannot remember some of these recipes. Most are simple enough that a picture can inspire me enough to recreate, I hope. Here is a photolog of my food adventures only through pictures in the last couple months.


Tomato pesto goat cheese pizza

Beignets

Pasta with a tomato corn salsa

Spaghetti with pecan-pistachio pesto and tomato confit

Pesto is a fun way to add variety and color to pasta. You can get creative with it by changing up the greens, the nuts, make it spicy, make it colorful and even add texture. It's hard to mess up, and you can be done in less than half and hour. What's not to love?

Since I almost always stick to the usual basil-pine nut routine, I wanted to add some crunch and flavor to it by way of the pesto and the pistachio. I also thought the tomato confit would be a nice elegant touch.

Ingredients:


Tomato confit
cherry tomatoes- whole or halved
1 tbsp olive oil
some salt

Spaghetti
Cooked wheat spaghetti
1/2 cup pistachios
1/2 cup pecans
2 tbsp olive oil
1 cup basil leaves
1 large onion
3 cloves garlic
salt

Directions:

1. For the tomato confit, preheat the oven to 320 F. Toss the tomatoes in olive oil and salt and leave them to bake for around 40-45 minutes, checking to see if they're done.

2. For the pesto, grind up the pecan, the pistachios and the basil leaves with the olive oil and process thoroughly. The mixture should be a brownish-green. You can either have it be a smooth mixture, or it can be crunchy depending on your preference.

3. Chop up the onion and garlic and sautee them in an additional tbsp of olive oil. Once the onions have become soft, toss in the pesto, and cook for around 2-3 minutes. Then add the cooked spaghetti to the mixture.

4. Top the spaghetti with the tomato confit and serve.