Fettuccine with Toasted Broccoli Breadcrumbs, Parmesan and Ricotta

My appetite is slowly returning and primarily for carbs. Whoa nelly on the pasta, bread and cake I crave.

Last night, after spending nearly four hours trying to get an answer from various health professionals about just what is ailing Oliver, I was exhausted, hungry and in possession of some gorgeous fresh fettuccine from Vace, a fabulous little Italian market nearby.

It seemed reasonable to consider that my body would revolt if I didn't feed it something green, so I decided on broccoli as I'd purchased some fresh heads earlier in the week. 

Y'all know when you roast broccoli and the tree-top ends get blackened? The flavor concentrates? And you just wish every bit of the broccoli tasted like those little frondy ends? I adore those bits and pieces so decided to basically shave the head off the broccoli stalk and make "breadcrumbs."

I tossed the broccoli shavings with some regular breadcrumbs (made from stale baguette; the best), garlic, olive oil, salt and pepper, and then roasted the whole mess on a sheet pan in a low oven, maybe 250 Fahrenheit, until everything was toasty and just-crisp, about 25 minutes.

When all that was nearly done, I boiled the egg fettuccine (isn't egg pasta insanely lush and wonderful?) until just done, reserved some of its cooking water, drained it and then returned it to hot pan. I added back some cooking water as well as a few spoons of fresh ricotta and a generous shower or three of freshly grated Parm.

When that was fairly well incorporated, I drizzled some top-quality olive oil on top and gently folded in most of the breadcrumbs. Then more Parm and finally the rest of the breadcrumbs. Voila! I ate enough to feed a small army. Delish!

Yesterday's jam, today's pizza, hubs & idioms

Peeps, I miss my husband. He has worked so late so often recently that I've not even seen him until the next morning. I didn't see him the night before I left for New Mexico, obviously didn't see him while I was away, and have only spent 50% of the nights since I've returned sharing equally tired space before tucking in. It's hard on both of us, in different ways and at different times. "Ships in the night" is such an accurate idiom, isn't it? It's like "white on rice" or "you catch more flies with honey." Though I love "to beat sixty" and "it's six and one, half-dozen the other," they really make zero sense unless your intonation and the context are spot-on suggestive. Usually, spot-on suggestive is not my problem, but you see what I'm saying.

In any case, seeing one's spouse for roughly 75 minutes per day is not conducive to feeling terribly connected. Indeed, T often gets up with the boys so that I can have a bit more sleep and time off, so really, we're probably more in the 45 minute/day range right now. No good. I see the security guards at school more than that. And while I really like Officers W, J and M, I did not marry any one of them.

Such is life I guess. "This too shall pass." That one's pretty good unless people are being overly platitudinous with it.

Blahby, blah. The recipe for yesterday's jam, Apple, Pear & Lemon Thyme, is now posted, and tonight I made a hell of a great pizza. I mean like, off-the-hook outstanding. Pizzerias should use this basic recipe.

Ready? A great crust, olive oil, Maldon, a light sprinkle of crushed red pepper, LOTS of torn basil, grilled eggplant Calabrian-style (I bought this, the crust and the fresh mozz at Vace, a favorite local store of mind), Iberico-style cured pork (like prosciutto or speck; I got this award-winning one from EcoFriendly Foods at the Dupont farmers market), grated smoked mozzarella, fresh mozzarella, more basil.

After some time on the grill, I tossed some chopped figs (fresh; actually 1 fig; from my garden; that's all I had.), some of the eggplant's oil and some pimentón- and peperoncino-infused finishing salt. Sososososo good!