On Friday I arrived home around 5pm after being away at a conference for a week, and the first thing I wondered was: what am I going to make for dinner? I hadn’t seen my husband in a while and I wanted to have something special waiting for him when he got home, but I was pretty drained from traveling. So after eyeing our take-out menus for a few minutes and realizing I had only 1 1/2 hours before my husband arrived, I decided to take a hot bath and drink a glass of wine. If there is one thing I’m good at, it’s prioritizing!

After exorcising the week’s tension thusly, I had about 40 minutes left. Not enough time to order in - at least, not from a good restaurant and at this point I was desperately craving a home cooked meal. The pressure was on! So naturally, I poured another glass of wine - you know, to hone my culinary senses and spur creativity. It must have worked (weeknight dinner tip #101: drink a good glass of wine?), because a couple sips in I remembered one of the most delicious pasta dishes I’ve made in a while: Fettuccine with Mascarpone and Sage-Walnut Butter. Sounds fancy, I know, and the dish has five-star restaurant flavor to be sure. But perhaps its best feature is the fact that it takes about 30 minutes to put together - which was about how much time I had left at this point.

Moving with the agility of a relaxed ninja I put a pot of water on to boil, snipped some sage leaves from our window garden, then combined the mascarpone, Parmesan, salt and pepper in a small bowl. Being the carb-loving woman that I am, I also split the half-baguette on the counter in two, put some butter and minced sage inside, then wrapped it in tin-foil and placed it in the oven to warm. By this time the water was nearly boiling (our stove gets nuclear hot in no time, which totally rocks) so I chopped the walnuts, tossed the fettuccine into the pot and started putting dinner together. All in all it was pretty intense work, lazily stirring the walnuts, sage & butter as I sipped my wine and watched the pasta boil. Whoo whee.

When my husband got home about 15 minutes later I was having a 50’s housewife moment: setting two plates of gourmet pasta down on the table, then adding dollops of the mascarpone mixture to each. “Wow! What’s all this?” he exclaimed. “You didn’t have to make dinner!” I just smiled and said, “I know, but I wanted to enjoy a special meal with you. Don’t worry, I didn’t work too hard.”

And I hadn’t. And it was delicious.

Don’t forget about the August book giveaway! You can find out more about this new, monthly event by clicking on the photo to the left or by clicking here.

Fettuccine with Mascarpone and Sage-Walnut Butter
From A Year in a Vegetarian Kitchen, by Jack Bishop. Recipe can be found here, as well as below.

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup mascarpone cheese
• 1/4 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
• Salt
• 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 3/4 lb dried egg fettuccine (I haven’t been able to find egg fettuccine so I just used regular, whole wheat fettuccine)
• 4 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 1/2 cup chopped walnuts
• 1 tablespoon minced fresh sage leaves

Bring 4 quarts of water to boil in a large pot for cooking the pasta. Combine the mascarpone, Parmesan, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and the pepper in a small bowl and beat with spoon until smooth. Set aside so the mixture can come to room temperature.

When your water boils, add 1 tablespoon of salt and the fettuccine and cook according to package instructions.

As soon as the pasta goes into the pot, melt the butter in a large skilled over medium heat. When the foaming subsides, add the nuts and cook until the nuts are very fragrant and the butter is golden brown, 2 to 3 minutes. Add the sage and 1/2 teaspoon salt and remove the pan from the heat.

Reserve 1/2 cup of the cooking water and drain the pasta. Add the pasta and 1/4 cup of the cooking water to the pan with the nuts and toss over low heat until combined, adding more water as needed to moisten the pasta. Divide the pasta among individual bowls, top with a dollop of the mascarpone mixture, and serve immediately.

Twice a year I go to conferences as part of my graduate studies and every time I’m scheduled to leave at least one person will give my husband sorrowful looks. “Poor you!”, they exclaim, patting him on the shoulder, “What are you going to eat while Ari’s gone? Has she been cooking meals and putting them in the freezer for you?” I think it’s sweet of them to care but I also think it’s funny, because the truth is that my husband is probably a better cook than me. Sure he may be an unassuming businessman by day, but at home he has the culinary prowess of a kitchen superhero. It’s a hidden talent that, sadly, has no place on a business resume!

Some folks are surprised since I’m the one who has a foodblog, but it’s true. I may have my husband beat in the baking and desserts department, yet he’s my superior by far when it comes to soups/stews and breakfast. We’re about equal when it comes to savory dishes, but while I create chilis, pastas and stratas at home, he produces the same meals while also controlling at least twelve teenagers. No, we do not have an unusually large brood of children. Rather, my husband teaches a cooking class for teens - something I could never, ever do and that takes an uncanny amount of humor and patience.

So as I finish packing for a week-long trip I thought I’d honor my hubby’s unrecognized skills by sharing a recipe for one of his favorite stews. This is the sort of meal he makes on Sunday afternoons (as he did today) then takes to work for lunches throughout the week. It’s a one-pot dish with rich flavor, gorgeous colors and all the warm, filling qualities you want in your mid-day meal. I hope you enjoy it and though I’ll be away I’ll still be checking email, so I’m curious: what are your hidden talents?

// Edit: Katie reminds me that I forgot to share my hidden talents, which include making digital artwork & disco dancing. I love disco dancing! Someday I hope to dance just like this - and you better believe I’ve been practicing.

Don’t forget about the August book giveaway! You can find out more about this new, monthly event by clicking on the photo to the left or by clicking here.

Butternut Squash Stew with Rosemary and Tomatoes
Adapted from A Year in a Vegetarian Kitchen by Jack Bishop. Original recipe can be found here.

Ingredients: Makes 4-5 main course servings

• 3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
• 1 medium yellow onion, halved and thinly sliced
• Salt
• 5 medium garlic cloves, minced
• 2 15-ounce cans cannellini beans, rinsed and drained
• 1 small butternut squash (about 1 1/2 lbs), peeled, seeded, and cut into 1-inch dice (about 3 1/2 cups) *See notes.
• 1 14.5-ounce can diced tomatoes
• 1 Parmesan cheese rind
• 3 cups vegetable broth
• 1/2 teaspoon dry ground rosemary
• Freshly ground black pepper
• Zest of 1 small orange
• 1/4 cup premium orange juice
• Rosemary foccacia

Heat 2 tablespoons of the oil in a Dutch oven over medium heat until shimmering. Add the onion and 1/2 teaspoon salt and cook, stirring occasionally, until golden, about 8 minutes. Add the minced garlic cloves and cook until fragrant, about 1 minute. Add the beans, squash, tomatoes, Parmesan rind, and broth and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat, cover, and simmer, stirring occasionally, until the squash is tender, about 30 minutes. Remove the cover, add the orange zest and juice, and continue to simmer until the stew thickens, about 15 minutes.

To serve, remove and discard the Parmesan rind. Stir the stew, adding salt and pepper to taste. Place a slice of focaccia in each bowl, ladle the stew into the bowls, and serve. Alternatively, you can serve the focaccia on the side.

* How to peel a butternut squash: With a sharp knife, chop off the bottom and top of the squash, then split it vertically down the middle. Remove the seeds with a spoon, then peel each half by placing it flat on a cutting board, pressing down, and using a regular vegetable peeler.