What's for Dinner? Pesto Pasta with Goat Cheese and Roasted Tomatoes

While in college, I tried just about every pasta recipe in the book. A strict budget, tight schedule, and overwhelming appetite made pastas of all kinds my go-to meal. Typically, I'd make a large batch early in the week and heat up the leftovers (or not-- I love cold pasta) for other meals.

Now that I have my first big girl job, I find myself still turning to pasta for a quick and easy meal. Take a quick inventory of the pantry and fridge, throw a few things together, and voila! You've got yourself a meal.

This recipe has two parts-- roasted tomatoes and the pasta itself. Roasted tomatoes are a good staple to perfect, as they go well with gorgonzola to stuff portabellas, atop garlic toast, and as an addition to a winter soup.

This recipe serves three adults, or, in my case, two shameless and hungry adults.

Roasted Tomatoes

• 3/4 pint grape tomatoes, halved
•  2 tsp olive oil
• 2-3 tsp garlic, minced
• 1 tsp thyme
• 1 tsp basil
• 1 tsp oregano
• coarse salt and pepper to taste

1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees and line a baking sheet with aluminum foil.
2. Mix all ingredients in a small bowl.
3. Spread atop aluminum foil and bake for 20-25 minutes, or until the edges begin to curl. Set aside.

Pasta

• 12 oz angel hair pasta (note: any type of noodle will go well with this dish. I just happened to have only angel hair at the time).
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 1 tsp coarse salt
• 1/3 cup pesto
• 2.5 oz goat cheese (I used garlic and herb goat cheese because I love it and it was on sale at Publix)
• 2 tsp coarse salt
• Grated parmesan to garnish

1. Depending on how long it takes your stove to boil, begin to boil water for noodles shortly after placing tomatoes in the oven. When water begins to boil, add pasta, olive oil, and coarse salt. Cook until tender (or al dente, whichever you prefer), about 8-10 minutes. Turn the stove off.
2. Drain pasta, but save just a little bit of the water. When the pasta has been strained, put it back in the pot and return to the stove.
3. Add pesto and mix well.
4. Put the heat on low and begin to mix in the goat cheese. When it is thoroughly mixed, remove from heat and stir in tomatoes until just combined.
5. Add parmesan and serve warm. Enjoy!

Another Great Weekend

As the title suggests, it was another great weekend. On Friday night, I headed up to Athens to surprise Mike and spend the weekend with him. As always, we had a blast.

We woke up bright and early on Saturday morning and drove two hours to visit Winnie at boot camp. We were both a little worried that she wouldn't remember us, but realized how silly we were being as soon as we saw her. We were so overjoyed to get our hands on her, and she was pretty excited to get her little paws on us. She was wearing a ridiculous hand-me-down puppy parka (below), but at least it kept her warm.

The most ridiculous parka I've ever seen

She is doing pretty well so far, minus a small tizzy with another dog (Winnie won). She was great during our visit until Mike stopped petting her. Because if there's one thing Winnie won't stand for, it's a lack of attention. At that point, Winnie wouldn't stop jumping up and nipping at him, and thus started our first lesson. Mike (softy of the universe) was instructed to knee her off of him and say "off"-- whereas before, we would've just picked her up. Clearly, this boot camp is meant to train us just as much as Winnie. That's a good thing, because we have no idea what we're doing.

Reunited and it felt so good!

After our visit, we headed back to Athens and made a Publix run for a home-cooked dinner. I always love cooking dinner for Mike and his roommates because a) they'll eat just about anything and b) I get a chance to make a few of the million recipes I've found on Pinterest. I made a butternut squash lasagna with fontina cheese and sauteed spinach and onions, portabellas stuffed with roasted tomatoes, garlic, goat cheese and gorgonzola, a salad, and garlic bread. It was pretty delicious, if I do say so myself.

Dinner with the boys

Sunday was spent eating bagels, drinking coffee, strolling around downtown Athens, and finding some great wing-tip loafers for Mike in a vintage shop.

Outside the coffee shop with Mike and Allyson

Mike outside of The Fred Building

After a three hour drive, I'm back in Columbus and ready for another episode of Downton Abbey and (not) another week of work.