An Impromptu Post That Has Nothing to Do With Baking: Pasta Pasta Pasta

Please forgive me.

Okay, I know I said this was a baking blog but this is too good to pass up. This won't happen very often and I sincerely apologize.

Today we are gonna make some pasta. Unfortunately for me, right around the time that I started this blog I also started trying to eat healthier, which is very difficult to do when you're baking things every week and writing about how great they are. However, I thought I would share my efforts with you guys a little, but don't worry too much, because after this post we will return to our regularly scheduled programming.

I found this pasta recipe and it's super easy, as well as healthy and tasty. It does make a lot however, because you use an entire box of pasta, but it saves just fine. You will need:

• 1 box of uncooked spaghetti or linguini 
• 1 onion
• 4 cloves of garlic
• 1 can of diced tomatoes
• 2 Tablespoons of olive oil
• 1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes
• 1/2 teaspoon basil
• 3 cans of vegetable broth

Basically, what you do for this recipe is you take all of these ingredients and you put it in a big pot like this:

 The beacon of pasta.

The most difficult part of this recipe is knowing how to chop up the garlic and onion, so I have developed an informational photo set to get you through the darkness that is cutting your own vegetables. 

Cutting Garlic: Step One - Pull the skin off of the garlic cloves.

Garlic cloves are like butterflies, just waiting to emerge from their chrysalis. 

Step Two - Pull out four of the garlic cloves. 

They're like cute little garlic boats.

Step Three - CAREFULLY using a knife, break the garlic cloves open. This makes it easier to peel off the skin.

I took all of these pictures myself because Nick was asleep 

so I'm sorry if they aren't of the highest quality.

Step Four - Peel off the skin of the garlic, so each clove is smooth and yellow-y white. You can then easily chop them up into little pieces.

Your garlic butterflies have emerged.

That's it for the garlic! Congratulations, you just used a knife and didn't hurt yourself. Hopefully.

Cutting Onions: Step One - Cut the onion in half. I don't have a picture for this because I'm assuming if you're smart enough to read, you are also smart enough to know what half of an onion looks like.

Step Two - Take your half onion and chop off the top and the bottom of it, where it is picked off the...vine? ground? tree? I don't know how onions are grown. It should look like this: 

Maybe they're grown genetically out of test tubes.

Step Three - Pull the skin off of your onion. It's very similar to the skin of the garlic, and the onion should be smooth and shiny underneath.

Step Four - CAREFULLY chop the onion lengthwise, being careful to cut in the direction away from yourself and your hand. 

 This is called a "julienne" cut. The more you know..

Your onion strips should be nice and beautiful now, looking like this:

At this point you can either continue with my recipe or 

fry these up and make onion strings. Your choice.

Once you've successfully chopped up your garlic and onion, put in all of the veggies and then add the olive oil.

This does not look particularly appetizing....

Next, put in the whole box of pasta (if you want to break it in half you can, but it doesn't really matter). It should be noted that for this recipe, the pasta you put in is uncooked. Part of the reason it tastes so good is that the pasta soaks in all the juiciness and seasonings from the veggies while it's cooking. 

I like to use whole wheat pasta because it's health conscious and tasty.

You can add in whatever herbs and spices you like, but I put in about half a teaspoon of basil, half a teaspoon of red pepper flakes, and a little bit of salt. If you are the type of lucky person that has regular access to fresh herbs and spices, you can definitely use those and should also invite me over for dinner sometime. 

Is it basil or...?

Add in three cans of vegetable broth and give all of your ingredients a quick stir. Place your pot of goodies on the stove, cover it with a lid, and let it sit on high until it's boiling. You can either wait until there is a fair amount of steam coming out from under the lid, or just sit and watch it until it boils. 

Once it's boiling, turn the heat down to low and let it simmer for about 10-15 minutes. Give it a quick stir every couple of minutes during this time. 

If your kitchen doesn't smell like an Italian Eatery at this point,

I take full responsibility.

Once your pasta is soft and you have the delicious scent of basil in your nose, you'll know that it's time to eat! It tastes even better if you add a little bit of parmesean or mozzarella cheese on top, and if you're the kind of person that's lucky enough to have freshly grated cheese, seriously invite me over for dinner I will bring dessert. 

Thank you for reading!