Pasta in Bianco
The big day finally came and went. It was the day we had been anxiously waiting and preparing for. Il primo giorno di scuola! (The first day of school!)
There was a sea of parents holding kids of all ages & sizes in their color-coded grembiuli (school aprons - uniforms), backpacks bigger than the owners, a big vehicular traffic and an incredible noise of excited voices. With our little troop of 1st year pre-schooler clad in pink gingham grembiule and 2nd grader elementary clad in dark blue grembiule, we managed to go through the chaos of the morning.
At exactly 8 AM, we were all in my daughter's classroom, listening to her teacher's orientation. Like all the other parents present, we were doing replicated actions. Clicking on our cameras & phones (then posted to Facebook / Instagram afterwards), soothing our kids to familiarity and battling clear expressions of big emotions. The adults seem more affected than the kids. My daughter was not the one with the separation anxiety, I was! Our son's turn came and he just calmly walked up another set of stairs to his classroom without so much drama. He's bigger and has already gone through a year of familiarizing himself with his school. A couple of friends asked me afterwards how I felt and I replied, everything. There were too many emotions embroiled in me. I was proud, I was sad, I was happy, I was excited but I was also relieved to be able to reclaim a bit of silence again at home.
Both kids had shortened schedules, so by lunchtime, we were all together on the kitchen table. With the movements of going up and down the school the whole morning, different pick-up times and catching up with other parents, there was no time to cook anything. For once, food was not foremost in my mind. When I find myself at a loss in what to feed my kids (and husband), I prepare this. They receive it well because it's one of their favorite pasta dishes. I like preparing it for them because it's healthy and very easy to prepare. Three ingredients and you have a perfectly kid-friendly, healthy meal. Pasta, parmigiano reggiano and extra virgin olive oil. This is also one of the pasta dishes commonly prepared for kids in restaurants.
This post is for the wonderful kids who show proficiency in the simplicity of cooking. Have a good Friday!
UPDATE (26 Nov. 2012): The Traveling Vineyard has suggested wine pairings of Pedretti 2010 Salento IGT, Italy and Desvia 2010 Rioja, Spain for this recipe. Please click on this link to go to the page.
Pasta in Bianco
Ingredients:
Serves 2
- 200 g. pasta (whatever kind you have)
- parmigiano reggiano (or any cheese)
- extra virgin olive oil (can be substituted with butter)
- fresh basil / mint (optional)
Directions:
- Boil water for pasta. When it boils, add salt. Cook pasta following the cooking time suggested in the packaging or until al dente.
- Drain pasta when cooked.
- Drizzle with extra virgin olive oil (or put some butter and mix until it melts).
- Sprinkle with a lot of parmigiano reggiano.
- Garnish with a few fresh basil or mint leaves if using.
UPDATE (26 Nov. 2012): The Traveling Vineyard has suggested wine pairings of Pedretti 2010 Salento IGT, Italy and Desvia 2010 Rioja, Spain for this recipe. Please click on this link to go to the page.