Resurrection, New Life and Pasta

My Mom always loved Lamb at Easter, a full leg of lamb (which was more like mutton).  Not for me. Too umm.. intense? gamey? whatever. She loved it with Mint Jelly. She even wrote about it in her ponderings about heaven as she was dying. She came from a long line of Lamb eaters. I was a black sheep (har har).

Recently I re-connected with 2 friends from 30+ years ago. I LOVE these women. I don't know their stance on lamb but they are strong, they are unique, they are special to me in a way that no one else is, they are beautiful,  creative, expressive and both of them have a piece of my soul in their heart, as I do theirs.  We met and it was if we had seen each other last week. The only thing different was the size of our butts! (For those of you who have not seen my FB page.)  It's impossible to catch up on 30 years of life over lunch even as fast as we talk, so I'm hoping to have Cristy and Larry over for dinner soon. Cindy lives farther away so we'll have to make a plan for that.

What shall I cook? Cristy  loves sushi....me...not so much. And she doesn't eat much meat and hates onions. Can you imagine? Hating onions? She's feisty like that. So here's an attempt at a satisfying veggie meal, that hopefully we will share together soon. Minus onions of course. This was our Easter dinner.
Anyway, I wrote about a dish before, roasted veggies with pasta, and all I had pictures of was the pasta. Here's the real deal. Cut up a bunch of fresh vegetables, anything you like. Here are Zucchini, Asparagus, Grape Tomatoes, Olives, Artichoke Hearts, Shallots, and Roasted Peppers. But you can use anything you want...eggplant even..

After that I cleaned a BUNCH of wild mushrooms and added to the mix. Cristy do you like mushrooms?  Toss with olive oil and season with salt and freshly ground pepper and spread out on a baking sheet.

Roast in a 400 oven for about 15 minutes or until the veggies are roasty!

Meanwhile bring a large pot of well salted water to a boil for your pasta. Then, because I like details, I feel the need to tell you to add the pasta to the boiling water. Thank You for listening reading. I used the brand of pasta I showed in that other post about Strozzapreti. You know... the priest choker pasta made by monks.

Water lol

Why did I add this horrible photo?

In a large skillet pour in 2 T Olive Oil 2 T butter and melt together, then whisk in some white wine and reduce. The wine is optional. Throw the roasted veggies and juices from the baking sheet into the skillet and toss it around.

When your pasta is done (I like Capellini *Angel Hair* with this) save a cup or so of the pasta water and then drain the pasta. Add however  much pasta you want to the skillet and toss it around with the veggies. Add some pasta water if it's too tight. Let the pasta and veggies get to know each other for just a couple of minutes.

Serve with a topping of your favorite cheese and/or chopped parsley, add garlic bread and you have a meal.

Re-connecting with Cindy and Cristy has awakened a part of my soul that I thought was long dead. I haven't laughed the way we laughed together in decades. I felt loved and a sense of belonging that has long been missing from my life. (WSH love is always there but different). It was a resurrection of sorts and made the Holy Days  beautiful and full of awe and wonder at the Greatness and Goodness of God. Thanks be to God for friends, laughter, love, memories and pasta!

See you soon!