“Cooking is love made visible.” – Anonymous. It’s the season of LOVE and if there is one thing we can all agree on it’s that we love FOOD! Love is in the air and so is the smell of delicious heart shaped treats everywhere you turn. Instead of the classic box of chocolates, treat your valentine to some sugar filled love notes and spice(y) rigatoni!
Ingredients:
- 2 refrigerated pie crusts
- Flour for rolling out dough
- ½ c. strawberry jam
- Egg wash
- ¼ c. Granulated sugar, for sprinkling
Instructions:
- Preheat oven to 375°. Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper. On a lightly floured surface, roll out 1 pie crust. Using a paring knife, cut out long diamond shapes, about 4″ on each side. Transfer diamonds to baking sheet. Re-roll extra dough to make more diamonds. (You should have enough dough to make about 6.)
- Fill the center of each diamond with a very thin layer of strawberry filling, then fold three of the corners into the center so that the dough looks like an open envelope. Use a small heart cookie cutter to stamp out remaining dough into hearts, and place in the center of each.
- Brush envelopes with egg wash and sprinkle with sugar. Bake until envelopes are golden, about 15 minutes.
- Let cool for 10 minutes on baking sheet before transferring to a cooling rack to cool completely.
Ingredients:
- Extra virgin olive oil
- Onion
- Garlic
- Tomato paste
- Vodka
- Heavy cream
- Chili pepper paste
- Rigatoni
- Butter
- Parmesan cheese
- Salt and Pepper
- 4 springs fresh basil
Instructions:
- Heat oil in a large skillet over medium. Add onion and garlic and cook until softened and yellowed (3- 5 minutes). Add tomato paste and cook, stirring occasionally, until paste is brick red and starts to caramelize (about 5 minutes).
- Reduce heat to low and add the vodka. Simmer, stirring often, until the liquid is mostly evaporated. Add heavy cream and red pepper chili paste, stirring until well blended. Season with salt and pepper; remove from heat.
- Heat a large pot with 3 quarts of salted water for the rigatoni pasta. Once boiling, add the rigatoni and cook until al dente (follow the instructions on your rigatoni or for 12 minutes). Drain pasta, reserving 1 cup pasta water.
- Add the drained pasta to the skillet with carbon spicy sauce. Set the burner heat to low and stir in the butter and ½ cup pasta water. Cook the sauce and pasta, stirring often. Add more pasta water if needed, 1 tablespoon at a time until the butter has melted and the sauce is a soft orange color and is thick and glossy on the pasta.
- Add the parmesan cheese, check the seasoning and add more salt and pepper, if needed. Top with more parmesan and fresh basil (optional) before serving.