One of the glorious things about pasta is that it’s really quick and easy to cook. It takes a lot of practice to get amazing pasta, but you have to try almost as hard to screw it up completely (overcooking it is about the only sin). One of our favorites is extremely fast to prepare and can be adapted in a multitude of different ways. Like most Italian recipes it’s simple and leaves little scope for error.
Tastes even better than it looks!
The key is to prepare everything separately, and then bring it together into a tremendous crescendo of flavor and texture right at the last minute. In that way you’ll keep the sausages crispy, the pasta firm and the sauce just tangy enough.
Yummy pasta in a bowl!
This is so simple to cook, you could do it with your eyes shut, but I don’t suggest you try that in case you get burned. That’s not good.
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If I feel like spending around $70 on dinner for two in a nice restaurant where I can take my time to enjoy good wine and awesome vegan food, the Il Fornaio chain is always a good bet. I’ve been to outlets in San Francisco, Denver, Vegas, NYC, LA and, most recently, Seattle. Each has a slightly different atmosphere, but the same menu, quality and good service. AND, they understand what “vegan” means.
Capellini al Pomodoro: Angel hair pasta, chopped fresh roma tomatoes, marinara sauce and fresh basil. $12.95
While my main dish is always the Capellini al Pomodoro, I usually order a bottle of wine, and pig out on the fresh bread and olive oil they serve upon arrival. In fact, this is the BEST fresh bread and olive oil available in any restaurant I’ve ever been to, especially the outlet in Vegas (its bakery is adjacent).
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this weekend i wound up in my hometown, santa clarita, visiting my omnivore parents and treating them to dinner. scv is great but when eating there, it’s definitely a lot harder to find a safe restaurant than in los angeles…so out of desperation, we chose to dine at the (somewhat) vegan-friendly macaroni grill.
before heading to the restaurant, i did my research and found that peta and various vegan blogs had confirmed the veganocity of certain mac-grill menu items.
i decided to give them a try and i gotta say, pretty good. pretty, pretty, pretty, PRETTY GOOD!
spaghetti with garlic and olive oil, broccoli, mushrooms and diced tomatoes
the wonderful bread was vegan as well, and dipped in olive oil it made the perfect appetizer.
peasant bread to start with
we also enjoyed glass after glass of the house chianti, which was left on our table to refill as we wished using the “honor system”. oh, macaroni grill, don’t TEMPT me!
as a vegan, i was happy as could be in this huge chain restaurant surrounded by meat-eaters…not something i can say very often. everyone had a great time, and our whole table ordered vegan as well!
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