rotini

Yep. It's for real. I still like roasted red peppers. Only took me 28 years to learn this. This time I tried it chilled. Nope. Warm to room-temp is best. But still like it. Paul called it perfect. Wow! Don't think he describes much I make as perfect. Can I serve it every day?

As for the pasta. I didn't get it. It was simple and I liked every ingredient. But for some reason, it just didn't hit a cord. Why? Still don't know. The recipe was from Moosewood Restaurants New Classic Recipe Book. It dirtied a few more dishes than I would have liked (bowl for cooling asparagus tips, extra pot for reheating the pasta once it's all mixed together). But I really wanted to like this recipe. In fact, I didn't even imagine I wouldn't. I'd been looking forward to it all week. After first blanching the asparagus in the boiling water and then boiling the rotini, I noticed just that 3 minutes really added flavor to the water and therefore added extra flavor to the pasta. The sauce of blended lemon, oil, and asparagus stems seemed so brilliant. But when it all got together. . .I was really disappointed. Even Paul shrugged his shoulders.

Although you can get a wheat pasta for cheaper sometimes, I purchased a box for $1 when it was on sale and thought it was a good idea to try it since we do like pasta a lot. Our first use was with a basic spaghetti sauce. I like to always make a basic spaghetti sauce when I am tasting a new pasta product. Our spaghetti sauce doesn't change much since I fell in love with Muir Glen brand of tomatoes. This allows me to focus on just the pasta and not on evaluating the entire dish. The second night, I used the leftover pasta and leftover fresh veggies from the shower I hosted to make a pasta primavera.

Our final decision is that whole wheat pasta tastes very robust (although the pictures look just like regular pasta). It doesn't work well for a delicate pasta sauce, but is more appropriate with hearty veggies. Still, it wasn't a favorite. We are content eating enriched semolina flour pasta instead.