Cooking is much like art.  The plate is your canvas, the food ingredients are your colors, and your herbs, spices, and other types of flavors are your tools.  Creating a new recipe can be lots of work or it can be easy as the one I am sharing with you today…My “Tipsy” Pasta!

“Tipsy” Pasta was created by using ingredients I already had on hand and didn’t want them to go to waste.  I needed a side dish to go with the Eggplant Parmesan recipe I posted yesterday, so I just got creative!

If you are wondering how this recipe got its name, it’s pretty obvious!  Yes, it has wine in the pasta sauce but there is another side story.  The Belmont race was coming on while I was preparing this and I had placed a little bet with friends on which horse would win.  Guess what?!  My pick, Tonalist, won the race!  I was so excited! So while enjoying creating a new recipe, preparing it on the stove and sipping  my Chardonnay out of my favorite glass (A glass with my children’s nickname for me, “Bones”), I might have gotten a little tipsy :-)!

This recipe comes together so quickly as a Light Meatless Main Dish or as I used, I side dish as I used it.  You can easily switch up some of the ingredients.  For example, substituting a jalapeno for the poblano…anything goes!

“Tipsy” Pasta

Ingredients

• 2 Tbsp Olive Oil
• 2 Shallots, Sliced Thinly in Rings
• 2 Tbsp Fresh Garlic, Chopped
• 2 Tbsp Poblano, Chopped
• 1/4 cup White Wine
• 2 15oz cans of Fire Roasted Tomatoes
• 1 small can of sliced Black Olives
• 1/2 cup Fresh Basil, chopped
• 2 Tbsp capers
• 2-3 Tbsp of water reserved from pasta
• Pasta, Spaghetti or Linguine  (I used Gluten-Free in this recipe to test the texture..you couldn’t tell the difference)

Directions

Heat the Olive Oil in a large skillet (I used Le Crueset’s Paella Pan..It just needs to be large enough to add the pasta into the sauce later).  Add the shallots, garlic, and poblanos to the pan and saute on low heat about 8-10 minutes until softened.

Add in the wine and deglaze pan for 2 minutes.

Add remaining ingredients (except for pasta water) and simmer on the stove while preparing pasta as directed on the box.  (Note:  I prefer to break my pasta in half for this recipe so it collects the sauce a little better.)

When the pasta is ready, take tongs and pull pasta from water and put directly into sauce stirring well.  Add the pasta water to loosen sauce if necessary.

Ready to Serve!

Bottom Line:  The tang and spiciness of this recipe was divine!  It truly was perfect and I wouldn’t change anything about it.  I am almost ashamed to admit this but this is so good, I ate it COLD the next day for lunch!  It truly is that awesome and soooo easy to make.  Give it a try in your kitchen and let me know what you think!  My name is Frankie and I hope you “Keep on Cooking”!