A small stroke of genius

If I do say so myself.

Ever since my first meal at A Voce a few years ago, I have been in love with sheep's milk ricotta cheese. It's so rich, (think extra creamy-cream cheese and not that gloppy stuff that comes in a plastic Polly-O tub) and with a drizzle of olive oil, some chopped fresh herbs (I recommend thyme, rosemary, and chives), and a sprinkling of sea salt, it is terrific spread on toasted baguette slices. It's also a very easy snack to serve guests with a glass of wine or two and so I had bought quite a lot of it a few weeks ago to serve at a little party we threw at our apartment to celebrate the visit of our friend Stash, who tragically moved to Los Angeles last year.

We still had about one and a half cups of it left after our party and I wasn't sure what I'd do with it since I rarely treat myself to hors d'oeuvres and wine after work. But I started to think it could be delicious with pasta. So the other day, I decided to mix the leftover cheese, chopped fresh herbs, olive oil, and sea salt, with about one cup of pasta cooking water and a box of cooked rotini. And it was FABULOUS. Like a very elegant, fresh, and not that heavy, version of macaroni and cheese.

Because I feel guilty just eating a bowl of white stuff for dinner, I also made sauteed zucchini with zucchinis from the farmer's market on our corner. Even in season, zucchini can be a little boring, so I like to saute it with sliced onion and a lot of crushed red pepper.