Halloween pappardelle

Our first Hallowen in Texas.

Couple of blocks down our neighborhood, there are lots of folks dressed up roaming the streets, bar hopping. We prepared lots of candy, but Michele and I have been the only patrons....no trick-or treaters have came our way this weekend, and although we have had several Halloween costume ideas, none of them were actioned out. ( Just to throw out some of Michele's creative ideas: "Chunky Monkey", one of us would be chunky and the other be monkey, to pay our respect to Ben & Jerry....another was to dress up as Bobby Flay, wear an apron and have a blender of red sauce and another blender of green sauce) So it ended up just the two of us, enjoying a cozy relaxed Saturday night with some home cooking.

Our first Haloween in Texas, Italian pasta style.

Pappardelle ( thick egg pasta) with seasonal squashes, yellow squash and zucchini, combined with Italian sausages and red peppers...a colorful "fall" pasta for Halloween night.

Ingredients:

4 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1 pound sweet Italian sausage, no casings
1 pound zucchini, julienned
1 pound summer squash, julienned
1 onion, thinly sliced
1 diced red pepper
1/4 cup chopped fresh basil leaves, plus sprigs, for garnish
Salt and pepper
1 pound fresh pappardelle

splash of any white wine

Preparations:

In a large stockpot over high heat, bring 4 quarts of salted water to a boil.

In a large saute pan over medium high heat, cook 2 tablespoons of olive oil together with sausage. Cook until sausage is browned, about 6 minutes. Add zucchini, squash, onions, red pepper and 1/4 cup chopped basil and cook for 4 to 5 minutes, or until the squash has begun to caramelize. Season with salt and pepper. Add a splash of white wine.
Add pasta to the boiling water and cook until just al dente. Drain reserving 1/2 cup pasta water. Pour cooked pasta and 1/2 cup pasta water into the saute pan with the rest of the ingredients. Toss and serve!

We like our pastas peppery, so we added a couple of extra tablespoons of fresh cracked pepper, just enough to make our lips slightly perk when slurping in this pasta.

For the main course, we had veal chops, just simple salt and pepper, seared quickly on both sides and then popped into the oven. It was such a delicious, tender, milky, veal.....