NOT a Soup Monday??

So, you're probably looking at that picture and wondering what the heck happened to my Soup Monday. I know.. that doesn't look like soup, does it? Well, you're right. It's not even close to soup. One of the downfalls to being as obsessive as I am and making my menu a month or more in advance (*coughcrazycough*) is that you forget when a menu item was supposed to be done in a slow cooker. Today's soup? It was a slow cooker recipe. I didn't realize that until this afternoon when I went to start chopping vegetables to make said soup. Seeing as I didn't have 8 hours for it to slow cook, I had to change the menu up. So this week, it will be Soup Tuesday. First it was Slow Cooker Sunday and now Soup Tuesday?? What is the world coming to?!

Now that we've cleared the air about that, let me talk to you about my truly decadent dinner. The pasta is a recipe I got from Jamie Oliver a long time ago. It's purely sinful. All creams and fats and so not good for you... but also insanely delicious. I mean... so. so. so. good! And easy, too (which really worked out for me today)! We also had lots left over for Kyle's lunches. He likes leftovers - he's strange like that. I served the pasta with a simple salad (romaine, carrots, red pepper.. it looks florescent in the photographs... drab day) with a classic french dressing I got from The Mediterranean Vegan Kitchen and a store bought baguette.

Linguine with Spinach, Mascarpone and Parmesan

1 lb linguine

1 tbsp olive oil

2 tsp butter

4 cloves garlic, minced

1/2 nutmeg, freshly grated

2 cups baby spinach

sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

1/2 cup creme fraiche

1 3/4 cups mascarpone cheese

2 handfuls grated parmesan

Bring a large pot of water to a boil and cook pasta according to directions. Meanwhile, in a pan or wok, melt butter with oil, nutmeg, and garlic. Add the spinach and cook for 5 minutes until the spinach is a nice dark green colour. Season with salt and pepper, add the cream, mascarpone and a little ladle of the cooking liquid from the pasta. Let it simmer and season again.

Drain pasta, reserving some cooking water. Stir the pasta into the spinach sauce. Add some cooking water if it is too thick. Add parmesan and toss together.

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Classic French Dressing

4 tsp olive oil

1 tbsp balsamic vinegar

1/2 tsp Dijon mustard

1 small garlic clove, minced

salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste

Combine all of the ingredients in a bowl, mix and serve.