He said it was good, and had seconds.

Now for anyone else, this might not sound very enthusiastic.  But for Petey, my profoundly low-key husband, it was the equivalent of running up and down the street, waving his arms and speaking in tongues…while wearing a sequined fez, and a light-up, spinning bow tie.

In the past couple of weeks, I’d been reading, on various websites, about this miraculous, one pot, nine-minute pasta dish.  It came from Puglia, Italy, by way of Martha Stewart.

It was a tomato/basil thing with linguine, and red pepper flake.  I loved the idea of a one pot dish that makes its own sauce, but wasn’t thrilled with the ingredients.  I love a more Northern Italian vibe, with butter and cream; white instead of red.

Slate had an article about the one pot wonder in which they suggested different takes.  There were no directions; they were more jumping off places.  One had some corn and shallots, and I think mascarpone.  It inspired this recipe.

9 minute corn and rotelle

1-12 ounce box rotelle pasta

3 leeks, white and light green part, sliced thinly

2 tablespoons butter

3 cloves garlic, minced

1 ½ cup frozen white corn, thawed

Zest of 2 lemons

Juice of 1 lemon

2 cups chicken stock

2 cups water

¼ cup chopped fresh parsley

8 ounces brie, room temp, rind removed and cut into smallish cubes

Salt and pepper

In a large heavy pan, melt butter.  Place in leeks and sauté until liquid has cooked out, and it’s lightly browned.  Put in garlic, and cook until fragrant.  Stir in pasta.

Put in corn, lemon zest, juice, stock, water, and about 1 teaspoon salt, and ½ teaspoon pepper.  Stir well.  Give it a stir every minute or so, making sure to bring up pasta from the bottom, and sending the pasta from the top deep into the pot, so that all the rotelle gets cooked.  Cook for about 9 minutes, until the pasta is thoroughly cooked and the remaining liquid has reduced and thickened to a sauce-like consistency.  Remove from heat.

Gently stir in brie until completely melted, then mix in parsley.  Check for seasoning, and serve.  Serves 4-6.

I found in the grocery store a new type of pasta.  It’s called ‘white fiber’.  It has whole grain, and thus 3 or 4 times the fiber, but it isn’t gritty like whole grain pastas tend to be.  The brie I use is the President brand, and is carried in almost every supermarket.  It’s definitely not fancy; in fact I’d almost call it the Velveeta of bries.  But, it’s inexpensive, and The Kid and I love the taste of it.  It’s like butter-flavored cheese (or cheese-flavored butter).

While the pasta was cooking I made “ice cream”.

Banana pineapple buttermilk sorbet

2 very ripe bananas, frozen

2-3 cups pineapple, frozen

1 cup fat-free buttermilk

1 tablespoon vanilla extract

Pinch of salt

Throw everything into blender or food processor and puree until creamy and the thickness of soft-serve ice cream.  Put into a freezer safe container and freeze until solid.  Makes about 4 cups.

I ate it straight out of the container, but I think this would be life-changing on toasted pound cake with a drizzle of warm caramel sauce, and toasted shards of coconut.  Or you can use it for smoothies or decadent frozen piña coladas.

I really liked the sorbet, but I think Petey hated it with the fiery, burning, passion of a thousand suns.  He said, “It’s okay, but not my favorite.”

Thanks for your time.