Tomato, Basil, and Brie Pasta

As part of the Wisconsin Whisk group, I willingly participate in the "All Whisked Up" blog challenge. How this works is that I am sent another Wisconsin Whisk member's blog, spend a little time getting to know them and their style and select a recipe to recreate. You can see my previous challenges here and here.

For February, I was provided the Wisconsin From Scratch blog. Sarah is actually one of the founders of Wisconsin Whisk and I have tried a few of her recipes before. She focuses on using fresh, local ingredients in her recipe creations and she also loves the science behind the food, being an engineer. In her more recent posts, she made many Asian inspired dishes. They look great and I hope to make some of them in the future.

But being an absolute pasta fanatic, I selected Tomato, Basil & Brie Pasta as my recipe to recreate. I love all of these ingredients but have never tried Brie in a dinner. My main experience with the creamy cheese is a Brie en Croute that my sister-in-law makes for holidays.

The recipe seemed simple to prepare, which is perfect for my busy schedule lately. Though it was easy to put together, I knew it was going to have great flavor. I chopped up the basil and tomatoes and got those marinating.

The toughest part of this entire recipe is removing the rind from the cheese. I didn't want to lose too much of the cheese so I had to be careful to slice thin. And then just chop it up and add it to the tomato mixture.

I popped a bottle of Rare Red to enjoy with this meal and took a sip or two while the noodles boiled. It was really good for an under $10 bottle of a red blend.

I purchased a loaf of asiago foccacia bread and warmed that up in the oven to serve with the dish. It smelled heavenly when I pulled it out of the oven.

Once the noodles were done, I added the tomato mixture and stirred until the brie was melted by the heat of the noodles. I realized I should have chopped the cheese a little smaller as it took some time to melt, but soon enough it became nice and creamy.

I served up a plate for both myself and my fiance and we sat down to enjoy. Though the cheese flavor was light at first, the tomatoes slightly blistered in the heat and brought great flavor. The basil added a freshness that I long for in winter. I can't wait to either grow my own plants this summer or pick up fresh ones from the farmers market and make this again. It will be even better!

This will definitely go on my "to cook again" list - it was even better as leftovers when the flavors had a little longer to meld. I didn't realize it at the time, but I did purchase light brie cheese--it was all they had at the store. I'm not sure if that affected the flavor, but it can only get better with full fat brie, right?

Wisconsin From Scratch has provided me another successful meal and I can't wait to try more of her recipes soon.

An InLinkz Link-up

Pin-It Tuesday: Tomato Soup

As you can see, I have been on a soup kick lately. Butternut squash soup, chicken taco soup and now tomato soup, which surprisingly I used to never like. I think it was the texture and the fact that I wanted pasta with it. Plus I wasn't a huge tomato fan as a child and still sometimes can't eat a fresh slice unless its a really good tomato.

I found this recipe on my beloved Pinterest, and what really drew me to it were the mozzarella bites. I didn't make the bites though because they will not reheat well and I'm taking the soup to work . But I put a large container of this soup in the freezer and when I reheat that batch, I will make the bites then (stay tuned). But I figure that I can just add mozzarella to the soup for work and get some of the joy.

Another thing that drew me to this recipe was that it allowed me to use my favorite kitchen gadget, (like ever!) the Food Network Immersion Blender. Seriously if you don't have one, ask for one for Christmas, or treat yourself to one. You will not regret it!

My Blender and Me!

And of course, I can't cook without some wine - tonight's varietal --- Staller Estate Estate Blanc, light crisp fruit with a hint of sweet and made right in Delavan, Wisconsin. I definitely need to go visit this vineyard and try their other wines because I really liked this one.

Ok, sorry for the blender and wine rant. Back to the soup, I again altered the original recipe slightly to fit my tastes and allow me to be creative. I have become a big fan of vodka spaghetti sauces so I decided that I would add a bit of vodka to this soup and see how it goes.

I doubled the batch right away and added in some zucchini - had it lying around and thought..eh, why not! I cut back on the onion because when dicing it, it was already overpowering the kitchen. I was going to add green peppers, but I didn't want that to be the only thing I taste because they tend to do that in dishes I make.

I used five Laughing Cow Light Swiss Cheese wedges in place of the cream cheese. I felt that is a fair substitute and will add a more cheesy flavor.

After the soup simmered and I attacked it with the blender, I added a bit more pepper, some oregano and some onion powder. I let it sit for 15 minutes and grabbed a spoon. It's not smooth like a Campbell's Tomato soup, but I think I prefer that way. Your buds can pick out the individual flavors and how they play off each other so well. Not sure I could taste any of the vodka that I love in the pasta sauces, but I didn't make any soup without the vodka to be able to see if there was a noticeable difference.

I can't wait to have this for lunch with a baguette or piece of french bread. If only I could make grilled cheese at work, but I don't want a soggy microwave melted cheese sandwich and there is no toaster available. Any suggestions on how to make a grilled cheese with only microwaves at my disposal at work?