Pass the pasta

All the salads I've been eating lately left me feeling hungry today for something more substantial. I was craving pasta and had some broccoli and lovely cherry tomatoes on hand. Here's what I made of them. The tomatoes plumped and burst in the pan and added a slightly sweet note, not to mention a gorgeous color contrast.

I must have been Italian in a previous lifetime, because I've also been craving polenta lately. And I've been thinking about making a bread salad (panzanella) from the rest of the Suburban Bread I told you about. All Italian dishes, of course, are just convenient ways to get plenty of garlic and olive oil onto my taste buds. And that brings me to my favorite olive oil.

I've been buying Bariani for years. The olives are grown and crushed outside of Sacramento, which makes it very much a local product, and the Bariani family actually show up at farmers markets rather than sending employees. I've had delighteful conversations with the sons and mom of the clan, who love to talk food and cooking almost as much as I do.

Once again I'm feeling very blessed to be living in the foodie paradise that is northern California.

vegetarian food cooking Bariani olive oil pastacherry tomatoes