Campanelle with Veggies and Bacon

Greg and I celebrated our 5 year wedding anniversary in September by going to dinner at Purple Cafe in Kirkland. It's one of our favorite restaurants, and we often go there when we have a reason to celebrate. It happened to be a relatively warm end of summer/beginning of fall evening, so we sat on the patio, right next to the big doors they have open to the restaurant.

I almost always order their BLTA...I love a BLT but this is a delicious version, with avocado and a deliciously zippy red pepper mayo. But I was feeling like going out of the norm, and was thinking about ordering a risotto (they always have a risotto of some sort on their menu). Unfortunately, on the menu that night was a shellfish risotto, and I'm allergic to shellfish. So that was out. I still wanted to try something new, and after consulting with our server, decided to go with the Sweet Pea and Bacon Pasta.

It was absolutely amazing. Of course, my luck, it's an item on their summer menu, and is no longer being served. So I decided to try to recreate it tonight, and I think it turned out pretty darn good (Greg and Cam both enjoyed it, so that's a good start!).

I started off by frying up 6 slices of bacon. They were pretty meaty, so not a lot of fat was rendered. I took the bacon out and added 3/4 cup each of frozen peas and corn to the warm pan and bacon drippings. I also thinly sliced one very small bulb of fennel and added that to the pan as well as a tablespoon or two of garlic flavored olive oil. Once that was heated through, I added the bacon back in.


Meanwhile, I cooked up about 3 cups (dry) of campanelle pasta in salted water. I think it's important to salt the water slightly for this dish, to add a little extra flavor to the pasta. Once it's cooked (about ten minutes), I drained it, put it back in the pot, and added the pea and corn mixture.

Add a bit of salt and pepper to taste, and then plate it up. Place some shaved Parmesan cheese on top, and dig in!

Orzo with Sausage and Feta

I made up a recipe tonight, compeletely just finding things in the cupboard and throwing them together. Thankfully, it turned out really well (if I do say so myself!).

I started out by browning about 12 ounces of pork sausage.


Then I boiled some orzo (about 12 ounces of that as well).



I threw the orzo in a bowl, and added some DELICIOUS basil-garlic olive oil from BR Cohn Winery and Olive Oil Company. BR Cohn is one of my favorite wineries in the Sonoma Valley. It was the first one I ever visited in Wine Country, and just fell in love. The grounds are gorgeous and the wines and olive oils are delicious. I highly recommend going there if you're ever in Sonoma. Oh, and if you want to purchase the olive oil, you can do so here.

Anyway, back to the recipe....I drizzled the olive oil over the top of the orzo (maybe a tablespoon or two of it). You can obviously use regular olive oil if you don't have any infused oil.


And added about a tablespoon and a half or two tablespoons of Greek Seasoning.

Then added a half cup of crumbled feta, put the sausage in, and added some salt and pepper before mixing it all together.

I ate it warm, but I think it would be delicous cold as well (it might need a little more olive oil). You can eat it as a side dish or as a meal. I think it would also be good with some roasted red peppers, fresh herbs, or any other addition you feel like making! Enjoy!