creamy shrimp fettucine w/ white wine sauce

what do you do with a bottle of white wine that’s been left too long uncorked?

while i do enjoy the occasional tacky, kitschy souvenir, one of my fave things to try and buy when traveling is a fantastic bottle of local vino. a few years ago, i enjoyed an amazing bottle of french white wine with good friends while visiting paris. it was a spectacular white, and i was so excited to bring home a bottle from france to enjoy on a special occasion. fast-forward a few years later, when i decide to uncork the bottle with an old travel buddy visiting this weekend while watching the royal wedding (like everyone else and their dog!). special occasion, indeed. alas, the bottle of white had gone slightly off in taste. le sigh.

in the spirit of not letting good food or drink go to waste, i decided to use the slightly-off vino as cooking wine instead. typically, they say you should only use wine that you would drink, or wine that mimics the taste you are aiming for, so i guess it was a bit of gamble using this wine-gone-bad as a cooking ingredient. fortunately, this wine-infused culinary experiment was a success!

fettucine portobello primavera

happy spring! i thought i’d celebrate the change of season with a little primavera. some fresh organic veggies from the farmers’ market, some lovely fettucine and some classical vivaldi to sway to in the kitchen, and you’ve got the perfect way to welcome springtime!

when making a primavera, i like to use veggies in a variety of colours to make the dish really sing. red bell peppers, yellow zucchini, fresh green arugula & earthy portobello mushroom made up a lovely culinary palette.

prep veggies:
- 1/2 yellow zucchini (sliced rounds)
- 1 small red bell pepper (pitted, seeded, sliced)

- 1 portobello mushroom (sliced)

 (tip: gently clean portobello mushroom under running water. carefully remove & discard dark gills using a spoon to scrape them off.)

roasted ricotta & veggie casserole

a friendly visit to the local farmers’ market is one of my fave things to do on the weekend. not only is it a chance to stock up on lovely organic produce for the week, but it’s also the perfect opportunity to hunt down new ingredients for some culinary experiments yet to be determined. fun!

organic yellow zucchini. fresh radishes. ricotta cheese. three ingredients new to my kitchen. holla! let’s see how this pans out…

- preheat oven to 375F

veggie prep:
- 1/2 organic yellow zucchini (sliced rounds)
- 2 cups fresh radishes (thinly sliced rounds)
- toss well in large prep bowl w/ extra-virgin olive oil (evoo), ground black peppercorns and a dash of salt