Linguine with zucchini and chickpeas....yum!

This is super easy and super yummy! My family loved it!

Linguine with zucchini and chickpeas

12 oz linguine
2 T olive oil
3 small zucchini, cut into thin half moons
salt
1 can (15 oz) chickpeas, rinsed
2 cloves garlic, sliced
1/4 t crushed red pepper
1/2 c grated Parmesan cheese

Cook the pasta according to package directions. Reserve 1/2 c of the pasta water, drain, and return pasta to the pot.

Meanwhile, heat the oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the zucchini ans 1/2 t salt. Cook, tossing often, until just tender, 4-5 mins. Add the chickpeas, garlic, and red pepper and cook until heated through, 2-3 mins.

Toss the pasta with the reserved pasta water and 1/4 c of Parm. Divide the pasta among bowls and top with zucchini mixture and remaining 1/4 c Parm.

YUM!

Dumplings Alfredo, or, My Second Fail this Week

I wanted to try handmade pasta.  I've never done it before.  Jonas had been sick all week, and so I planned to make his favorite, fettuccine alfredo.  I've been curious about homemade pasta for awhile, so I thought I would give it a go.

Um, not so much.

I made them the same size as the dried noodles in the box.  Just a guess.  Who knew they would quadruple in thickness when cooked???

They really looked, and tasted, like dumplings.

Gross dumplings, not good ones.

I also could have titled this post "The Night We Ate Dinner Twice."

We ended up at KFC.  I am not kidding.

The other fail this week was the first time ever that Pioneer Woman has let me down.  Baked Lemon Pasta was barely edible.  The sauce was clumpy (in a curdled sort of way) and bland.  I had made the quick unbaked version she mentions at the beginning of the post before, and it was good.  That version is a keeper.  The baked one with sour cream....not a winner.  How can pasta and sour cream and butter and lemon go so wrong???

You can thank me for not photographing it.

Pasta in a cream sauce, gone wrong twice in one week?  That's gotta be some kind of a record.