Broccoli and Bow Tie Pasta

Tonight, I baked some beef ribs for dinner and made this pasta salad from Ina Garten who is posting recipes from your pantry and fridge for us stay-at-homers.  I actually had everything to make this one since I love bow tie pasta and always have some in the cupboard.  I had a little bit of broccoli left, too.  Perfect.  I even have frozen broccoli for when my fresh runs out since I'm trying to keep stocked up on healthy foods to keep my immune system strong.  I'm also taking vitamin D and vitamin C everyday, which I did even before the coronavirus hit but now they say those two are especially important to fight the virus.  So, take your vitamin, folks!

I've been conscious of using up stuff in my pantry and fridge as to not waste a drop of food so yesterday I made another loaf of Irish Soda Bread since I still had currents and buttermilk leftover from St. Patrick's day.  I debated about making more of those scones...but I resisted.  They were pretty good but so is this bread.

We were out most of the day today to get the keys to Nick's recently purchased home that is about an hour away from our home.  Bruce did some yard work while we were there and we met some of the neighbors which was really nice.

We thought we better get out there to get the keys before we're ordered to stay at home by our governor.  We're suppose to be staying home but it's not an official order here yet.  We really wanted to get Nick's house issues completed before the coronavirus gets even worse...which it will.  We were only near three different people at a distance today so it was easy to do social distancing.

I guess I should say his house is actually only 50 minutes away because now there is no traffic!  We got there a lot faster than we have in the past.  We've been out there looking at houses with Nick when he was visiting from Japan and then he found one with his agent in January that he's been working with remotely.  He let us know they'd found a house so we went out to look at it.  It checked all the boxes and we reported everything back to Nick.  So, yes.  He did purchase it sight unseen but I'm proud to say that he trusts his parents.

Normally, today we would have gone to eat at The Clubhouse afterwards.  His neighborhood is in a golf community and they have a wonderful restaurant where we eat every time we go out there.  It's such a lovely spot.  (Now, The Clubhouse is only doing take out.)  Today, we just drove straight home, no dilly-dallying.  Back to our shelter-in-place.  I knew exactly what we were eating tonight since all our meals are planned out and organized these days.  And I knew I wanted to make this recipe tonight.  I don't have any new recipes planned after this so we'll see what happens.  Bruce and I decide that the next time we go to the grocery store we're going to wear mask and gloves and go during the one hour only for senior citizens which all the stores are doing now.  There will surely be less people there at that time.  And Bruce and I both have a N95 mask which is what you really need.  We only have two that Bruce kept for visiting job sites under construction.   We took this photo at the end of February when we thought it was all sort of joke.  My, how things have changed.

Stay home everyone and more importantly, stay healthy.  

Serves 6-8

Kosher salt
8 cups broccoli florets (4 heads)
1/2 pound farfalle pasta (bow tie)
3 Tbsp. unsalted butter
3 Tbsp. olive oil
1 tsp. minced garlic
zest of 1 lemon
1/2 tsp. freshly ground black pepper
1 Tbsp. freshly squeezed lemon juice
1/4 cup toasted pignoli (pine) nuts
Freshly grated Parmesan cheese, optional

1.  Cook the broccoli for 3 minutes in a large pot of boiling salted water.

2.  Remove the broccoli from the water with a slotted spoon or sieve.  Place in a large bowl and set aside.

3.  In the same water, cook the bow-tie pasta according to the package directions, about 12 minutes.  Drain well and add to the broccoli.

4.  Meanwhile, in a large sauté pan, heat the butter and oil and cook the garlic and lemon zest over medium-low heat for 1 minutes.

 5.  Off the heat, add 1tsp. salt, the pepper, and lemon juice and mix thoroughly.

6.  Add the bowl of broccoli and pasta to the oil mixture in the pan and stir until the broccoli and pasta are well coated with the sauce.

7.  Sprinkle with the pignolis and cheese, if using and serve.