Bring on the aliens

I am a chronic avoider -- dentist appointments, laundry, bills. I have a list sitting to my left of things I've needed to accomplish for weeks now. On this list includes a certain Shakespeare paper that has evaporated into oblivion. I am dreading completing this paper. I would rather go to the dentist and have my teeth drilled upon than finish this paper (those of you who know me well know that I would rather have my butt probed by aliens than go to the dentist. I LOATHE the dentist). Bring on the aliens.

Because I'm doing such a good job of avoiding said paper, I have accomplished a number of other items on my list -- I finally got my Idaho driver's license. I updated my car insurance. I also, by day's end, will have my car titled in Idaho, one step closer to my vehicle being registered in Idaho. It's exhausting moving states.

The most exciting thing I checked off of my list today: purchased my plane ticket to Ireland. The most brilliant part, my ticket came to almost exactly $1000. I'm pretty tickled with that number. Now I have more spending money for important things like drinking whiskey.

Below is the other half of the pasta feast from last week. This sauce was fantastic. Cooking the basil stems along with the tomatoes is a trick I will always remember. I purchased my beef from a butcher who scoffed at me when I asked if they have any local beef. He laughed, placed his hand under the grinder and said, "this here was a local cow." I suppose you can't get much fresher than that.

Lemon zest is rapidly becoming my favorite ingredient.

So simple: beef, salt, pepper, lemon zest,

chili flakes, garlic, cinnamon. (egg and parmesan)

Shallots, garlic, basil stems and chili flakes.

This smelled divine.

Smoosh up the tomatoes as they cook -- makes for a lovely sauce.

Best meatballs this side of the pond.

Thank you, Jaime.

Jaime Oliver's ragu of tiny meatballs

for the meatballs:

1 lb ground beef

3 cloves garlic, minced

zest from one lemon

1-2 red chilies, crushed

a pinch of cinnamon

1/2 tsp nutmeg (I omitted)

sea salt and black pepper

1 large egg

a handful of parmesan cheese, more for serving

for the sauce:

1 28 oz can whole tomatoes

3 cloves garlic, minced

a bunch of fresh basil, leaves removed and stalks reserved

1 fresh chili (I used dried chili flakes)

olive oil

a little swig of red wine

sea salt and black pepper

(I added more lemon zest because I can't make tomato sauce without it now, and I also added a chopped shallot).

In Jaime's words: To make your meatballs, mix and scrunch together all the the meatball ingredients in your hands and shape into marble-sized balls. When rolling the meatballs, run your hands under cold water every now and then -- it will help to make the meatballs dense and hold their shape better. Place them in a pan and put in the fridge while you make your tomato sauce.

Get a pan on the heat and add a glug of olive oil to it. Gently fry the garlic, basil stalks and chile flakes (shallot), then add the tomatoes and red wine. Season with salt and pepper then gently simmer for half and hour.

(I used the same pan for frying the meatballs and making the sauce. I fried my meatballs first and set them aside while I stewed my sauce, then added them in at the end per Jaime's instruction. One less pan to wash!)

Heat up a little olive in a frying pan and throw in your meatballs. Cook until they've got a really good color on them, then add them to your tomato sauce. Remove the chili from the sauce (if using a whole chili) and check for seasoning. Continue to simmer for ten to fifteen minutes. Meanwhile, cook pasta in a large pan of salted water. Cook for about two to three minutes and drain, reserving a little of the cooking water, then toss the pasta in the meatball sauce. Add a knob of butter, a handful of parmesan, and tear over half of the basil leaves. Now, toss around to coat the pasta. Add a little bit of cooking water to loosen the sauce if needed. When it's superb, serve on a big platter or divide up between individual plates, scatter with the rest of the basil leaves, grate over some parmesan and serve as soon as possible.