I write about food when I get the opportunity. I love food. It shows. I had to buy a belt the other day, mine was old. I had to upgrade to a 40 and I still think it may be a little small. I have certainly put on the pounds over the years. Quitting smoking was easily replaced by hamburgers, pizza, and beer.

Tonight, while watching Biggest Loser, I waded through a wonderful mixture of Perline Pasta with fresh vegetable marinara, a dollop of homemade pesto, and some parmesan cheese. Okay, I had two pieces of focaccia bread with it.

I have taken many pictures of the food I eat, and I have raved about my Wife’s cooking and our friends Stacey’s cooking. Tonight was no different. Unless you count the large man on my television talking about how he isn’t unhappy, he just likes food. Ahem. That is like saying, “I don’t like cocaine, I just like the smell.” …. What?

Back to food…

The perline pasta is a little noodle purse stuffed with prosciutto. It is mixed into the marina after it is boiled. The Marinara is stewed tomatoes, onions, shallots, mushrooms and Stacey added zucchini. The vegetables should be cooked to just past fresh, if that makes sense. The zucchini was still firm but cooked. It really added a nice texture.

On a side note, I looked up perline pasta, and found a lot of disgruntled foodies. Apparently Trader Joe’s is not a popular place for this pasta. Odd, because we got ours at TJ as well and it was a good filler. I guess I don’t expect pasta to stand above the rest of the dish. I like my pasta to get the sauce stuff to my mouth in a polite way. Maybe it is just me. I do believe this may be one of their ‘inventions’ though. The only references I can find are related to TJs.

We have about 20 containers of homemade pesto from our garden. No we don’t have a pesto plant. We do have Basil and Garlic. At the end of summer, Krista and Stacey cut down the Basil. They process all of it for pesto, for the winter. I have to admit, we eat a lot of pesto around here. Not the healthiest, but like anything else, moderation…. I can’t even say that with a straight face.

Like I said, I love food. The concept of devouring food, savoring the moments when the food first touches your tongue to the moment that the air reacts with the oils in your mouth, is not foreign to me. It is gastro porn, it is euphoric, it is addictive, and dear lordy, it is good. This dish is no different. Try it yourself. No, just try a little. If you like it, come back for more. This one is on me.

Scary isn’t it.