Refrigerator Herb Pasta

I do not claim to be a cook, a foodie, a connessure of things.

I do, however, like food and things.

I also like to feed my family.

So, what do you get when you put all of those things together plus the fact that I hadn't been to the grocery store in a week....

I present to you, refrigerator herb pasta.

Rarely do I try and throw something together with whatever I can find around the kitchen and have it actually work out, but on this occassion, it did.

And it was awesome.

So, I thought I'd share my rare moment with you in case you decided to give it a go yourself.

First thing's first, grab whatever pasta you have lying around the house. In my case it was half a bag of macaroni and 1/3 a bag of penne. I'm a big proponent of the use what you got philosophy. Start cooking that in some water until al dente.

Next, throw half a stick of butter and a good dousing of olive oil into a skillet. While that's getting nice and toasty, throw in 4 or 5 cloves of garlic because, seriously, how could you possibly go wrong with this combination.

Let that simmer until the garlic is nice and brown, then turn off the heat. Then, take a nice deep breathe. Believe me, it's worth it.

This is the point in my pasta making adventure when I opened the fridge and thought... there's got to be something in here I can use. 

Luckily I found 4 ripe grape tomatoes. I chopped those babies up and set them aside.

After lucking out on the tomatoes, I knew I'd need more to make this meal somewhat legit. That's when I stepped outside onto our patio. 

My hottie of a husband had planted some cherry tomatoes and fresh herbs not to long ago. Rosemary, oregano, basil and more... the good stuff. I decided this would be the key to a legit pasta dinner.

So I cut some of those beauties and rinsed and chopped them up, along with the cherry tomatoes.

After draining the pasta, I threw in the garlic and butter, the tomatoes and fresh herbs, crossed my fingers and mixed it all up.

And it was good.

Really, really good. Fresh herbs and ripe cherry tomatoes from the vine are little bits of heaven.

We finished dinner that night with full tummied children and a happy mom and dad, which equals major success in this house. 

You can read over the recipe below. Cheers to life's little victories! 

Refrigerator Herb Pasta:

Ingredients:

1 bag pasta, any kind

4 grape tomatoes

4-5 cloves garlic (go for 5, you won't regret it)

1/4 cup butter

2 tablespoons olive oil

2 handfuls cherry tomatoes

1 handful fresh rosemary

1 handful fresh oregano

1 handful fresh basil leaves

salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

Boil water and add pasta. Let cook until al dente then turn off the heat and let sit. Heat butter and olive oil in a large skillet. Add the chopped garlic. Cook, stirring occasionally until garlic is brown.

Chop grape tomatoes and set aside. Cut cherry tomatoes in half and rinse and chop the herbs.

Drain pasta and put it into a large bowel. Add garlic, butter and olive oil along with tomatoes and herbs. Mix well and add salt and pepper to taste.

Enjoy!