Seared Garlic, Artichoke & Sweet Pea Pasta

Oh Dearies, the weather outside is frightful, but the fire is so delightful! I think the next line of this jingle goes on to talk about having no place to go, however, I have to go to the airport and pick up my mother in a moment. Which I must say is in and of itself quite frightful, as she has been a tyrant lately (smile but seriously) and she is getting off a plane that had to come through the very windy South Florida sky...

Yes, even this powerful witch is scared. I did want to quickly post this simple, yet delicious pasta I made the other day though. The combination of peas and artichokes seared with white wine, broth, and a hefty amount of garlic and parsley is one of my favorite combinations for any season being that this is made with organic frozen peas and canned artichokes. I did have a bit of a problem with doing said recipe this time around due to purchasing the most horrendous bottle of white wine-it was also quite frightful;-)!

My Sweet Artichoke helped me with the wine dilemma though, as I noticed she posted a pasta very similar to the one I love that did not include alcohol of any kind. So I based this sauce on her original recipe. Please note that my photos really don't do justice to this sauce or recipe in the sense that this pasta is luscious and not dry at all. It doesn't look that way my photos. Oh well...it's good. I promise!

-Artichoke, Green Pea & Garlic Pasta-

1/2 lb. pasta cooked al dente or to package instructions

1/2 14 oz. Can of Quartered Artichokes (drained)*

1/2 Cup Frozen, Organic Peas

1 Tbsp. Minced Garlic

1 Tbsp. Fresh Parsley (chopped)

1/2 Bouillon Cube

1/8 Tsp. Onion Powder

Pinch of dry, crushed Rosemary

1/8 Tsp. Black Pepper

1 Tbsp. Butter

Squeeze of 1/2 Lemon

1 Cup of Pasta water

Boil your pasta according to package instructions.

In the last 5 minutes of your pasta boiling, place butter in a saute pan on medium heat. Once hot, add the garlic and allow to saute for at least 15 seconds. Add onion powder, rosemary, black pepper, and peas. Saute for another 30 seconds while taking 1 cup of the starchy pasta water from the pasta pot. Add the starchy water and the halved bouillon cube to the mix and bring to a high simmer. Allow to simmer for about 1 & 1/2 minutes before adding the artichokes. Your pasta may be ready at about this time, so go ahead and drain it and set it to the side.

Allow the artichokes to simmer for at least a minute before adding the pasta to the pan. Once the pasta is mixed in, squeeze some lemon juice in & allow the water to evaporate off just to where you have a good amount of sauce but not too much liquid. This did not take long for me, and remember you always remove it while still pretty saucy (the pasta will continue to absorb the sauce once removed from the heat).

Remove from heat, add the parsley, and salt to taste-not too much if you are going to use a salty Parmesan. Plate and serve with Parmesan, red pepper flakes, etc.

Enjoy!

Oh, and this is my very humble, yet delicious entry into The Quickies Challenge!