Weeknight Bolognaise

Sometimes you just need to make yourself a big bowl of pasta. This recipe goes together in under an hour and really hits the spot when you're in need of a quick, hearty pasta dish. Recipe Link

All the critical ingredients for cooking a pasta dish: fresh basil, grated parmesan, minced garlic...and a cold beer.

This was our first chance to use our new All-Clad skillet, a wedding gift from Julia's aunt Kathy. 

Now that the long LA winter is finally over, we find ourselves cooking in natural sunlight. Our photographer is pleased.

Our meerkat knows a few tricks and has a staring problem.

Obligatory palm tree picture for our east coast readers.

Mushroom Bolognese

In honor of Mother's Day, we decided to make a very motherly dish...spaghetti.Well, kind of. We made a Mushroom Bolognese which is slightly better than spaghetti.

Although Bolognese sauces can typically be on the unhealthy side, this mushroom bolognese from Cookinglight.com was a bit lighter, using ground pork instead of beef, and replacing a large amount of the meat with mushrooms. The recipe also called for whole wheat pasta instead of regular, which made for a very hearty dish.

Also unlike many bolognese recipes, this sauce didn't take forever to cook, only requiring to simmer in the pot for about 30 minutes or so. Few ingredients, quick prep time, and tasty but healthy makes this dinner a winner! ;)

Recipe from Cooking Light:
http://www.myrecipes.com/recipe/mushroom-bolognese-10000002012774/

topped with parsley and cheese = heaven