Brown and Bloggin It: Home again!

Sunday July 10

Well, we are back home to Louisville, safe and sound. While I do love NYC, I am always glad to be back to our house, which feels like a mansion after the tiny Cupboard we have lived in the past 10 days.

To celebrate being home, I decided to cook a healthy dinner.

Amy picked us up from the airport this morning, and brought me 2 yellow squash from her aunts garden. That was my inspiration to make a light summer pasta dish with yellow squash, fresh basil, tomatoes, ground beef, and parmesan.
To honor the fabulous Pioneer Woman, I'm posting this blog in her famous step by step picture style.
First, I browned 1 lb of ground beef:

Then I drained it, even though it was hardly necessary as the beef is so lean

After wiping any residual oil out of the pan, I then added olive oil and sauteed garlic

Next I got my pasta water boiling and cooked the pasta

While that was cooking, I chopped up my 2 yellow squash

And then when the garlic started to brown, I added the squash to
the pan

I then added about a cup of white wine, and half a cup of chicken broth to the squash

I let that simmer for about 5 minutes, then added diced tomatoes (from a can, because sadly the ones I'm growing are not ripe yet)
I also in added the beef:

I let all that simmer for about 5 minutes more, then I added the al dente cooked pasta

Here is a secret ingredient I've finally started using when cooking pasta dishes- a reserved cup of the pasta water

Adding this really gives the dish an Umami texture; very comforting!
Also, another secret I've recently picked up is to add a couple pats of cold butter to the dish after the pasta and water have been added

If you are not using any milk, adding the butter will give the dish that creaminess that dairy always adds
Speaking of dairy, I then added some fresh Parmasean cheese