Tuesday, October 2, 2012 at 9:00AM Chef Race Basil, Sun-Dried Tomato & Goat Cheese Pasta
A new Jamie Oliver food series, Chef Race, premieres tonight on BBC America. The show pits 8 American chefs against 8 British chefs in a culinary race across America. The teams are hosting virtual potluck viewing parties for bloggers in their home country and I’m participating in the one organized by American contestant Phoebe Lapine. My contribution is Pasta with Basil, Sundried Tomatoes, and Goat Cheese. Links to the other American bloggers’ contributions are at the end of this post.
Americans are endlessly inventive and entrepreneurial when it comes to food and recipes. America’s Test Kitchen will try multiple versions of a classic American pie, just to prove to us that there is a better way. At gourmet stores or even my local grocery, I inevitably come upon a product or prepared food that makes me smack my forehead and exclaim “why didn’t I think of that?” The choices, variations, and astounding creativity of others can be intimidating. But it can also be a jumping off point for my own home-cooking adventures.
And so it was with basil and sun-dried tomatoes over goat cheese. The story details are in this earlier post. The dish is simple (the amounts of each ingredient are approximate and there are no difficult techniques to master), but ends up looking sophisticated. The basil and tomato spread can be refrigerated for a week or 2 and freezes well. If you keep it on hand and just buy goat cheese at the last minute, it takes barely a few minutes to put together.
