Leftovers for Lunch...

Last week I made my first GDL meal in Richmond. As previously mentioned, there’s still a lot to do with the apartment and learning so much at work so by the time dinner rolls around, I’m absolutely exhausted. But as Jamie suggested and Jared concurred, a GDL dessert had to be made in celebration of the move! So Tuesday I made Orecchiette with Toasted Breadcrumbs with Marinated Strawberries over Pound Cake for dessert.

The Orecchiette with Toasted Breadcrumbs was nothing exciting but super quick and made enough for me, Jared and lunch the next day. But the Marinated Strawberries over Pound Cake were worth devoting several paragraphs to. So here they are…

You start by cleaning, hulling and halving a quart of fresh strawberries and tossing them in a shallow casserole dish. A third of a cup of balsamic vinegar gets poured over them and they sit marinating at room temperature for twenty minutes or as long as it took for Jared and I to eat our Orecchiette.

Next you sweeten the strawberries/vinegar with about two tablespoons of sugar and make the homemade whipped cream. You know the drill on my whipped cream by now but as a refresher- you beat about a third of a cup of heavy whipping cream until soft peaks form. Add powdered sugar to sweeten and refrigerate until ready to use.

The pound cake (which GDL says to just buy ready made, bless her heart) gets sliced and placed on individual plates. The marinated strawberries are spooned over the slices and then topped with a big dollop of whipped cream.

Giada says in her intro to the recipe, “One word: easy. Make that two: delicious.” I say make it a couple more multi-hyphenated words: super-f-ing-scrum-didi-li-ump-tious. There’s a tartness to it from the balsamic vinegar but overall so sweet and creamy. And the different textures beg for your mouth to take another bite. And another. And another. I could go on but instead I’ll just encourage you to make it yourself. It won’t disappoint.

Another simple dish that allowed for leftovers was GDL’s Spaghetti with Garlic, Olive Oil and Red Pepper Flakes. Again, totally simple and quick. While the spaghetti cooks, you simmer olive oil with five garlic cloves and red pepper flakes. The spicy, garlicky mixture pours over the pasta and topped with fresh basil and parsley.

When I’m overloaded with the newness of my job it feels fantastic to escape to the courtyard outside the company lunchroom, sit in the sun and enjoy my Everyday Italian leftovers. There’s a simplicity and comfort to it that has been absolutely necessary these last two weeks.