Cooking Adventures

Tonight I tried a different version of a recipe that I've made before. The original recipe is a Baked Ziti with Fire Roasted Tomatoes. The first time I made it, I followed the recipe and it was pretty good. The second time I made the recipe, I substituted turkey for ground beef and penne for ziti and added some spices (basil) and threw all the spices in without really measuring them. I thought this one was better, and I've made this version several times before. But tonight I wanted to try a purely vegetarian version, so I invented a new, longer-named Baked Penne with Zucchini and Mushrooms in a Spicy Fire Roasted Tomato Sauce. I omitted the meat/turkey and added a bunch of mushrooms, both white button mushrooms and portabellas. And again, I seasoned it without measuring anything. But this time I added a bunch of crushed red pepper flakes. Apparently crushed red pepper develops its flavor and heat as it cooks, because when I first added it, it didn't seem spicy, so I added more. It turned out to be spicy, but it wasn't too overwhelming or unbearable. I like spicy food, but don't like it so hot to the point that it burns your taste buds and ruins the meal because after a while you can't taste anything. This amount of spice was just right. Maybe I overdid it with the cheese on top, but who can resist all that ooey, gooey goodness?! My only regret was that I didn't have any wine in the house to drink with the meal!


Current mood: tired
Current music: iTunes on shuffle—Faith Hill "Breathe"
Current drink: thinking about breaking my Cognac-only-on-weekends rule...