Last night my cousin Meghan called me to tell me she would be coming into Boston today to watch her boyfriend run the marathon and asked me if I could spare a few hours to spend some time with her. Even though we didn’t spend much time together growing up (Meghan was born and raised in North Carolina), we became a lot closer this past year since she moved to NYC to go to Cornell for PA school (physician’s assistant). So, of course I said yes! I met up with her around 10:30 and we proceeded to spend the day running from course mark to course mark trying to catch her boyfriend as he passed. We ended up being able to see him at mile 16 and mile 25. He finished with an earth-shattering time of 3:08!
It was awesome being at the marathon and getting to feel all of that athletic running energy. It made me think that there may be a marathon in my future… Another cool thing about spending time with Meghan was that she is a runner as well and competed in the Philly Marathon this fall. She is also currently training for a 50K Trail Run…that’s right – 31 miles on DIRT. She’s even crazier than I am. We had so much to talk about it was insane – between boys, love, life, running, family, etc. it seemed like the day just flew by. We just have so much in common that I’m glad we finally became close after all these years. And that was the cheesy realization of my day.
So I am now on my third-to-last of my specially flavored Pappardelle’s Pasta. This flavor was kind of a toughie – lime cilantro. I sat around thinking for a while of some other flavors that are traditionally served with limes and cilantro and thought that thai seemed like a pretty good option. Then, I remembered back back way back to when I used to eat dining hall food. I got stir fry all of the time (it is made to order and is probably the safest option) and my especial favorite sauce was the peanut sauce. Suddenly, all of the stars aligned and everything fell into place; I quickly looked through some of my favorite blogs to find a recipe to start with. In addition, I spotted some Chinese eggplant at the MIT produce stand and, since it is something I never see at the regular supermarket, decided to pick some up to mix in with this pasta. In the end, the flavors of this sauce replicated the dining hall version really well and went great with the sweet tangy-ness of the pasta. I have to say, I like my sauce better than dining hall’s because I added some extra spiciness to it. In my opinion, the spicier the better!
Lime Cilantro Linguine with Peanut Sauce
Serves 4, sauce adapted from Vegan Dad
1 small onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, chopped
1/4 tsp ginger
1/2 cup skippy all-natural peanut butter
1/2 cup almond milk
2 tbsp water
1/4 tsp thai red curry paste
2 tbsp hoisin sauce
1 tsp coriander
2 tbsp brown sugar
1 tbsp red wine vinegar
1 tbsp sriracha (or to taste)
1 lb lime cilantro noodles
4 small chinese eggplant
1. Preheat oven to 450. Slice the eggplant so that you have a series of coin-like pieces. Arrange on a baking sheet, spray with cooking spray, and sprinkle with salt. Bake for 20-30 minutes or until cooked.
2. Cook the pasta.
3. Place all of the other ingredients in a food processor and blend until smooth. Heat in a saucepan until bubbly. Reduce heat and simmer for about 5 minutes, stirring regularly.
4. Mix pasta, sauce, and eggplant and serve.
I am submitting this to Presto Pasta Nights, which is being hosted this week by Hillary of Chew on That.
yum! that pasta sounds awesome, and i love peanut sauce on noodles!
Holy cow that is a good time. I think if I was to attempt it I would never finish. Mostly because I would end up finding something shiny and end up way off track and god knows where.
I have been meaning to do more with peanut butter since I acquired some.
Nicely done!
Where did you find the pasta? It looks quite gourmet (and tasty!).
my head is spinning at the sound of that lime cilantro pasta! oh my goodness! sounds really amazing, and what a great peanut sauce! I’m def bookmarking this!
What a truly glorious combo. I love the lime cilantro pasta…but haven’t seen any here. Perhaps I can somehow make my own now that I have pasta making attachment for my KitchenAid.
Thanks for sharing with Presto Pasta Night.
Yum! What a great pasta. I love it!
great idea for these noodles, they sound delicious!!!
I love the pasta flavor! It really sparked your creativity-this looks fabulous! And wow! I have to say I can’t even fathom running 31 miles-how amazing!
Ashlee – Peanut sauce IS great, especially homemade!
Jeff – Yeah his time was insane. I am awed to know a real person who can do something like that. Peanut butter is definitely one of the greatest things known to man. I am excited to see what you come up with for it.
Van – Thanks! I got it online (just google Pappardelle’s Pasta).
burpandslurp – I can’t wait to see what crazy concoction you come up with to include the sauce in. It would be honored to make it into one of your mix-in bowls.
Ruth – If anyone can figure out how to recreate this it is you! A worthy task.
Natashya – Thanks for the comment!
ttfn – They are super good. I hope they carry them (or something like them) at the farmer’s markets here.
Reeni – I love how these pastas are really making me think. I can’t fathom it either, my cousin is even crazier than I am…but at least now I can be assured that running runs in my genes.
Rock on! Thank you for the name. =)
The flavors of this dish sound excellent! Thanks for submitting to this week’s Presto Pasta roundup! Tune in tomorrow for the rest of the dishes!
Hillary – Thank YOU for hosting! I’m excited for the roundup.
What a great pasta and the sauce looks incredible too. I am developing a love for Japanese eggplant lately, I keep buying them at the framer’s market.
OMG, I love, love, love peanut sauce. This looks and sounds so flavorful.
Deb – I love how small they are and how few seeds they have, they roasted so quickly! ::Sigh:: I wish it were warm enough for Farmer’s Markets here…
Alisa – Thanks, peanut sauce is SO tasty.
That pasta sounds tasty! I like using peanut butter in savoury dishes like this.
Kevin – I like peanut butter in any way, shape, or form! Thanks for the comment.
I love Peanut Butter too.
I can’t find Cilantro Pappardelle, but I guess they will be easy to prepare, just adding some Cilantro to the dough when preparing fresh egg pasta… I will do it and try this recipe!
Graziana – Please do! And let me know what you think. I would love to be able to make my own pasta…maybe one day.