pass the pasta (giveaway alert)

I recently realized that I've posted woefully few pasta recipes. Since lasagna, ravioli, and even plain ol' angel hair with butter and parmesan are staples for me, that deficiency needs to be taken care of posthaste.


I might not have noticed the pasta shortage had I not been contacted by Sara, a representative of Garofalo Pasta. She offered to send me some samples of their whole wheat line in return for a review, and I eagerly accepted. This is a company that's been going strong for over 200 years, so it's obvious they're doing something right. What's more, they take great pride in using only the finest raw ingredients, and I can tell you that it's apparent when you take that first bite of their pasta.

I received capellini and whole wheat farfalle. Their product site suggests pairing the farfalle with thick tomato-based or cream sauces. Upon reading this, I immediately remembered a post I'd recently seen and bookmarked--pasta with mint yogurt sauce.

I've been looking for ways to use yogurt in cooking, especially thick and luscious Greek yogurt. My brand of choice is Oikos, from Stonyfield Farm. You'll be seeing more yogurt-happy recipes in the future, assuming I'm able to resist eating the rest of my stash straight from the tub.


So this was perfect. I cooked the pasta and coated it with that mixture of Greek yogurt and mint. Since I've really grown to love the combination of peas and mint, and since peas in pasta are always fun, I decided to toss some of those in, too. The crimson pieces you see are sun-dried tomatoes, which could quite possibly be my favorite component of any pasta dish ever created. This is seriously easy and seriously delicious (thanks to some seriously high-quality ingredients).

Now, what's this about a giveaway, you ask? Well, the folks at Garofalo are ready, willing, and able to send one lucky winner a perfect pasta package containing three cool types of pasta--spaghetti, calamarata, and whole wheat penne rigate. Just imagine the magical dishes a person could create with those! In order to put yourself in the running, leave a comment describing the best pasta dish you've ever had. Were sun-dried tomatoes involved? Was it homemade or in a restaurant? Give me some meaty answers (or vegetarian, as the case may be)! Comments will be accepted until whenever I wake up next Friday, May 22nd, and I'll reveal the randomly-selected winner that morning. Good luck!