Pasta alla Trapanese

This morning I tried to ride Jackson.  We started out okay, with a nice forward walk on the bridle paths.  But when I asked him to trot in the arena after our warm-up, he felt off.  Just slightly off.  The kind where you think "is he?  No.... yes.... no.... yes, but maybe he'll work out of it.... or not" and about then Brett piped up and said he thought he looked a bit off.  So, we were done.  This morning when I was mucking, I noticed that the manure in his turnout was flung to the four winds.  He obviously was engaging in more antics last night.  I put him back in his stall and opened the gate between his turnout and the pasture.  It was 93F here today so I knew he wouldn't do more than mosey down to the water trough for a drink and maybe pause on his way to say hello to Kalvin over the fence. 

Did you catch that it was 93F here today?  Too hot to do anything outside.  Brett was forced to behave.   Sometimes when I look at Brett, that song "Macho, Macho Man" plays in my head.  He is horrible about resting when he is injured.  He has to push through the pain; things need to get done; if he's weak, I'll run off with some other guy.  Um, no, no, and absolutely not. 

The only productive thing (other than work) that I did today was cook dinner.

 I used some ripe tomatoes from the garden, potatoes and garlic.  The potatoes were par-cooked (zapped in the microwave) and then diced.

The garlic, basil and some olive oil went into the blender to make a pesto.

The tomatoes were peeled and diced.  It's easier to peel tomatoes if you cut a cross in the bottom (see the first photo) and then put them in boiling water for a minute or two.  The skins just peel off easy peasy.

The tomatoes, pesto and a dash of red pepper flakes were mushed up together.  Salt and pepper to taste.

Potatoes tossed with olive oil and slipped under the broiler until they were crispy and brown.

Toss it all together and top it off with a generous grating of Parmesan cheese.

I made our salad dressing in the blender: tomatoes, goat cheese, olive oil and a dab of maple syrup.  Yummy!!

Of course, there has to be more Parmesan cheese at the table to top off the pasta.  You can never have too much cheese.  At least not for Brett.  I think its medicinal too, don't you?  He said his back felt better after dinner...