It was  a lazy sunday today, Mr. Man and I were hanging around the house, while Miss Thing tried to rest up and take it easy (she’s heading back to school tomorrow after a week of spring vacationing). We had planned to do more this week with Miss Thing’s vacation, but plans just never seemed to fully materialize, unfortunately. But – it was a nice stay-cation, if nothing else. Miss Thing had a friend over one night, we had a trip in to San Francisco, and we all got some much needed R&R and hanging out time.

Because the weather was so warm today though (probably the warmest day in what has been a pretty warm week), I didn’t really want to make anything to heavy for dinner, but I was really craving some pasta. I thought the light and sweet flavors of the Snap Peas and the carrots that I received earlier this week in my FFTY box would be a great starting point for some sort of spicy-thai fusion inspired pasta dish, so thats what I set off to make. And let me tell you – these are nothing like the peas and carrots I remembered getting as a kid.

Ingredients:

• 1 lb Farfalle Pasta
• 1 lb Snap Peas; washed and trimmed
• 1 bunch Nantes Carrots, washed and sliced thick on the bias (about 8 small carrots)
• 1 Onion, diced
• 4 cloves Garlic; minced
• 1/2 cup Crunchy Peanut Butter
• 2 tbs White Wine
• 1 tbs Fresh grated Ginger
• 1 lemon; juiced
• 2 tbs Olive Oil
• 1 tbs Brown Sugar
• 1 tsp Hot Sauce
• 1 and 1/2 tsps Soy Sauce
• 1/4 tsp Cayenne Pepper
• 1/2 tsp Cumin
• 1/8 cup Fresh Cilantro; chopped
• Salted Water for cooking pasta
• 5 slices Serrano Ham, chopped (optional)

Method:

• Cook Pasta in salted water until Al Dente
• While cooking the pasta/waiting for the water to heat up assemble sauce and veggies
• In a bowl, stir together the Peanut Butter, ginger, white wine, lemon juice, brown sugar, soy sauce, hot sauce, cayenne pepper and cumin. Set aside.
• Heat the olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat
• Add the onions and saute until onions are translucent
• Stir in the Carrots and saute until carrots are still raw in the center, but beginning to soften around the edges
• Add the peas and stir to combine
• Cover and reduce heat until tender (shoot for having the veggies done at about the same time the pasta is done)
• When the Pasta is cooked to Al Dente, drain and return to pot
• Toss pasta with Peanut Sauce and veggies. Stir in the Serrano Ham, if desired and serve immediately.