Tag: garlic

When it comes to cooking, I almost always overestimate how much I need to cook. I think it comes from watching my mom cook – she is the youngest of six kids so there were always lots of people to feed in her household. We are both the same in that we would rather have too much left over than not enough, and that is especially true of family gatherings.

A coworker noted this week that all my food columns lately have been healthy recipes. He’s right that for the last month I have been trying to incorporate healthy meals for dinner and lunch most days of the week.

Something old, something new and something borrowed: Miss Gilroy Garlic Queen 2012 rocked her pageant ensemble with all of the above.

Pasta e fagioli is a great Italian dish that is kind of a mix between a soup, a stew and a hearty pasta dish. As with a lot of Italian dishes, it can be made with a variety of different additions, from various herbs to vegetables to meats. The main two ingredients remain the same – pasta and beans. I enjoy making the dish with ditalini, the type of macaroni that my family uses when we make macaroni salad. It’s a small pasta that leaves room for all the other ingredients in the pot. I also like cannellini beans, which are like a white kidney bean; but any beans can be substituted in. The recipe below calls for pancetta, but bacon can be used instead. Or it could be left out all together to lower the fat content of the dish. The fresh herbs and vegetables are really what makes the dish taste great. They add a lot of flavor to the sauce/broth that elevate the recipe beyond a typical pasta dish.

Rapazzini Winery was opened in 1962 by Jon Rapazzini at the intersection of Highways 101 and 25 just south of Gilroy. Brothers, Charlie and Alex Larson, purchased the winery in 2000 where they continue to make great wines at affordable prices. They offer a wide range of 30 different wines -including 20 specific varietals and Almond Champagne.

One of my favorite kind of cuisines and a type that I find especially easy to make at home is Italian food. I like the versatility of pasta, which can go with a variety of different meats, sauces and vegetables. For the most part, pasta is a vessel to soak up the flavors that are mix into it.

Rapazzini Winery on U.S. 101 and Highway 25 is the embodiment of all that is sacred in Gilroy: wine, garlic and family ties.