Thursday, October 25, 2007

Dinner, or Supper?

Which is it in your house? I guess to some folks "dinner" is the midday meal. I always grew up with "dinner" and "supper" as synonyms for the late day meal, but calling it "dinner" much more often.

In any case it's been a while since I told you what we've had for dinner, and I can tell you're dying to know but you're too polite to ask.

OK, maybe not. But here's a quick, easy meal that my girls love:

Rotini with Prosciutto and Peas

1/4 lb. prosciutto -- I get the least expensive kind, cut in one slice. Some deli folks are better than others at judging how big a slice makes 1/4 lb. It doesn't matter precisely how much you end up with. A "heavy quarter" or a third is fine.
3 T extra virgin olive oil
3 cloves garlic, minced
14.5 oz box rotini -- I use Barilla's multigrain. Other brands come in 1 lb. boxes so in that case just use more of everything else or not quite all the pasta.
1 cup coarsely grated Parmesan cheese
1 T lemon juice
10 oz. package frozen peas

Put the water on for the pasta.
While it heats, cut the prosciutto into tiny cubes. Brown it in a skillet.
Add the oil and garlic to the skillet, cook until garlic browns a bit.
Meanwhile cook the pasta. When it has about 3 minutes left, dump the frozen peas in with it. Drain all that and put it back in the pot.
Mix in the prosciutto, garlic, and oil, and add the cheese and lemon juice.

Voila. Not fancy, but tasty, and I like dishes with the veggies already in 'em.

6 comments:

  1. We say dinner - but I grew up with a family that said supper - I don't know why we changed it. That sure sounds yummy! Have a good day - see ya.

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  2. YUM!!

    I say both dinner and supper interchangeably to mean the "evening repast," as my father calls it. Except sometimes dinner is lunch on Sunday, but only on Sunday. And not terribly often, because I like to make Sunday a "fend for yourself" day. Spousehole says "what's for dinner" and I say "Fend" and he knows he's on his own.

    I tagged you - come see!

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  3. Tea if its before six because people are going out, supper between six and eight, and after eight it becomes dinner.

    Not hard and fast rules but useful guidelines for the different meal names used in my house.

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  4. I grew up on a farm in Iowa. Dinner was at noon and supper after the cows were milked....

    Great recipe...except for the peas. I am not fond of peas...they are just so little and green and stuff.

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  5. we used to call it tea in my house

    then the kids got to be argumentative teenagers so now we just call everything

    'chow time'

    works for me (and my teenager inspired migraines)

    ;-)

    J

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