Eat, Read, and Be Mommy

To be fair, there are a lot of things I love that my kids love, too.  (Not all of them at the same time, necessarily, but that’s just too much to hope for.)  None of my children, however, are anywhere near as passionate about savory lemon as I am–and apparently, none of them like capers as much as I do, either.  So when my friend’s hubby bought some campanelle for an incredible price and brought me some, making this Campanelle with White Beans, Lemon, and Burrata was not exactly a selfless choice.  On the other hand, not every dinner has to be, right?  Because I loved this recipe.

I did change it up, mind you.  I didn’t have burrata and I wasn’t going to shop for and PAY for burrata on that particular day, and so shredded mozzarella from Costco was going to have to do.  I didn’t have arugula, either, and I wasn’t going to shop for that; spinach is milder, anyway, not to mention easier to find at my corner grocery store.  (I had my two oldest girls walk there with a five dollar bill.)  Finally, I cut the crushed red pepper flakes down to a manageable amount for my household (like I always do!).  What really mattered, though, was the beautiful tart brightness of the lemon married with the salty piquancy of the capers, topped off with the mild loveliness of the mozzarella, all coating the pasta and fresh spinach with layers of flavor and goodness.  I really did love it.

My 10-year-old had to hold her nose to force down her last bite.

I had all of the leftovers to myself, though.  And THAT was a beautiful thing.