Here’s a confession: I feel burned out sometimes. Making dinner is never a chore, but sometimes deciding what to make for dinner is. Particularly when under the weather, and I’m feeling kinda lousy today.

My conversation with Shane went like this:
Nina: I don’t know what to make for dinner, nothing sounds good.
Shane: I’m buying a dozen cupcakes at Billy’s Bakery for my crew, and I was going to bring three of them home for you and Rosey. (Proceeds to list off all 12 flavors).
N: Maybe soup. Did you eat a big lunch today?
S: I had a baguette with peanut butter. So, no.
N: Um.
S: Just pick up some prosciutto, mozzarella, and bread, ok?

My mom always made us egg-lemon soup when we were sick, and that sounded just about right. There’s no dog eared, hand written, index card for me to dig out, I don’t think my mom ever used a recipe. I found a simple—and quick! 15 min.—recipe for Avgolemeno (egg-lemon soup) at Dinner A Love Story. The original recipe is here, my  modification is below. And Jenny from DALS is right, kids do like it!

• Egg-lemon Soup •
adapted from Dinner A Love Story

4 cups chicken broth*
1/4 cup uncooked orzo
salt and pepper
3 eggs
4 tablespoons lemon juice

In a large saucepan, bring the broth to a boil.

Add the orzo and cook until tender but still al dente, about 7 minutes. Season with the salt and pepper and reduce heat to low; let simmer.

In a medium bowl, whisk together the eggs and lemon juice until smooth. Ladle about 1 cup of the hot broth into the egg-and-lemon mixture, whisking to combine.

Add the mixture back to the simmering saucepan. Stir just until the soup becomes opaque and thickens as the eggs cook, 1 to 2 minutes. Be sure to stir constantly or else the egg will curdle, and instead of smooth creaminess, you’ll have scrambled eggyness. Add more salt and pepper if need be, and serve.

*Our family uses College Inn chicken broth for this. I haven’t tried it with vegetable broth. More on me eating chicken broth later.

If, like me, you were a young adult in the 90’s, who preferred hosting dinner parties to attending keg parties, you probably cut your teeth on the Silver Palate and New Basics cookbooks. Julee Rosso and Sheila Lukins were the go-to ladies when you wanted to make something really good, bright, fresh and always delicious.

One of the recipes I’ve loved since my Silver Palate days is the famous, uncooked-sauce, Pasta with Tomatoes, Basil and Brie. So creamy and delicious. You put the brie in the freezer to make it easier to cut into pieces. Brilliant!

The problem, is the garlic. I’ve never been able to handle a lot of raw garlic. It’s not that I don’t like it, I do. It’s just that no one wants to be in the same room as me for a week afterwards. That and my mouth tastes like garlic for days, fine at dinner time, not so great at breakfast.

When I stumbled upon Pasta with Tomatoes, Basil and Brie online recently, I immediately missed and craved my old friend. But for the dragon breath.

Here’s my solution, a quicker (less than 40 min start to finish), modified, breath-friendly version. I’m quite happy with it. Shane said “This is great, does it have a pound of butter in it?” (it doesn’t, but there’s more than enough fat, worry not). Kisses all around!

• Pasta with Tomatoes, Basil & Brie •
adapted from the Silver Palate Cookbook

1lb curly pasta (I used mezze rigatoni tonight but curly is better for holding the sauce)
8 ripe campari tomatoes (approx 2″ in diameter), chopped*
1/2 cup fresh basil leaves, slivered
the zest of one lemon
1/3 cup olive oil
salt and pepper to taste
1/2lb piece creamy brie (I used triple creme) chopped

Put your piece brie in the freezer, this makes it easier to chop. Put a large pot of salted water on to boil for the pasta. Chop the tomatoes into 3/4″ to 1″ chunks and put in a large serving bowl. Add the slivered basil, lemon zest and olive oil to the tomatoes, stir to combine and season with salt and pepper. 

When the brie has been in the freezer for about 20 minutes, remove it and chop into approximately 1″ chunks. Add brie to the tomato basil mixture and stir gently to combine.

Put the pasta on to boil. When it’s cooked perfectly, drain and add it to the tomato, basil & brie mixture. Stir for a while until the brie is melted and the sauce is evenly distributed. Serve immediately.

*You can use any good, ripe tomatoes. Just use your best judgement to approximate the amount based on 8 campari tomatoes.