Roasted Vegetable Pasta

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This roasted vegetable pasta is tossed with lots of caramelized roasted veggies and a delicious balsamic garlic butter sauce. So simple and delicious!

This roasted veggie pasta was an instant hit in our house!

I mean, it’s hard to go wrong in our book with mixing a big pan of caramelized veggies with pasta. But we loved the simplicity of the butter-balsamic-garlic sauce here, which perfectly complemented the flavors of the roasted veggies without overpowering them. When tossed with a generous handful of salty freshly-grated Parm and lots of fresh basil, this dish was absolutely bursting with big, fresh, summertime flavors. We went back for seconds…and then thirds! Couldn’t get enough of this one. ♡

The veggie options here are totally flexible, so please feel free to use whatever sounds good (or is overflowing in your garden, if you happen to have a green thumb!). You could also add in an extra protein if you’d like (such as chicken, sausage, shrimp, etc). And while I love the warm roasted veggies here fresh out of the oven, we can vouch that this recipe tastes equally delicious served as more of a cold pasta salad, so be sure to enjoy those leftovers too.

Let’s make some veggie pasta!

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Cardamom Scones

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These delicious cinnamon cardamom scones are easy to make, perfectly soft and flaky, and drizzled with a simple glaze.

New favorite scone alert! ♡

My mom recently brought us a batch of freshly-baked cinnamon scones, inspired by this recipe from Smitten Kitchen. And our entire family instantly agreed that they were hands-down some of the best we had ever tasted. Seriously, we absolutely love these scones and can’t stop making them!

As you can see, Deb’s original recipe features these fun “open-book” layers, which are easy to create by adding a few folds of cinnamon-sugar to dough. Our family really loves cardamom, though, so we’ve taken to adding a few generous teaspoons of ground cardamom to the filling along with the cinnamon and sugar. We’ve also come to love adding a touch of vanilla and some extra cream to the dough, to make it irresistibly soft and flaky and flavorful. And even with a final drizzle of icing, I love that these scones turn out to be sweet-but-not-too-sweet. When served hot out of the oven alongside a good cup of coffee, I’m telling you, there’s nothing better!

Let’s bake some scones!

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Bruschetta

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All of the best tips we learned in Italy about how to make classic tomato basil bruschetta.

Tomato season means…time to make tomato bruschetta! ♡

I’ve long been a big fan of this classic Italian appetizer. But a few years ago during our trip to Rome, my husband and I had the opportunity to take a cooking class on the art of making traditional tomato basil bruschetta and learned a few tips and techniques we found helpful. So I figured that tomato season would be a good time to pop in here and share a bit of what we learned!

First, a quick note about pronunciation. Americans often pronounce bruschetta with an “sh” sound, but the Italian ch is actually pronounced like an English “k”, so it should sound more like broo-skeh-tah. (By the way, the plural of bruschetta is bruschette — broo-skeh-teh.) Its name is derived from the Roman verb meaning “to toast” or “to roast over coals,” which makes sense because bruschetta is commonly regarded as one of the best uses for leftover bread.

Tomato bruschetta been a popular dish in Italy since the 16th century, back when tomatoes first arrived on the scene in Europe. And as with most classic Italian dishes, the components of tomato bruschetta are intentionally kept simple so that the vibrant, fresh flavor of each ingredient can each really shine through. All you need are ripe tomatoes, good-quality olive oil, fresh basil, garlic, oregano, sea salt and crusty bread to make an excellent batch of bruschette al pomodoro. It’s a quick and easy appetizer to assemble. And, if you’d like, you can even prep the crostini and tomato basil topping hours in advance and assemble just before serving, making bruschetta a terrific option for easy entertaining.

The most important thing that our instructor stressed again and again is that amazing tomatoes make for amazing bruschetta. So let’s make the most of tomato season and whip up a quick batch of bruschetta!

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Crostini

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All of my best tips for how to make perfectly crisp and delicious homemade crostini, plus lots of ideas for fun toppings!

One essential technique that I highly recommend memorizing for easy entertaining — how to make crostini! ♡

These classic little toasts are the perfect appetizer or snack to serve a crowd and always taste a million times fresher when made homemade versus store-bought. And, since it’s so easy to whip up a batch in 20 minutes with just 3 basic ingredients, I’m convinced a homemade batch is always worth the extra effort!

They’re the perfectly crisp and versatile little vehicles to host any number of delicious toppings. So whether you’re craving classic tomato basil bruschetta, a spread of goat cheese drizzled with honey, fig jam layered with prosciutto and arugula, brie topped with apple slices, a scoop of pimento cheese or spinach artichoke dip — I could go on and on, the options really are limitless — a fresh batch of homemade crostini is pretty much guaranteed to make everything better.

Here are all of my best tips and tricks for how to make a quick batch of crostini, plus tons of ideas for fun seasonings and toppings to try!

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Curry Chicken Salad

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This zesty curry chicken salad recipe is full of protein and perfectly balanced with sweet and savory flavors.

Trader Joe’s curry chicken salad has long been a favorite in our house. But when we moved to Barcelona seven years ago and found ourselves an ocean away from TJ’s grab-and-go option, I quickly figured out how to make my own homemade version from scratch, which honestly couldn’t be easier and (bonus) was just a fraction of the cost! ♡

Many years later, this recipe is still one of my go-to’s for a protein-packed lunch. It comes together quickly with cooked chicken (diced or shredded), toasted cashews, shredded carrots, cilantro, red onion, and a simple Greek yogurt curry sauce. I also like to add in lots of fresh red grapes for extra texture and sweetness (versus the raisins used in the TJ’s version), and prefer to lighten up the curry sauce with plain Greek yogurt instead of mayo. Together, the ingredients combine to create the perfect balance of sweet and savory flavors, crunchy and tender textures, with a perfectly spiced creamy dressing. And the leftovers taste even better the second day after the the flavors have had a chance to meld. So good!

Feel free to serve this curry chicken salad up between slices of bread to make a sandwich, roll it up in a tortilla to make a wrap, scoop it into lettuce wraps, serve it with crackers for dipping — there are so many ways to enjoy this delicious and versatile salad. So enjoy, enjoy! (more…)

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Aperol Margarita

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This Aperol margarita recipe is easy to make with Aperol, lime juice, and your favorite tequila.

Aperol spritzes meet margs with these vibrant Aperol margaritas! ♡

We traditionally make margs in our house using Cointreau. But my friend, Lindsey, recently mentioned that she’s been enjoying hers lately with Aperol, which lends more of a bittersweet and herby flavor to the cocktail and also gives it a vibrant orange hue. So we’ve been giving it a try this summer and are now officially hooked!

The Aperol still gives a margarita the orange flavor we all know and love, but it’s slightly less sweet in a good way, giving the cocktail a touch more of the zingy, citrusy, bitterness that I personally love. It also lowers the ABV of the cocktail nearly by half (from ~30% to 22%), which is perfect if you’re looking for a lighter summer cocktail. And while I generally prefer mezcal margaritas, both Barclay and I found that we actually enjoyed this one made with a good crisp tequila, which really lets the delicate Aperol flavors shine through.

I highly recommend a Tajín salt rim, or you’re welcome to also muddle in some fresh jalapeño wedges to add a spicy kick. Then serve it up nice and chilled on the rocks, and enjoy enjoy! Cheers!

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Currently

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Hello! I’ve got a sleeping baby sitting beside me and an iced lavender latte in hand and thought I’d take advantage of nap time this morning to pop in with a long overdue life update. ♡

I realized the other day that it’s been over a year since I last typed out one of these posts while sitting in our sunny kitchen in Barcelona. Which, to be honest, feels like a lifetime ago. (And also somehow like…yesterday?) It’s hard to know where to even begin to summarize how life has changed since then. We’re now back across the ocean living in Kansas City, which is slowly beginning to feel like home again ever since our whirlwind move back with a toddler, elderly dog, eight suitcases, and a newly-positive pregnancy test last June. Since then, we have…

• moved into a 90-yr-old Tudor, which we (probably over-ambitiously) decided to renovate before our second baby’s arrival, while working to stock the place 100% from scratch with everything from beds to bicycles to blenders and beyond
• walked through our second pregnancy and gave birth in the States, which went mercifully smoothly this time around (and was also a very interesting contrast to how things are done in Spain)
• welcomed a wonderful 24-yr-old Costa Rican au pair to our family, who’s going to be living with us and helping with the boys over the coming year
• checked off what felt like a million “getting settled” logistics, including purchasing two cars (a super sad farewell to European walking culture), re-establishing our businesses in Missouri, and diving back into the wonderful world of American healthcare, insurances, taxes, etc
• navigated an intense year of “sandwich generation” learning curves, doing our best to try and care for aging parents and little kids at the same time

And then of course, we brought this little sunbeam home. ♡♡♡

We joked on the day Milo was born that he seemed just “just happy to be here”, and four months later, that still pretty much sums things up! He has turned out to be such an easygoing little baby who’s just happy to eat, happy to sleep (major change from our first baby!), happy to smile and coo and snuggle with anyone…and we truly could not love him more. It’s remarkable how much joy he has added to our little household. And after a fairly disorienting year, his arrival has felt like the missing puzzle piece that’s finally helped Kansas City begin to feel like home again. Of course, the newborn stage has been intense and exhausting in all of its usual ways, but getting to step away from work for a few months to soak up sunny spring walks with Milo and nuzzle his soft skin and and be there for all of his adorable little “firsts” has felt beyond special. It’s never lost on Barclay and me what a privilege this is to get to do this all one more time, especially after the long road to meet him, and we’re just so grateful that he’s finally here.

All that to say, goodness, it has been a year. Definitely one of the more challenging ones on record for our little family, but still with plenty of glimmers of love and joy and fun sprinkled in there all along the way, as life always seems to provide. We’re feeling very grateful to (at least mostly) now be on the other side of the international moving chaos. And while I’ve enjoyed time away from Gimme Some Oven during these past few months of maternity leave, I’m glad to be getting back into some work rhythms again. More updates on all of that below.

Anyway, clearly, lots to share! So without further ado, here’s the update from our little corner of KC… (more…)

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