Pasta, Peas & a Birthday

Last night was a sublime evening. After cutting my way through the heat and humidity of this early DC summer, I made it home to a night with The Boy. We don’t get a lot of alone time anymore, what with him working part time at E Street Cinema (my favorite theater in this city, by the way) and me constantly covered in flour.  But he loves his part time job and his co-workers (and he finally has someone to discuss the subtle nuances of a Jim Jarmusch film – something that leaves me blinking at him absentmindedly) and I’m excited about all the possibilities with Whisked!  Yet there are days where we crawl into bed tired and admit how much we miss just hanging out together.

Because of this lack of quality time, I decided to take a break last night and just hang out with my Boy.  And since his birthday was the next day, we made it his unofficial, low key birthday dinner.  He brought home a bottle of sangria (sadly, not nearly as delicious as Brian’s signature sangria) for me and ginger beer and dark rum for him.  And we toasted his grand entrance into his 30s (he’s such a young’un, isn’t he?). 

I’ll be honest. I wanted to throw The Boy a big ol’ party to really shove him into his 3rd decade on this Earth. He, however, paled at the idea when I brought it up.  He doesn’t like being the center of attention, preferring to chill somewhere in the background. I asked if he wanted to go out for a celebratory dinner but he didn’t want to do that either. He said a quiet evening at home with me would be the perfect birthday celebration for him (see why I love him so much). 

So last night, I broke out some fresh peas from Garner’s Produce, a lovely bunch of mint, fresh fettuccine, some cream and a LOT of parmesan cheese to make this simple, divine Spring meal.  During a heat wave so oppressive, even the devil would complain about it. 

Pasta w/Fresh Peas, Mint and Cream (adapted from Epicurious)

• 16-ounce fresh pasta (I used fettuccine) 
• 1 1/4 cups heavy whipping cream
• 16 ounces fresh or frozen peas (if frozen, do not thaw them out)
• 2 1/4 cups grated Parmesan cheese (plus more to top the finished dish)
• 3 tbs chopped fresh mint
• 1/3 cup chopped fresh Italian parsley, divided
• 1 tsp freshly ground nutmeg

Bring a large pot of water to boil, salt it and add the fresh pasta to it to cook.  When the pasta is al dente (or your desired texture), drain it, reserving a 1/2 cup of the pasta water.

While the pasta is cooking, pour the heavy cream into a large saucepan and bring it to a simmer over medium heat.  Add the peas and cook until the peas are heated through and fragrant. 

Add the cheese and stir until it is melts fully into the cream.  Sprinkle in the nutmeg and salt and pepper to taste. Add the mint and half of the parsley and then remove the pan from the heat.

Toss the pasta with the cheese mixture (adding as much of the pasta water as you’d like to get your desired consistency). Top with additional cheese and the remaining parsley and serve!