Baked Rigatoni with Brussels Sprouts, Figs, and Blue Cheese (FM)

• 2 tablespoons olive oil, plus more for greasing the pan
• Salt
• 8 ounces rigatoni, preferably whole wheat
• 1 1/2 pounds Brussels sprouts, roughly chopped
• 4 ounces Gorgonzola or other blue cheese, crumbled [use some Danish blue]
• 6 to 8 fresh figs, or 1 cup dried, chopped [Used dried since fresh are out-of-seaon.  1 cup is a whole lot of dried figs.]
• Black pepper
• 1/4 cup chopped almonds, for garnish

Mise en place.

I guess technically you're supposed to blanch the sprouts after removing the pasta from the cooking water, but I flaked on this and figured that steaming them would be good enough.  Also, I didn't think to save any of the cooking water to use later on.  Ohz well.

Stir everything together except for the almonds and add a splash of the cooking water. (Eh, I used heavy cream instead since I had an open container of it.)  Sprinkle with salt and pepper and bake at 400 degrees until mixture is bubbling.

Oh, I also had a little leftover prosciutto which I thought fit well with the rest of the ingredients, but it wasn't really enough to be altogether noticeable.

The almonds were just supposed to be a garnish, but part of the way through the baking process I tried to top the practically overflowing dish with the almonds and tried to toast them along the way.  I didn't really achieve too much of that before pulling this out of the oven.

This dish was fine.  Not incredible but not borderline gross like the cannellini and zucchini dish.

Pasta with Smashed Peas, Prosciutto, and Scallions (FM)

• Salt
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 4 ounces prosciutto, chopped
• 1 bunch scallions, white and green parts separated, all chopped
• Black pepper
• 3 cups fresh or thawed frozen peas
• 8 ounces any pasta, prefereably whole wheat
• 1/4 cup grated Pecorino Romano cheese, optional

Boiling pasta.  Apparently I never got around to taking a mise en place photo.

Cook prosciutto in oil over medium heat until crisp.

Add white parts of scallions (Yeah, I know they look green.).  Sprinkle with salt and pepper and cook for a few more minutes.

Add peas and cook for 2-3 minutes.

Add some of the pasta cooking water and roughly mash peas.  Toss together with pasta, scallions tops, and pecorino and this dish pretty much amounts to awesomeness.