"Hit-the-Pan Salsa" Pasta

This is one of my favorite recipes that E has modified from my Really Big Pasta Book. Sadly, the book lists the orange juice as optional. But I assure you, the key to the sauce *is* the orange juice itself--it's what adds all the oomph and sparkle to the pasta, so definitely make sure you use it!

Barring the blanching and peeling of the tomatoes, the recipe is a fairly simple one, and yet it's quite lively and flavorful, boasting a sweet juiciness from the orange juice which in turn arm-wrestles with the spicy zing of not one but THREE jalapenos (the original recipe--which called for one jalapeno--was for wusses!).

Definitely a perfect summer-recipe.

INGREDIENTS:

1 lb. Spinach /Plain fettucine noodles
3 T olive oil
5 roma (plum) tomatoes
1 clove garlic, minced
4 scallions slices
3 jalapenos, seeded and sliced
Juice of one orange
2 T. parsley chopped
Salt and pepper to taste.

DO IT!

Toss cooked noodles in 1 T of the oil. Blanch tomatoes in boiling water for about 45 seconds and then toss into ice-cold water. Remove skins. Chop tomato flesh. Stirfry garlic, onions, and jalapenos for one minute, add the rest of the ingredients for a minute or so, and then add in the noodles. Actual cooking time is no more than a few minutes.

Oh, and PS. That big hunk of bread in the background? Homemade vegan french bread baked to perfection by E in the bread-maker I bought him for X-mas.

*Modified from Jeni Wright's Pasta