Signature Dish of the Day: Tomato & Basil Chiocciole Pasta

Signature Dish of the Day: Happy new week! Very excited to return to regular blogging today after a brief hiatus following a major personal move recently that necessitated a break to allow sufficient time for adjustment and orientation to a whole new environment. During this much-needed break, I have been developing a catalog of recipes and photos during my free time that will showcase some of the cooking we have been doing here at The Food Raven kitchen. Kicking off our re-introduction week in style with this delightful Tomato & Basil Chiocciole Pasta as our signature dish of the day today. Light yet flavorful and filling, this pasta dish made for a satisfying Fall dinner meal. I firmly believe that tomato and basil are a match made in food heaven...they always seem to effortlessly complement each other so beautifully while infusing a distinct aroma and freshness to every dish they are added to! To prepare this purely vegetarian dish, I first boiled the pasta separately in a large cooking pot seasoned with about 1 tablespoon of olive oil and salt. Chiocciole pasta is also known as "snail pasta" due its snail-like tubular structure. This was my first time trying this type of pasta and one aspect I absolutely loved about it was its ability to remain firm even after boiling. Once the pasta was done, I developed my base sauté of cherry tomatoes seasoned with oregano, paprika, salt, and black pepper. I added some pasta water to create a sauce before adding in the boiled pasta and stirring thoroughly to blend the ingredients together. I sprinkled some grated parmesan cheese for extra flavor and then added some freshly chopped basil leaves towards the end of the cooking process. Finally, I garnished the pasta with a sweet potato cracker crumble to provide an added crunch texture to the dish. This dish makes about 4 servings and can be served hot as a main dish on its own or paired with a stew or salad. Enjoy!