Another week and starting in a very slow and calm way for me.
My mom left yesterday after visiting for a couple of weeks and it was fun. We went to new places and adventures, although she is much like my kids and does not love to be out and about. But now that the kids are grown and life with a single mom in a much safer city has made them a lot more independent in many ways, she spends time with them without having to look after them. Actually, I believe she likes them to look after her, but this gives me a great opportunity to have a few more spaces to myself.
It was also awesome that she came since we have not been able to go to Mexico due to our immigration process in a year and our “goodies” supply was almost depleted, and we were out of flour and corn tortillas and other little things that helps us not miss Mexican food that much.
A big part of my life is still on pause, while I keep trying to find a new rhythm to this whole situation, which sucks lemons and I find myself not being able to keep my inner furious tantrummy child in check and I feel like pouting all day, regardless of what my very rational and calm self says, which usually runs the institution, but I don’t know if it is because this whole situation is about something I really miss and enjoy or just because I am so fricking over being mature, resilient, contained, and all that crap I have been doing for the last 4 years. So, I am pouting away and letting my inner child express herself freely.
Also, I am usually pro no routine or at least very flexible and not trying to control everything, but the past four years were so chaotic and unpredictable that I was very much enjoying the peace and quiet of a very defined routine knowing exactly what was going to happen for months ahead. I just needed one year, just one year without major issues, changes or disruptions to my day-to-day. Well, fudge that! 2026 has decided to say HOLD MY BEER!
Which takes us to my cooking: Yes, I am cooking more because I have loads of time on my hands, yes, the kids are enjoying it and yes, I am experimenting, but I am still choosing the simple way because going back to my very unhappy inner child, I don’t feel like REALLY cooking. My tantrum includes fast recipes, mostly healthy, but with a few shortcuts.
This recipe I loved, it is easy, healthy and uses so few ingredients you won’t believe the taste. I made the pasta, which is my recommendation, and I don’t mean not that you have to make it from scratch but that you buy fresh pasta from any place you have near your home. The thing is that the creamy part comes from the water pasta, and even though commercial dry pasta has a bit of starch, fresh pasta has a lot more, and I mean a lot more. So, the creamy does not come from dairy but from the starch in the pasta. And it makes a big difference in both the consistency of the sauce and the taste of the pasta.
I made my pasta the night before with my pasta machine, not by hand, and let it sit in the fridge until I was ready to cook it, which also takes a lot less time than with commercial brands. So, it was a very easy and quick dish.
The rest of the recipe is cooking the hell out of those grape tomatoes with parmesan cheese and basil and adding the pasta cooking water to let it do its magic and thickening the pasta with the concentrated taste of the tomatoes and the punch from the cheese.
You will notice two plates in the photos and the reel. For the reel I did not use the sauce enough and it ended looking like dry pasta which is not a good thing when you cooked such a delicious sauce, so the actual photos are from the plates I served to my children and not the set-up for the reel.
Have a lovely day,
Maca
Tagliatelle with easy grape tomato sauce
INGREDIENTS
4 servings
340 gr grape tomatoes in halves
1 ½ cup chicken stock
¼ cup olive oil
1 cup Parmigiano Reggiano shredded
½ cup pasta cooking water
1 tablespoon chopped basil
Salt and pepper to taste
More cheese to serve
Pepper to serve
INSTRUCTIONS
- Heat the olive oil
- Add the halves grape tomatoes and cook for 10 minutes on low heat moving to avoid the tomatoes to stick to the bottom
- Add the garlic and cook for 1 minute
- Add 1 cup chicken stock and cheese and mix well
- Cook on slow heat until the tomatoes are very soft
- Season slightly with salt and pepper because the more it cooks the cheese will make it saltier
- Add the rest of the chicken stock, pasta cooking water and basil, cover and cook on slow heat for as long as it takes for the tomatoes to dissolve almost entirely and the sauce has thickened a bit
- Move constantly to help the tomatoes break
- Season with salt and pepper to taste
- Add cooked pasta and coat
- Serve with the sauce, more cheese and black pepper
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Tagliatelle con salsa fácil de jitomate cherry
Otra semana más, empezando lento y tranquilo de mi lado.
Mi mamá se fue ayer después de estar un par de semanas con nosotros y la pasamos muy bien. Fuimos a lugares nuevos, tuvimos algunas pequeñas aventuras… aunque es muy parecida a mis hijos y no le encanta andar de aquí para allá. Pero ahora que los niños están más grandes y la vida con una mamá soltera en una ciudad mucho más segura los ha hecho mucho más independientes, puede pasar tiempo con ellos sin tener que cuidarlos. De hecho, creo que le gusta más que ellos la cuiden a ella.
Y eso, para mí, se traduce en tener un poco más de espacio, que la verdad sí necesitaba.
También fue perfecto que viniera, porque como no hemos podido ir a México en más de un año por el proceso migratorio, ya estábamos casi sin “antojitos”. Nos habíamos quedado sin tortillas de harina, sin tortillas de maíz y sin esas cositas que ayudan a no extrañar tanto la comida mexicana.
Sigo medio en pausa. Intentando encontrarle ritmo a todo esto y fallando un poco. Estoy en modo berrinche. Mi versión racional sabe perfecto qué hacer, pero mi niña interna está cruzada de brazos diciendo “no quiero”. Y la verdad… la estoy dejando.
Porque ya fueron muchos años siendo la adulta responsable, resiliente, contenida, fuerte… ya saben. Entonces ahorita estoy en versión “ok, haz berrinche tantito y luego vemos”.
También, plot twist: yo que siempre he sido anti rutina, ahora la extraño. Los últimos años fueron tan caóticos que cuando por fin tuve estructura dije “esto, esto quiero”. Solo pedía un año tranquilo. Uno.
Pero no. 2026 dijo: a ver, espérate.
Entonces mi cocina está igual: estoy cocinando más porque tengo tiempo, los niños felices, yo experimento… pero todo en versión fácil. Sin complicarme la vida.
Esta receta es justo eso. Pocos ingredientes, cero rollo, y sabe espectacular.
Yo sí recomiendo usar pasta fresca. No porque te pongas a hacerla a mano (aunque sí ayuda), sino porque cambia todo. La cremosidad viene del almidón del agua de cocción, y la pasta fresca tiene muchísimo más. No hay crema aquí, pero queda cremoso.
El resto es cocinar muchísimo los jitomates con parmesano y albahaca hasta que todo se concentre. Literal, cocinar sin miedo.
El ajo lo dejo entero para poder sacarlo después, o lo corto tan fino que desaparece.
Y sí, en el reel me falló la vida y no puse suficiente salsa, se ve seco y me da coraje. Las fotos bonitas son de los platos reales que les serví a mis hijos, como debe de ser.
Que tengas buen fin de semana,
Maca
Tagliatelle con salsa fácil de jitomate cherry
INGREDIENTES
Para 4 porciones
340 g de jitomates cherry partidos a la mitad
2 tazas de caldo de pollo
¼ de taza de aceite de oliva
1 taza de queso parmesano rallado
2 dientes de ajo enteros
½ taza de agua de cocción de la pasta
1 cucharada de albahaca picada
Sal y pimienta al gusto
Más queso para servir
Pimienta para servir
INSTRUCCIONES
- Calentar el aceite de oliva
- Agregar los jitomates cherry y cocinar hasta que comiencen a suavizarse
- Incorporar los dientes de ajo y cocinar durante un minuto
- Añadir una taza y media de caldo de pollo y cocinar durante cinco minutos
- Integrar el queso y cocinar a fuego bajo hasta que todo se incorpore
- Sazonar con sal, pimienta y agregar la albahaca
- Tapar y continuar cocinando a fuego bajo agregando el resto del caldo poco a poco
- Cocer la pasta y añadir el agua de cocción a la salsa, dejando cocinar aproximadamente veinte minutos a fuego bajo
- Probar y ajustar la sazón
- Incorporar la pasta y mezclar bien
- Servir con más queso y pimienta negra