Rumspringa Gemelli

-1 lb Gemelli pasta

-1 lb ground turkey

-1 onion, sliced

-5 cloves garlic, minced

-1/2 C white wine

-1/2 C cream

-2 oz cream cheese

-1/2 C chicken broth

-herbs

-1 head broccoli

Brown the turkey in a frying pan, and when done, remove the turkey, leavings the drippings. This is the base for your sauce. Saute the garlic and onions in the grease until the onion is clear. On low-medium heat, add the white wine, cream, cream cheese, stirring each in slowly. Let this simmer, and slowly add the chicken broth, stirring all the while. Add in any herbs you like (in our case, it was rosemary and thyme given to me by a friend, and basil from my little basil plant, Gianni- who is growing up quite nicely!) In the meantime, steam the broccoli or spinach (or just microwave it in a bowl with a little water) and set aside. Once your sauce is at its desired consistency (and you can totally experiment with my portions, which are pretty much made up anyway), add the meat back and the broccoli and let the whole thing simmer on low. Cook the pasta until al dente (it takes longer because it's wound tightly, but it will also be firmer when done than your average spaghetti noodle). You can either pour the meat sauce over the noodles and toss, like we did, or serve them separately. We ate this with some pumpernickel bread and- you guessed it- more dip! Why can't dip be a meal? (2 points if you get this reference).

This was mine and Margaret's Sunday afternoon activity- aka 'What's in The Kitchen? Let's throw it in a pot and see what happens.' In my opinion, pasta is the ultimate 'experiement', whether you're making a red sauce, white sauce, or just drizzling olive oil over some noodles. There is no right or wrong, and you can use whatever you have on hand- sometimes the results are so-so, but other times (especially when you're starving, as we happened to be), you happen upon a really fantastic dish. The more your experiment, the more you learn about proportions and what things taste good together. This simple meal was definitely a winner with us, so much so that we named it. Now we'll always have our 'Rumspringa Gemelli' (don't ask) to commemerate the time we spent together and this stage of life we're embarking upon.