My Wednesday Pasta Inspiration - Donna Hay

I love Donna Hay, at least her Donna Hay Magazine and any of her books - Off The Shelf: Cooking From the Pantry is a particular favorite of mine. The photos have me drooling and the dishes are so simple to prepare, there is absolutely no excuse for not cooking. Is that a sentence? Oh well, you know what I mean. Even if I've just finished a giant three course meal, and am unbelievably stuffed, hand me a DH magazine, and I'm ready to go again.

One of the things DH does so brilliantly is pasta. (and for the founder of Presto Pasta Nights, that's important) This month's cover has a beautiful roasted garlic pasta with quail egg that looks so over-the-top fantastic, I just might have to hunt down some quails eggs.

That said, this particular recipe of Farfalle with Chorizo, Chickpeas & Baby Spinach actually starts out as an appetizer or cocktail dish of spicy chorizo & chickpeas served with slices of Manchego cheese (my favorite Spanish semi-hard cheese) and bread (page 121). It was easy enough to take a little artistic license and add some baby spinach to the skillet at the end (just enough time to wilt it while you're draining the pasta), toss in crumpled Manchego to the mix and serve.

So my question to you is: which cooking shows, magazines, cookbooks inspire you to take a kernel of their idea and make it something totally different (and delicious, naturally)?

Don't forget that this week's Host for Presto Pasta Night is Mary of Baking Delights She is the genius behind Daring Bakers and I stand in awe of her baking abilities. You can email your entries to her directly maudet8816 (at) aol (dot) com and a cc to me ruth (at) 4everykitchen (dot) com .

Plus...Don't forget to check all the Presto Pasta Night Roundups dating back to March, 2007, see who's hosting for the next four weeks and check out guidelines and tips for entering and hosting.