Fundraising for Sergio & Co. Continues (with recipe included)

$8,000 raised so far for Sergio & Co. in personal donations. This does not include any of the current fundraisers. Here's one more, and we are hoping, praying, begging, a NJ Housewife to come do an event, which will blow the top off the fund! Let's keep it going. Let's give him a $20,000 check in November. Are you in?


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Last year, my mother gave me a bag of harvest shaped pasta. It was a nice gift bag, too nice to use, I thought, on a regular day. I put it in my cabinet to save for a special dinner, but that dinner never came.


While making pasta for a moving party for my friend Kathy this weekend, I found the bag. It was great looking pasta but, had it expired? I searched for an expiration date and couldn't find one, so I went to the producer's website to see if I could find the info on there. While I didn't find one, I did notice that they do fundraisers. Of course, in my mind, pasta + fundraisers = Save Sergio & Co. (So does a NJ Housewife doing a meet and greet, but I am still waiting to hear back about that one!) I registered for information and within two days, got all the information I needed, including an account to start selling.

The tri-color angle hair pasta -- I am buying a bunch!

The cool thing is that the company sells different shapes of pasta and has sets like cheerleading pasta, college teams (including the Big 10), and holiday shapes (Halloween, Thanksgiving, Star of David, Christmas Tree). It even has dance pasta, gymnastic pasta, and Happy Birthday Pasta; dog lover & cat lover pasta, too. They also have different styles and flavors of angel hair  (including whole wheat), mac and cheese packages for the kids, chicken soup and chili gift sets, and meringue cookies. The "pink ribbon pasta"donates 10% of all packs sold (from their percentage) to Susan G. Komen. So 10% for breast cancer awareness, 40% for Sergio & Co. What could be better?

10% to Susan G. Komen, 40% to Save Sergio & Co.
Everybody wins, and it's pretty, too.

Here's the best part. When the fundraiser ends (on October 24th), the company sends me a check for 40% of all sales, payable to "Save Sergio & Co." FORTY PERCENT! That's a lot of money to add to the Save Sergio & Co. fund... if we sell the pasta, that is.


The Fun Pasta Save Sergio & Co fundraising page can be found by clicking here. Then, look to the right and click Shop Now.


Now, here's my favorite pasta recipe. It's a take on Aunt Linda's ricotta salata pasta recipe.


Aunt Linda's Pasta Salad, (modified by the Domestic Goddess)

• 1 lb your favorite pasta
• 1 c sun-dried tomatoes (not packed in oil), cut into thin slices
• a nice chunk of ricotta salata
• two cloves of garlic, finely diced
• 1 handful of basil
• dried oregano, to taste
• garlic, to taste
• salt, to taste

First, make the sun-dried tomatoes fabulous. Put about 1/4 c of olive oil (or more) in a pan on medium heat. Add the fresh garlic, powdered garlic, oregano, and salt, then the sun-dried tomatoes. Allow them to simmer on medium heat for about 15 minutes. If it looks like the heat is too high, lower it to medium-low. You want the sun-dried tomatoes to cook in the oil and absorb the flavor, but not to brown. Longer time is better, just lower the heat and keep an eye on the tomatoes. (You can leave it sitting on a super low heat for an hour, and it will be amazing. Just be sure to watch for browning, and add oil as it gets soaked up by the sun-dried tomatoes.) Taste as you go, and add more seasoning as you see fit.

My sun-dried tomatoes. Oh, how I love them.

Boil pasta until al dente, then transfer to strainer. Drain water and rinse with cold water to stop the pasta from cooking. Add a splash of cold-pressed extra virgin olive oil and blend to prevent the pasta from sticking, then allow to cool.


Transfer pasta from the strainer to a bowl, and pour the sun-dried tomatoes and oil on top of it. You can toss a little pasta back into the pan to pick up the remaining oil and seasoning, then return it to the bowl.


Tear basil into small pieces, until the pasta is colorful. The sun-dried tomatoes and basil colors should be balanced.


Roughly chop the ricotta salata into small chunks, and toss into the pasta. Blend well. Serve immediately, or refrigerate for later and serve at room temperature.