ON THE HIP: Roasted Cherry Tomato Rigatoni
I’m tiptoe-ing back into the kitchen after three months away…
Even though hubby is a chef and cooked up lots of delicious food for me and the brigade of visiting family and friends, I missed my food, my recipes. Getting back into the kitchen, slow cooking shortribs and ragus, composing beautiful summer salads would relax me, I thought. Clearly, the post-pregnancy hormones were clouding my brain…
New ‘Mommyhood’ and cooking with Parker means I have no time, no hands and no patience. Standing at the stove for hours–with multiple pans going at once–is a thing of the past. Complicated recipes are saved for special occasions. I’ll shop in one grocery store, shove the ingredients under her stroller and hit the cash register before she begins wailing, ready for her next feeding.
Yep, Ms. Gourmet is going a little bit Rachel Ray…
On the Hip Recipes are for my new life and my new way of cooking. The whole point is that the recipes are so easy, they can be made with a baby or toddler on your hip. And the dishes only require as many ingredients as you can fit beneath your Uppa Baby or MacLaren.
My Roasted Cherry Tomato Rigatoni leaves a ton of time to play with Parker, feed her, do her mountain of laundry or sit on the couch with a big fat glass of Nero d’Avola. (Guess which activity I chose?) The onions and tomato almost become a confit (the veggies taking on a jam-like quality) because they’re cooked down, or reduced, to their sweet essence. Finished off with pecorino romano, fresh mozzarella and fresh basil, this pasta looks and tastes like it took hours. Sshhhhh…
On Sunday, I had a craving for foccacia occhio di bue (a fancy way to say “breakfast pizza, sunnyside up”) and a strong cappuccino. So we dressed up baby in her best maryjanesfor for her first brunch at Morandi… 
Our 
Our last nice, multi-course, spit-up, poo poo, “What’s-the baby-doing?-Is-she-breathing?!”, breastfeeding-free dinner… foreeeeeeeever.
