something out of nothing

... so I heads down to get me some brekkie, reaches for me bowl, me spoon, me cereal, me ... what?? No milk??

Two cups of dry cereal later, I know I'm going to be in a world o' hurtin' for lunch, when the time comes. I'm wanting to eat something good and good for me, but the larder is mighty bare. There's ice cream ... but nuh-uh. Can't do that. Brownies baked for the Huz. Nope.

Gotta think about this.

Four hours later, I'm back to rummaging. And then I see it. In the very back of the top shelf of the fridge. In a mason jar 5 times too large for its contents. A jar with some olive oil with sun dried tomatoes and fresh thyme. Put together, you guessed it, at the end of last summer, trying a Martha Stewart recipe that she assured me would be just wonderful, tossed on some warm pasta. But it looks so doggone weird, I haven't been moved to try it.

Haven't been desperate enough to try it.

Till now.

20 minutes later ...

My whole wheat pasta's been tossed with this olive oil, which I've nuked to get into liquid form. A small, trepidatious portion has gone into a bowl. Taste. Sprinkle with de kosher. Taste. Mmmmm! How about a sprinkle of parmesan? MMMMM!

Peoples, no more world o' hurtin'. This stuff is mighty darn good, especially when you stop to think of its vintage. Summer '05. The leathery, powerful flavor of the tomatoes has permeated the oil, but the thyme is surprisingly able to stand up to it. The salt adds a hint of indefinable warmth to it all, and adding cheese made it just right in my book.

I could never have imagined it would be so yummy.

So, here's the recipe (although that seems a little grandiose a word for what follows) as near as I can reconstruct it. And reconstruct it I shall. I still have more of those sun-dried tomatoes from last summer! Which reminds me ... is it cheating to call them sun-dried when you dried them in your dehydrator?

Cover the bottom of your container with a layer of sundried tomato slices and a bit of fresh thyme. Gently cover them with olive oil, enough so they are completely covered and a tiny bit more. Repeat. Cover tightly, store in the refrigerator.

When ready to use, cook up some pasta (I used whole wheat, delicious!), scoop out an appropriate amount of olive oil mixture, thaw it a bit in the microwave or on the counter if you've thought ahead, and toss the two. Add a sprinkling of kosher salt and, if you like, some shredded parmesan.

And would you believe, having just had this experience, I discover that Lindy over at Toast is hosting a one-time Something Out of Nothing event. It's all good. Go check her out Monday, when she will do a roundup of the ingenious, low-cost, delicious dishes we've all put together by scrounging the bottoms of our veggie bins and the frosted corners of our freezers. You never know when you, too, will be desperate, and in need of inspiration.