Almost everyone loves pasta, and the fresh herb season brings a whole new dimension to pasta sauces. This is a serious win win situation. Just cook a quantity of your favorite pasta and chop up a pile of your herbs of choice. Depending on mood and your judgment of what would tickle the taste buds of the folks you are feeding, there are several directions in which you can turn. Purists may prefer to just toss the hot pasta with olive oil and herbs, and maybe parmesan cheese. Or cook a sauce, incorporating the flavors of meat, tomato or stock, quick cooked or long simmered, and don’t forget the garlic.

For tonight’s farfalle, I started by browning and draining the fat from some Italian sausage. Next a couple chopped onions and garlic joined the sausage until tender, and them some slivers of sweet and hot peppers (first harvest from this year’s garden). For the herbs, I picked and chopped a huge pile of oregano, basil, curly leaf parsley and chives, and some stevia since I like a sweet touch to the sauce sometimes. No tomatoes from my garden yet, so I added a large can of chopped tomatoes and some V-8 juice. Whoops, too watery now, so a little dissolved corn starch to thicken as desired. Season to taste, and enjoy.