Cookbook Chronicles: Bow Tie Pasta

Cookbook Chronicles is an on-going series at The Bookery. Over the course of the next year, we'll delve into Joanna Gaines' first cookbook, Magnolia Table, trying one recipe per month.

The recipe: Bow Tie Pasta

The cookbook: Magnolia Table by Joanna Gaines, page 229

The details: Pasta is one of favorite indulgences, mostly because pasta comes together fairly quickly—I'm generally in a hurry when making weekday dinners. This recipe has intrigued me since I first saw it, and a few weeks ago, after a busy day at work, it seemed like an obvious choice. I was hungry and tired, but with no meat to prepare, this seemed like a perfect dinner solution. What could go wrong, right?

The adjustments: Well … you've heard about the cream cheese shortage right? When I set out to make this recipe, the shortage had hit my area full force. I went to several stores and stood in front of refrigerated shelves where cream cheese should have been but wasn't. Since it was already nearing 6 p.m., and I was only getting hungrier by the minute, I turned to our trusty friend Google and searched for "substitutions for cream cheese." That led me to goat cheese, which I decided to give a go in this recipe.

Hear me out, I love goat cheese. But it has a bit of a stronger tang than cream cheese and the consistency isn't quite the same.

I also didn't read the recipe all the way through before setting out to make it, meaning that I had walnuts … but they weren't toasted. And by the time I finally had the pasta sort of ready to eat, I was so hungry and tired I wasn't going to take the time to toast the walnuts, so I skipped them altogether.

The verdict: This pasta was … just OK. Maybe it was all my substitutions or my mood on that rainy Monday night, but I wasn't wowed by the combination of flavors. It probably won't be a recipe I make again—but maybe I should when all the ingredients are readily available.

Up next month: Chicken Pot Pie, page 197