cooking in a postage stamp-sized kitchen

We return later today from a glorious long weekend, spent with Marissa and her boyfriend, Jeff, in San Francisco and Napa.

Marissa had a very busy and stressful work week, so I made dinner on Friday night in her very small kitchen. When I say small, I mean really small!

In May, Marissa moved from the Outer Sunset neighborhood to Pacific Heights. Part of the tradeoff to living closer to the center of the city was less space.

The closet-sized kitchen is only 7 feet wide by 10 feet long, with less than 25 square feet of walkable floor space and only 3 linear feet of counter space. No dishwasher, no garbage disposal, and a smaller than an average-sized refrigerator.

Speaking of the refrigerator… remember this Friday Funny I posted last week?

It is Marissa’s reality! Here is her refrigerator…

… and here is how mine typically looks. Just a bit of a contrast!

So, what did I make for dinner in the tiny kitchen, you ask?

After a quick trip to Trader Joe’s, I unpacked it all, which took up every inch of counter space, then I proceeded to make a one-pot (no drain) pasta dinner, rounded out with a salad and garlic bread. The salad recipe will be posted tomorrow.

The one-pot Marissa owned, that was big enough, had a lid with holes, for draining pasta. I needed a solid lid so I covered the pot with foil, then added the lid, for a tight seal.

One-Pot/No Drain Tomato-Basil Pasta

16-ounces dry linguine pasta, snap pasta in half
32-ounce can diced tomatoes with liquid
1 large onion, peeled and diced
4 cloves garlic, peeled and minced
2 large fresh sprigs basil, chopped
4 cups vegetable or chicken broth
1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes
2 teaspoons dried oregano leaves
2 tablespoons olive oil
Salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
Parmesan cheese, for garnish

Place pasta, tomatoes, onion, garlic, and basil in a large stockpot.

Pour in the broth. Sprinkle the pepper flakes and oregano on top. Drizzle top with oil. Stir well to combine.

Bring to a boil, then reduce to a low simmer and cover the pot. Keep covered and cook for 10 minutes.

Remove lid and continue to cook until almost all liquid has been absorbed about 3 to 4 more minutes. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

Serve garnished with Parmesan cheese.

Serves 4 to 6

A few bonus photos of the evening:

All done with the prep work. Sitting on the couch, relaxing with a glass of wine, as I wait for Dave to return from a Costco run and Marissa and Jeff to arrive from a hard day at work.

The table in the lovely bay window is set …

and the flowers are arranged.

And, yes, I did the dishes too. All in all, it was a great night with three of my favorite people on Earth! xoxo