mangia monday!

by victoria comment

we all know about Meatless Monday, but how about Mangia Monday? Mangia Monday is when you really want to make a nice meal for friends and family but you might be dragging just a tad from all your weekend activities. i honestly just made it up, but it feels fitting. the fine folks at Bertolli invited me to try out their pasta dishes — the easy ones that literally go from your freezer to the stovetop to dinner table in a matter of minutes — and i have to say that they are really delicious and taste as though you put a lot more work into your meal planning. the cool thing about them is that all the prep that would have gone into chopping and prepping pastas dishes like Bertolli’s Shrimp Scampi Linguine and Chicken Florentine & Farfalle entrées can be spent instead on a few pretty side dishes, and decorating your table. i put this little feast together at our studio in under an hour — and that included stopping at the market for a few fresh salad ingredients and fresh flowers.

i added a simple Caprese salad over arugula (super easy with bagged lettuce, cherry tomatoes and buffalo mozzarella balls — all ready to mix paired with some good olive oil) and an antipasto plate which is essentially just putting out some cheeses, sliced salami and prosciutto, olives, nuts, grapes and dried fruit. i steamed a few asparagus and tossed the frozen Bertolli’s entrees into a skillet to heat. In a matter of minutes the pasta dishes were ready to be plated — i topped the entrees with some fresh basil and Italian parsley and boom — Mangia Monday! add a cute bottle of chianti and you are ready to feast with friends and family. Buon Appetito!

• photography by lily glass for sfgirlbybay.

This post is brought to you by Bertolli. Don’t just eat, Mangia!