After a relatively healthy week, I couldn't resist a little indulgence by way of pasta. Flipping through my "rustic eats" Pinterest board, it contains a lot of food porn that I knew I could choose from. It didn't take me long to decide on this pretty spaghetti, prosciutto, tomato and olive concoction.
Further exploring the Tartine and Apron Strings blog from which this recipe came, I was impressed by its simple, rustic style. I had the pasta, the garlic, tomatoes, even the fresh herbs already on hand. Doing a quick run to the supermarket for other essentials such as white wine, prosciutto and olives, I had everything I needed to begin, not long after.
The sauce for this dish is the best part, as it's incredibly easy and takes only about 15 minutes to prepare. The only pain is chopping all the onions, garlic and tomatoes, but once you get through that, the recipe is a cinch. My favorite part is rolling delicate pieces of Prosciutto di Parma on top and then finishing it off with a sprinkling of fresh parsley, which is just to die for. Dan and I devoured firsts, seconds, and then some.
Prosciutto, Tomato, and Olive Spaghetti recipe, courtesy of Tartine and Apron Strings blog
Since Dan and I are leaving for vacation soon, I'm trying to be as resourceful as I can with the items still left in our fridge. Whipping up this "fridge clean-up" pasta dish, it did a good job of tiding us over while at the same time using lots of left over veggies and some Brazilian pork sausage too, for some protein. I harvested my basil plants too, as you can see and picked off all their leaves to create a quick, homemade pesto. Hope you enjoy it as well, and make your own personal renditions.
Fridge Clean-Up Pasta
Ingredients (serves 3)
For the pasta:
1 lb of whole wheat spaghetti pasta
10 cherry tomatoes, cut in half
Small handful of kalamata olives, halved
1 1/2 cup of sliced mushrooms
1 medium sized link of pork sausage, chopped
1 small red onion, chopped
For the pesto:
2 cups of fresh basil
2 garlic cloves, peeled and halved
Pine nuts or pumpkin seeds
Salt and pepper to taste
Olive oil
Directions:
Cook pasta according to the directions on the box.
Sautee the onions, sausage and the mushrooms together. Add a bit of salt and pepper. Sautee until all the ingredients are golden brown and then add the tomatoes and olives and cook for another 5 minutes until the tomatoes just soften.
In the meantime, prepare the pesto by putting all the ingredients into a food processor and pulsing it until it's well combined and forms a paste.
Add the pasta directly into the sauteed medley and toss well. Add in the pesto and combine again, adding in a bit of pasta water to smooth it out as needed. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
One of the best parts of summer, at least for me, are all the cookouts, picnics and basically any occasion to get together, be outside and eat yummy food. Last week, my co-workers and I enjoyed one of these fun activities, as we had a festive summer picnic on the Upper West Side of Manhattan.
Everyone brought a dish, and we all feasted to oblivion. I wanted to keep things light but also intended to make something substantial that wouldn't leave us hungry, so I put together this light summer pasta salad. Including only veggies, such as grilled corn, cherry tomatoes, fresh basil, thinly sliced red onion and lots of fresh lime juice and olive oil, the dish didn't leave you feeling heavy. In fact, lots of my co-workers commented about just how lovely and vibrant it was.
It didn't take too long to make, and I actually adapted it from a corn salad recipe that I saw on bonappetit.com. Adding in the pasta gave it a little more umph, and made it feel like a more well-rounded dish. You can enjoy it on its own, or with some yummy grilled chicken, shrimp or what have you.
Charred corn salad recipe (just add pasta to it to replicate my dish above)
Lately, gaining a lot of inspiration from the Whole Foods iPad app when trying to construct my dinner, I stumbled upon this recipe for linguine with grilled shrimp and arugula parsley pesto. Immediately attracted to it because of the pesto, it seemed like a hearty dish without too much unnecessary decadence, so I took the plunge and went for it.
Unfortunately finding out at the market that there was no more arugula, I substituted with fresh spinach and it did the trick quite well. Appreciating the new twist on pesto, it was nice to also mix in fresh parsley, that gave it that fresh, lemony flavor.
Instead of grilling the shrimp, I baked it for about 7 minutes in a 425 degree oven. As you can tell from my photo, I also used fettuccine pasta instead of linguine, and actually thought this was more appropriate, as it had more surface area to absorb the pesto.
Overall, I love how this dish turned out - it was fresh, earthy and relatively healthy. Loving the fact that it tasted even better the next day, the flavors of the pesto had the chance to seep into the pasta, making this a really fabulous left-over. Hope you get to enjoy it at home.
Linguine with grilled shrimp and arugula parsley pesto recipe
Choosing the recipe was pretty lazy of me, as it was the first thing that popped up when I put in the "pasta" search. And even though it was the low hanging fruit, it was so great! I enjoyed sweating out the zucchini until it became almost translucent and took on this nearly sweet flavor. The minced garlic added extra punch as well, but the piece-de-resistance were the golden raisins (or sultanas as they're referred to in the recipe) that I soaked for about a half an hour in good marsala wine. The wine, a gift from my friend and Ornella Trattoria owner, Giuseppe Viterale, has gone a long way, proving it's a gift that keeps on giving.
As a substitute for the pappardelle pasta, which I didn't have, I used traditional egg noodles. I also substituted the parmesan cheese with grated sharp white cheddar, which was just delectable. Overall, the dish makes for a lovely and light weeknight dinner. Enjoy the recipe.
Zucchini Noodles with Plump Golden Raisins
I first tasted Giuseppe's version of Pasta Latte at a "bizarre foods" dinner he hosted about a month ago. Loving the simplicity of the dish and at the same time the different flavor element it brought to regular pasta, I thought about it often. So often that I got out the pots and pans and tried it out on my own. As you can see in the above picture, I added tomatoes and basil to it too, as my milky sauce wasn't as thick as Giuseppe's (probably because I used low-fat milk). But regardless, the dish was wonderful, filling and still light on your tummy.
Pasta Latte e Caprese Inspired by Ornella Trattoria
Ingredients (serves 1)
1/2 lb of fettucine noodles
2 - 3 cups of milk, enough to cover a large saucepan
8 - 10 cherry tomatoes, halved
Handful of fresh basil, julienned
Small handful of mozzarella cheese
Salt and pepper to taste
A few drops of white truffle oil
Directions:
Set milk to boil in a large saucepan and then add the pasta. Cook for about 7-8 minutes until al dente and then let milk mixture reduce for a few minutes. At that point, you can take the pasta out, but do not rinse it in water.
Add the cheese, tomatoes, basil and season with salt, pepper and truffle oil. Add the reduced milk mixture on top (you don't have to use all of it, just to your liking).
Last night’s Emmy Awards meant celebrating great television (Yay, Modern Family!) and, for me, hosting my friends for a potluck dinner. Fresh corn is still in season and I grabbed a few ears from the Union Square Greenmarket for this nontraditional pesto recipe from bon appétit magazine. I modified the original to take out the meat and skip the pine nut toasting. You can prep the pesto ahead of time if you need to keep the counter clear of a hulking food processor, like I did. Makes 4 servings4 cups fresh corn kernels (cut from about 4 large ears)1 large garlic clove, minced1 tsp coarse sea salt3/4 tsp freshly ground black pepper1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese plus additional for serving1/3 cup pine nuts1/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil8 ounces spinach fettuccine3/4 cup coarsely torn fresh basil leaves, dividedPour 1 tablespoon of olive oil into a large nonstick skillet. When the oil is hot, add corn, garlic, salt, and pepper to drippings in skillet. Sauté over medium-high heat until corn is just tender but not brown, about 4 minutes. Transfer 1 1/2 cups corn kernels to small bowl and reserve.Scrape remaining corn mixture into processor. Add 1/2 cup Parmesan and pine nuts. With machine running, add olive oil through feed tube and blend until pesto is almost smooth. Set pesto aside.Cook pasta in large pot of boiling salted water until just tender but still firm to bite, stirring occasionally. Drain, reserving 1 1/2 cups pasta cooking liquid.
Return pasta to pot. Add corn pesto, reserved corn kernels, and 1/2 cup basil leaves.
Toss pasta mixture over medium heat until warmed through, adding reserved pasta cooking liquid by 1/4 cupfuls to thin to desired consistency, 2 to 3 minutes. Season pasta to taste with salt and pepper.
Transfer pasta to large shallow bowl. Sprinkle with remaining 1/4 cup basil leaves and reserved bacon. Serve pasta, passing additional grated Parmesan alongside.
