Yoghurt week is coming along nicely, don’t you think? This is day number four and I’ve got a good dish for summer to share. I was reluctant to cook the recipe, however, because of my experience with whole wheat spaghetti in the past; it seems to stay more firm than I prefer my pasta to be! Continue reading
I love trying out new pasta recipes. Recently I’ve made 2 really lovely ones that I need to share with you. The first one is a recipe from one of my favorite cooks, Nigella Lawson. Her recipe for pappardelle with lamb ragu can be found on her website. I was attracted to this recipe because I’ve been cooking with lamb a lot lately and I was intrigued by the addition of mint and redcurrant jelly to the pasta sauce.
That’s not parsley or basil decorating this dish – it’s mint! This was a really delicious and comforting meal that I’ve made twice already.
You can trust Nigella to give you such a fantastic recipe! I highly recommend giving this a go. It’s very easy and quick to whip up, even on a weeknight. I didn’t have and couldn’t find pappardelle, so I used fettuccine instead.
The second recipe is seriously one of the best pasta dishes I have ever made/eaten (by another of my favorite cooks, Valli Little). I am always impressed when I try a pasta recipe that is made without using a tomato-based sauce, as it is always so delicious. I grew up thinking that you only used tomato-based sauces on pasta! Wow, what a sheltered childhood I must have had! Discovering that I could enjoy pasta without tomatoes was almost as thrilling as hitting that 21st birthday, when one can finally legally drink alcohol!
This sensational pasta dish is called broccolini and chilli spaghetti with pangrattato. It is another easy whip-up-on-a-weeknight meal that is bursting with the most amazing flavor. I will definitely be making this recipe again and again.
I hadn’t heard of pangrattato before, but it is easy to make. It involves tearing up chunks of sourdough bread, drizzling them with olive oil and baking until golden and crunchy. Then, toss them in a food processor along with some chopped garlic and parsley and pulse until they form coarse crumbs. You’ll be using this pangrattato to sprinkle over the spaghetti just before serving, along with some fresh grated parmesan.
One thing you can’t skip in this recipe is the lemon. You must have fresh lemon wedges to squeeze over the pasta before serving as it really completes the dish and brings all the flavors together.
I only used 400g of spaghetti, instead of the 500g called for in the recipe, because my pan isn’t quite big enough for an extra 100g. I found though that 400g was definitely plenty of spaghetti.
Ingredients
1 1/2 tbsps garlic oil
4 spring onions, finely sliced
1 tsp dried mint
1 tsp dried oregano
1/4 tsp crushed chillies
250g minced lamb
1 can chopped tomatoes
1 x 15ml tbsp redcurrant jelly
1 1/2 tsps Worcestershire sauce
A pinch of salt
Grinding of pepper
250g pappardelle (or fettuccine)
Fresh mint
Method
Put a large pan of water on to boil for the pasta. Warm the garlic oil in a small, heavy-based pan and cook the spring onions, stirring for a minute or so.
Sprinkle in the herbs and chilli, stir. Add the lamb and stir to break up the mince. Cook for a couple of minutes, stirring, until it loses a bit of its pinkness.
Add the tomatoes, redcurrant jelly, Worcestershire sauce, salt and pepper, then give a good stir and bring to a simmer. Partially cover with the lid and simmer for 20 minutes.
When the pasta water begins to boil, add some salt and cook the pasta according to packet instructions, and once cooked and drained, dress with the lamb ragù. Sprinkle a little bit of fresh mint onto each bowl to serve.
Ingredients
4 slices sourdough bread
2 tbs olive oil
3 garlic cloves, finely chopped
1 cup flat-leaf parsley, roughly chopped
500g spaghetti
2 bunches broccolini, trimmed, halved
1 long red chilli, deseeded, finely chopped
Grated zest of 2 lemons, plus wedges
1 cup (80g) grated parmesan
Method
Preheat the oven to 180°C.
Tear bread into small pieces, place on a baking tray and drizzle with 1 tbs oil. Bake for about 10 minutes until golden and crisp. Remove from the oven and allow to cool completely. Place in a food processor with one-third of the garlic and 1/2 cup parsley. Pulse to form coarse crumbs, then set pangrattato aside.
Cook pasta in a large pan of boiling salted water to packet instructions, adding broccolini for the final 1 minute of cooking time. Drain.
Meanwhile, heat remaining oil in a large frypan over medium heat. Add chilli, zest and remaining garlic, then cook, stirring, for 30 seconds until fragrant. Add drained broccolini and pasta and toss to combine, then stir through remaining parsley and half the parmesan.
Divide pasta among warm bowls, then sprinkle with pangrattato and remaining parmesan and serve with lemon wedges.
So you’ve just read the title to this post. I can actually hear a shocked gasp among my readers – you haven’t seen a savory recipe at The Sweetest Kitchen in a very long time! How strange! Well, I just want to prove to you that we do really eat foods other than cakes and cookies in this house. It’s just that I prefer blogging about the sweet foods!
Last week I picked up a new delicious. magazine; September 2010′s issue. There was a recipe inside for spaghetti puttanesca, which is a dish I’ve been wanting to make for the past few months. Since the recipe was now in one of my favorite magazines, I wrote down the ingredients list and immediately went out and stocked my pantry with semi-dried tomatoes, kalamata olives and anchovy fillets. These ingredients aren’t something I’d normally keep in the pantry, but the rest of the ingredient list is normal for our pantry/refrigerator.
What took longest in making this dish was the preparation. The cooking was simply a breeze, couldn’t have been easier. The house smelled amazing while the sauce was cooking in the frying pan; I’m sure you could have smelled it from the street had you been standing outside. I’ve never, ever eaten anchovies (to my knowledge), so I was looking forward to trying this and wondering how they would taste.
And so was my 1-year-old son! He wouldn’t keep his hands out of the dish as I was trying to photograph it!
The textures and flavors are many in this dish. The flavor is tangy and salty and it’ll definitely wake up your mouth. The olives and semi-dried tomatoes add a variation of flavor and texture with each bite, and thyme-flavored ciabatta breadcrumbs add a subtle crunch. I know I haven’t been out much, but I can honestly tell you that this is one of the most flavorful dishes I’ve eaten in a very long time.
I would definitely recommend this if you love Italian food!
You’ll have 3/4′s of a loaf of ciabatta bread when you’re done making this dish. Ciabatta makes an excellent garlic bread, so why not use it to make your own to accompany your spaghetti puttanesca?
Ingredients
1/4 olive or plain ciabatta loaf
100ml olive oil
1 tablespoon chopped thyme leaves, plus thyme sprigs to serve
1 large tomato
2 red onions, thinly sliced
4 garlic cloves, finely chopped
Pinch of chilli flakes
12 anchovy fillets in oil, drained, roughly chopped
200g semi-dried tomatoes, halved
200g pitted kalamata olives
400g spaghetti
Method
Preheat the oven to 180C and line a baking tray with foil.
Place the ciabatta in a food processor and whiz to form coarse crumbs. Spread the breadcrumbs onto the lined baking tray, drizzle with 1/4 cup (60ml) olive oil, scatter with chopped thyme leaves and season well with sea salt and freshly ground black pepper. Bake for 10 minutes or until the breadcrumbs are golden and crisp, then set aside.
Meanwhile, cut a small cross in the base of the tomato. Plunge the tomato into boiling water for 30 seconds, then refresh immediately in iced water. Peel and halve the tomato, then scoop out and discard the seeds. Finely chop and set aside.
Place the remaning 2 tablespoons olive oil in a large frypan over medium heat. Add the onion and cook, stirring, for 3-4 minutes until softened but not colored. Add the chopped tomato, garlic, chilli and anchovies and cook, stirring for 3-4 minutes until the anchovies dissolve and the tomato has broken down. Add the semi-dried tomatoes and olives and stir for 1-2 minutes to warm through.
Meanwhile, cook the spaghetti in a large saucepan of boiling salted water according to the packet instructions. Drain, then add the pasta to the sauce and toss well to combine.
Divide the spaghetti and sauce among bowls, scatter with the breadcrumbs and thyme sprigs, then serve.
This is one of my all-time favorite ways to enjoy spaghetti. My husband originally found this recipe while looking for truffle recipes. That original recipe used olive oil, garlic, parsley, basil and truffles tossed with spaghetti. But since truffles aren’t readily available and are quite expensive, the truffles can easily be substituted with another mushroom. I’ve previously used button mushrooms; this time I used baby portobello mushrooms.
The recipe is really easy and is one of those that you can’t really screw up. You can add all the ingredients based on your own tastes. I’ll post a basic recipe, but note that I can’t give you the exact amounts because I never measure them!
The flavor of the mushrooms really stand out in this dish; it is the most prevalent taste, followed by the garlic and herbs. A sprinkling of grated Parmesan cheese finishes off the taste really well.
Spaghetti With Mushrooms And Garlic
Serves 2-ishIngredients
2 servings uncooked spaghetti (maybe a little more?)
2-4 tablespoons olive oil
1-1 1/2 teaspoons dried parsley
1-1 1/2 teaspoons dried basil
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 ounces baby portobello mushrooms, or button, finely chopped
Grated Parmesan cheeseMethod
In a medium saucepan or skillet, add olive oil, herbs, garlic and mushrooms. Cook, uncovered, over low-medium heat until it begins to simmer; remove from heat.Meanwhile, cook spaghetti according to package directions. Drain. Toss with mushroom mixture until thoroughly coated. Serve with a sprinkling of grated Parmesan cheese.
If I have leftover olive oil after plating, I usually just toss it out after making sure there are no more chunks of garlic and mushrooms.
If you try this, let me know. It’s been my favorite for years!
For years, the only way I knew how to eat spaghetti was with a tomato-based sauce. Spaghetti is one of my favorite foods, and when I realized that it didn’t have to have that tomato-based sauce, I was ready to branch out and try new things with my spaghetti.
I haven’t made this recipe for a while, but when I saw the picture I took of it way back when in my Flickr photo set I was reminded of how much I enjoyed this particular spaghetti.
This is chili spaghetti and the recipe comes from a Jamie Oliver cookbook. I no longer have the book (it’s stored away with my other possessions in Sydney for now), but I think it was the book titled Jamie’s Kitchen.
Chili Spaghetti
Adapted from Jamie OliverIngredients
1 pound dried spaghetti
1 large clove of garlic, finely chopped
olive oil
1-2 fresh red chilies, seeded and finely chopped
1 good handful of flat-leaf parsley, finely chopped (I toss in the leaves whole, for that rustic appearance)
salt and freshly ground black pepperPreparation
While cooking the spaghetti in salted boiling water until al dente, fry the garlic in a couple of good glugs of olive oil until softened. Add the chilies, drained pasta and parsley. Toss to coat, season and serve.
Just a reminder on the chilies – try to wear rubber gloves if possible while chopping chilies, and if not possible, then wash your hands thoroughly immediately after chopping (i.e., do not touch your eyes or other parts of your skin). Also, if you’re looking for more mild chilies, choose larger ones; if you want a hotter chili, choose smaller ones.
This isn’t the most exciting recipe you’ll find here at The Sweetest Kitchen, but I do like to blog about the yummy stuff I’ve made in the kitchen. Spaghetti is just one of my many favorite dinners, but I usually just cook spaghetti and throw a jarred sauce onto it, sometimes with grated parmesan cheese. I haven’t had spaghetti and meatballs in years, and decided that this is what I’d do with the pound of frozen ground beef in the freezer.
I just used what I had on hand, it was a totally made up recipe! And I still used a jarred sauce!
Meatballs
Adapted from myself
Makes 2 dozen meatballs, depending on how big you roll themIngredients
1 pound ground beef
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/4 cup fresh basil, chopped
2 tablespoons Italian breadcrumbs
1 eggMethod
Preheat oven to 400 F.Mix all ingredients in a bowl until well combined, hands are usually best to mix this. Roll into 1-1 1/2 inch balls and place on a baking/cookie sheet. Bake at 400 F for 15 minutes. Serve with freshly cooked spaghetti and your favorite spaghetti sauce.
There are better meatball recipes out there, but mine tasted just fine and I’m looking forward to the leftovers for dinner tonight!