Pasta with Ham, Mascarpone and Green Peas

I myself am surprised I didn’t written this post earlier because this pasta dish has been a classic in our family for many years. It is so easy and quick to prepare yet so delicious! I have served it to our friends on some informal occasions but – probably more importantly – it is a hit with children.

When my daughters were small and they had their friends over in our house, I could be almost sure that if I had cooked this meal, all the children would eat it. But even now when they are so much older, their (different) friends still enjoy it tremendously.

Another good point about this recipe is that it can be adjusted to different needs without losing too much of its flavor. If you or your children are not big fans of green peas, they can be omitted. And if you want to cook it for a vegetarian, you can omit the ham – I made it that way for my vegetarian daughter and although she was skeptical at the beginning and worried it wasn't going to be that tasty, she did enjoy it a lot (but I wouldn’t omit both at the same time: the ham and the peas ;)).

INGREDIENTS (for 4 portions):

1 tbsp butter,

150g sliced cooked ham, cut into strips,

5 tbsp milk,

125g mascarpone cheese,

40g grated Parmesan cheese (plus extra for serving),

180g green peas,

400g spaghetti, tagliatelle or linguine,

Salt and pepper.

METHOD:

1. Boil salted water and when ready, cook the pasta al dente; 3 minutes before the end of cooking time add the green peas.
2. On a medium heat melt the butter in a medium size frying pan, add the ham and fry for 1-2 minutes.
3. Decrease the heat to low, add the milk, mascarpone and Parmesan, stir till the cheeses melt, season.
4. Drain the pasta and green peas (reserve a few tbsps of cooking water); put them back to the pan and pour the sauce in.
5. Stir well, adjust the seasoning, if necessary and serve straight away with some extra Parmesan cheese.

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Orecchiette with Broad Beans and Tomatoes [Vegetarian]

Although in summer I prepare a lot of salads for us, it is nice to have something just slightly heavier from time to time, like pasta. Since hot weather doesn’t really go that well (at least in my opinion) with heavy and creamy sauces, one day I came up with this tasty pasta recipe below.

The great advantage of this dish is that the majority of ingredients I used are probably available in lots of kitchens on daily basis with broad beans being the only exception. I usually buy, cook and shell 1 kilo at a time and that way the preparation of this pasta dish takes me 20 minutes - the time I need to cook the orecchiette. If you don’t already have cooked broad beans, the preparation will take you a bit longer. But it is worth it as you will end up with a perfect, summer dish: pretty light but filling enough so that you will not look for a snack just an hour after your lunch.

INGREDIENTS (for 2 portions):

150g orecchiette,

3 tbsp olive oil,

1 shallot, finely chopped,

1 garlic clove, finely sliced,

200g cherry tomatoes, cut in halves,

3 anchovies, chopped,

150g cooked broad beans, shelled (or 300g, if you are cooking them fresh and still have to shell them)

salt and pepper,

grated Parmesan cheese to serve.

METHOD:

1. Boil the pasta in the salted water as per packet instruction.
2. On a medium heat warm up the olive oil, add the shallot, fry for a minute, add the garlic and fry for 2 minutes.
3. Stir in the anchovies and tomatoes, cook for 5 minutes until the tomatoes soften; add the broad beans and warm up.
4. Drain the pasta but keep half a cup of the cooking liquid.
5. Add the pasta to the sauce, stir and if it is too dry add a few tablespoons of pasta water, check the taste and season.
6. Serve with grated Parmesan cheese.

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Spaghetti with Mussels in Tomato Sauce

Once I became more confident with mussels (please see my earlier post), I decided to cook them with one of my favourite ingredients – pasta. As it was in the case with Mussels in White Wine Sauce, the preparation of this mussels recipe was not too difficult but the final meal looked really impressive: as if I had spent hours in the kitchen.

In truth, this meal can be finished in 30 minutes (excluding the mussels’ preparation, please check here how to clean mussels), if everything is planned and organized properly. Once the mussels are ready to use, you should start cooking the tomato sauce. While the sauce thickens, you steam the mussels and cook the spaghetti. Then it is just a question of finishing the sauce and mixing everything together. And with that little to medium effort, you end up with a stunning and delicious meal.

INGREDIENTS (for 2 big portions):

1 kg mussels,

2 tbsp olive oil,

2 garlic cloves, finely chopped,

1 can (400g) tomatoes,

125 ml dry white wine,

200g spaghetti,

1 tbsp chopped parsley,

salt and pepper.

METHOD:

1. Prepare the mussels:                                                                           * rinse them very well in cold water.
   * take a mussel: if it is damaged, discard it straight away and if it is open, give it a vigorous tap. If it stays open, discard.
   * if a mussel is closed (or closes after tapping), wash it and scrape off with a knife any barnacles; remove “beard” that may be between the two shells.
   * repeat the above with all the mussels.
   * rinse all of them again.
2. On a medium heat warm up the olive oil, add the chopped garlic and fry for 30 seconds, add the tomatoes and cook everything for 10 minutes. If you are using whole tomatoes (I prefer them to the chopped ones), you can simply mash them with a fork while they are cooking.
3. Put the wine and the mussels to a big pot, cover with a tight lid and steam them on a high heat for 5 minutes shaking vigorously every now and then.
4. With a slotted spoon transfer the mussels to a big bowl and keep them warm.
5. Strain the mussels’ cooking liquid through a very fine sieve (you want to eliminate any sand and grit) and add 200ml of it to the cooking tomatoes to provide extra tastes; continue cooking the tomato sauce for approx. 10 minutes till it thickens.
6. In the meantime cook the spaghetti al dente in salted water as per your packet instruction and then drain.
7. Add the seasoning and chopped parsley to the tomato sauce, and in a big bowl or pot mix with the spaghetti and mussels. If the dish is too dry, you may add a bit of the leftover mussels’ cooking liquid.

The recipe was adapted from “The New Fish Cooking Encyclopedia” by Kate Whiteman

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Asparagus Pappardelle with Salmon in Red Pesto Sauce

I love pasta and I love asparagus. So it was only a matter of time before I would combine them together so that I could reach a higher level of foodie heaven. But you cannot go to heaven, if you sin too much with your calories! This is why I decided to use a clever trick (and a potato peeler) to shave asparagus into ribbons that resemble pappardelle (or at least its thinner cousin - tagliatelle).

Thanks to that trick, I used much less pasta than I would have normally cooked, and the portions still looked big, but were less calorific and healthier. Oh, and have I mentioned yet that it was delicious?

INGREDIENTS (for 4 portions):

500g green asparagus,

1 tbsp olive oil,

500g skinless and boneless salmon fillet,

250g pappardelle,

2 tbsp red pesto,

6 tbsp double cream,

salt and pepper.

METHOD:

1. Snip the hard ends of washed asparagus, cut 4-5 cm of the tops and shave the other parts of asparagus with a potato peeler into ribbons.
2. In a frying pan heat up the olive oil, add the asparagus tops and fry them for 2 min, put aside.
3. In the same frying pan fry over a medium heat the seasoned salmon fillet for 5 minutes on each side (or a bit longer, if the fillet is thick).
4. Put the fish on a plate, flake it.
5. Cook the pappardelle in salted water as per packet instruction, 1 minute before the end of cooking add the asparagus’ ribbons; keep half a cup of the cooking water.
6. On a low heat warm up the pesto and cream, add the flaked salmon and the asparagus tops, heat up and gently stir with pappardelle and asparagus ribbons. If it is too dry, add a few tablespoons of pasta cooking water.

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2 Method Pasta with Squash, Mushrooms and Spinach [vegetarian]

It was almost like a love at first sight: I tried a pasta dish with pumpkin and mushrooms fried on plenty of butter and with double cream added to it for extra taste, and I fell for it completely. But just as it sometimes happens with falling in love, after the first euphoria the common sense takes over. In case of that wonderful pasta it was about fat: I knew I had to keep my cholesterol level under control which meant I couldn't have this dish as often as I would have liked.

So I had only one option: to come up with a healthier but still very tasty dish. What I didn't know then is that I would come up with two ways of making this delicious pasta dish and I would not be able to decide which one was tastier. And that is the reason why at the end I decided to include both methods. If you - just like me - don’t know which one to choose, I can give you some hints. If you prefer to have a very healthy option and an almost-straight-from-the-oven-to-the-table dish, choose the Roasting Method. But if you have more time to be involved in cooking and you are not so concerned about a bit of fat (as it does use a little butter), choose the Frying Method. However the truth is that whichever option you decide on, you will be very happy with the result!

INGREDIENTS (for 4 portions):

1 butternut squash (weighing approx. 1 kg), peeled, seeds removed and cut into 2cm cubes,

3 tbsp olive oil,

250g mushrooms (champignons), cut into quarters,

350g cherry tomatoes, halved,

2 garlic cloves, minced,

250g  spinach,

2 tsp thyme,

400g pasta (preferably tagliatelle or pappardelle),

Salt and pepper.

Parmesan cheese.

2 tbsp butter (for the Frying Method only).

METHOD 1 (Roasting):

1. Preheat an oven to 180 degrees (fan).
2. Place the cubes of butternut squash on a big baking tray, pour 1 tbsp of olive oil over them, sprinkle with salt and pepper, mix well (you can do it with your hands) and put to the hot oven for 20 minutes.
3. Take the baking tray out of the oven, move the squash around in case it got stuck to the bottom of the tray; push to one side; add the mushrooms and the tomatoes. Season, pour 1 tbsp of olive oil over the added vegetables and put back to the oven for further 20 minutes.
4. Approx. 5-10 minutes before the vegetables are done, cook the pasta per packet instruction. Keep half a cup of cooking water before you drain the cooked pasta.
5. In a big frying pan heat the 1 tbsp olive oil, add the garlic, spinach and fry only till wilted.
6. Add the roasted vegetables and thyme, season.
7. Pour a few tablespoons of the pasta cooking water to the baking tray in which vegetables were roasted and deglaze it. You can do it by moving a spatula to dissolve the brown residue from the bottom of the tray – this way you will get some extra flavour.
8. Pour the sauce to the pan with the vegetables, stir and mix gently with the cooked pasta.
9. Serve with grated or shaved Parmesan cheese.

METHOD 2 (Frying):

1. In a big frying pan heat up 1 tbsp of each: oil and butter, add the mushrooms and fry them (stirring occasionally) for 5-7 minutes until golden, put aside.
2. In the same frying pan heat up 1 tbsp of oil and 2 tbsp of butter, add the cubed squash and thyme, fry on a medium heat for 15-17 minutes making sure the squash doesn’t burn. If it starts sticking too much, you may add a bit of boiled water.
3. Just before the squash is ready, cook the pasta per packet instruction. Keep half a cup of cooking water before you drain the cooked pasta.
4. Add the tomatoes to the squash and fry for 5 minutes more.
5. In another frying pan heat 1 tbsp olive oil, add the garlic, spinach and fry only till wilted.
6. Transfer the wilted spinach to the pan with the other vegetables, season and mix gently with the cooked pasta. If the dish is a bit too dry, you may add a few tablespoons of the pasta cooking water.
7. Serve with grated or shaved Parmesan cheese.

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3 Shades of Red Pasta with Peppers, Onions and Beans [vegetarian]

I don’t think you can ever get bored with pasta (at least I can’t!). There are so many sauces you can serve it with and so many shapes you can choose from. My favourite pasta shapes are orecchiette and casarecce – I like them not only because of their form but also because when I bite into them, they seem to me to be firmer than other types. But in truth all types of pasta will be firm, if they are cooked al dente (from Italian “to the tooth”). Majority of packets give instructions on how long you should cook pasta to have it al dente but if not, then in general the normal cooking time should be shortened by 2 minutes. 

Al dente pasta not only gives a better texture to dishes but it is also healthier: firmer pasta has a lower Glycemic Index than the softer or overcooked one. And lower GI ensures gradual rise in blood sugar which helps keeping under control glucose and lipid levels (important for diabetes) as well as hunger (important for everybody who wants to maintain a healthy weight).

So how to have healthy pasta dish? – cook it the right way. And how to have even healthier pasta? Serve it with loads of vegetables like for example in the below recipe, where I combined it with three red vegetables: peppers, onions and beans to get a delicious, complete vegetarian dish.

INGREDIENTS (4 portions):

3 red peppers, cut into quarters (seeds and stalks removed),

3 red onions, sliced,

3 tbsp olive oil,

0.5 tsp sugar,

300g pasta shapes,

420g tin of red beans, drained,

salt and pepper,

grated Parmesan cheese to serve.

METHOD:

1. Preheat a grill in an oven.
2. Place the quarters of the peppers on a baking tray (skin side up) and put under the hot grill until the skin is black and blistered (it will take about 10-15 minutes – the time depends on a grill).
3. When done, put the peppers to a plastic bag, seal it and leave for at least 10 minutes (this will make it easier to peel the skin off).
4. Heat the olive oil in a big frying pan, add the sliced onions and fry them on a medium heat for 8-10 minutes until soft and caramelised (but not burned!). Half way through add sugar and seasoning.
5. Cook the pasta al dente.
6. Peel off the peppers, cut them into slices and add to the caramelised onions together with the red beans, heat up.
7. Drain the pasta but save half a cup of the pasta cooking water.
8. Add the pasta to the frying pan, stir, check seasoning. If the dish is very dry, you may add a few tablespoons of the saved pasta cooking water.
9. Serve sprinkled with extra olive oil and grated Parmesan.

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Black Pasta with Cod and Tomato Sauce

Fresh black pasta is very special for me as firstly I cannot get it easily in shops and secondly – even if I wanted to make it myself – I still would have a problem with getting the special ingredient. So when it is available either in a shop or in a restaurant, I always try to take advantage of such an opportunity.

The special ingredient – ink of a squid or cuttlefish - not only gives the dark colour to the pasta but also the slight taste of sea. And because of the aquatic flavour, the black pasta is best complimented by fish and seafood, just like in the recipe below.

For this recipe I tried to prepare the fish in a different way. Instead of cooking it with the tomato sauce, I used the Ceviche method: I “cooked” it in lemon juice at first and added to the sauce right at the end, only to warm up. Thanks to it the fish did have a better taste and it didn't fall apart.

INGREDIENTS (4 portions):

400g cod, skinless and boneless, cut into 3cm pieces,

2 tbsp lemon juice,

2 tbsp olive oil,

1 onion chopped,

2 garlic cloves sliced,

0.25 tsp chilli flakes,

2 tbsp chopped parsley,

1 can (~400g) plum tomatoes,

500g black pasta,

0.5 tsp sugar,

salt,

extra olive oil for drizzling,

chopped parsley.

METHOD:

1. Put the cod into a bowl, pour the lemon juice over it and mix gently not to break the fish. Leave it to “cook”. 
2.  Warm up the olive oil in a big frying pan, add the chopped onion, fry gently for 5 min. Add the garlic, chilli, parsley, stir and fry for another 3-5 minutes. 
3.  Add the chopped plum tomatoes, cook for 10 min, stirring occasionally. 
4. Boil the pasta as per packet instruction.  
5. Add the drained cod to the tomato sauce; stir gently and warm up. 
6. Mix with the black pasta and serve sprinkled with the chopped parsley.

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Top 10 Spaghetti - with Spinach, Mozzarella and Cherry Tomatoes (vegetarian)

When I think about ingredients that are the most typical for Italian cuisine; spaghetti, mozzarella, tomatoes, olive oil, spinach and garlic would be very high on the list, probably in the top 10. This pasta dish uses all of the ingredients and – except for seasoning and water – only them. It is very easy and quick to prepare but the result is absolutely wonderful.

I used to cook it just for my husband and I when our daughters were small and it was quite normal for us to have different meals. But when the girls started to eat “normal” food and I cooked the same for all of us, I couldn't really make this pasta dish as they wouldn't eat tomatoes or spinach. Luckily now they know what is good (and healthy) for them and we all can enjoy this delicious pasta together.

INGREDIENTS (4 portions):

2 tbsp olive oil,

3 garlic cloves finely sliced,

500g cherry tomatoes, halved,

250g fresh spinach,

250g mozzarella cut into small cubes,

300-400g spaghetti,

Salt and pepper.

METHOD:

1. Heat the olive oil in a big frying pan, add the garlic and fry it for a few seconds (make sure not to burn it).
2. Add the cherry tomatoes and cook them on a medium heat for about 5 minutes.
3. In the meantime cook the spaghetti per the packet instructions. Before you drain the pasta, save a few tablespoons of the cooking water for later use.
4. Add the spinach to the tomatoes and cook till just wilted, adjust the seasoning (you may want to add 0.5 tsp sugar if the sauce is still too tangy).
5. Add the cooked pasta, mozzarella and - if the dish is too dry – a few tablespoons of the kept pasta cooking water, stir and quickly serve (if you wait too long, the mozzarella will melt and it will be difficult to serve).

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Bavette with Prawns and Spicy Tomato Sauce

I think I must have been Italian in my previous life – I love their food. And pasta has always had a special place in my heart: whenever I am in an Italian restaurant, whether it is in Italy or anywhere else, I always order pasta and I never get bored of it. At home I have to stop myself from cooking pasta more often than once per week (only because I try to cut on refined grains - luckily I can use whole meal pasta so I have an excuse!).

This recipe is simply wonderful: very easy and only a few ingredients that work perfectly well with each other. It is so simple that it can be prepared after a long day at work without much effort but from the other hand – festive enough to be served for guests. I have tested it many times and my guests have always asked for second helpings!

INGREDIENTS (4 portions):

3 garlic cloves thinly chopped,

0.5 chilli (without seeds, quarter chopped and quarter left as one piece),

2 tbsp chopped parsley,

2 tins of tomatoes,

2 tbsp olive oil,

0.5 tsp sugar,

Salt and pepper,

100g fresh spinach,

400g prawns without shells,

400g bavette (or spaghetti),

basil.

METHOD:

1. Heat the olive oil in a heavy pan on a medium heat; add the garlic, chilli and parsley, fry stirring constantly for a short while till aroma is released.
2. If you are using whole tomatoes, cut them into smaller pieces at first, then add to the pan and increase the heat so the mixture boils.
3. Decrease the heat and cook for 15 min. till the sauce thickens. In the meantime you can check its taste – add sugar and if the sauce is too spicy, discard the piece of chilli.
4. Cook the pasta as per the packet instruction.
5. Add the spinach to the sauce, stir.
6. Adjust the seasoning and add the prawns to the sauce. If you are using cooked prawns, just reheat them; if raw – cook them in the sauce till they change their colour to pink.
7. Sprinkle with chopped basil.

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