Pasta Sauces Without Tomatoes? Here’s Another Thought….
Following on from last weeks’ blog, here’s part 2.
I have some more alternatives to the usual tomato-based pasta sauces.
This week I have 2 super-quick, super-easy recipes for pasta that are both tomato free and truly delicious…
Apart from the excellent Morelli pasta and extra virgin olive oils available from Buon Appetito Deli online shop, you will only need a few other ingredients to bring these authentic Italian dishes to life.
Morelli Spaghetti with Garlic, Olive Oil and Chilli
This is a great stand-by if you want a quick, tasty bowl of pasta using store-cupboard ingredients!
Italians call it ‘spaghetti aglio, olio e pepeoncino’.
Morelli Spaghetti with wheat germ (‘germe di grano’ in Italian) is perfect for this dish.
This a simple, delicious spaghetti, dressed with only three ingredients.
Get the Morelli Spaghetti on to cook in a large pan of boiling salted water - It will take 9 minutes. Allow 100g uncooked spaghetti per person.
Now put some extra virgin olive oil in a small a frying pan. Put in thinly sliced garlic while the pan is still cold - this will give you more control and help prevent the garlic from burning.
And don’t be shy with the garlic – a couple of cloves per person will not be a problem!
You need to heat the oil slowly. Take the pan off the heat just before the sliced garlic starts to fry and add a little more cold oil before returning to the heat – you want the flavour of the garlic to infuse gently into the oil.
Do this a couple of times then add some dried chilli flakes (pepperoncino) to give the oil a nice chilli heat. I like to go full-on with plenty of chilli but how hot you want it is entirely up to you!
Now all you have to do is mix together the cooked spaghetti and your warm oil infused with the flavours of garlic and chilli. Fantastico!
www.buonappetitodeli.com/collections/morelli/products/morelli-spaghetti-con-germe-di-grano
www.buonappetitodeli.com/collections/other/products/dried-calabrian-chilli-flakes-90g
Morelli Orecchiette Pasta with Broccoli
'Orecchiette’ means ‘little ears’ and this pasta shape is traditional to the region of Puglia in the south of Italy.
I like to use the long-stem variety of broccoli for this dish. Start by par-boiling the broccoli in salted water for 3 minutes until it starts to feel tender. Drain and allow to cool.
Cook the Morelli Orecchiette pasta for 11 minutes in plenty of boiling salted water, allowing 100g of uncooked pasta per person.
This will give you time to get the rest of the dish prepared. Traditionally anchovies would be added to a pan with some olive oil and fried gently until they almost melt down. If you are not an anchovy fan (and I know a lot of people who aren’t!) the recipe works just as well using pancetta (cubed or sliced strips) instead.
When the anchovies or pancetta are cooked, add some chopped garlic and pine nuts (a teaspoon per person) to the pan and cook gently for a few minutes, being careful not to burn the garlic. Add the par-boiled broccoli along with a pinch of dried chilli flakes, then sauté everything together.
When the pasta is ready, drain and add to the pan containing your broccoli and other ingredients.
Mix together well with a good splash extra virgin oil to get the pasta coated all over. Finish off with grated cheese and enjoy!
www.buonappetitodeli.com/collections/morelli/products/morelli-orecchiette
Buon appetito!
Michael