Pasta Puttanesca

Hi all! I can’t believe I’ve stayed away for so long! I mean, I’ve been around all the time, just not updating the blog. Just one word of explanation: work.

But now as I’m back I don’t wanna waste time in writing something that might not interest you, like the weather conditions in Finland (awful) or my work (tough) or other things not concerning food. So straight to the point.

I love Italian food - who wouldn’t!? I love pasta and I could eat pasta dishes every day. Or at least Italian dishes, when I could include also pizzas and risottos into my daily diet. Yum!

One of my favorite pastas of all times is spaghetti alla puttanesca, spaghetti in whores’ style. It traditionally consists of tomato, anchovies, capers, olives, chili and garlic. There are many explanations to the spicy name of this spicy dish. The ladies of the night wanted to have quick meals between the customers, so this one was super simple to prepare. Or they attracted the men from the street to the brothels with the wonderful scent of this food. Or, as it’s strong in flavor, by eating it they could keep the customers from trying to kiss them. And of course, the dish is as hot and spicy as the women themselves.

I don’t normally cook many pastas with tomato, simply because my better half S is not very fond of tomato sauces. This time I didn’t ask, which was smart, because S loved it. For once I will be able to prepare a tomato based pasta again!

Spaghetti alla Puttanesca

300g dry spaghetti

500g whole canned tomatoes

2-3 tablespoons olive oil

6 canned anchovy fillets

3 cloves garlic, finely minced

1 red chili or 2 smaller peperoncinos if you can get them, finely minced

1/2 small onion, finely chopped

2 tablespoons capers

20 black olives (I used kalamata), stones removed

salt and black pepper to taste

chopped fresh parsley or basil

parmesan cheese, to serve

Prepare the sauce. Heat the olive oil in a large skillet. Add anchovies, garlic, onion and chili. Let simmer constantly stirring until the anchovies have “melted” in the oil, about 5 minutes.

Crush the canned tomatoes and add them to the skillet. Let the sauce simmer while you boil the pasta according to the package instructions.

Drain the cooked pasta. Add capers and olives into the tomato sauce, heat up and toss with the pasta.

Serve immediately with chopped herbs and grated parmesan cheese.

Light Ricotta & Spinach Pasta Alfredo

An Italian friend of mine posted one day a link on Facebook, of 10 errors about Italian food and eating culture. That was very interesting and I assume many of those conceptions and beliefs come from the American-Italian habits and culture. One point on the list was Pasta Alfredo, which, the article said, is unknown to the Italians as a traditional dish. In other words, someone else than people in Italy have come up with this recipe of Pasta Alfredo, and then spread it on as it was originally from Italy. Maybe?

I had heard of Pasta Alfredo, but never tried it. Actually now when I got back to the list above I realized it is usually made of butter. The recipes I came across were mostly using cream or other milk products, therefore I did the same. Let’s then say, my Alfredo is not quite American-Italian either, but something that would require a new definition and a new name, perhaps. I will have to get back to this dish later, with more original recipe. Meanwhile, here’s a lighter version of the dish, using ricotta and yogurt. The pasta I used was tomato-chili flavored dry rotini, and I thought it worked great as the sauce was so mild. The recipe is adapted from Joy of Kosher.

Ricotta & Spinach Pasta Alfredo

300g tomato flavored pasta (I used rotini, as the sauce goes nicely between the helix)

1 tablespoon olive oil

250g smooth ricotta

3 tablespoons Turkish or Greek yogurt (mine had 10% fat)

70g baby spinach, washed

50g parmesan cheese, grated

3 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice

small handful of fresh thyme

salt and black pepper to taste

Bring water to a boil in a large saucepan. Cook pasta according to the package instructions in salted water.

Heat up the oil in a large skillet. Add the ricotta and yogurt and bring to a simmer. Add parmesan and let it incorporate.

Add the spinach and cook for 2 minutes more. Season with lemon juice, thyme, salt and pepper.

Mix the drained pasta with the sauce and serve with parmesan cheese and some more fresh thyme.

Spaghetti with Asparagus & Spinach Pesto

Spring is slowly but surely turning into summer here up North! That’s such a great feeling, although I have to stay inside writing my thesis, AND I’m having allergic symptoms. But who cares, it’s summer! During the past days the temperature has raised to more than 20 C and yesterday me and S spent some time outside reading and writing. I’d love to sit on our back yard doing the work, but seriously I should get better sunglasses to see my screen in the sunshine.

Now doing the thesis should be my first priority, as in one week I’ll be moving back to Helsinki! I can’t believe it’s so close…the time runs so fast…it runs out, actually. But I’m doing my best to get as much done during this week as possible. Other non-food related news is that yesterday I received the cutest video regards for my birthday from my in-laws in Brazil. I think I’ll have to post the video so that you can see it too. It made me so happy, it made my day!

But to the serious business: food. As the summer is now here I think it could be a time for my last asparagus post of the spring. Let’s put it tentatively, as I might still go back to asparagus during the early summer. Here’s a recipe of spaghetti with asparagus and spinach pesto. The original recipe is from Simply Recipes, that I’ve been browsing lately quite a lot. I love their way of doing namely simple and delicious food. Just like the one that follows. 

This time I followed the original ingredients and amounts very precisely. Only the pine nuts I had to replace with roasted almonds, just because the pine nuts are a bit too expensive for a student budget. But unless you have a situation like mine, don’t substitute pine nuts with anything, as they give a truly unique and delicious flavor! If you however have to do like I did, use less than 2,5dl of the nuts.

Spaghetti with Asparagus and Spinach Pesto (serves 3)

400g spaghetti

450g fresh asparagus, washed and woody ends cut

3 handfuls baby spinach, washed and drained

1 big or 2 small cloves garlic, peeled

2,5dl parmesan cheese, grated + more for serving

2,5dl pine nuts

75ml good olive oil

juice of half lemon

salt and black pepper to taste

Bring water to a boil in a large saucepan. Sprinkle in some salt.

While water is heating, put the pine nuts in a single layer in a large skillet. Heat on medium heat, stirring occasionally, until fragrant and lightly browned. Remove pine nuts from pan and set aside. You will use 3/4 of the pine nuts for the pesto paste and 1/4 to mix in whole.

When the water boils, drop the asparagus in. Let boil for 2-3 minutes only, so that the veggies keep their bright green color and become slightly tender. Remove the asparagus from the pan and rinse with cold water to stop cooking. Cut off some asparagus tips, to use for garnish.

Add some water into the pan if needed, and bring to a boil again. Add some salt and cook the pasta according to the package instructions. 

While pasta is boiling, prepare the pesto. Place the chopped asparagus, spinach, garlic, Parmesan, and 3/4 of the pine nuts to a food processor. Purée and, with the motor running, drizzle in the olive oil until a paste forms. Add the lemon juice and lastly black pepper and salt to taste.

Penne with Goat Cheese and Rosemary

Even how much I try to keep myself away from the fast, bad carbs, this is where I always return to: pasta. Italian cuisine is my absolute favorite of the European kitchens and I totally, totally love pasta. I still have my pasta machine untouched on top of my kitchen cupboard, but I’m also intending to start practicing pasta-making…as soon as I get a little time to get my hands into it.

Usually I like my pasta most with something fresh, like tomato, spinach or asparagus. When I, however, spotted this incredibly cheesy and rich (in calories too) pasta recipe I just had to try it. In case I didn’t tell it yet, I am also a BIG fan of cheese. All kinds of cheeses, but flavorous and creamy goat cheese is one of my favorites. I took free hands with the cheese, and added more than the original recipe asked for (I also made a bigger portion of the pasta). And thought it was the best idea ever.

It was the first time I ran into this self-made onion-garlic puree. I thought it was genius and will definitely use it another time too. Another great thing in this recipe was that it did not use any butter or heavy cream. It’s so easy to cheat myself thinking it would be somehow lighter with all that cheese, and the Turkish 10 % fat yogurt I used… But when you taste it, you will forget about the cheese and the fat and everything that does not really matter. I could not find rigatoni pasta from the market, so I substituted it with penne. If you can get rigatoni, use it. It fills wonderfully with the goat cheese sauce and makes every bite totally irresistible. I also substituted goat milk gouda with regular gouda, but would encourage you to use the first one if you can have that at hand.

Irresistible Goat Cheese and Rosemary Pasta (serves 4-6)

500g penne (or rigatoni) pasta

250ml onion-garlic puree (see the recipe below)

1 teaspoon mustard (I used my favorite, honey flavored Dijon and it suited perfectly)

200g soft goat cheese

100g goat milk gouda

250ml Turkish or Greek yogurt

handful of grated parmesan cheese

2 springs fresh rosemary

salt & pepper

Onion and Garlic Puree

1 big yellow onion

9 cloves garlic

250ml water

salt & pepper

Preheat the oven to 200 C. Place the rosemary springs on the baking sheet with baking paper, drizzle with olive oil and roast in the oven for 10-15 minutes until crispy. Set aside.

Bring water to a boil in a large pot, add 1 tablespoon of salt and cook pasta according to the package directions.

Prepare the onion-garlic puree. Peel and roughly chop the onion and garlic cloves and place them in a micro-oven safe bowl with the water. Cover and microwave on high for 10 minutes until soft. Puree in a blender or such alike until smooth, and spice with salt & pepper to your taste.

In a big saucepan (I actually used a wok pan) bring the onion-garlic puree to a simmer. Add mustard and mix well. Add all the cheeses and mix well until fully melted and smooth. Lower the heat and whisk in the yogurt until combined. Season with salt and black pepper.

Drain the pasta and add it on the pan with the sauce. Stir to fully cover all the pasta with the sauce. 

Serve with roasted rosemary and a pinch of grated parmesan. (You might also want to add something fresh in your portion, my hubby preferred it with parsley.)