A pair of Roman-inspired pasta dishes. If you happen to’ve by no means tried to make do-it-yourself pasta, it actually couldn’t be simpler than this recipe for pici – little pasta worms with a splendidly bouncy texture. I’d often serve them Padella-style with cacio e pepe, however, in a nod to getting one in all my five-a-day into dinner, right here they’re paired with a simple broccoli and walnut pesto. Pasta with chickpeas and rosemary is one other Roman basic, which I’ve taken nice liberties with, including recent cherry tomatoes and spinach for a moreish and filling supper (which, by the way, ticks all of your meals group containers).
Chickpea, tomato and rosemary penne (pictured high)
Prep 10 min
Cook dinner 25 min
Serves 4
2 tbsp olive oil
1 tsp chilli flakes
2 garlic cloves, peeled and finely grated
2 sprigs recent rosemary, needles picked and finely chopped
1 onion, peeled and roughly chopped
325g child plum tomatoes, halved
2 x 400g tins chickpeas, drained and rinsed
Sea salt flakes, to style
200g small-leaved spinach
300g penne
Juice of 1 lemon
Put the oil in a big, deep frying pan or casserole on a medium warmth, then add the chilli, garlic, rosemary and onion, and prepare dinner, stirring often, for 5 to 6 minutes, till simply turning translucent. Add the tomatoes and chickpeas, season with pinch of salt, stir, then cowl and prepare dinner, stirring often, for 20 minutes. Add the spinach for the final two minutes, simply to wilt.
As soon as the sauce has had 10 minutes, convey a big pan of salted water to a boil, then prepare dinner the penne for 10-11 minutes, or in accordance with the packet directions, till it’s accomplished to your liking. Drain nicely, reserving a mugful of the cooking water, then stir the pasta by the tomatoes, chickpeas and spinach within the pan.
Add the lemon juice and pasta water a tablespoon at a time to loosen the sauce, style and add extra salt as wanted. This pasta dish lives or dies by the eye you pay to the seasoning, so style, modify the salt, lemon and pasta water, and style once more – you’ll be rewarded with a very glorious dinner.
Pici with broccoli and walnut pesto
Prep 45 min
Relaxation 30 min
Cook dinner 6 min
Serves 4
For the pici
300g sturdy white bread flour, plus further for dusting
150ml water
1 tbsp olive oil
½ tsp sea salt
For the pesto
1 head broccoli, reduce into florets
1 garlic clove, peeled
50g walnuts
50g grana padano
150ml olive oil
Juice of 1 lemon
1 tsp sea salt flakes
Combine the flour, water, olive oil and sea salt till you might have a shaggy dough. Deliver it collectively together with your palms, then knead for 5 minutes, till clean and elastic (alternatively, use a freestanding mixer fitted with a dough hook). Flatten right into a disc, wrap in clingfilm or a freezer bag, then depart to relaxation for half-hour.
For the pesto, put the broccoli, garlic, walnuts and cheese in a meals processor, and pulse to a thick, inexperienced rubble. Add the olive oil, lemon juice and sea salt, blitz briefly to make a thick sauce, then put aside.
Roll the pici dough on a floured floor right into a rectangle about 40cm x 15cm, then use a dough cutter or knife to chop it into skinny, 2-3mm-wide strips. Roll every strip into a protracted worm, then switch to a floured tray and repeat till you’ve used up all of the dough. You’ll need to make use of a number of trays, or layer the pici with greaseproof paper and extra flour, as a result of they’ll stick in any other case. If you happen to’re not cooking the pici instantly, cowl with clingfilm and refrigerate for as much as 24 hours.
Once you’re able to eat, convey a really giant pan of salted water to a boil, drop within the pici and prepare dinner for 5 to 6 minutes, till cooked by however nonetheless with a little bit of chunk. Drain nicely, reserving a mugful of the cooking water, then return the pici to the pan and gently stir within the broccoli pesto, including the pasta water a tablespoon at a time to loosen the sauce as wanted. Style and modify the salt, if essential, and serve instantly.
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Rukmini Iyer is the creator of The Roasting Tin sequence. Her newest ebook is India Categorical: Recent and Scrumptious Recipes for Each Day, printed by Sq. Peg at £22. To order a duplicate for £19.36, go to guardianbookshop.com
