Saturday, July 26, 2008

little ears, big stomach


this tasty summertime pasta dish is traditionally made with orecchiette pasta, which means 'little ears' in italian - I have used corkscrew cavatappi noodles here, which are equally as delicious ...

Ingredients

1 package (500g)  of orecchiette pasta (or any pasta that you like, though I would not use long pastas like linguini or spaghetti as they will not hold the sauce)

4 cups of arugula, spinach, or any variety of mixed greens

10 (or to taste) sun-dried tomato pieces packed in oil, chopped (you could also use olives as an alternative or as an addition - the key to both is the NaCl)

1/4 to 1/2 a cup of feta cheese (cow or goat) or any kind of soft goat cheese - i love the Macedonian feta from the Parthenon deli in Vancouver, but I am not sure if it can be found elsewhere?)

1/4 cup of grated parmesan cheese

1/4 cup of flat-leaf italian parsley and/or basil

pepper and salt to taste


Instructions
  • put a large pot of water on to boil
  • cook the pasta, 8-10 minutes or until pasta is cooked but still has a bite to it
  • drain the pasta but reserve 1 to 1 1/2 cups of the pasta water for later
  • in a medium bowl combine the greens, feta, chopped sun-dried tomatoes, most of the parsley, and most of the parmesan cheese (leaving a little of each of the last two for garnish)
  • top the above mixture with the hot pasta, add the reserved pasta water a 1/2 cup at a time, combine the ingredients adding the hot water until the desired 'sauce' consistency is reached 
  • finish the dish off with salt, pepper, parsley, and parmesan cheese
  • serve with crusty buns
  • stuff in your gob and enjoy
stay tuned for a Kaslo Caswell cook-off coming later this week





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