Fusilli with Fresh Tomato Sauce and Ricotta

This is a pasta with a very delicate taste and that is very simple to make. All the ingredient are fresh and simple and overall it's much lighter in calories than other cheesy pasta.

When you cook pasta, you must count 80gr of pasta per person (that is the suggested amount at least). So, in order to serve 4, you need 320gr (0,7 of a pound). The truth is that it is always better to cook a bit more ...just in case. The packaging of pasta has 500gr (about 1 pound), so if you would like to cook it all, you have a 1-1 relationship pasta/cherry tomato and count half dose for the ricotta. This means 500gr (1 pound) of pasta, 500 gr (1 pound) of cherry tomato and 250gr (half pound) of ricotta cheese.

Ingredients for 4 people:
Ricotta cheese 160gr  (40gr a person) / 6 ounces
Fresh Cherry Tomato: 320gr / 3/4 of a pound
Fusilli Pasta: 320gr / 3/4 of a pound
Fresh Basil: 6-8 leaves
Onion: 1 small
Olive oil: 3 spoons
To your discretion: Some black pepper and some parmigiano

Steps:

1. Put the cherry tomatoes in a pot with water. Let them boil for a couple of minutes, so that you can easily remove the skin.  Then, drain the water, peal them and crush them into a creamy sauce by using a fork.

2. Meantime, boil 2l of salty water that you will use for cooking the pasta. Cook the pasta following the cooking directions on the package.

3. Chop finely the onion and the basil. Place them both in a non-stick pot with some olive oil. Cook then until the onion looks transparent. Add the cherry tomato sauce that you prepared earlier and let the tomato juice reduce for 3-4 minutes. Keep mixing so that it does not burn. When all looks creamy,  turn off the heat and add the ricotta cheese. Mix well and then add the sauce to the pasta.

4. You can sprinkle black peeper, parmigiano and some basil on top!

If you would like to view how I make this recipe you can do so on my YouTube Channel:

If you would like me to do a specific Italian recipe, just let me know!
Also let me know if you try this out and if you enjoyed the recipe as I do.

Other Pasta Recipes that you may enjoy:

Egg Pasta With Salmon and Cream

Cold Pasta Salad

Bucatini All'Amatriciana

Chickpea Crackers

 My daughter is a picky eater. She does not easily eat chickpeas! This is a fun way to have her used to the chickpea taste...and get her involved into helping me to prepare the crackers. They are not as crispy as commercial crackers are, but, if you use cereal flour, they are close! Also, add some sesame seeds for more flavor.

Ingredients:

Chickpea:    1 can
White or Cereal Flour:    1 cup
Parmesan:    4 spoons
Olive Oil :   3 spoons
Salt:    1 small spoon
Dry Yeast:    1 small spoon
Garlic:    Half a glove

Steps:

1. Patiently Peel of the skin of the chickpeas. It may take a while, but, it is worth it.
2. Place the chickpeas, oil and garlic into the blender and mix it until obtaining a creamy paste.
3. Place the obtained mixure in a bowl and add the parmesan salt and and mix it well.
4. Add half of the flour and mix it until obtaining a homogenous non sticky dough. Add more flour if it feels sticky. Once you are done, divide it in five smaller balls and leave it rest in room temperature for 20-30 minutes. Afterwards, it will be softer but it does not raise.
5. On a clean surface, use some of the remaining flour to roll the dough flat. You want it to be thin so that the crackers are crispy once cooked. In this step you may also add sesame seeds to add more flavor.  Use food cutters to cut the crackers into different shapes, or you can cut the flattened dough into squares.
6. Place all in the oven at 200 degrees for 15-20 minutes. Keep eye on them as cooking times may vary. Once golden, they are ready!

The following video gives you more insides on how to make them. You can also see the consistency of the dough. I hope you like them!

 

Cold Pasta Salad (Grillin & Chilin)

This is an easy recipe that we often use in the hot summer days as an alternative to a hot plate of pasta. The original recipe calls for rocket salad, I used basil simply because I have a basil plant in my garden (well balcony ..and there are only two plants in there). Here is what you need:

Ingredients:
Shells pasta = 250 gr / Half pound
Mozzarella = 2 pieces
Cherry Tomatoes = 250 gr / Half pound
Some Fresh basil or rocket salad
Salt = to taste
Olive oil = 3-4 full spoons
Optional: Canned tuna (best if its in olive oil)
Some Black Olives

Step 1: Cook the pasta following the packaging directions. Adjust also the salt.

Step 2: Meantime, cut all the ingredients to make a salad. Add some salt and remove the liquid that is released by the mozzarella and the cherry tomatoes.

Step 3: Drain and rinse the pasta in cold water and mix all together. Add some olive oil. You could also add tuna and/or black olives to the mix. You can serve it straight away or refrigerate for later (6-12 h max).

                               If you like the video recipes best, you can watch the video too:

With Love,
Sara

Egg Pasta with Salmon and Cream - Tagliolini al salmone

When I was living in Italy, my mother in law used to buy this plate already made and I tell you, I could eat 3 servings of it. This one is one remains one of my favorite pasta dish and moreover it is very easy and quick to make. You can click on the video for more details or just follow the instructions listed bellow.

Difficulty: Easy  Servings: 4 Preparation: 20 min

Ingredients:

    Fresh egg pasta: 250 gr or half a pound
    Smoked Salmon: 150gr or 5 oz
    Single Cream: 250ml or 8.5 oz
    Fresh Parsley: A small bunch
    Butter: A small piece
    Stock cube: Half
    Olive Oil : 2 full spoons
    Salt and Paper: To taste

Procedure:

Step 1: Put the water for the pasta and add the stock cube
Step 2: Chop the onion and cook it until golden
Step 3: After 2-3 minutes add some of the water from the Pasta
Step 4: Chop the salmon  and the parsley
Step 5: Add the salmon. When it becomes white add some water again. Cook until soft. It takes about 5 minutes.
Step 6: Add the cream and the parsley in whichever order you like
Step 7: Add the butter and salt and cook until dense.  It takes about 5 minutes.
Step 8: Add salt to the water and cook the pasta following the directions on the package.
Step 9: Mix the pasta and the sauce. Give it two minutes and serve

Notes:

Alternatives: Tagliatelle or Spaghetti
Use 250 gr (half pound) If the pasta is fresh or
Use 400 gr (0.85 pound) If the pasta is dry.

Sneaky Vegetable Rice (Risotto or Long grain)

This is a great dish that can be used as a vegetarian (by substituting chicken stock with water) or vegan dish (by also using oil instead of butter and skipping the cheese). My love with this recepe is for its second purpose, which is making my picky eater, eat vegetables. I hope you like it as much as we do!
 
Preparation time: 35 min
Difficulty: Simple
Servings: 4

Ingredients:

    Rice (Risotto or long grain)    200gr / 1 cup
    Butter    30gr / 1 ounce
    Mushrooms Champignon    6-8 pieces
    Courgette/Zucchini    1 piece
    Carrot    1 piece
    Ognon    1 piece
    Parmasan cheese (or )    30 gr / 1 ounce
    oil    4 full spoons
    chicken stock    if you wish


Procedure:

1. Grate all the vegetables
2. Mix the grated vegetables, the oil and the rice in a pan and stir-fry them in medium heat.Remove from heat when the rice is golden or earlier if it starts attaching to the pan.
3. In another pan, pour your chicken stock / water (about 1 l) and bring it to a boil. You can always add more if you need it.
4. Add small amounts of boiling water (about 200 ml or the equivalent of a small glass at a time).
5. Adjust salt.
6.  Continue by adding more stock/water when it reduces. You do this until the rice is cooked.
7. At the end add the butter and the cheese. Leave it rest for 10 minutes and then serve.

For more details and insides you can watch the video:

Sweet potato wrap/ flat bread

We have a picky eater at home. So I am always looking into ways to make my daughter eat more vegetables. This is an easy recipe for a flat bread with hidden sweet potatoes. We love the taste so this is why I am sharing it with you.

Sweet potato wraps

 Ingredients (8-10 Wraps)

    Sweet Potato: 2 pieces
    White flour: 300 gr / 2-3 cups
    Creamy cheese:  1 table spoon
    Olive oil: 4 table spoons
    Backing powder: 1 small spoon
    Sugar: 1 small spoon
    Salt: 1 small spoon



 Preparation:
1) Peal and cut the sweet potatoes. Steam them until they are soft.
2) Using a fork, mash the sweet potatoes. Add also the oil and the cheese
3) Mix the remaining ingredients, starting from the sugar, the salt and the baking powder. Add the flour slowly as it may take less than what expected (depends on humidity, how large the sweet potatoes are, if you added more oil ect) 
4) Keep mixing the flour little by little until you obtain a non sticky dough. This step should last at least 10 minutes. If you feel it is sticky add more flour.
5) When you have the dough, divide it into small balls that will make the wraps. Cover it and leave it rest for at least 30 minutes.
6) Using some more flour, roll out the dough into  a round shape. It should fit the frying pan where you will cook them.
7) Choose a wide non-stick frying pan, possibly with a think bottom. Put it in medium-high heat. Wait a bit until it is hot. No oil is needed. Place one of the wraps on top. Use a fork to make holes all over the wrap. Cook it about 2 minutes each side. The timing in indicative because it will depend a lot on the heat, how thick is your bread and the pan you choose. You know it is done when you see black points all over it (see the picture for some guidance).
 8) Cook all the wraps and then serve with your favorite ingredients. How about some cheese, ham, cherry tomatoes and avocado?

I also made a video to show you more in detail how I make it.

Thanks for reading/watching!

Lots of love- Sara!