I am a very big fan of the "light" pasta. Maybe you're thinking "Huh? A light pasta??? No such thing." My response...Ahhh but there is. And this is it. Pasta in and of itself is a heavy food -all that starch and carbohydrates. Then usually you've got a heavy sauce on that too - an alfredo or a hearty tomato sauce. That's where you get into trouble. And I'm a firm beliver that generally our pasta protions are about 2 sizes too big here in North America. Pasta is so filling a food that you really only just need a touch of it. This pasta is made with just some herbed oil and lemon juice for your sauce. And it is delighful.
When I went to make this recipe the very first thing I did was check how much linguine I had. Turns out I had half what Nigella was calling for - so I halved the recipe and ended up with 3 servings. It took me very little time to make this also. The only thing your cooking here is the pasta itself. Everything else is just chopping and tossing. Now let me tell you the ingredient variations I used.
1. I used fresh pasta. - Can I just tell you now that there is a very significant difference in the flavour and texture of a fresh pasta versus the hard shit that you're buying next to your canned sauces in the supermarket. If you have the extra bit of cash to spend on the fresh pasta I HIGHLY recommed making the switch. It's like eating a fresh berry versus eating a frozen berry - sure the frozen berries are fine, nothing wrong with them persay but who in their right mind eats a frozen berry over a fresh one????
2. I used dried thyme instead of fresh thyme. Now I know what you're thinking here...don't think I don't hear your inner thoughts..."What the *%$@ is she talking about???? She just ripped me a new one for not using fresh pasta and now this lunatic is using DRIED herb!!!!!!" It's true and you know what...I agree with you. I should have used fresh thyme...but I didn't have any. No doubt about it that fresh thyme would have been better flavour wise...but I see the fact that I used dried herb and it still turned out as a positive though. Because that means that now you can use your dried herb too it you prefer. Spend that money you would have spent on the thyme on the fresh pasta maybe?
3. I used fresh parsley. - Okay by know I've done your head in with the flipping and the flopping. But I'm making a point to tell you that the parsley has to, just has to, be fresh for this recipe to work. This recipe just will not under any circumstance be good with dried parsley. So get yourself the fresh stuff.
4. I did not have a lemon on hand so I used bottled lemon juice - 2 table spoons (remember I was halving the recipe)
5. My "freshly grated parmesan" came in a Kraft container. I wasn't about to drop $10 for some Monday night dinner. Plus Kraft's grated parmesan is 100% parmesan. But if you're making this dinner to impress someone - drop the cash and get the real deal. But are your spouse or kids going to know the difference??? I think not.
So I had this dinner made in about 7 minutes I think. Perfect for a Monday night. I have to admit I was looking to add a protein to this so after I snapped this photo and did an initial taste, I added sliced chicken breast to Husband's and smoked salmon pieces to mine. Husband really like this dish and the addition of the smoked salmon was a pretty good call for me I'd have to say. The lemon in the sauce was a great compliment to the fish. Thumbs up all around.
No comments:
Post a Comment