This time another quotidian recipe. Sometimes I do posh (Roast pumpkin Soup), but mostly I like to blog good ‘weekday’ recipes. Take for example the subject of this blog: Crudités & Humus, followed by Pasta in Olive Sauce.
I would claim the following for the menu:
– healthy
– quick
– economical
– tasty but not flashy
Witness my own ‘veggieTABLE‘ entry :
‘Crudités’ are basically batons of raw fresh vegetables, which you dip in something. The French favour Mayonnaise, the Italians Bagno Câoda, and DAVEggie Humus. Whichever dip you choose, the result is unexpectedly delectable and moreish, the difficulty being when to stop so you have room for the next course. In this case, Pasta in Olive Sauce.
I am not a fan of ‘kitchen sink’ pasta. A good pasta dish should be limited to a few ingredients. I believe the same applies to Pizza. This has eight, which I think is about right.
Serves 2
Crudités
Cut a variety of crisp fresh (raw) vegetables into lardons about 1/2cm x 1/2cm x 5cm.
Good things include: red pepper, mild chilli, celery, cucumber (remove the seeds!), fennel bulb, carrot, spring onion, cauliflower and radishes (for the last 2, the lardon dimensions do not apply!)
1 portion humus, blitzed up with 20g fresh coriander, and thinned to a mayonnaise consistency with Greek yogurt.
Pasta
Ingredients:
200g penne
1 tbsp olive oil
1 garlic clove
1 tbsp black olives
1 tbsp capers
250g tinned tomatoes
1/2 tsp dried oregano
Lots of freshly grated Parmesan cheese to serve
Method:
- Add the penne to a pan of boiling salted water, and cook until al dente (probably about 11 minutes)
- Chop the garlic, olives and capers very finely.
- Heat the olive oil in a small wok, add the above and fry gently for 5 minutes.
- Meanwhile chop/blitz the tomatoes to a coarse pulp.
- Add the tomatoes to the wok, cover and simmer for 10 minutes.
- Adjust the seasoning, and add the oregano.
- Drain the pasta, add to the source, and toss to mix.
- Serve in warmed pasta bowls with Parmesan cheese on the side.