Pasta Recipes: Fettucine Con Spinachi, Basilico, Rosmarino E Timo One Of My Favorite Pasta Recipes

Pasta Recipes

 

[caption id="attachment_1412" align="aligncenter" width="300"] Pasta Fettucine With Spinach Basil Rosemary And Thyme Click Enlarge[/caption]

I know that as of late I have been making quite a bit of Italian pasta recipes will require ingredients such as heavy cream, butter and even bacon grease. It is all in the name of flavor and fortunately I hope for most of us this is not a daily diet. There is no doubt that "fat is where the flavor is!" There are of course other alternatives to great pasta recipes or recipes from any country besides using lots of fats and oils for the desired flavors and textures that we want in a fine dish of food. An excellent meal does not always require fat for flavor and hence in this blog post I will be talking about one of my favorite pasta recipes that is not made with lots of fats and heavy cream or butter for that matter.

I sat for quite some time this last week trying to decide what I wanted to cook for you and I did not want to do another one of my heavy pasta recipes. Don't get me wrong I will be doing more of them in the future! I just wanted to give our cholesterol levels a break this week and I wanted to make sure that everyone could eat this dish without having to worry about whether or not they are on a diet. It is for this reason that this week I decided to make one of my best pasta recipes for you and it is a savory pasta recipe that does not use a standard pasta sauce like a red or a white sauce.

This pasta recipe is called Pasta Fettucine Con Spinachi, Basilico, Rosmarino E Timo! or Pasta Fettucine With Spinach, Basil, Rosemary And Thyme. This is a delicious pasta recipe and one of my favorite pasta dishes. This dish is a rustic Italian pasta recipe that can come from any household in Italy! It's wonderfully simple to make and is a heavy hitter in the flavor and aroma department. Just imagine yourself in an Italian household getting ready to make dinner and you get your ingredients together and you get to work on one of your favorite pasta recipes.

There you are chopping the garlic and the aroma of it invades your nostrils and you think to yourself how much you love the smell of garlic. Then you take fresh basil and pull the leaves from the stem of the plant and with each pluck your kitchen is filled with its earthy aroma. This is one of those pasta recipes that will drive your family and friends crazy with the anticipation of eating it! Go ahead and leave a window two open and listen to  your neighbors outside of the window speaking in Italian about "where is that lovely aroma coming from?" You will grin because you know it is you making the pasta recipe! So please watch and enjoy the video on how to make Pasta Fettucine Con Spinachi, Basilico, Rosmarino E Timo! Mangiare Bene! Eat Well!


The Ingredients:
1 Lb Fettucine Pasta.
4 Tbsp olive oil.
4oz fresh basil leaves.
10oz fresh spinach leaves.
6-8 cloves garlic chopped rough or fine your choice.
2 Tbsp dried rosemary.
2 Tbsp dried thyme.
2 Cups Chicken stock. (You may or may not use all of the stock!)
2 Tbsp red pepper flakes.(Depending on how much heat you like you may or may not want to add more or less red pepper.)
Salt and black pepper to taste.
3 oz Gorgonzola as a topping when dish is plated.
Salt and pepper to taste.
The largest saute pan/skillet you can get.

The Method:
(Cook your pasta to aldente' drain and put back in pot with about a ladle full of the starch water and some olive oil to coat the pasta and keep it from sticking together and then put on the back burner to stay warm.)

1. Put olive oil in your saute pan/skillet. Heat on med. high until oil is shimmering.
2. Once oil is shimmering put garlic in oil and cook on med. high til garlic softens and browns a bit. Add pinch of salt and pinch of red pepper flakes to the oil and stir
3. Once garlic is soft and brown add spinach first get it coated in the oil and get it to reduce.
4. Now add the basil and make sure it gets coated with oil and get it to reduce. Don't let leaves burn.
5. Now add 1/2 to 1 cup of chicken stock and raise heat to high to get the stock to boil. Keep mixing the leaves.
6. Reduce heat to med or a bit lower and put lid on skillet/saute for one minute or so. Then take off and spinach and
should now be wilted.
7. Add a pinch of salt and pinch of pepper to taste. We are building layers of flavor.
8. Now add 1 Tbsp of the dried rosemary and dried thyme. Spread it over the greens evenly.
9. Raise heat to medium. Mix everything up in the skillet/saute and make sure the dried herbs get wet.
10. Add a little more of the chicken stock if the the stock in the pan has evaporated from cooking the greens.
11. Now if the greens are wilted to your satisfaction spread them in a circle around the saute leaving the center clear for the pasta.
12. Pour your fettucine into the center of your skillet/saute and turn up the heat to a medium high heat.
13. Add another 1/2 to 1 cup of the chicken stock and bring to a boil. Add pinch of salt and pinch of pepper and mix all ingredients together.
14. Now add the last of your rosemary and thyme and mix all of your ingredients together.
15. Add the last of the chicken stock and raise heat to a boil and then reduce to a medium boil and cook for 2-3 minutes this way to allow the pasta to absorb the liquid. You may want to add another 1 or 2 Tbsp of olive oil into the mix as well. No matter what there will be some liquid left in the pan and that is your sauce. The pasta should be shiny and well covered in liquid. After 2-3 minutes turn heat off and cover pan if you have one and let stand for a minute or two.
16. Plate pasta and greens and add a pinch or two of red pepper flakes and then add your Gorgonzola and your are ready to go! Mangiare Bene! Eat Well!

[caption id="attachment_1414" align="aligncenter" width="300"] Pasta Fettucine With Spinach Basil Rosemary And Thyme Click To Enlarge[/caption]