My Man is a Pasta Wiz I feel. The man loves to experiment and comes up with great looking and great tasting dinners. Very often than not, our kitchen will liven up with the aromas of Italy. Its almost like taking a vacation with your food. We have skipped our big Holiday travel plans for this year, as we had a Canadian Summer holiday. So the man has made it a point to take us on many a short vacations with his creations from the kitchen. Must say I am loving this culinary journey every weekend.
We started off with our Holiday parties this weekend with one with my extended family in town.Deb created this beautifully tasty Pasta with Pistachios. Yes, Pasta and Pista, does sound nice together. Let me tell you, it tastes heavenly. As they say, when you have great ingredients, they will shine through your cooking. This Pasta combines very unlikely ingredients in a beautiful cohesive manner.As the author mentions, that originally in Italy , pine nuts would have been an obvious choice, but she went ahead with Pistachios .
Its a bit old school in certain ways. Rather than using salt, in flavoring the sauce, it goes the route of anchovies. The anchovies pack in so much flavor . No, it does not taste fishy at all. Anchovies are used abundantly in Sicily in so many things. They are a great flavoring agent without overpowering the entire dish. But if you decide to skip the anchovies and substitute it will salt, I would say that you could go the route of another Pasta dinner altogether.
Every bite that you take, has so many different elements to it . The Pista is nutty and adds to the texture, the cauliflower is creamy and doesn't make you miss heavy cream in your pasta. As Orichiette is basically shells, so the small cauliflower florets and nuts fill up the pasta cups and every bite becomes more special. Just a dusting of red chili flakes to add a touch of heat and everything folded together with some Parmesan. How can you go wrong with this, right. Our guests loved it. The toddler wanted a second helping. An absolute home run from the Man's Kitchen. Thank you Deb.
ORICHIETTE WITH PISTACHIO AND CAULIFLOWER:
Recipe Adapted from : Best of the Best Cookbook Recipes - Food and Wine
Ingredients :
Pistachio : 1/2 cup , shelled . Chopped roughly
Orichiette Pasta: 1 lb
Chicken Stock: 2 cups
Anchovies : 5 oil packed anchovies
Red Pepper Flakes: 1/2 tsp
Parmesan Cheese : 3/4 cup. Finely grated.
Butter : 1 stick
Cauliflower: 1 Medium head
Garlic: 3 cloves. Finely Chopped.
EVOO: 6 tbsp
Parsley: 1/4 cup chopped parsley
Salt and pepper to taste
Procedure:
Lightly toast the shelled pistachios and let them cool. Once they have cooled down, chop them roughly.
Use anchovies which are packed in olive oil . Take 5 anchovies, rinse them and chop them finely. Keep aside .
Bring a large pot of water to boil . Salt it well. Cook the orichiette until al dente. Reserve 1/2 cup of the pasta water after you have drained the pasta.
In a large skillet, melt the butter over medium heat. Add the cauliflower florets and cook for a few minutes.
Add the garlic and anchovies and keep cooking for a few other minutes, till the anchovies have dissolved .
Add the chicken broth and cook until the cauliflower is tender.
Add the Pasta, parsley, parmesan and red pepper flakes and stir to combine. Season with black pepper. If the pasta seems dry, add in some of the reserved pasta water.
Turn off the heat. Mix in the chopped pistachios . Dtizzle some EVOO . Serve warm
You can pair it with some dry white wine. Bon Appetit !!
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