Tag: anchovy fillets
Orcchiette Pasta with Cauliflower and Sausage
This is a different kind of dish I tried the other day. I don’t end up making pasta as often in the summer months. Most meals are grilled and quick to make. As I have mentioned many times before, my husband loves cauliflower in any form and cuisine. I usually end up making it with Indian flavors- but for this meal I decided to pair it with pasta and sausage. I read a recipe in a magazine where the cauliflower was served in an anchovy sauce- I love anchovies and use them anywhere I can.
So, for this dish, I cooked the sausages with the anchovies, garlic and thyme. Somehow I always think of thyme when I cook with cauliflower- the two work really well together. I roasted the cauliflower in the oven and added the florets to the sausage mixture once they were golden brown. I paired it all with some orcchiette pasta (they look like tiny little ears). I love buying different shaped pasta- it makes for an interesting meal.
To add great texture to the dish, I roasted some leftover bread cut into small pieces with a drizzle of olive oil. Once the croutons were golden brown and crispy, I added them on top.
The pasta was delicious- essentially a one pot meal since it had everything in there.
- 1 head cauliflower, cut into small florets
- 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
- Salt
Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
Place the florets on to a lined cookie sheet and drizzle the olive oil and sprinkle the salt. Mix well and bake for 45 minutes or till the florets are golden brown and soft. Keep aside.
- 3 to 4 slices of sour dough bread cut into ¼ inch pieces
- 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
Place the bread pieces on a small lined cookie sheet and drizzle the olive oil. Bake in the same oven for 10 to 15 minutes, or till the bread pieces are golden brown and crunchy. Keep aside.
- 1 four pack chicken sausage, taken out of the casings and crumbled
- 3 to 4 anchovy fillets
- 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
- 3 garlic cloves, minced
- 2 tablespoons fresh thyme
- ½ pound orcchiette pasta, cooked al dente
- ½ cup spare pasta water
- ½ cup fresh ricotta cheese
- Salt
In a large frying pan, add the olive oil and anchovy fillets. Cook on medium heat for a minute or two. Add the crumbled sausage and cook on high heat for 4 to 5 minutes. Add the garlic cloves and fresh thyme. Saute for a minute and add the cooked pasta and pasta water. Add the cauliflower and mix well. Next, add the ricotta cheese and mix well. Cook for another minute or two till the cheese is heated through. Add the salt and taste for seasonings. Serve each plate with a sprinkle of crispy croutons on top.
Shrimp Scampi with Puttanesca Sauce
This is two dishes in one. We all love shrimp in our house- especially shrimp scampi with lots of pasta or a yummy crusty bread to scoop up all the garlicky goodness. I usually have a big green salad and dinner is done.
Now my husband had been talking about puttanesca sauce which in Italian means ladies of the night. There are a lot of origins of this sauce but how ever it started- it is one of my favorites. I wasn’t sure why I had never made it before- I always have all the ingredients available.
I love the tangy, spicy and savory aspect of this very simple pantry sauce. It is especially great when you are in a bind, short on time or it is too cold to go for dinner. I made this particular one with shrimp to please my daughter and husband.
I love the anchovy flavor in this sauce- now most people claim they don’t like anchovies, including my husband but he loves puttanesca sauce and caesar salad. When people smell the anchovies in the jar- they don’t smell so good- but once you cook them or mix them with another ingredient, they bring an underlying salty, nutty flavor.
I paired it with shrimp because it enhances the salty and nutty flavor. This dish was delicious. I used penne but any pasta can be used- the classic being spaghetti. My daughter ate it as well- I didn’t give her too much of the sauce, just the shrimp and lots of olives since she adores them.
A big salad and it was a successful dinner.
- 1 pound cleaned shrimp
- 4 teaspoons garlic, minced
- 2 tablespoons extra light olive oil
- ½ cup white wine
- Salt
- Red pepper flakes
- ½ pound penne, cooked al dente
- ½ cup saved pasta water
In a large frying pan, add the olive oil and garlic. Heat the pan slowly so the garlic does not burn. Saute the garlic on a low heat for 2-3 minutes. Add the shrimp, raise the heat and sauté for a minute or two or till the shrimp begin to turn pink. Add the white wine and red pepper flakes. Mix well and add the salt. Add the cooked pasta and the reserved pasta water. Cook for a minute or two and serve with the puttanesca sauce mixed in or on the side.
Puttanesca Sauce
- 3 cups fresh tomato sauce or canned tomato puree
- 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
- 3 anchovy fillets
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 2 tablespoons capers, crushed
- ¼ cup olives- mixture of black and green, crushed
- Salt
- Red pepper flakes
In a wide frying pan, add the olive oil and anchovy fillets. Saute on medium heat till the fillets melt. Add the garlic, capers and olives. Saute for 2-3 minutes on medium heat. Add the tomato sauce, salt and red pepper flakes. Add cooked pasta and serve.
