I was reading the Times a couple of days ago and saw an article about whole wheat pasta and its merits. Yeah, it’s merits. I haven’t tried the stuff in years and 100% agreed with the starting sentiment of the article–it’s icky stuff, and I’m a pasta traditionalist, picky as hell about my Italian food in general.
But the author won my trust as I read and knowing I could get their “favorite” brand at my neighborhood grocer, I grabbed some when I was at the store later in the week and gave it a go. It’s really non offensive. It even has a nice texture. We’ll try rigatoni next time.
Also, I just returned from a fabulous trip to Mexico with my S.O., and am seriously craving some pasta! We ate pretty much meat, and a little bit of vegetables, and a lot of coconut milk and wine (oh come on, not together!).
Pasta with Goat Cheese for two:
12 shrimp of your preference (blue Mexican gulf prawns for me, until they don’t have them next year..)
2 T butter
2 tsp olive oil
2 T goat cheese
3/4 C vegetable stock
1/4 C heavy cream
120 grams spaghetti (I used bionature whole wheat organic spaghetti)
1 tsp chili flakes
2 cloves garlic
1/2 tsp mixed Italian dry spices
salt & pepper
Start your water to boil and chop the garlic finely. When you add the pasta to the boiling water, warm a skillet to medium high heat and add the butter and oil.
When the oil and butter are hot, reduce to medium and add the garlic. When the garlic is fragrant, add the veg stock, cream, chili flakes and spices.
De-vein and peel your shrimp, patting dry and tossing with a little salt. When the sauce is bubbly and slightly reduced, add the goat cheese until incorporated, and then immediately the shrimp.
The pasta should be about done; drain and add it immediately to the sauce*. If you should need to wait for it to finish, DO NOT over cook the shrimp–take them out slightly underdone and set aside, re-adding them with the pasta. Simmer a bit as you see in the picture above and serve it up!
*You could also add some swiss chard, kale, or spinach to this dish at the end, throw a lid on it to wilt and serve.
*In my opinion, the trick to really good home pasta is to simmer the pasta a bit in the sauce, getting it really hot.
