Friday, January 24, 2020

Pasta With Cabbage, Winter Squash And Walnuts

This is the second pasta recipe selected this month at Cook The Book Fridays, from Everyday Dorie cookbook. 

The main ingredients are winter squash, green cabbage, dried cranberries, walnuts and pasta. Flavour from this pasta dish comes from cider vinegar. I've used regular pumpkin and napa cabbage.



The squash is first cooked in a little oil, season with salt and pepper until tender, then stir in the vinegar followed by the honey. Dish out and keep aside. The pasta is boiled in salted water, and the dried cranberries are thrown in during the last one minute of the pasta cooking time. Drain the pasta and retain a quarter cup or so of the cooking water. The cabbage is cooked in a tablespoon of oil, season with salt and pepper, with a tablespoon of cider vinegar, stir until it is absorbed. Pour in about a quarter cup of the pasta cooking water, stir for a minute, then add the pasta with the cranberries and a tablespoon of olive oil, Season with salt and pepper to taste. Serve, topped with walnuts and Parmesan.

We thought this pasta dish was just OK. The cranberries and walnuts added a nice touch and texture to the dish, but this is not in our list of favourite pasta dish. The family prefers the previous pasta we made two weeks ago, Pasta with Shrimp, Squash, Lemon and Lots Of Herbs, of which there's a request to make again. 



Saturday, January 11, 2020

Pasta With Shrimp, Squash, Lemon And Lots Of Herbs

The first recipe selected in this new year 2020 at Cook The Book Fridays, from Everyday Dorie is Pasta With Shrimp, Squash, Lemon And Lots of Herbs. 

A delicious and colourful bowl of pasta. I like everything about this pasta; the shrimp which gives a delicious umami taste, the fresh citrus taste of the lemons, the bright colours from the yellow and green squash (delicious too!), and that burst of sweetness from the ripe raw tomatoes. Chopped fresh dill and spring onion greens sprinkled over, makes it complete.

And I love Dorie's take on using the squeezed lemon half, dropping it in the pot of water to cook the pasta. So lemony nice.




There is no heavy sauce for this pasta. It is  simple, fresh and delicious. We love it. Will definitely cook this again. Yum!


Cook the Book Fridays
Cookbook Countdown #49