LIVEIT! USE YOUR NOODLE
And get bowled over by Pasta Day
It's National Pasta Month and World Pasta Day is Sunday! With hundreds of types of pastas to choose from and a history that dates back thousands of years, pasta is inexpensive, can taste like a million bucks with just a handful of ingredients and makes for a great source of sustained energy.
So let's celebrate with a bowl of goodness and flavour.
Dating back to 1995, World Pasta Day was part of the World Pasta Congress, when experts from all over the world assembled to talk about spreading the good word about this food's cultural and culinary importance. And on a global scale, pasta rocks!
It should be noted that Canada is the world's top exporter of durum wheat, according to a recent Bloomberg News report, and the pandemic has seen desire for this beloved food increase — people are buying pasta or making their own.
Let's celebrate this special #NationalPastaMonth and #WorldPastaDay by preparing a favourite pasta dish. We reached out to a handful of Canadian chefs for inspiration and here's what they've offered:
1/2 lb. (250g) favourite short pasta
(fresh cavatelli or mezze rigatoni or penne)
Selection of seafood (chef suggests 5 oz. per person), including fresh shrimp, scallops, sea bass and calamari,“but when I'm in a pinch at home I often use a can of high-quality
Italian Ita tuna in olive oil.” (Callipo or Rio Mare brand suggested.)
¼ cup (60 mL) olive oil, divided 1/2 white onion, small dice 2 cloves c chopped garlic 1/2 tsp (2 mL) chili flakes
1/2 cup (125 mL) pitted kalamata or r other black olives
¼ cup (60 mL) drained capers 1/2 cup (125 mL) dry white wine
1 14-oz. (414-mL) can diced tomatoes
¼ cup (60 mL) grated Parmigiano (some people say pairing fish and cheese is blasphemy, but I think it's delicious in this instance)
¼ cup (60 mL) chopped parsley
Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil.
Chop fish into bite-size pieces and in a separate pan on medium to high heat, sear in half of olive oil and season with salt and pepper.
Once barely cooked through, transfer to a stainless-steel bowl (if using canned tuna, it will go in at the last minute as it's already cooked).
Add remaining oil back into same pan and cook out diced onion, garlic and chili until translucent.
Add olives and capers and deglaze pan with white wine.
Meanwhile, add pasta to boiling water.
Once wine is reduced by half, add in tomatoes and simmer on lower heat.
Taste pasta regularly to make sure you don't overcook — trick is to remove pasta just before it's done and finish in sauce pan.
Before draining pasta, make sure you add a ladle of pasta water to sauce (this will help the sauce thicken and develop body.)
Toss freshly drained pasta for 2 minutes before adding seafood or canned tuna into the pan.
Check seasoning and adjust with salt and pepper; remove from heat before adding chopped parsley and cheese. Divide into two bowls.
Serves 2.