Last week, for the very first time, my husband and I took a last-minute UK summer staycation in Cornwall. I've always wanted to check Cornwall out, eat at one of Rick's Stein's places and see the landscapes, both country and coastal. We knew it was going to be busy, and wanted to stay away from the crowds. So I booked a little cottage in the countryside, just east of the Bodmin Moor.
The owners of the cottage happened to have a pretty decent garden full of all things summer including cavolo nero, sugar snap peas and garlic which they happily shared with us. This served as the inspiration for this mouth-waterting, fresh and easy-to-make dish.
The pasta I used is called fusili corti col buco and it resembles an old telephone cord. It is the perfect vessel to deliver the flavours of the veggies, parmesan and bacon. Enjoy!
Ingredients
Serves 2 plentifully - increase ingredients accordingly for larger numbers at your table
1 1/2 cups fusili corti col buco (or penne pasta or regular fusilli)
1 1/2 cups of sugar snap peas, sliced 1/2 cm thick
2 cups juliened cavolo nero (hard stems removed)
Good quality olive oil
7 rashers of streaky or American bacon
2 cloves garlic, finely sliced
1 cup of finely grated parmesan
black pepper
sea salt to taste
1/4 cup basil
1/4 cup toasted pine nuts
2 tablespoons greek yogurt
Method
First, get all of your ingredients prepared. This dish is super-fast once you start cooking, but takes a little time to prep.
Slice the sugar snap peas to 1/2 centimeter and set aside on a plate. Remove the tough stalks from the cavolo nero, then thinly slice both the cavolo nero and the garlic and add these to the plate of sugar snaps. Next, prepare the bacon by finely slicing, set aside. Toast up the pine nuts in a pan and julienne the basil and set aside. Get the parmesan, pasta, seasoning and yogurt prepped and ready to use.
Start the cooking by bringing a medium/large pan of salted water to a boil, add the pasta and cook according to the package instructions until al dente. Please remember to salt the water as it makes all the difference in the taste of the pasta. Next, get a medium non-stick pan and heat to medium high. Add about a tablespoon of olive oil and the bacon. Give the bacon a good grind of black pepper and cook until just browned, drain most of the fat. Next, add the cavolo nero, snap peas and garlic and cook for about 3-4 minutes until the cavolo nero has wilted but still remains slightly crunchy.
When the pasta is done, add it directly from the pot in which it was boiled using a slotted spoon, to the the pan with the bacon and veggie mixture. Take the pan off of the heat and gently mix in the grated parmesan until incorporated. Add in your basil and most of the pine nuts and stir in the greek yogurt. If the mixture is too think, simply add a splash of the pasta cooking water to loosen. Check and adjust the seasoning, if needed.
Finally, plate the pasta mixture. This can be done on individual plates or on one big sharing plate. Garnish with the remaining pine nuts, some more basil leaves, a drizzle of oilve oil, and serve it up!
@erinssuperclub
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