from Giada de Laurentis
INGREDIENTS:
1 pound rotini pasta
1 1/4 pound Roma tomatoes, seeded and diced
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
1 large lemon, zested and juiced
1 cup crumbled ricotta salata cheese or feta cheese
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
DIRECTIONS:
Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil over high heat. Add the pasta and cook until tender but still firm to the bite, stirring occasionally, about 8 to 10 minutes. Drain pasta, reserving 1 cup of the pasta water.
Place the hot pasta in a large bowl. Add the tomatoes, olive oil, lemon zest and juice, ricotta salata cheese, salt, pepper, and 1/2 cup of the pasta water. Toss to combine, adding the remaining pasta water, if desired. Serve.
selected by Ellen E
5 comments:
This was a lot of fun.
Because we're in Paris, and there is no such thing as cheeses that aren't French, we found no ricotta salata, much to our dismay. I love ricotta salata, because it's a harder version of my favorite cheese, queso de Burgos. Anyway, had to settle for feta, which was no picnic finding either...
No roma tomatoes, but found some from Spain that were close, almost like overgrown grape tomatoes.
We had had some rotini earlier in the week, so we chose another shape, for variety.
Jon and I really enjoyed this, and it reminded us a lot of one of our favorite recipes, a warm orzo salad that I have made for Kara and Kaho too often.
The lemon zest in the recipe made it zestier than I thought. Nice touch.
We didn't need to add any extra water, as Jon and I were afraid it would make the sauce too runny. We also didn't add any salt, as the feta was plenty salty.
Can't help but wonder what this great dish would have been like with the real ricotta... You lucky gals in the States can find that in Whole Foods.
Excellent dish for the warmer weather, too! Betcha it would be tasty cold as well.
Maca
This was definitely a tasty, non-oily, easy summer supper, and the minimal stove time would make it ideal for a sticky night. (It hasn't been that hot in DC, but I'm thinking ahead.) I have noticed that these ingredients appear a lot in our group's recipes -- they must be collective favorites.
Like Maca, we used feta -- Trader Joe's doesn't have ricotta salata, and it didn't seem worth an extra Whole Foods run for the week. (Maca, I had no idea Parisians were so chauvinistic about their fromage! In Canada, 30% of the music on the radio has to be Canadian, which must come from the same cultural impulse.)
I had reservations about using uncooked tomatoes so far before they're in season, but the brightness of the lemon and tang of the feta made the combo flavorful enough. I still think this dish would be much improved by using peak seasonal produce, and I'm sure that gorgeous heirlooms would add a more complex flavor and bright pops of color, so I might have to revisit it in a few months. Oven-roasting the tomatoes would also have concentrated their flavor.
I did end up quintupling the pepper, but we like spicy pasta. We also threw in some leftover basil for one helping, just because it was on its last day...I actually think fresh oregano or thyme would have been a better match for the feta.
We used fusilli, which held the creamy feta residue (there must be a more appetizing description) nicely. Since we were eating dinner with "The Sopranos", I was reminded of a years-old New Yorker cartoon showing one piece of pasta in a dark bar slapping another on the back, shouting, "Fusilli, you crazy bastard -- good to see you!"
I used 1/2 feta and 1/2 ricotta. I just couldn't decide between the two but the combo worked well.
I couldn't rotini and frankly, am not sure which pasta it is. I ended up using a spiral pasta which I found to be a bit too delicate in texture for the recipe.
I like this recipe but liked it much more cold the next day. The warm lemon flavor was weird for me on pasta... not bad, just weird.
I loved this recipe because it just takes as long as the pasta cooks to make, which I am finding key now that I have two children! And the feta (couldn't make an extra trip to Whole Foods) was just tangy enough paired with the lemon. Very yummy! My 2 1/2 year old also really liked the rotini. Noodles of any shape are fun, but especially spirally ones like that. I've already made it twice since finding the recipe!
Interesting that you liked it better cold, Kara. I tried the leftovers cold for lunch yesterday and had to microwave it to punch up the flavor.
You've definitely made me think, though -- can anyone here think of a lemon dish served warm?
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