Monday, May 3, 2010

Whole Wheat Pasta with Ricotta Sauce and Anchovies

Before you write off this recipe just because of the anchovies, I’d ask that you come into it with an open mind. Do you like salt? Do you like savory, umami-rich pasta dishes? If so, I bet you’d like this.

This was another of my pantry dinners because I really wasn’t in the mood to go to the grocery store. I’ve actually made this “sauce” and pasta before, which is a rarity for me. But this is soooo easy and good, it has become a go-to for me. The base “sauce” is as follows:

Ricotta Sauce
¼ cup low fat ricotta cheese
1 Tbsp balsamic vinegar
2 tsp extra virgin olive oil
2 Tbsp light pasta sauce (I like Ragu Light Basil and Tomato)
Basil, salt, pepper and Italian seasoning to taste

Mix all ingredients together in bowl. This is where I taste and adjust for more seasoning, etc. The consistency should be slightly thick but not dry. You can add garlic if you want.

Ingredients

This is what the sauce looks like

What goes into the pasta depends on what you have—that’s what I love about this dish. Start with boiling water and add the pasta. If you have frozen veggies, throw them in with the pasta and water in the last 3 minutes. If you have fresh veggies, cut them up and toss them in once you’ve drained the pasta. This time, I added 3 Roma tomatoes, 1 cup fresh spinach, and about 8 anchovy filets—all chopped roughly. This would be good with shrimp, chicken, steak slices, tuna, broccoli, cauliflower, carrots, onions, you name it. After you add the ingredients in, stir in the sauce and serve immediately.

I topped the finished product with some shredded Parmesan and more basil. My point calculation is about 6. Of course, the more veggies you throw in, the larger your portion can be, because you’ve bulked the pasta up with healthy veggies. So to tie this back to my first comment…don’t write off this base recipe just because you don’t like anchovies. You don’t have to use them but I would suggest you give them a chance sometime.

Brent’s thoughts: “This is something I could eat again and again.” I’m glad he feels that way because this is one dish he probably will have again and again in different iterations.

Finished dish

1 comment:

  1. I love healthy recipes that have a gourmet flair but that can become an every day staple. Thanks for the tips, Karli! Oh, and thank Brent for his manview ;0) Maybe you can add a manview section, kinda kidding, but kinda serious!! :) :)

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