Tag Archives: vegetarian pasta recipe

Spanakopita Gets An Italian Twist

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All the flavors of the classic Greek pastry pie -- minus the pastry.
All the flavors of the classic Greek pastry pie — minus the pastry.

Loaded with spinach and creamy, briny feta, who doesn’t love the savory Greek pie with the crisp pastry crust known as spanakopita?

Even so, the thought of fussing with hard-to-handle phyllo pastry sheets might be enough to deter you from wanting to make it at home.

So, take an easier route and use pasta instead.

Yes, “Baked Spanakopita Pasta with Greens and Feta” swaps out phyllo for tubular or curvy pasta instead. Think of it as the Greek cousin to American mac ‘n’ cheese.

This simple recipe is from “Easy Weeknight Dinners” (Ten Speed Press, 2024), of which I received a review copy.

Version 1.0.0

It’s by the New York Times Cooking and Emily Weinstein, its editor in chief.

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Cook’s Ilustrated’s Easier, Faster Version of Stanley Tucci’s Spaghetti with Zucchini (Plus Winner of the Food Gal Giveaway)

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So thankful to come across an easier yet equally delicious version of this Stanley Tucci favorite.
So thankful to come across an easier yet equally delicious version of this Stanley Tucci favorite.

You may not remember that last year I made Stanley Tucci’s famed “Spaghetti Con Zucchine Alla Nerano,” the captivating dish spotlighted on his CNN show, “Searching for Italy,” and in his memoir, “Taste: My Life Through Food.”

But I sure do. How could I forget every minute of carefully frying batch after batch of zucchini slices in a big pot of oil over a hot stove in summer for what seemed an interminable hour?

Don’t get me wrong; I absolutely adored the resulting pasta dish. But I haven’t made it since, even though, I’ve longed for its taste again. Heck, can you blame me?

That’s why I’m so happy to have discovered Cook’s Illustrated’s version that I could have hugged and never let go of its 2022 July/August issue that it published in.

In this rendition, there no deep-frying involved. Let me repeat that: No. Deep. Frying.

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Pantry Cooking Goes Gourmet With Porcini and Cream Sauce Pasta

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A restaurant-worthy dish that takes only minutes to make.
A restaurant-worthy dish that takes only minutes to make.

Wild porcinis have a short season and a hefty price tag.

But dried ones keep for ages, and are much more affordable especially because their concentrated flavor makes a little go a long way.

That’s why I love this recipe for “Porcini and Cream Pasta Sauce.”

You just combine items in your pantry and fridge to create a thoroughly restaurant-worthy dish.

The recipe is from “The Italian Cooking Course: (Kyle Books, 2022), of which I received a review copy.

It was written by Katie and Giancarlo Caldesi, wife-and-husband owners of two eponymous restaurants in England.

This hefty 512-page cookbook, geared toward both novice and more accomplished cooks, shows you how to make all manner of fresh pasta, even ones colored with cuttlefish ink, tomato paste or beets, as well as how to roll, cut, and form various shapes.

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Stanley Tucci’s Spaghetti con Zucchine alla Nerano

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One of Stanley Tucci's favorite pasta dishes.
One of Stanley Tucci’s favorite pasta dishes.

If the lusty comments from my gal pals are any indication, I’m definitely not the only one obsessed with Stanley Tucci’s CNN travel show, “Searching for Italy.”

Or with Stanley Tucci, himself, for that matter. (Hey, I’m just keeping it real.)

So, it’s probably no surprise that the food on the show has proved equally enthralling.

Ever since seeing the episode featuring Lo Scoglio’s zucchini pasta, I’ve been so intrigued with this specialty dish of this Amalfi Coast restaurant that’s a favorite of Tucci and his wife Felicity.

I like zucchini, but I can’t say it’s ever captured my fancy enough to get all excited about when it first starts appearing at farmers markets in summer. I mean, it’s no asparagus. Not by a long shot.

So, with just Parmigiano, basil, olive oil, and fried zucchini as the main components in this pasta, how good could this really be?

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Sage and Walnut Tagliatelle

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An easy pasta made luxurious with a copious amount of browned butter.
An easy pasta made luxurious with a copious amount of browned butter.

If Julia Child were still with us, no doubt she would heartily approve of “Sage and Walnut Tagliatelle.”

That’s because it is a total butter bomb.

In the best of ways, of course.

This simple pasta dish, egg noodles get coated in plenty of browned butter infused with sage leaves turned crisp and aromatic, and tossed with crunchy toasted walnuts.

The recipe is from the new “Old World Italian: Recipes and Secrets from Our Travels in Italy” (Clarkson Potter), of which I received a review copy.

The book is by Mimi Thorisson, a former model — yes, apparently not all models subsist on only mineral water and chia seeds. The creator of the food blog Manger, she lives in France with her photographer-husband (who took the winsome photos for the cookbook) and their young children.

This transportive book will make you wish you were staying in a pensione right now, and exploring all the local trattorias — or best yet, having a nonna cook for you such mouth-watering dishes as Thorriso’s versions of “Oven-Baked Eggs with Bottarga and Parsley,” “Pumpkin Ravioli with Brown Butter, Chestnut, and Sage,” “Roast Pork with Balsamic Vinegar and Red Wine,” and “Lemon Meringue Cake.”

What I love about this pasta dish is that it comes together in minutes and doesn’t require a special trip to the grocery store, especially if you have a well-stocked pantry, and grow sage in your yard like I do.

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