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Green and red pasta


Well, that is a pretty lame name for a good pasta dish! I adapted a spinach malfatti recipe from here so as to be able to make it as a pasta dish.

Ingredients

For the spinach dumplings

3 cups chopped spinach (I used frozen which is not as finely chopped)
3/4 cup low-fat cottage cheese
1 tsp nutmeg powder
1/2 tsp chopped green chillies
2 tbsp all purpose flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
salt and pepper to taste

For the tomato sauce (now I got a bit creative here with a beautiful Venetian pasta sauce that a friend had gifted, could not get myself to empty the jar!!)

2 1/2 cups pasta sauce (some regular store-bought and the Venetian sauce) and tomato pulp with roasted garlic
3 spring onions, chopped
1/2 tsp red chilli powder (Will definitely avoid this next time, unless I feel like torturing myself!)
4 tbsp heavy cream
3 tbsp olive oil
about 2-3 tbsp roughly torn basil leaves
salt and pepper to taste

Method

For the spinach dumplings

Steam the spinach leaves for 5 minutes and squeeze out the water. (I used this liquid in my tomato sauce)
Mix all the ingredients and shape into small balls.
Steam for 5 minutes. Keep aside. (This step I am not sure if it was necessary because the cheese melted a bit and stuck to the plate)

For the tomato sauce
1. Heat the olive oil, add the garlic and spring onions and sauté for 1 minute.
2. Add the tomato sauce and cook till the sauce thickens.
3. Add the chilli powder, basil, salt, pepper and bring to a boil (use the drained spinach liquid instead of water).
4. Add the cream. Mix well and keep aside.

For the malfattis
1. Place the dumplings in a baking dish.
2. Pour the tomato sauce on top (sprinkle the grated cheese on top for garnish). I reserved about a 1 1/2 cups of the sauce for spooning over my pasta later.
3. Bake in a pre-heated oven at 200º C (400º F) for 15 minutes.
4. Serve hot over pasta with some extra sauce (I used whole-wheat sphagetti, cooked as per the instructions).

Judgement: What can I say, I am a weak one...the chilli powder burnt my tongue enough that I could not taste anything in the pasta the day I cooked it but the next day, it was better with a bit of honey (while my mouth did burn the next day, at least I could taste some of the ingredients!). But I do think this pasta is fit to go to the Presto pasta nights event that Ruth had created and is hosted this week by Pam of Side walk shoes.

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Comments

  1. pamJuly 23, 2009 at 12:36 PM

    Thanks for your entry for Presto Pasta Nights!

    ReplyDelete
  2. JoanneJuly 24, 2009 at 11:50 AM

    The spinach dumplings here look great! I love how colorful this dish is. Sorry about your tongue - there is always a fine line between too spicy and not spicy enough.

    ReplyDelete
  3. KristinJuly 24, 2009 at 2:11 PM

    This is an interesting dish, I like the idea of the spinach dumplings. I was just talking about spicy the other day, I'm not a big fan myself.

    ReplyDelete
  4. tigerfishJuly 24, 2009 at 7:43 PM

    I want those spinach dumplings in my pasta too! This is something I will definitely bookmark.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Ruth DanielsJuly 27, 2009 at 2:02 PM

    It may be a lame name...but it's a fantastic dish. Thanks for sharing with Presto Pasta Nights and I hope to see you back often.

    ReplyDelete

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