I have never been to Italy but I have this gut feeling that I will fall in love and may never want to come back again. Do you ever feel like that about a certain place ? I dream of an old Italian villa growing my own beautiful tomatoes and going for long walks in my vineyard every sunrise. When the sun begins to set our friends start coming in to share bread and wine, we make pasta and memories together. I have painted this picture so many times in my head and hopefully one day I will visit this beautiful country. I somehow already know pictures in my head may not do justice to its beauty and what Italy has to offer.
Italian food brings me joy, full on carb loaded guilty pleasures with simple and beautiful flavours. Everybody has their own recipe for pasta and there are so many different types of pasta. Angel hair pasta or Capellini as the Italians call it is much finer than Spaghetti and almost similar to vermicelli. It is usually cooked in a broth or a soup but goes equally well in this recipe too.
I made this dish for a recipe swap challenge that our friend Kay started. Many bloggers will be joining in by donating one recipe to the group and we all will make our own versions or stick to the original version. First recipe was by Tina from Love is in my Tummy I doubled this recipe for me and my husband but I actually ate it alone flipping through my favourite food magazines on a quiet Sunday afternoon. Hubby came in later and enjoyed this with a generous helping of curried breadcrumbs and a squeeze of lime. We oohed and aahed about this curried breadcrumbs and it is a definite keeper. You can find other creations too on Instagram under the hashtag #acommonplate and #plateincommon
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Quick Pasta for Two
- Prep Time: 10 mins
- Cook Time: 20 mins
- Total Time: 30 mins
- Yield: upto 2
- Category: Pasta
- Cuisine: Italian
Description
Quick pasta dish made with Angel hair pasta also called Capellini and ingredients available in your pantry. Recipe for two but can be multiplied easily for a couple or a big family.
Ingredients
For Curried breadcrumbs
- 2 tbsp. Olive oil
- ¼ c bread crumbs
- ½ tsp medium curry powder (see notes )
- salt to taste
For Pasta and Sauce
- 200 gms - Angel hair pasta/ Capellini
- 2 tbsp. Olive Oil
- 6 cloves of garlic, sliced
- 1 medium red onion, roughly diced
- ⅓ cup pickled jalapeno, roughly sliced
- ½ tsp red chilli flakes (or to taste)
- Salt, to taste
Instructions
PASTA
- Bring a medium pot of water to a boil.Add salt as per taste (I added upto 1 big heaped teaspoon) and put the pasta into the boiling water. Push down the pasta carefully as it cooks until fully immersed. Let it cook till done. I timed this to be 6 mins for 200 gms pasta. Once cooked as per your liking drain the pasta but save ¼ cup of pasta cooking water for the sauce.
CURRIED BREADCRUMBS
- Heat 1 tbsp of olive oil in a pan big enough to hold pasta as well so there will be less washing up later. Once the pan and oil are hot enough, add the curry powder. Once it sizzles, add the breadcrumbs and sauté on low until it turns crisp and dark golden brown. Transfer to a bowl and set aside.
'SAUCE'
- In the same pan, heat the remaining 1 tbsp olive oil and saute the sliced garlic until the edges turn golden brown. Add the chopped onion and pickled jalapeno and sauté until it's cooked but it still has a bite. Stir in the red chilli flakes. Season with salt. Remove from heat. Set aside.
ASSEMBLING
- Toss in the cooked pasta into the pan of sauteed vegetables and stir well to coat all the pasta. Add ¼ cup pasta cooking water. Adjust salt, to taste. Squeeze in some lemon juice, to taste.
- Sprinkle with the curried breadcrumbs. Add some roughly chopped fresh parsley or fresh coriander mix well. Transfer to a bowl and now we are ready to eat.
Notes -
- For curry powder I used the medium curry powder from Sainsbury's but any curry powder that is available in stores works too.
- Angel hair pasta is available in most supermarkets in UK and I found it in Sainsbury's
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