Tagliatelle con Verdure. Vegan. Gluten Free Option

Tagliatelle con Verdure

For this month’s Suma Blogger’s Network entry, I’d like to share one of my favourite quick ‘n’ easy evening meals. I’ve used the Italian name for this dish ‘Tagliatelle con Verdure’ as the English equivalent ‘Ribbon Pasta with Green Vegetables’ just sounds far too plain and boring for such a beautiful dish.

For me, Tagliatelle con Verdure is the perfect pasta dish for this time of year. It’s much lighter than cheesy or cream-based pastas, and the addition of peas and tender green leaves make it taste fresh and Spring-like.

Tagliatelle con Verdure

This dish also happens to be incredibly simple and quick to make. It’s ready in just 20 minutes, and there’s very little prep or chopping involved. It’s perfect for busy week day nights, but also for weekends when you want to prepare something quick for friends and family.

Tagliatelle con Verdure

I always use wholegrain pasta as it contains more vitamins and minerals than white pasta (plus my family prefers the coarser texture and nuttier flavour of the wholegrain varieties). At the moment, the health food shops in the UK stock a much wider selection of wholegrain pastas compared to the supermarkets. Pastas made from ancient grains like spelt and kamut are amongst my favourites. For a gluten-free option, ribbon pastas made from maize are available (like this one from Le Veneziane).

In today’s recipe, I used organic whole wheat tagliatelle from one of my favourite pasta companies – la BIO IDEA – which produces its pasta using traditional methods dating back to 1911.

La Bio Idea Tagliatelle

I often keep jars of antipasti in the fridge, as they’re great for throwing into pasta dishes, salads and sandwiches. I especially love the jars of sun-dried tomatoes packed in herb-infused olive oil.  The oil is great for loosening up pasta ribbons, as well as adding extra flavour.

Pea shoots are currently in season here in the UK and I adore their fresh pea flavour and tender texture. If you can’t get hold of pea shoots, baby spinach or rocket (arugula) would make good substitutes.

Pea Shoots

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This pasta dish is full of the fresh flavours and colours of Spring. Ready in just 20 minutes, it’s perfect for busy weekday nights or weekends when you’re looking for a quick and easy dish to prepare.

Serves 4
Hands on time: 15 minutes   Cooking time: 9 minutes
Ready in: 20 minutes

Ingredients
300g / 10½ oz wholegrain tagliatelle (e.g. whole wheat, spelt or kamut. For a GF option, use maize)
107g / 1 cup fresh or frozen fine green beans, trimmed and halved
75g / ½ cup fresh or frozen green peas
6 sun-dried tomatoes in herb-infused olive oil, drained and chopped (reserve the oil)
2-3 cloves of garlic, minced or pressed
1 medium courgette (zucchini), quartered lengthwise and sliced
40g / 2 cups pea shoots (or sub with baby spinach or rocket arugula)
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
2 TBSP pine nuts, toasted (or sub with sunflower seeds)

Method
Prepare a large pan of salted boiling water and cook the pasta according to the instructions on the packet. Three minutes before the end of the cooking time, add the beans and peas to the pan. Once the pasta is cooked al dente, drain and return to the pan. Drizzle in ½ TBSP of olive oil from the jar of sun-dried tomatoes and stir through.

While the pasta is cooking, dry fry the pine nuts in a large frying pan (skillet) on a medium heat, stirring regularly. As soon as they start to brown, remove from the heat and set to one side.

Heat 1 TBSP of olive oil (from the sun-dried tomato jar) in the frying pan and cook the courgette until it starts to brown. Stir in the garlic and continue cooking for another minute or so. Stir in the pea shoots until they just start to wilt then remove from the heat.

Once the pasta is cooked, combine it with the contents of the frying pan. Stir in the sun-dried tomato pieces. Season with salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste. Divide between four warm bowls, add a sprinkling of pine nuts and serve.

This pasta dish can also be eaten cold and any leftovers make a great addition to lunch boxes.

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Tagliatelle con Verdure

If you make this recipe, I’d love to hear your feedback Do leave me a comment below or post a photo on my Facebook or Twitter pages. Hearing from readers always makes me smile xx

What’s your favourite Spring-time dish?

8 thoughts on “Tagliatelle con Verdure. Vegan. Gluten Free Option

  1. Looks delicious! I do enjoy pasta when the sauce isn’t too overwhelming – clearly this wouldn’t be a problem with this dish! I buy sun-dried tomatoes that are vacuum packed without oil and rehydrate them in boiling water. I hope the water will help keep the pasta moist as the oil-soaked tomatoes do 🙂

    1. I’m pretty sure the water would keep the pasta moist. Or you could simply pour a bit of the drained pasta water back into the pasta to keep it from sticking together (like chefs recommend). Since my olive oil from the sun-dried tomato jar is herb-infused, I’d recommend adding more Italian herbs to the pasta dish to crank up the flavour. Lots of freshly ground pepper too and a pinch of sea salt too 😉 xx

  2. Sharon, this looks so tasty and colourful! I usually buy the vacuum packed ones too but I have a couple of jars of the oil soaked ones in the cupboard – I might just try this recipe with one of them 🙂 I like the fact that you’ve used the oil from the jar, such a great idea!

    1. Pea shoots are fab aren’t they? I love them in Spring/Summer pasta dishes as they add such a fresh light flavour.
      So glad you enjoy the Bio Idea pasta too 🙂

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