Sweet & Savory Sensation!

Pasta con i Fagioli & Ragú al Forno di Pomodorini & Albicocca
Pasta with Beans, Breadcrumbs & Oven-Baked Tomato & Apricot Ragú

I couldn't really go ahead and show you how to make that fruity and tangy tomato and apricot sauce and then not share the dish I made with it now could I? That just wouldn't be right! So here it is... in all of it's left-over glory! That last handful of green beans, which were the last perishables in my fridge, made this simple pasta dish more colorful and more yummy- it sometimes doesn't take much doing!

This particular variety of nameless pasta was particularly nice to eat- with a nice smooth texture but still with plenty of bite. I love checking out the Italian stalls in our indoor market here- there are lots of obscure pasta shapes on offer and this one caught my eye last time... it may not have a name on the bag- but it has a place in my pantry now!

With the sauce already bubbling away, there wasn't much left to do to pull this dish together. The first thing I did was to prepare a little "pan grattato" with bread crumbs, olive oil, parsley and grated ricotta cheese... which I toasted until lightly golden and seasoned with salt and pepper before setting to one side.

Next, in went the pasta... and 4-5 minutes later, into the same pot, the fine green beans which I had cut diagonally into bite sized chunks. By the time the pasta was ready, at 8-9 minutes, the beans were also just "al-dente", bitesome and pleasantly neutral against the tangy sauce- the perfect addition!

I drained the pasta, drizzled it with olive oil, tossed it in the bread crumbs and served it up with sweet, tangy sauce and a sprinkle of salted ricotta. And if that's not delicious... well... then I don't know what is!