Orecchiette with Cherry Tomatoes & Arugula
One of the classic pasta dishes of Puglia, orecchiette, served simply with fresh cherry tomatoes, a little garlic and onion, some good olive oil and a little arugula... finished off with some shaved Parmesan cheese... basic, perfect and delicious with no fuss and no pretension... that's the beauty of Italian cooking!
A wonderful, light and speedy dish, put together in just the time it takes for your pasta to boil! You can't get much better than that!
For my single serving, I needed just a couple of handfuls of orecchiette, a good handful of arugula, just 7-8 cherry tomatoes, a shallot and around a half a clove of garlic. With a little good olive oil and just a touch of Parmesan- that was all it took to make a wonderful supper!
This is the perfect spur-of-the-moment dish or simply a great light lunch or supper. It's one of those standard dishes that everyone should know... and by the time you finish clicking through these pictures, you will too!
Simply halve the cherry tomatoes, snap the arugula in half too, finely slice the shallot and garlic and get your saucepan full of water boiling and some olive oil sizzling in your frying pan!
Whilst the orecchiette begin to boil, fry the garlic and shallot (or onion of course), until they begin to turn golden brown.
Add the cherry tomatoes, a little salt, sugar and plenty of freshly ground pepper and continue frying...
Once the orecchiette are a little short of being "al dente", spoon them into the frying pan with a little of the water and let everything continue cooking together- this will bring up all of the good flavor from the base of the pan and cook it into the pasta.
Add the arugula and another dash of olive oil, stir or toss together for 1-2 minutes until the arugula wilts and you are ready to serve! It's that easy!
Add plenty of freshly ground pepper and some shavings of Parmesan cheese and one of the speediest dinners in the South of Italy is served... right there in your dining room!
All that needs to be added to that is a hearty "buon appetito!" Enjoy!
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