Strip Tease

Linguine con Salami Piccante e Fagiole Verde
Linguini with Spicy Salami and Green Beans

Despite the title of this blog entry, tonight's dish was not a slow and sultry affair- it was more of a "get down to it" kinda deal! At the same time, there was quite a bit of cutting things into strips going on! The salami, the beans and of course the linguini themselves are
all strips of scrumptiousness... so let me tell you how I made this ultra-simple dish, whilst the pictures tease you to give it a try yourself...

This is a 10 minute meal- and you like that, right? What's not to like? Sometimes it's the quick and easy dishes that are the best anyway. For this dish, I used about 100g of linguini, a small, breakfast-sausage sized salami, a spring onion, some fresh herbs and a handful of beans. So it is a very inexpensive meal too.

Put the pasta on to boil and slice the salami and the beans into strips lengthways- it just looks a little more unusual. The spring onion and a clove of garlic on the other hand, did not have to follow this rule! The onion went in, in rings and the garlic I chopped and mashed to a paste. Whilst the pasta is boiling, crank up the heat on your frying pan, and when it is hot, add the salami and beans together. The salami has enough fat to make sure everything fries nicely. After 4-5 minutes, add the onion and garlic. If you add it too soon, it tends burn- and we want to avoid that!

After the pasta has boiled for 5-6 minutes, drain it- but not to thoroughly- and transfer it to the frying pan. Now add a good handful of fresh parsley and chives. Season with salt, pepper and nutmeg and add a good splash of milk. Continue cooking and stirring and watch as the milk reduces down and combines with the starch given off from the pasta and thickens into a nice, creamy, bechamel-type dressing. Mmmm....

Serve with some finely ground chili and a few shavings of Parmesan- delicious!