Italian Recipes | RecipeTin Eats

Penne all’Arrabbiata (spicy tomato pasta)

Nagi — Mon, 30 Oct 2023 05:00:00 +0000

“Without the chilli, it’s just another boring tomato pasta. With the chilli, it’s something else!” – Nagi Maehashi from RecipeTin Eats, on Penne all’Arrabbiata, as quoted in today’s recipe video. 😂

Penne all’Arrabbiata

So, I am not sure that one line summary of today’s recipe will go anywhere beyond my little corner of the internet. But that is my articulate description of the greatness that is Penne all’Arrabbiata! Simple made interesting with a good kick of chilli and healthy dose of garlic. The Italians know a thing or two about making simple pastas great!

By way of background, “Arrabbiata” means “angry” in Italian. So this pasta is said to be named as such in reference to its fiery nature!

But fear not. Yes, this is a pasta that is meant to be spicy. But it’s fundamentally a great tomato pasta that you can make as spicy as you’d like. Or not. It’s easy to adjust – just make the sauce with less chilli to start with. Taste it during the simmer time. Add more if you’re feeling bold!

Ingredients in Penne all’Arrabbiata

Arrabbiata sauce can be made with either fresh or dried chillies. Dried is obviously more convenient, but I really like the extra flavour fresh chilli brings to the sauce so I’ve used a combination of both. Also, two of my go-to Italian recipe sources both use fresh chillis. 

Feel free to double up on either options!

Cayenne pepper – The larger the chilli, the less spicy they are! So cayenne peppers are not super spicy. Though, I do like to keep the seeds in for an extra zing of spiciness (the seeds is where most of the spiciness is). Feel free to de-seed if you prefer, or just use dried chillis (see note above photo for why I use fresh and dried).
Feel brave? Use Birds Eye or Thai chillies instead! They pack more spiciness than cayenne peppers.
Dried red chillis – These have a warm earthiness that fresh chillis do not. Sauteing with garlic brings out the toasty flavour as well as the spiciness.
Pasta type – Traditionally made with penne, though ziti is a direct replacement (it’s penne with a smooth surface). Though really, you can make this with any short or long pasta.
Canned crushed tomato – To be authentic, use whole peeled tomatoes (canned) and mash them up with a fork. For convenience, I use crushed tomatoes!
Sourness note: Not all canned tomatoes are created equal! Economical brands tend to be more sour. Take the edge off with ½ teaspoon of sugar.
Garlic – 3 cloves! Arrabiata sauce is meant to have a nice hit of garlic flavour.
Parmesan – For serving.
Parsley – For optional garnish.

How to make Arrabbiata Sauce

This simple pasta sauce 15 minutes simmering time to breakdown the tomatoes and make the flavours meld. Don’t shortcut it – you’ll rob yourself of flavour!

Finely mince the cayenne pepper with the seeds in. (See note in the ingredients section about seeds and spiciness)
Sauté garlic and chilli – Use a pot large enough to toss the pasta with the sauce. Heat the oil over medium heat, then stir the garlic for just 10 seconds. Add cayenne and chilli flakes, then cook for 1 minute, or until garlic is light golden.

Simmer – Add tomato, salt and pepper. Rinse out the tomato cans with a bit of water and add that in too. Then simmer the sauce gently for 15 minutes until it thickens.
Save water for sauce – While the sauce is cooking, cook the pasta per packet directions in salted pasta cooking water. Just before draining, give the pot a big stir (to agitate the starch* in the pasta) then scoop out 1 cup of the water. Then drain the pasta.
* The starch in the pasta cooking water helps the pasta sauce thicken so it clings to the pasta better.
Toss – Add the pasta into the sauce along with 1/2 cup of the pasta cooking water. Toss well (still on the stove) until the sauce coats the pasta and is no longer pooled in the base of the pot. Use extra pasta cooking water if needed, to loosen.
Serve – Dinnertime! Divide between bowls and serve immediately with parmesan and parsley, if using.

Oh the possibilities!

I’ve kept today’s recipe traditional with no add-ins, delicious as is.

But this recipe is an excellent blank canvas for add-ins of choice. Think – cooked shredded chicken, ham bits, olives (puttanesca-ish!), artichokes, sun dried tomatoes, other leftover cooked vegetables (or sauté from raw). Drop in some raw prawns/shrimp for the last few minutes cook time or some pieces of fish.

As with all pasta recipes, be sure to have everyone lined up ready to eat as you’re dishing it out so it’s at its slick, juicy, sauciness best. Pass freshly grated parmesan at the table, and top it with a pinch of parsley if you’re feeling fancy.

Enjoy! – Nagi

Watch how to make it

Made Arrabbiata Sauce – and got a free facial!

Penne all’Arrabbiata (spicy tomato pasta)

Recipe video above. “Arrabbiata” means “angry” in Italian and refers to how the spiciness of this classic Italian pasta! I love how this simple dish is made interesting with a good kick of chilli.

To be authentic, use whole peeled tomatoes and mash them up with a fork. For convenience, I use crushed tomatoes. SPICINESS – See Note 1.

Course Pasta

Cuisine Italian

Keyword arrabbiata penne, arrabbiata sauce, Penne all’arrabbiata

Prep Time 5

Cook Time 20

Total Time 25

Servings

Calories 567cal

Author Nagi

Ingredients

400g/ 14oz penne or ziti , or other pasta of choice (short or long)
1 tbsp cooking / kosher salt , for cooking pasta

Arrabiata sauce:

4 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
3 garlic cloves , finely minced
1 red cayenne pepper chilli , finely chopped (with seeds) (Note 2)
1/2 tsp chilli flakes (red pepper flakes)
800g / 28 oz canned crushed tomato
1 1/4 tsp cooking / kosher salt
1/4 tsp black pepper
1/2 tsp white sugar , only if needed (Note 3)

Serving:

parmesan , finely grated
2 tsp finely chopped parsley , optional

Cups – Metric

Instructions

Sauté – Heat oil in a large pot over medium heat. Add garlic and stir for 10 seconds. Add cayenne and chilli flakes. Cook for 1 minute, or until garlic is light golden.
Add tomato, salt and pepper. Rinse out the tomato cans with the water and add into the pot.
Simmer – Turn up the heat to high, stir, then once it comes to a simmer, turn back down to medium heat and simmer for 15 minutes. (Taste check at 10 min – if sour, add the sugar.)
Cook pasta – Meanwhile, bring a large pot of water to the boil with the 1 tablespoon of salt. Add pasta and cook per packet directions.
Save water – Just before draining, give the pot a big stir (to agitate the starch) then scoop out 1 cup of the water and set aside. (Note 4) Drain pasta.
Toss – Add pasta into the sauce along with 1/2 cup of the pasta cooking water. Toss well (still on the stove) until the pasta is coated with the pasta sauce. Use extra pasta cooking water if needed, to loosen.
Serve – Divide between bowls and serve immediately with parmesan and parsley, if using.

Notes

1. SPICINESS – Has a fair kick to it, as it is supposed to! It’s between medium and medium-hot. Not blow-your-head-off. To reduce spiciness, de-seed the cayenne pepper (most spiciness is in the seeds) – this will reduce closer to medium. To reduce further/easy way to control, omit the cayenne pepper. Start with a small amount of chilli flakes then get the sauce simmering. At the 10 minute mark, taste and add more chilli flakes, bit by bit, until you hit your threshold!

2. Cayenne peppers are large red chillis. They are not overly spicy – general rule is the smaller the chilli, the spicier they are. See above for spiciness note.

3. Sugar – Not all canned tomatoes are created equal. The better the quality, the sweeter they are. Only use sugar if required.

4. Reserving/using pasta cooking water – Essential pasta cooking step every Italian does instinctively for every pasta recipe! Starch in the pasta cooking water helps the sauce thicken and cling to the pasta instead of sitting in a watery pool in the bottom of your pasta bowl.

5. Leftovers will keep for 3 to 4 days in the fridge.

Nutrition per serving.

Nutrition

Life of Dozer

Nowhere to be seen when I’m sautéing the chilli (the fumes tickle his nose) but he waddles over when it’s done. But – no spicy pasta for Dozer! Can you imagine the mess I’d have to deal with. 😂

The post Penne all’Arrabbiata (spicy tomato pasta) appeared first on RecipeTin Eats.

Calabrian Fish Ragu Pasta

Nagi — Mon, 09 Oct 2023 05:09:15 +0000

This is a fish pasta in a richly flavoured fish ragu pasta sauce. It’s a great recipe to stretch fish further and cook it in a unique way that’s outrageously delicious with big, bold Italian Calabrian spices!

Calabrian Fish Ragu Pasta

I feel like the name of today’s recipe requires explanation.

I’m calling this a ragu because it’s stewy and braisy and has beautiful depth of flavour even though it hasn’t been slow cooked for hours like my Shredded Beef Ragu. Because, NEWSFLASH, it doesn’t have to be slow cooked for hours to be called a ragu!

As for the Calabrian part of the name? It’s because the seasoning is inspired by the flavours of Calabria: chillies and particularly nduja, the intensely-flavoured salami paste from the region that’s rising in popularity in the foodie world. Stuffed in focaccias, dolloped on pizzas, mixed into pasta sauces, this fiery spread has big, bold flavours and a little bit goes a long way.

So, as you might have guessed, this is a fish pasta that is big on flavour. I love that it tastes exotic and restaurant-y but it’s economical and easy!

Fish tossed in a bold Calabrian spice mix

Ingredients in this Fish Ragu Pasta

Here’s what you need to make this.

1. The fish

Key to this pasta is the spice mix for the fish. As mentioned earlier, the flavours in this fish pasta are based on the seasoning on nduja which is a type of salami. So, think – fennel and paprika with a hit of spiciness. Bold is the word that comes to mind!

Best fish for this pasta

Any firm white fish fillets (skinless and boneless) can be used in this recipe. Here are some suggestions: snapper, John or Silver dory, barramundi, bream, tilapia, pollock, cod, flathead, perch, ling, bass, basa, hake, hoki, monkfish (pricey here, so I reserve for other uses like this recipe). If using frozen, thaw thoroughly and pat dry before using.

I recommend avoiding:

Fish that dry out easily when cooked – Like swordfish, tuna, bonito, kingfish, marlin.
Delicate and thin-filleted fish – Like flounder, sole, plaice, turbot, whiting. The texture of the flesh is a bit too delicate for this type of cooking.
Oily fish – Like sardines or mackerel. A bit too overwhelming, flavours don’t quite match.

The Calabrian spices

Whole fennel and black peppercorns – These are toasted then ground, for maximum flavour impact. I would not ask you to make the effort to toast and grind if I really didn’t believe it was worth it. It is! However, I have substitutions in the recipe notes for ground fennel and pepper, if that’s all you have.
More spices – Nutmeg, paprika, chilli flakes (red pepper flakes). Feel free to dial back the chilli if you’re concerned about spicineess.

2. In the pasta and the sauce

Pasta – Any long strand thinnish pasta is ideal here. I use fettuccine.
Tomato passata – This is pureed, strained pure tomatoes, sometimes labelled “tomato puree” in the US (here’s a photo of Mutti tomato passata sold at Walmart). It’s readily available in Australian supermarkets nowadays, alongside pasta sauces. It costs around the same as canned tomato.
Passata is excellent for making thick, smooth sauces and soups without a long simmer time like required to break down crushed tomato. A regular in my recipes! More on tomato passata here.
Tomato paste – A boost of tomatoey flavour and to help thicken the sauce.
Garlic – Because, garlic. Rarely do savoury recipes happen around here without garlic!
Parsley and parmesan – garnishes. I know parmesan isn’t strictly traditional in Italian fish and seafood pastas. But, it works. We’re not after loads of parmesan cheesiness. It just adds saltiness.

3. pangrattato

Pangrattato is an Italian chunky breadcrumb topping that adds an addictive crunch and flavor to pasta dishes and salads. I particularly like it with this fish ragu as it adds great texture and is a terrific contrast to the soft fish.

Bread – Use a denser bread like sourdough, ciabatta etc which have structure and go really crunchy when toasted. Lightweight sandwich bread is a little too delicate and kind of just dissolves into powder, bypassing the crunch completely. BUT – if sandwich bread is all you have, I’d still go ahead! Or, substitute with panko breadcrumbs.
Oil and salt – To make it crunchy and salty.

How to make fish ragu

As mentioned earlier, this is a ragu but it doesn’t have to be slow cooked for hours! In fact, if you can multi-task, you’ll get this on the table in just over 20 minutes.

1. pangrattato first

Get the pangrattato in the oven first. Toss the bread in olive oil and salt, then bake in a 180°C / 350°F (160°C fan-forced) oven for 10 minutes until crisp all the way through.

2. CALABRIAN SPICED FISH NEXT

Next up, toast the spices and coat the fish in the tasty flavours.

Toast the fennel and black peppercorns for a couple of minutes until it smells fragrant and you can see the fennel is lightly browned. Use a large deep skillet or pot, something large enough to toss the pasta with the sauce later. No oil required at this stage.
Grind the spices using a mortar and pestle, or a grinder.
Coat the fish with the ground fennel and peppercorns, nutmeg, chilli flakes, sugar, salt, olive oil plus the tomato paste.
Once coated, set aside while you prep the other ingredients. No need to marinate.

3. MAKING THE PASTA

The pasta sauce takes around the same time to cook as the pasta so you can make both at the same time.

Boil pasta for the time per the packet directions minus 1 minute. It should be al dente – cooked through but still a slight firm but. It will soften more as it cooks through more when tossed with the pasta sauce.
Scoop out about 1 1/2 cups of pasta cooking water. We will need this for the pasta tossing at the end.
Cook fish – Sauté the garlic until golden, then add the fish (scrape out every bit of the paste!) and cook for 2 minutes.

Add the tomato passata and simmer for 5 minutes.
The fish ragu sauce – This is what it looks like before the tossing process starts. Notice how the fish pieces are still whole at this stage. Some of the pieces will flake and break when we toss with the pasta, some will stay mostly whole. I find that texture the most appealing for me.
What we don’t want is for all the fish to disintegrate. It’s so much nicer to have fish chunks so you know you’re eating fish rather than unidentifiable mush!

Add reserved pasta cooking water and simmer for a further 2 minutes. The pasta cooking water has starch in it which makes the sauce thicken so it clings to the pasta strand. You will see in the next step!
Toss with pasta – Then add the pasta and most of the parlsey. Toss, still on the stove, for 1 minute or until the pasta strands are stained red and all the fish ragu is clinging to the pasta strands rather than pooled in the pan.
If the pasta gets too thick (excessively enthusiastic tossing, heat too high are typical causes), just add a splash of extra pasta cooking water to thin it out and give it another good toss!

Now, it’s ready for serving. Twirl into bowls and cover liberally with a shower of the crunchy pangrattato and finish with parmesan!

Matters of serving fish ragu

As with any pasta, this fish ragu is best served and eaten piping hot and fresh, straight out of the pan while the pasta is sticky and slippery and saucy. As it sits around, the pasta continues to absorb the liquid, drying it out so it’s thick and stodgy.

So, whenever you are making any pasta, be sure to have the hungry hoards at the table, ready to twirl and slurp the moment you bring the pasta bowls to the table, for maximum enjoyment!

Really hope you love this as much as I do. The fish ragu is divine as it is. But with that crunchy pangrattato? It’s sheer perfection. Enjoy! – Nagi x

Watch how to make it

Calabrian Fish Ragu

Recipe video above. This is a fish pasta in a richly spiced fish ragu pasta sauce. The spice mix is based on njuda, the bold flavoured spreadable Calabrian salami paste that's rising in popularity in the restaurant scene! It's a great way to make fish stretch further, cooked in a unique way that's outrageously delicious with big, bold Southern Italian flavours.

No stale bread? Use panko instead. See notes. 3 servings? I know it's a little odd, but the spice mix didn't scale down neatly to make pasta for 2! (3/8 tsp nutmeg?!). Leftovers are always delicious.

Course Mains

Cuisine Italian-esque

Keyword fish pasta, fish ragu

Prep Time 10

Cook Time 25

Servings

Calories 714cal

Author Nagi

Ingredients

Calabrian spiced fish:

250g/ 8 oz firm white fish fillets , skinless, boneless, cut into 2 cm / 0.8″ cubes (barramundi, snapper, cod – Note 1)
3/4 tsp black peppercorns (Note 2 for ground option)
1 tsp fennel seeds (Note 2 for ground option)
1 tbsp smoked paprika (sub ordinary paprika)
1/2 tsp red chilli flakes (red pepper flakes), feel free to reduce/omit
1/2 tsp nutmeg powder
1/2 tsp caster / superfine sugar
3/4 tsp cooking / kosher salt
3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
2 tbsp tomato paste

Pasta:

250g/8 oz linguine pasta (or fettuccine, spaghetti)
1 tbsp cooking / kosher salt , for pasta water
1 1/2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
3 garlic cloves , finely minced
3/4 cup tomato passata (US: tomato puree, Note 3)

Garnish:

1 tbsp finely chopped parsley
Parmesan cheese , finely grated, for serving

Pangrattato

1 cup stale bread like sourdough, ciabatta , crusts removed, torn/chopped into irregular 1cm/0.4" pieces (Note 4)
2 tsp extra virgin olive oil
1 pinch cooking / kosher salt

Cups – Metric

Instructions

Toast & grind – Preheat a large deep skillet or pot over medium heat (Note 5), no oil. Toast black peppercorn and fennel for 1 1/2 to 2 minutes until it smells fragrant and the fennel is lightly browned. Transfer to a mortar and use a pestle and grind to a powder while still hot.
Coat fish – Transfer to a medium bowl with remaining Calabrian spiced fish ingredients. Stir well with a spatula until combined. Set aside.
Cook pasta – Boil 3 litres of water with the cooking salt. Cook pasta per packet directions minus 1 minute. Just before draining, scoop out 1 1/2 cups pasta cooking water. Then drain in a colander and leave until ready to use.
Calabrian fish ragu – While the pasta is cooking, heat olive oil in the same skillet you used to toast the fennel on medium high. Add garlic and cook for 1 minute. Add the fish. Cook for 2 minutes, stirring regularly. Add tomato passata. Simmer for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add 1 cup of the reserved pasta cooking water and simmer for 2 minutes.
Toss pasta – Add pasta and 3/4 of the parsley. Toss for 1 minute to coat the pasta with the sauce. Most of the fish will break up into flakes but some will remain in larger chunks – this is good! We don't want disintegrated mush, nor giant chunks. Once the pasta turns red and the sauce and fish bits are clinging to the pasta straws, remove from heat and divide between bowls immediately.
Serve – Sprinkle with pasta, pangrattato and parmesan. Eat immediately!

Pangrattato:

Preheat oven to 180°C / 350°F (160°C fan-forced).
Toss bread, oil and salt in a small bowl. Spread on a tray and bake for 10 minutes, tossing at the 5 minute mark, or until light golden and fully crisp.

Notes

1. Firm white fish fillets – Works best with fairly firm white fish fillets that are not too thick. Some suggestions: snapper, John or Silver dory, barramundi, bream, tilapia, pollock, cod, flathead, perch, ling, bass, basa, hake, hoki. If using frozen, thaw thoroughly and pat dry before using.

I recommend avoiding:

Fish that dry out easily when cooked – Like swordfish, tuna, bonito, kingfish, marlin.
Delicate and thin-filleted fish – Like flounder, sole, plaice, turbot, whiting. The texture of the flesh is a bit too delicate for this type of cooking.
Oily fish – Like sardines or mackerel. A bit too overwhelming, flavours don’t quite match.

2. Grinding whole spices will give the best flavour in this recipe, it really makes a difference here. I only emphasise this when it matters, I will use pre-ground whenever I can! But you can use pre-ground if that’s all you’ve got. 1/2 tsp coarsely ground black pepper and 1/2 tsp fennel powder. No toasting, just mix in with other spices.

3. Tomato passata – Pureed, strained pure tomatoes, sometimes labelled “tomato puree” in the US (here’s a photo of Mutti tomato passata sold at Walmart). Readily available in Australian supermarkets nowadays, alongside pasta sauces. Excellent for making thick, smooth sauces. More on tomato passata here.

4. Back up – use 1/2 cup panko instead, toast for shorter time. If the bread isn’t stale that’s fine too, it’ll take a little longer to go crunchy and is a little harder to cut into small pieces.

5. Cooking vessel needs to be large enough to toss the sauce with the pasta.

6. Recipe reference – inspired by this recipe torn out from the Delicious magazine during a flight. Though, my resulting recipe is very different. Much saucier (good thing), faster (also a good thing) with bolder flavours (that’s just how I roll!).

7. Leftovers will keep for 3 days in the fridge. Warm in microwave with a splash of water and toss well. Store pangrattato in the pantry.

Nutrition per serving assuming 3 servings.

Nutrition

More things to make with fish!

Chilli Lime Fish

Fish Tacos

Sizzling Ginger Steamed Fish

Goan Fish Curry (Indian)

Fish Seasoning (great all-rounder)

Thai Fish Cakes

Homemade Filet-O-Fish (BAKED!!)

Fish Cakes

Fish Fingers recipe

Fish recipes

Life of Dozer

My house needed a major air-out over the weekend after a particularly intense week of spice-heavy cooking, so I left all the doors open all day to create a nice breezeway.

Dozer was put on front door guard duty. I felt totally safe.

The post Calabrian Fish Ragu Pasta appeared first on RecipeTin Eats.

Creamy Tuscan Chicken Soup

Nagi — Mon, 10 Jul 2023 06:00:00 +0000

My current favourite chicken soup! Creamy broth, juicy little bits of chicken, pasta shells and swirls of spinach with a sprinkle of sun dried tomato I use in place of croutons. Think – under the Tuscan Sun. Except – sweater weather food!

Creamy Tuscan Chicken Soup

Let me just say upfront – I call this Tuscan but there’s nothing authentically Tuscan about it (as far as I know). To me, it has Tuscan vibes, so I gave it a cute name with the hopes to pique your interest. Just in case my photos and writing doesn’t do the job well enough to convince you that you really need to try this creamy chicken soup!!!

In all honesty, I was gazing longingly at my Tuscan Chicken Pasta Bake from my cookbook, trying to muster up the energy to make it. Because that big bubbling pasta bake does require a semi-modest commitment of time to make. Worth it, but sadly, time is not always on my side.

This Tuscan Soup was born from similar ingredients. A faster, soup version of the pasta bake. I hope you fall in love with this soup as much as I have!

Ingredients in Creamy Tuscan Chicken Soup

Those of you who have made the Tuscan Chicken Pasta Bake will recognise most of these ingredients. All the star players are present – sun dried tomato, spinach, chicken, pasta, cream, cheese!

Things in the soup

Here are the things that are bobbing about in the creamy soup broth:

Chicken – I prefer thigh because it’s juicier, has better flavour and is thin enough to cook whole, so no raw meat chopping called for. But breast can be used too. If using chicken breast, slice horizontally into thin steaks to sear. The thick whole breasts are too thick.
Pasta – I use small shells. Any small pasta is fine here. Think – ditalini, small macaroni, risoni/orzo (you’ve got half the packet left from last weeks’ salad, right!?). Anything small enough to be easy to scoop up with a spoon that cooks in around 10 minutes. Broken spaghetti or other long pasta will also work – break into 4cm / 1.5″ pieces.
Sun dried tomato – This is the garnish for this soup! Instead of using croutons, nuts etc. Little chewy pops of concentrated savoury tomato flavour with swirls of the red oil from the sun dried tomato jar.
Garlic and onion – Flavour base!
Celery – Vegetable of choice here. I like it because the colour sort of blends into the soup, keeping it lovely and white so the bright red sun dried tomato and swirls of spinach stand out. Plus, celery is a classic flavour base for many savoury things. Substitute with other cook-able vegetables. Think: diced zucchini, corn, carrots.
Butter – The cooking fat of choice, because it’s got more flavour than oil.

Creamy chicken soup broth

A splash of white wine, good handful of parmesan and finishing with cream gives the Tuscan soup broth great flavour!

Cornflour/cornstarch – This is what is used to thicken the soup. I opted to use this over flour for calorie control reasons. Using flour, I would’ve needed an extra 30g/2 tbsp of butter to stir the flour into at the beginning to make a roux. With cornflour, you just mix with a bit of water then stir it into the soup right at the end. Also, cornflour makes the soup nice and shiny, which I like in this soup (flour makes broths dull).
Wine – Just 1/2 a cup, adds extra depth of flavour so you there’s enough flavour using half stock, half water, rather than 2 litres / quarts of water. Money saving tip. It’s like free stock! Doesn’t make the broth taste winey, because we cook out the alcohol, just leaving behind lovely savoury flavour.
Can’t consume alcohol? Switch half the water for more chicken stock/broth.
Cream – Gives the soup a lovely creamy mouthfeel finish as well as making the soup white. You can opt to use milk instead, but reduce water by 1/2 cup and use 1 1/2 cups milk (else soup colour not as white). To get a nice finish, I’d add a knob of butter!
Parmesan – Another flavour boost. Normally I recommend shredding your own but I used store-bought pre-shredded for convenience here and it melted fine in the hot soup (unlike in cheesy sauces). The sandy-type, from the fridge (not aisle please! If it ain’t in the fridge, it ain’t real cheese! )

How to make Creamy Tuscan Chicken Soup

Searing our own chicken makes this soup tastier than just adding pre-cooked chicken into the soup broth. Because colour on the chicken = tastier chicken, and the soup broth gets extra (free!) flavour from the golden bits left in the pot from searing the chicken.

Sear the chicken in the butter, just to get some colour on the surface. It doesn’t matter if it’s not cooked all the way through because after we chop it, it gets added back into the soup. As noted above, cooking our own chicken gets us on the path to a more delicious soup!
Chop the chicken once it’s cool enough to handle. I do this while the pasta is cooking. Don’t worry about raw bits, they will cook through quickly once added back into the hot soup broth.
Sauté the onion, garlic and celery in the same pot using the residual butter.
Broth & pasta – Deglaze the pot by simmering the white wine rapidly until reduced by half. Deglazing just means to dissolve the chicken-searing golden bits on the base of the pot into the liquid for extra flavour in the soup broth.
Pasta – Once the broth is brought back up to the boil, add the pasta and cook it for the time per the packet directions (10 minutes for the small shells I used).
Chopped chicken – Once the pasta is in, I chop the chicken then just add it into the broth about halfway through the pasta cooking time.

Thicken soup – Mix together the cornflour/cornstarch with a smidge of water then stir it into the soup broth. We only use a bit of cornflour because the soup gets thickening help from the gluten in the pasta and the cream.
Soup finishes – Then stir in the parmesan, follow by the cream and spinach. Once the spinach has wilted, which should only take a minute or so, the cornflour will have thickened the soup. And that’s it – ready to serve!
Sun dried tomatoes – Chop sun dried tomatoes into scattering-size-pieces.
Ladle the soup into bowls. Sprinkle with sun dried tomato and a little drizzle of the oil from the sun dried tomato jars (love how the red looks against the white soup). A sprinkle of extra parmesan wouldn’t hurt either. Then dig in!

Pasta soup storage matters!

Pasta loves to absorb liquid. So if you leave the pasta overnight in the broth, it will bloat and become overly soft.

So to store leftovers, it’s best to separate the broth from the pasta. Just use a slotted spoon to scoop out the pasta bits then store the pasta and broth in separate containers in the fridge. They will keep for 3 to 4 days.

Making ahead intentionally

This is a great soup to prepare ahead to reheat later! Just cook the pasta, drain, thicken the soup , then store the chicken with pasta and soup broth separately. They can be refrigerated for 4 days or frozen for 3 months. Reheat the soup broth first, then add the pasta and chicken to reheat. I’ve popped these directions in the recipe card too.

Hope you enjoy! – Nagi x

Watch how to make it

Creamy Tuscan Chicken Soup

Recipe video above. My (current) favourite chicken soup – utterly divine! Creamy broth, juicy little bits of chicken, pasta (I used small shells), swirls of spinach and a sprinkling of sun dried tomato which I use instead of the usual croutons. Easy, one pot, quick to make, and great for making ahead.

I call it "Tuscan" because to me it has Tuscan vibes, so christened it as such with a cute name. But no, it's not authentic – and that's ok! It's still delicious.

Course Soups

Cuisine Italian-esque, Western

Keyword chicken pasta soup, chicken soup, creamy chicken soup, pasta soup, tuscan soup

Prep Time 15

Cook Time 20

Servings

Calories 688cal

Author Nagi

Ingredients

500 g/1 lb chicken thighs , skinless boneless (Note 1 for breast)
1/2 tsp each salt and pepper

Soup:

30g / 2 tbsp unsalted butter
1 onion , finely chopped
2 garlic cloves , minced
2 large celery stems , finely sliced (sub 2 carrots)
1/2 cup chardonnay or other dry white wine, optional (Note 2)
4 cups chicken stock/broth , low sodium
3 cups water
1 tsp cooking/kosher salt
1/2 tsp black pepper
250g/8 oz small pasta shells (or other small pasta, rice, potato etc – see Note 3)
1 cup (tightly packed) parmesan, finely grated or store bought pre-grated (sandy type) (Note 4)
1 cup thickened/heavy cream (Note 5 for milk sub)
2 packed cups baby spinach , chopped kale or similar
1/2 cup sun dried tomato strips , chopped into 1cm pieces, plus bit of oil drizzling (Note 6)

Soup thickener (cornflour slurry):

2 tsp cornflour/cornstarch mixed with 2 tsp water

Cups – Metric

Instructions

Cook outside of chicken – Sprinkle each side with the salt and pepper. Melt butter in a large pot over medium high heat. Once foamy, place the chicken in and cook the first side for 3 minutes or until light golden, then the other side for 2 minutes – it's fine if the inside is still raw, it cooks more later. Remove onto a plate.
Soup flavour base – Turn the stove down to medium low. Add garlic, onion and celery into the same pot then cook for 3 minutes or until the onion is softened.
Deglaze – Turn up to high, add wine, stir, then let it simmer until the wine reduces by half.
Broth & pasta – Add stock/broth, water, salt and pepper. Bring to a boil then add the pasta. Cook for the time per the pasta packet directions (~10 minutes), stirring every now and then so the pasta doesn't stick to the base of the pot.
Add chicken partway – While the pasta is cooking, chop the chicken into 1.5cm / 1/2" pieces then add into the pot to finish cooking.
Finish soup – Once the pasta is cooked, turn heat down to low. Stir in parmesan until melted. Stir in the cornflour-water mixture, cream and spinach. Stir for a minute until spinach is wilted and soup thickens slightly.
Serve – Ladle into bowls. Sprinkle with sun dried tomato strips (and a bit of oil looks nice for finishing). Eat!
Storing – Separate pasta from soup so it doesn't bloat, refrigerate both. Just scoop out with slotted spoon. (Note 6)

Notes

1. Chicken – If using breast, split each in half horizontally to form 2 thin steaks. Then cook per recipe.

2. Wine – Adds extra depth of flavour so you there’s enough flavour using 50/50 chicken stock/water (money saving tip ). It’s like free stock!

For non alcoholic, either use zero-alcohol white wine or substitute half the water for more chicken stock (otherwise the broth will lack a bit of flavour).

3. Pasta subs – Other small pasta like ditalini, small macaroni, rison/orzo can be used in the recipe as written, cook per packet time. Break long strand pasta into spoonable bits.

Gluten free pasta – Make recipe as written but you might want to increase the cornflour/cornstarch slightly to thicken the soup a little because the recipe relies on the starch in gluten pasta to help thicken the soup slightly.

Potato – cube, and reduce soup cook time (1.5 cm / 0.6″ cubes cook in around 7 min). You might want to increase cornflour/cornstarch to thicken soup (same reason as GF pasta).

Rice – White rice, use recipe as written, ~1 cup uncooked rice. Not brown rice (takes too long to cook).

4. Parmesan – Store bought sandy-type parmesan melts fine in this soup. But – fridge. Not from the aisle (that ain’t cheese!)

5. Cream gives the soup a lovely creamy mouthfeel finish as well as making the soup white. If using milk instead, reduce water by 1/2 cup and use 1 1/2 cups full-fat milk (else soup colour not as white). This will shave 140 calories off each serving. Though I’d add a knob of butter!

6. Sun dried tomato is the sprinkle for this soup that keeps things interesting! All my recipes I call “Tuscan this-and-that” has it in it. Nice change from the usual croutons and nuts, and adds a little punch of flavour, plus the red oil looks good!

7. Storing – Pasta left in broth will bloat and soften overnight. For leftovers, just scoop out all the pasta etc using a slotted spoon and store separately from the broth, in the fridge. If making ahead intentionally, for best results: do to the end of step 5, drain soup in colander, return broth into pot. Thicken soup with parmesan and cornflour slurry, add spinach. Cool. Let pasta, chicken etc in colander cool. Store both separately. Can even freeze!

Nutrition per serving. Shave 140 calories off by switching cream for milk, per note 4.

Nutrition

More soup love

Sweet Potato Soup – simple but great!

Broccoli and Potato Soup

Fish Chowder Soup

Lamb Shawarma Chickpea Soup

Minestrone Soup

Lentil Soup (seriously amazing!)

Pumpkin Soup

Soups

Life of Dozer

Licking up drips from dirty dishes. He’s such a grot.

The post Creamy Tuscan Chicken Soup appeared first on RecipeTin Eats.

Spinach ricotta stuffed shells

Nagi — Mon, 20 Mar 2023 05:10:39 +0000

There’s no need to pre-cook shells before you stuff them. Such a pain messing around with hot floppy shells! Just bake in loads of sauce and they’ll cook in the oven. These jumbo shells, called conchiglioni in Italian, are stuffed with spinach and ricotta. Serve with a Mega Italian Salad and garlic bread for the perfect dinner.

Stuffed shells

I don’t know if you’ve ever tried, but stuffing hot cooked pasta shells is a nightmare. Slipper suckers that they are, and they break so easily.

There’s no need to suffer through all that! It’s much easier to stuff raw, uncooked pasta shells and cook them in the oven simply by covering them in a LOT of sauce. It 100% works. It’s the way I’ve been cooking cannelloni/manicotti all my life.

The trick is simply to start with a large volume of watery sauce that the pasta shells cook in. Not dissimilar to cooking pasta in a pot of boiling water, actually. And by the end, that watery sauce reduces down into a lovely thick pasta sauce!

This method of cooking also deals with another pet-peeve of mine: dry pasta shells. No worries about that here, we end up with plenty of tomato sauce for serving!

What you need for stuffed pasta shells

While there’s many stuffing options for pasta shells, the most popular is probably spinach and ricotta and that’s what I’ve gone with today. Sorry for being predictable?

Jumbo shells (conchiglioni)

Jumbo shells (conchiglioni is the proper Italian name) are more readily available these days in Australian grocery stores (Woolies, Coles, Harris Farms) and the primary reason I went on a stuffed shells bender.

They are a little more expensive than typical pasta shapes – around $5 for a 500g / 1 lb packet. But they go further. You’ll need 250g / 8 oz for this recipe which serves 5 generously, possibly 6. (Let me remind you, I have a rather robust appetite! My serving portions are not skimpy).

The spinach ricotta stuffing

Here’s what you need for the stuffing. Exactly the same combination I use for spinach ricotta cannelloni, spinach ricotta rolls and the fan-favourite spinach ricotta rotolo.

For a meat option, use the beef filling in Beef Cannelloni instead.

Spinach – use frozen for convenience (thaw, remove excess water before using), or fresh if you’ve got an abundance of it
Ricotta – be sure to use a food quality full fat, creamy one. Tip for Australians: avoid Perfect Italiano tub in the fridge aisle of major supermarkets. It’s quite powdery and unpleasant. My favourite is Paesanella which is sold at Harris Farms and over the deli counter at large supermarkets.
Shredded cheese – A flavoured one is best, like cheddar, tasty, gruyere. Save the mozzarella for the topping (which melts well but doesn’t have that much flavour).
Parmesan – don’t skip this! It adds extra savouriness and seasoning to the filling. Just store bought finely shredded or grated is fine, or grate your own.
Garlic – because it makes everything better
Egg – for binding.
Nutmeg – optional, but it’s a lovely touch. I use it in almost all my spinach ricotta fillings.
Salt and pepper

The sauce

I find this method of cooking stuffed shells from raw works best with a smooth pasta sauce rather than one with lumps of crushed or diced tomatoes. The shells cook more evenly and when it finishes baking, you’re left with a lovely smooth pasta sauce.

Tomato passata – Pureed, strained plain tomatoes, sometimes labelled “tomato puree” in the US (here’s a photo of Mutti tomato passata sold at Walmart). Readily available in Australian supermarkets nowadays, alongside pasta sauces. Excellent for making smooth sauces rather than simmering for ages to breakdown crushed or diced tomato. More on tomato passata here.
Substitutes – US Hunt’s tomato sauce is a perfect alternative. Otherwise, use crushed canned tomato then puree (like I do for cannelloni/,manicotti).
Eschalots –Also known as French onions, and called “shallots” in the US. They look like baby onions, but have purple-skinned flesh, are finer and sweeter. Not to be confused with what some people in Australia call “shallots” ie the long green onions.
I like using eshalots rather than onions because they are finer so they almost disappear into the sauce so you get a lovely smooth sauce. However, you can substitute with a small onion.
Herbs and spices – Fresh garlic, bay leaf, dried thyme and dried oregano.
Tomato paste – To intensify the tomato flavour and thicken the sauce slightly.
White wine – Adds depth of flavour / complexity into the sauce in a way only wine can! It’s only 1/3 of a cup and we simmer to cook out the alcohol. Substitute with more stock, or just skip it.
Vegetable stock – We need a whole litre / quart (4 cups) because we’re making a LOT of VERY watery sauce here! Just watch the video and you’ll see how it all gets absorbed by the pasta shells, leaving behind a lovely thickened pasta sauce for serving.
Sugar – Just a smidge, to take the sour edge off the tomato paste we’re using (tomato paste is sour!).

How to make stuffed shells

It’s actually extremely straight forward and the recipe has a nice flow to it: make the sauce first, then while it’s simmering, stuff the shells. Then assemble and bake!

How to make sauce for stuffed shells

Sauté aromatics – Cook the garlic and eschalots with the herbs in a large saucepan or small pot.
Tomato paste and wine – Cook off the tomato paste for 1 minute (this takes the raw sour edge off and deepens the flavour) then add the wine and simmer rapidly on high heat until it’s mostly evaporated.
Simmer 20 minutes – Add the remaining ingredients then simmer on low for 20 minutes with the lid off.
Watery sauce! The sauce will be VERY watery and there will be loads. Have faith! You need it all – the shells absorb most of that liquid. Keep the sauce hot – we want to use it hot.

Stuffing & bake

Stuffing – Mix the spinach ricotta stuffing ingredients together.
Stuff the raw uncooked shells. I find it easiest to use a small offset spatula (like a butter knife with a bend in it, super useful kitchen tool). Else a knife, spoon – whatever you find makes it easiest for you.
Assemble – Pour the hot sauce into a 23 x 33cm / 9 x 13″ baking dish. Then gently place the pasta shells in. They will be mostly submerged, some might semi-float. But you want most if not all of the pasta submerged under liquid so it cooks evenly (a bit poking above is fine as it will steam-cook).
Bake 70 min covered – Cover the dish with a baking tray (or foil) and bake for 70 minutes. Yes, really, it will take that long!
Why a baking tray? Easy way to cover the baking dish, no waste, no burning yourself, and it lets a little bit of steam escape to help the sauce reduce just the right amount.
15 min bake, cheesed – Remove the baking dish from the oven. Sprinkle with cheese then bake for a further 15 minutes until bubbly and golden.
Serve! Scoop and serve. Marvel at how the shells are perfectly al dente and how there’s so much lovely sauce to serve it with!

Serve with a quick rocket balsamic salad (that’s arugula, to those of you in the States!) or if you’re out to impress, a Mega Italian Salad (it lives up to its name). Add a side of garlic bread and tiramisu to finish, and that’s pretty much my idea of a perfect dinner. When am I coming over?? – Nagi x

Goes well with

Rocket Salad with Balsamic Dressing and Shaved Parmesan

Mega Italian Salad

Better-Than-Dominos Garlic Bread

Tiramisu (Chef recipe!)

Whole Orange Cake – rind and all!

Watch how to make it

Spinach Ricotta Stuffed Shells (Conchiglioni)

Recipe VIDEO above. There's no need to mess around stuffing hot floppy shells. Just stuff uncooked jumbo pasta shells and bake in loads of sauce! Bonus: The shells absorb the flavour of the sauce, and there's plenty of tasty sauce for serving. Because nobody likes dry pasta shells!

Course Mains

Cuisine American-Italian, Italian, Western

Keyword pasta shells, stuffed shells

Prep Time 25

Cook Time 1 45

Total Time 1

Servings – 6 people

Calories 798cal

Author Nagi

Ingredients

Sauce (you need LOTS!):

2 tbsp olive oil
2 eschallots/shallots or 1 small onion , finely chopped (Note 1)
4 garlic cloves , finely minced
1 bay leaf , fresh (sub dried)
1/2 tsp each dried thyme and oregano
1/3 cup tomato paste
700g / 25 oz tomato passata (US: tomato sauce) (Note 2)
1/3 cup Chardonnay or other dry white wine (sub more stock)
4 cups vegetable stock/broth , low sodium
3/4 tsp salt
1 1/2 tsp white sugar
1/3 tsp black pepper

Filling:

250g / 8 oz frozen chopped spinach , thawed (Note 3)
500g / 1 lb ricotta , full fat please (Note 4)
1/2 cup parmesan , finely shredded
1 cup shredded cheese (Mozzarella, Colby, Cheddar, Tasty, Gruyere, Swiss, anything!)
1 egg
1 large garlic clove , minced
Grated fresh nutmeg (just a sprinkling) or 1/8 tsp nutmeg powder (optional)
3/4 tsp cooking / kosher salt
1/2 tsp black pepper

Stuffed shells

250g / 8 oz jumbo pasta shells (conchiglioni) (Note 3)
1 1/2 cups shredded mozzarella
1/2 cup parmesan , shredded
Fresh basil and parmesan , for garnish (optional)

Cups – Metric

Instructions

Sauce:

Sauté – Heat oil in a small pot over medium high heat. Add garlic, onion, bay leaf, thyme and oregano. Cook for 3 – 4 minutes until the onion is translucent. Add tomato paste and cook for 1 minute.
Reduce wine – Add wine, increase heat to high and let it simmer rapidly until mostly evaporated (about 2 minutes).
Simmer – Add passata, stock, sugar, salt and pepper. Stir then simmer on low *(uncovered) for 20 minutes. Use while hot.

Filling:

Squeeze spinach – Grab handfuls of spinach and squeeze out excess water.
Mix filling – Place spinach in a bowl with remaining Filling ingredients. Mix well.

Assemble & Bake:

Preheat oven to 200°C/400°F (180°C fan).
Stuff – Stuff UNCOOKED shells with spinach ricotta filling. Stuff them full!
Assemble – Pour the hot tomato sauce in a 23 x 33 cm / 9 x 13" baking dish. Gently place the stuffed shells in – most will be submerged, some may poke above surface.
Bake – Cover with a baking tray (or foil) then bake for 70 minutes.
Cheese it! Check the shells – they should be al dente! (If not, return to oven, covered). Sprinkle with mozzarella then parmesan. Bake 15 minutes until melted.
Serve, garnished with extra parmesan and basil if desired!

Notes

1. Eschallots / shallots – Also known as French onions, and called “shallots” in the US. They look like baby onions, but have purple-skinned flesh, are finer and sweeter. Not to be confused with what some people in Australia call “shallots” ie the long green onions.

2. Tomato passata – Pureed, strained plain tomatoes, sometimes labelled “tomato puree” in the US (here’s a photo of Mutti tomato passata sold at Walmart). Readily available in Australian supermarkets nowadays, alongside pasta sauces. Passata is excellent for making smooth sauces. More on tomato passata here.

Subs – US Hunt’s tomato sauce is a perfect sub. Can also used crushed canned tomato then puree (like I do for cannelloni/,manicotti).

3. Spinach – I use frozen spinach for the convenience and also because I’m a sucker for the whole “snap frozen” thing. To use fresh, use about 500g/1 lb sliced spinach leaves or baby spinach leaves, saute with a little oil to wilt down and remove excess liquid. Cool then proceed with recipe.

4. Ricotta – Low fat ricotta is harder and drier, so it’s more difficult to pipe into the tubes plus once baked, is not as juicy and moist. Avoid Perfect Italian brand in tubs (Australia, Woolies, Coles etc), has an unpleasant powderiness about it, I find. My favourite is Paesanella.

5. Giant shells (conchiglioni) – available at large grocery stores in Australia these days (Woolies, Coles), also Harris Farms (Syd/Bris) and Italian / delis etc. No need to pre-cook – makes it a nightmare to stuff, the slippery suckers that they are! Just need loads of thin pasta sauce.

I know 250g/8z doesn’t sound like much but it really does serve 5 if not 6 people (with normal appetites).

6. Leftovers – refrigerate up to 3 days or freeze, thaw, then reheat covered in microwave for best results.

Nutrition per serving, assuming 5 servings (quite generous).

Nutrition

Life of Dozer

Wow. He really will eat anything.

The post Spinach ricotta stuffed shells appeared first on RecipeTin Eats.