A friend of mine, brought me Einkorn flour…and was telling me all about the benefits of einkorn. The question is what is einkorn? Einkorn is an ancient grain form the spelt family, and originally from Italy. Einkorn is the German name for petit epeautre or engrain in French and piccolo farro in Italian. Not to be confused regular epeautre or regular farro or spelt.

This little amazing grain has not been hybridized, it remained like it was 10,000 years ago and has a shell so hard that makes it very resistant to weather or bugs, therefore does not need any chemicals. Einkorn has a lot of nutritional benefits (very high protein content) and most people who are gluten intolerant can actually consume it. What’s not to like about this grain?

So i got very curious about this flour that I decided to make pasta…the result is incredible, the dough is fine, smooth with a gorgeous texture. The flavor is delicate yet bold and nutty, needless to say, I will only use einkorn flour from now on, in all my baking. I bought whole wheat einkorn pasta for the days I don’t have time to make it by hand, and it’s really delicious.

This recipe is quite simple, it combines carrots, wild mushrooms and whole wheat einkorn penne. The carrot pesto provides a delicate sweet flavor that can be enjoyed in many different ways. This pesto could also be used as a dip, or spread…or anything you can think of.

You can keep it vegan without parmesan, either way it is delicious.

Ingredients for 2

• 200 g einkorn penne
• 1 tbs olive oil
• about 8 large oyster king mushrooms, sliced

For the pesto

• 2 carrots, peeled and cut in chunks
• 2 garlic cloves
• 3-4 basil leaves
• 2 tbs walnuts
• 1 tbs grated parmigiano reggiano
• 2-3 + tbs extra virgin fruity olive oil
• salt and pepper

Preparation

For the pesto

Mix all ingredients in a mixer and mix until smooth. Add some pasta water at the end if too thick.

For the pasta

Heat olive oil in a pan, add mushrooms, salt and pepper. Saute until water evaporates and cooked.

Bring a pot of salted water to a boil. Add pasta and let it cook for about 10 min until al dente.

In a mixing bowl, add pasta, mushrooms and carrot pesto. Stir well to combine all ingredients together and serve hot

Don’t throw away the green leaves of the root vegetables, they’re completely eatable and delicious. Beets are a zero waste vegetable. You can prepare the beet leaves like any other greens. Saute it, raw in salads, pesto, soups, etc…

The pasta is a mixture of buckwheat flour and wholewheat flour. Buckwheat has no gluten so you need to mix it with some other flour in order to make a pasta that will not break. I have always disliked broken tagliatelle. When I was a child, I would refuse to eat spaghetti or any type of long pasta if it was broken, and up to these days, I really don’t like broken pasta. It’s very important that the pasta keeps its original shape. You can play around with the flours ratio like 2/3 buckwheat 1/3 wholewheat, brown rice flour, etc…but the more flour with gluten you use, the better the texture. I used brown rice flour in this recipe to try out the texture. Also, you can add parmesan in the pesto, I did not add any cheese this time, I wanted to keep it more simple.

Ingredients for 3-4

for the pasta

• 200 g buckwheat pasta
• 100 g brown rice flour (or wholewheat flour)
• 2 eggs

For the pesto

• 2 bunches of beet leaves
• juice of one lemon juice
• 2 tbs toasted walnuts
• 2 garlic cloves, crushed
• 3 tbs parmesan (optional)

For the beets

• 1/2 lb golden baby beets, peeled and quartered
• olive oil
• balsamic vinegar
• salt and pepper

Preparation

For the pasta

Mix both flours in a large container. Add eggs and mix well to obtain an homogeneous texture. Knead dough until soft and smooth, make a round ball with dough and let it rest for 30 min under a cloth. Using a long rolling pin, start rolling the dough until thin (1mm). Let it rest a few minutes. Add extra flour if needed, and fold dough bringing two sides toward center. Cut into strips about 3/4 cm thick. Let it rest for about 20 minutes.

Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add pasta, stir carefully and make sure not to break pasta. When the pasta comes at the surface (a few minutes later), drain pasta. Add beets and a few tbs of pesto. Mix well and serve hot.

For the pesto

Mix all ingredients together in a mixer to form a paste. Adjust with oil if too thick

For the beets

Place beets on a tray. Add salt, pepper, oil and vinegar and coat the beets. Roast in a pre heated oven at 390F until tender.

Today I had to battle my demons, and stop obsessing about some terrible thing that happened recently, so I decided to try anything I could, and went for a long run. It did help somehow. After a few hours of running in circles, I went home and had no idea what I would make for lunch. I had no appetite and and no inspiration either. I found among my million items in my pantry those edamame fettucine I bought along with the black bean spaghetti a while ago.

So basically, edamame and mung bean fettucine are simply a type of pasta made with edamame and mung bean flour, that’s why they have this beautiful light green color. In the picture they could be blending with the cabbage color, but if you look closely, you can distinguish the fettucine.

This type of pasta is filled with fibers and proteins, so you will not feel bloated or stuffed as you would when eating regular white flour pasta. They are easily digestible, nutritious and very delicious. They remain a bit chewy and al dente, and personally I love chewy textures.

The combination of the sweetness of the cabbage and peas, complement the nuttiness of the noodles, so we have a very balance dish as far as textures and flavors. I ate two whole plates so this portion is enough for three people, or two if one of them is very hungry.

Ingredients for 2-3

• 2 tbs olive oil
• 1/3 yellow onion, finely diced
• 1/2 cabbage, finely sliced
• 1 tbs mirin
• 1/2 cup peas
• 1 garlic clove, crushed
• 2 handful of shrimps, peeled and deveined
• about 3.5 oz (or 120 grams) edamame fettucine
• salt and pepper

 Preparation

Heat olive oil in a pan, add onion and let soften about 5 minutes at medium temperature. Add cabbage and mirin. Cook and cover until cabbage softens but still a bit firm and mirin evaporates. Add peas, shrimps and garlic. Cook until peas and shrimps are cooked. Adjust with salt and pepper. In the meantime, cook fettucine in hot salted boiling water until al dente, about 5 minutes. Drain and serve with cabbage, peas, shrimps mixture. Drizzle some extra unrefined extra virgin oil on top and serve hot.

I found those high protein, low carbs spaghetti. They’re made with black bean flour and water. I was very intrigued by those and obviously needed to try them. The same brand also sells edamame noodles, with the same concept, using edamame flour and water, which are as good with a little more chewy texture. The world of pasta has evolved a lot in this last 10 years, using all different kinds of nutritious flours.

This dish is vegan and gluten free, I am neither vegan nor gluten free, but sometimes I like to eat light nutritious vegan meals with lots of flavors and delicious that make me happy and energized, so here is one.

Besides I love the contrast of the black spaghetti combined with the light green of the pesto. Aside from the fact, that this is a beautiful dish to look at, it’s packed with nutrition.

You can play around with its texture, adding more broth, or make it more creamy by adding more almonds.

Ingredients for 2-3

• 180 g black bean spaghetti
• 1 tbs olive oil
• 1/4 onion, chopped
• 1 lb Brussels sprouts, finely sliced
• 1/4 cup vegetable broth
• 2 tbs silvered almonds
• 1 meyer lemon (juice and zest)
• 3 tbs olive oil
• 3 garlic cloves
• salt and pepper

Preparation

Heat 1 tbs olive oil in a pan. Add onion and let soften. Add Brussels sprouts and broth. Cover with lid and let cook for a few minutes. The sprouts need to be still vibrant green and still a bit crunchy. Remove from heat.

Divide the sprouts in two equal portions. Let the portion to be used for the pesto to cool.

In a mixer, mix half the sprouts, mint, almonds, olive oil, garlic, lemon juice, salt and pepper. Mix until obtained a smooth consistency. If too thick add some broth. Add lemon zest at the end.

Bring large pot of salted water to a boil. Add spaghetti stirring regularly and cook for about 6 minutes and still al dente. When cooked, drain and rinse under cold water.

In a large bowl, mix spaghetti with pesto, and add the cooked Brussels sprouts left aside.

Mix well and eat cold or lukewarm.

I have been thinking about this pasta for a while now…sometimes I wake up in the middle of the night and I think about some new recipes, and this one has been occupying my mind lately. I love colors everywhere, and I love especially colorful and vibrant food in my plate, and this is just the right balance of colors, flavors and textures. The first time I discovered spirulina was in France, it was a dried store bought pasta with spirulina. I had no idea what spirulina was until then.

After some research, I found out that spirulina is a blue algae used as a supplement before workouts (either in a pill or as a powder), so I tried it, and I liked its boosting effect, but it tastes like a strong raw seaweed (quite unpleasant). Being high in protein and amino acid, I have been using it as a supplement. The thought of making some pasta with it, kept coming to my mind, and I had to come to an end with this recurring thought. It worked as planned. You end up with beautiful green pasta similar than spinach pasta but without bad seaweed flavor when used as a supplement in a drink.

Spirulina being a seaweed, any fish or seafood based sauce would be ideal. You can use shrimps or seas scallops as well. I have a weakness for octopus…even though, I have a little dilemma with octopus (ever since I found out about Paul the octopus), it’s an intelligent animal so I feel a bit guilty to eat it even though I like its flavor and texture.

Here I used whole grain farro and buckwheat flours but you can also use some other flours of your choice. If you use this combination, I used a ratio of 60/40 (farro/buckwheat), I would not advise to use less than 60g of farro with buckwheat since buckwheat has no gluten so the texture might end up being a bit fragile and the pasta might break in the cooking process.

For the octopus, I usually buy it whole and raw. Some Chinese or Japanese stores sell them precooked in small portions, so if you are not too familiar with its preparation, that would be an easier alternative. If you buy it raw, it needs to be cooked in water (with cloves, bay leaf, celery, carrot, onion) for about 45 min or until tender. Then you need to slice it and use it in the stew.

Ingredients for 2

For the pasta

• 60 g wholegrain farro flour
• 40 g buckwheat flour
•  1 tsp spirulina powder
• 1 egg

For the octopus stew

•  2 tbs olive oil
• 1/4 shallot, chopped
• 2 garlic cloves
• 1 tbs basil chopped
• 1 tbs parsley chopped
• 3 medium heirloom tomatoes, seedless, peeled and chopped
• 1/2 glass dry white wine
• 1 .5 cup octopus, finely sliced
• salt and pepper

Preparation

For the stew

Heat olive oil in a pan, add shallot and let it soften. Add basil, parlsey and garlic and cook until fragrant ensuring no to burn the garlic. Add tomatoes and cook for about 7 minutes, then add wine and let it reduce. Add the octopus and cook for an additional 10 min at low heat.

For the pasta

In a container or large wooden board, mix flours and spirulina. Add egg and mix well, kneading the dough forming a ball. Knead the dough for about 5-10 min. Add flour if sticky. Using a pasta machine, or rolling pin make tagliatelle (noodle shape pasta). Let the pasta dry for about 15 min. Bring a large salted pot of water to boil. Add pasta and cook for a few minutes until the pasta comes floating at the surface. Do not overcook. Drain and serve with the sauce.

I made these with leftover polenta that I didn’t want to throw away. When you think about all the food thrown away each year, it’s just unbelievable. I was reading an article on the French news stating that each French person throws away 79 kg (about 180 lbs) of food per year, which I find shocking, especially when you think about all those who are starving in the world due to no food supply.

Germany has installed public refrigerators outside supermarkets where people can leave leftover food to fight this waste problem. I think more countries should follow Germany.

if you have no leftover, you will have to make polenta first. My polenta was flavored with rosemary and parmesan that I used to make little cakes to grill. I used express polenta, it will save a lot of time (boil water with 1 tbs chopped rosemary, stir well according to package directions, add parmesan at the end).

If you are not using leftover polenta, that your are just making it fresh, it needs to cool down, preferably placed in the refrigerator until it becomes hard.

I used gluten free flour, not because I have a problem with gluten but because I was out of regular flour. So use the flour of your choice, but not a strong flour like quinoa flour, or any other strong flour. You need a mild flour or the gnocchi will taste too strong especially with the rosemary and parmesan in the dough.

Ingredients for 2

For the gnocchi

• 1.5 cups cooked polenta (flavored with parmesan and rosemary)
• 1 egg
• 3/4 cups flour (can be regular or gluten free)

For the sauce

• 2 tbs olive oil
• 3 garlic cloves, crushed
• 1 small box of cherry tomatoes, cut in halves
• 5 mushrooms, sliced
• 4 tbs peas
• salt and pepper
• parmesan
• chives

Preparation

For the sauce

Heat olive oil in a pan. Add garlic and stir to get the flavor out. Add mushrooms and cook at medium heat until just cooked and water evaporated. Add tomatoes, and peas and cook until vegetables are soft but tomatoes not mushy. Adjust with salt and pepper.

For the gnocchi

When the polenta is solid and hard, take out of the refrigerator, and using a rolling pin, crush it to crumble it to turn it into an homogenous grainy texture. Add egg and flour and mix well to obtain a dough. Take some dough and using your hand roll to form long cylinders (about 2/3 inches diameters) and cut into 1 inch long pieces.

Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil, then add gnocchi. The gnocchi are cooked when they come back up at the surface. Drain and serve with sauce. Sprinkle with chives and olive oil and serve hot (you can also sprinkle some parmesan, but it’s optional since the gnocchi do have parmesan).

2014 is coming to an end, and I like to end it with a delicious rustic Southern Italian pasta dish called “cavatelli“. They’re consumed in many Southern regions but mainly come from Molise area. Usually cavatelli are made with semolina flour, I made mine with both buckwheat and spelt flours to make this dish even more hearty and rustic. I love the complexity of unrefined grain flours with their nutty flour and beautiful brownish color. You can make them the traditional way using white flour or if you want to avoid refined flours, try this version.

Those are really easy to make and not time consuming like the other types of pasta. You can serve them with anything you want, but are mostly served in a tomato based sauce. Their shapes absorbs the tomato sauce very well and I think they are mainly suited for these types of sauces.

If you want to make this dish vegan, then remove the parmesan, and that would make a delicious vegan dish.

Ingredients for 2-3

For the pasta

• 150 g buckwheat flour
• 150 g whole grain spelt flour
• warm water

For the sauce

• 3 garlic cloves, chopped
• 3 tbs olive oil
• 1.5 cups cherry tomatoes, chopped
• 1 fresh chili (peperoncino), finely chopped
• 1 handful of baby kale
• salt and pepper to taste
• Parmesan

Preparation

For the sauce

Heat olive oil in a pan, add garlic. Cook and stir for a few minutes until fragrant. Add chili pepper, salt and pepper. Cook for about 5 minutes until the tomatoes are soft, add kale and stir until wilted.

For the cavatelli

In a wooden board, mix spelt flour and buckwheat flour, add enough warm water to make a paste. Knead to form a smooth dough for about 5 minutes. The dough needs to be smooth and elastic and not sticky. Form a round ball shape, then using a rolling pin, roll the dough to form a sheet of about 7 mm thick. Cut strips of about 1 cm like in the picture.

Roll each strip on the board to form a thick “spaghetti” of about 7 mm thick. Cut the “spaghetti” in 2 cm long cylinders and using two fingers tips roll each cylinder so that it excavates the center of the cylinder (see picture). Proceed the same way with each cylinder.

Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add cavatelli and cook for about 5-7 minutes. Keep some cooking water (about 3-4 tbs) to add to the sauce.

Drain cavatelli and add to sauce. Add parmesan and basil and mix well.

This will be my last post before I fly to France, for my bi-yearly trip to visit the family.

I discovered this pasta while looking for an alternative for a gluten-free client. It’s basically pasta made with quinoa, amaranth and brown rice flour. At first I was curious as to what its texture and taste would be. I know brown rice pasta tends to be chewy, so this flour mixture intrigued me. I have to say that I loved it right away, at the first bite. I rinsed it with cold water after when I drained it, to avoid any stickiness. Then I prepared it like regular wheat pasta. I love its texture, a bit chewy but firm.

I had tons of baby spinach so being a leafy green, I thought to use them for pesto. Then to add more green, a few zucchini ended up in there too. I have to say that I adore this dish combination…and the color is so vibrant, it’s a simple dish to lift your spirit. When I eat clean, fresh food, I feel energized and happy. I did not add nuts in the pesto, simply because I ate almonds in the morning, so I did not want to add extra. You can certainly add some walnuts, pine nuts, or even pistachios.

Ingredients for 2

• 200 g rotini
• 3 zucchini (cut lengthwise then crosswise)
• 1 tbs olive oil
• 1-2 tbs vegetable broth

For the pesto

• 1.5 cups baby spinach
• 2 tbs olive oil
• juice and zest of 1 meyer lemon
• 1 tbs nuts (optional)
• 1 tbs parmesan cheese (freshly grated)
• salt and pepper

Preparation

For the spinach pesto

Mix all ingredients in a blender except for lemon zest. At the end, when the pesto is done and homogenous, add lemon zest.

For the remaining of the recipe

Heat olive oil in a pan, add zucchini and a few tbs broth. Cover at medium temperature and let cook until zucchini are tender but not mushy (about 5-7 minutes). Adjust with salt and pepper.

Bring large pot of salted water to a boil. Add pasta, cook for about 7 minutes and drain. In a mixing bowl, mix pasta with zucchini and pesto.

Going back to what I like best…making homemade pasta. I made these to my parents when I went visit and they loved it. Marche (where my family is from) and Tuscany are close by regions and have similar cuisines (of course with some variations), So these “pici” also called Pinci, Umbrichelli (little werms?) and are typically Tuscan but familiar in Central Italy as well. My grandmother used to make similar pasta with fava bean flour and with the same sauce, lots of garlic and fresh tomato.

Pici take a while to make, because you have to roll each little strip “striscia” by hand…but time doesn’t count when you get so excited making something you absolutely love. Pici are delicious, they’re a bit chewy because they’re made without eggs, only water, salt and olive oil. So if you like chewy textures, you’ll like those. They could be considered an old cousin of our modern spaghetti.

The dough needs to be knead for about 10-15 minutes, until very smooth and non sticky. Form a  round and regular ball. Then using a rolling pin, roll it flat to about a 5 mm sheet. Cut little strips of about 1 cm width and using your hand roll each strip to form a string of about 3mm (I am sorry I don’t know how to accurately convert it into inches) in this case, the metric system should be used for accuracy. Pici cannot be made too much ahead of time. The ideal is to made them and cook them right away. Pici are long and should not be cut, so it can get a little messy when eaten.

Usually those are served with aglione sauce (aglio means garlic) which is a sauce with fresh tomatoes and lots of garlic, or some meat based ragu. I made an aglione base sauce and added baby artichokes. From now on, this will be my favorite pasta, I simply love its texture, firm and a bit chewy. If you like this type of texture, this pasta is for you.

Ingredients for 2

For the pici

• 0.55 lb (or 250 g) flour
• 0.50 cups (or 125 ml) water
• 1 tbs olive oil
• a pinch of salt

For the sauce

• 2 tbs olive oil
• 5 cloves, garlic cut or crushed
• 8 baby artichokes, trimmed and cut in quarters
• 1/2 glass white wine
• 3 large tomatoes well ripe peeled and cut or 1/2 can San Marzano tomatoes crushed
• cayenne to taste
• salt and pepper
• basil

Preparation

First start making the sauce. In a pan, heat olive oil, then add garlic, stir well. Add artichokes, drizzle with wine, let it cook at high heat for 30 seconds, then add tomatoes. Turn heat down, add cayenne, salt and pepper, cover with lid and let cook until the artichokes are tender and water evaporates from tomatoes.

Make pici as described above. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil, then add pici. Cook for about 8-10 minutes. They need to be cooked but still a bit firm. I like my pasta on the hard side, so try them out while cooking and see the way you like them. Drain well and serve with sauce. Mix well. Add basil and parmesan.

When you look at the ingredients of this pesto, you might think, it will be too strong especially with the mint and pecorino. When you taste it, you realize that it is indeed fragrant but delicate. I used some whole grain linguini made with red winter wheat but any short pasta such as penne or rigatoni would work fine too. Looking at the picture, it feels like I went crazy with the quantity of pesto, which I think I did. I had some extra I didn’t want to store in the refrigerator so I added it to the pasta, which was a little too much.

I added cooked asparagus to the whole dish, which added a little extra texture. For an alternative to traditional pesto alla genovese with basil and parmesan, try this one.

A little note on pecorino, I noticed in the US, the main pecorino kinds you get are either pecorino romano (from Rome) or pecorino sardo (from Sardinia), but there are so many kinds of pecorino in Italy, the word pecorino is quite generic and only tells you it is made out of  sheep milk (pecora). There are five types of pecorini whose production is very controlled and protected “denominazione d’origine protetta“: Pecorino sardo, pecorino romano, pecorino toscano, pecorino siciliano and fiore sardo.

Spring is just around the corner and what better to celebrate it than with this fresh dish full of colors and flavors!

Ingredients for 2

• 7 oz (or 200 g) of pasta
• 8.8 oz (or 250 g) fresh peas (or frozen)
• one handful of fresh mint
• 3 tbs raw walnuts
• 1.7 oz (or 50 g) pecorino
• 2 tbs meyer lemon juice
• olive oil
• salt and pepper

Preparation

Start preparing the pesto. If peas are frozen, defrost in a microwave or let it thaw at room temperature. Then mix all the ingredients in a mixer until smooth, adjust with salt and pepper.

Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add pasta, stir and let cook until al dente. Drain and mix well with pesto. Serve hot.

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