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 am going back to my roots with this dish. Once in a while, it feels good to go back to old and traditional ways of cooking even if it it can be time consuming. Cooking being therapeutic for me (like for most people who love cooking), when I am stressed, I cook, and the longer, the better. Sundays are perfect for these rituals.

I am in love with my new pasta cutting tool called chitarra. Eventhough it produces a different kind of music, it’s just wonderful lyrics to my ears. Due to its shape and strings it has the same name as the musical instrument guitar (chitarra in Italian means guitar) due it its strings. Spaghetti alla chitarra is my favorite pasta, anytime I am in Italy I buy it and eat them during a whole week. Those are a specialty from Abruzzi and the neighboring regions further South. Basically the strings of the chitarra are the cutting tool. You can either use the rolling pin or your hands to press the pasta sheet on the strings. The two particularities of this pasta is first, you need to have a pasta thickness, similar to the width of the guitar strings, second it’s an egg based pasta.

When using a chitarra, the texture of the pasta is really different, more rugged and thicker since the width of spaghetti is supposed to be the same size as the depth, basically you get square spaghetti.

Chitarra is available in the US at Sur La Table, so for those who are passionate about pasta and want to experiment old ways of making and cutting it, I suggest you try it out.

The dough has 80% farro (or spelt) that’s why you get a darker and golden color and the sauce is vegetarian. The traditional spaghetti alla chitarra from Abruzzi region is made out of a lamb ragù. Of course, you can use your creativity and taste as far as the sauce is concerned. I am still on some vegetarian funk lately, so this worked beautifully for me.

Ingredients for 4

For the pasta dough

• 100 g white flour
• 200 g farro flour
• 3 eggs
• water

For the sauce

• 6 medium size tomatoes on the vine, well ripe, peeled, seedless and chopped
• 1 carrot, peeled and sliced
• 2 zucchini, diced
• 1 small eggplant, diced
• 1/2 red bell pepper, diced
• 1/2 small yellow onion
• 1 garlic clove, crushed
• 2 tbs olive oil
• hot chili pepper (peperoncino)
• basil or oregano
• 4 tbs ricotta
• 1 tbs chopped olives (optional)
• salt and pepper

Preparation

For the pasta

In a working surface mix flours together, add eggs, and gradually incorporate flour. Add a little water if necessary (if dough is too hard) and knead for about 15-20 min to obtain a round and smooth ball. Wrap in a plastic film and let it rest for about 30 min.

In a flat surface (preferably wood, such as a spianatoia, the Italian flat wooden board to roll the pasta dough), using a large and not tapered rolling pin, roll dough to obtain a thin sheet. You can use a pasta machine if you have not mastered the art of rolling dough. The sheet should be thin but not overly thin, something like 2 mm thick.

When the sheet is ready, take chitarra to cut strings. Place sheet on top of strings and using the rolling pin, roll it from top to bottom of the pasta sheet. The spaghetti will fall into the chitarra, and you just have to remove them. Proceed until you have finished with the sheets.

For the sauce

In a pan, heat olive oil. Add onions and brown them. Add the rest of the vegetables, salt and pepper. Cover with lid and let cook until tender but still firm.

In another pot, heat olive oil. Add garlic and stir to get flavors out. Add oregano (or basil) and tomatoes, and cook until the tomatoes are starting to form a thick sauce (about 10-15 minutes). Add chili peppers, salt and pepper.

When the vegetables are cooked, add to the tomato sauce and mix well. If you decide to add olives, add at this point. Add extra olive oil.

Bring a pot of salted boiling water to a boil, add spaghetti. Cook for a few minutes, or until spaghetti come at the surface. Remove from stove and drain.

Place spaghetti in a large pasta dish, pour sauce on top. Serve in dishes with ricotta on top and sprinkle with either oregano or basil. Serve hot.

Lately I have been a little inconsistent with my plans, I buy products to make a particular dish I have in mind, then I do something completely different with it. I wanted to make some asparagus mousse for canapé with salmon and here they show up with spaghetti.

Don’t you love the green all over the picture? If you don’t like asparagus, forget this recipe. I certainly do lack photographic skills but I think it really looks as green as you see it. Asparagus have a very subtle flavor and when they are served in a creamy sauce, their flavor is decupled, I did not add any cream but you could add some, it will make the texture even more velvety.

There is nothing interesting behind this dish other than it was created one day while I was thinking about how to make some of my clients eat more vegetable in a way that it was not “obvious”. Some people would tell you, “Oh yeah we loooove vegetables!”, then after a while, you realize that they just hate vegetables if they look like a “vegetable” and they need to be hidden in something that has a different shape and mixed with a bunch of other ingredients, do you know what I mean?

Anyway, people eat what they like and the way they like it, and I am certainly not the one to judge people’s diets nor tastes…and just because I love that expression, I will say “It is what it is”. Just love to say this even if it doesn’t mean much when you think about it. It’s like stating the obvious.

One serving of these spaghetti makes you consume 1/2 bunch asparagus, which is not bad.

In France, I used to grow up eating salsifis (in English, oyster vegetable or salsifis I think). It’s white and long and looks like a white asparagus but it’s not. Also white asparagus are more popular over there. The white asparagus is an asparagus that grew in the ground without any light, so its flavor is very delicate. The purple asparagus is a white asparagus whose tip has grown above the ground, so it has a fruity flavor but a slightly bitter taste at light exposure. The green kind has been grown outside at full light so its green color is the natural process of its growth at sun exposure, and it’s the only asparagus that does not need to be peeled.

Ingredients for 3-4

• 7 oz (or 200 g) spaghetti
• 1 large bunch asparagus
• 1 shallot, chopped
• 1 garlic clove, chopped
• 1/2 cup vegetable broth
• 2 tbs heavy cream (optional)
• 4 tbs goat cheese
• 1 tbs olive oil
• salt and pepper

Preparation

Heat olive oil in a pan, add shallots, stir and let them cook for about 5 min, then add garlic and stir again. Cut asparagus in 2 inch pieces and add to the pan. Let cook for about 5-10 minutes, then add broth, salt and pepper. Cover and cook until the asparagus are cooked and tender.

Mix in a blender and put back in the pan. If the consistency is too thick, add broth. You will add cream at this point if you want to. Mix the cream and let it cook for another 4-5 minutes.

Cook spaghetti al dente, drain and add to the asparagus cream. Divide spaghetti onto plates and add goat cheese on top and fresh pepper if you like it. Serve very hot.