Thursday, February 12, 2009

Preso Pasta's 100!

Everyone should head over to Once Upon a Feast (after finishing this post of course) and wish Ruth a very very happy 100th Presto Pasta Nights! I thought for this very special occasion I'd share my current favorite pasta dish - Linguine with Lemon, Feta, and Basil.

My Mom found this recipe, which comes from Gordon Ramsay's latest book Cooking for Friends, in a food section of a newspaper in the Fall. She made it for us using fresh pasta she'd bought from an Italian deli on the north shore, and after one bite, we decided to add it to our menu for our Italian themed Christmas dinner. Unfortunately we had too much food planned and scrapped the pasta at the last minute. I knew this was the dish to make to celebrate Ruth and PPNs big milestone.

This dish is extremely quick and easy to make. The sauce takes only minutes to prepare; all your waiting time is in cooking your pasta. I've had this with both fresh and dried pasta, and while fresh is always tastier, dried is almost as good. The recipe calls for pine nuts, which I don't really care for. I omitted them in this version.


Linguine with Lemon, Feta and Basil
Gordon Ramsay

500g fresh (or 300g dried) linguine
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
4 tbsp olive oil
Juice and zest of 1 lemon (I only use the juice)
5 tbsp freshly grated parmesan
Leaves from a handful of basil
200g feta cheese, crumbled (I use a soft feta)
2 tbsp toasted pine nuts (I omit)

Cook the fresh pasta in a large saucepan of salted boiling water for 2 minutes; if using dried pasta, cook according to pack instructions until al dente.

Tip the pasta into a colander and drain off most of the water, leaving about 2 tablespoons in the pan. Return the pasta to the pan and add the olive oil, lemon juice and zest, parmesan, basil and three-quarters of the crumbled feta. Toss well and check the seasoning. Divide among warmed plates and scatter over the remaining feta and pine nuts. Serve at once.

Cheers to Ruth, and congrats on 100 editions of Presto Pasta Nights! Here's to many more.

10 comments:

natalia said...

This must be very tasty and full of perfumes !!

MyKitchenInHalfCups said...

You don't like nuts . . .
Love this pasta, could I have the pine nuts please.

Annie said...

Yum, my kind of dinner!!!

Sara said...

Tanna, although I know it seems to you I don't like nuts, I do like some! Pine nuts are growing on me (not literally) but I'd still rather leave them out for now.

Ruth Daniels said...

Yum...very Mediterranean Mac 'n Cheese ;-) Thanks so much for sharing with Presto Pasta Nights.

Joanne said...

I love watching Gordon on tv, so I know I'm going to have to try this!

NKP said...

I love this kind of dish! Sounds wonderful. I have not cooked from Ramsay before - how are his books?
(so happy that I am not the only one who doesn't like pine nuts! I usually use slivered almonds in their place)

Anonymous said...

This sounds absolutely luscious! And I know someone in my house who would love this dish. Beautiful!

The Food Hunter said...

I love this pasta dish. It just sounds so yummy.

Nicola said...

I made this a couple of weeks ago and it was so good. Thanks you!