Pane e vino

This appeared today as a guest post here at Zesty Cooks!

Spaghettini with tomatoes, lemon, feta and pine nuts

Eating and drinking were definite priorities on a two-week meander through Tuscany and Umbria in the summer of 2005. One of our most memorable meals was at “Pane e vino”, a small restaurant in Todi, tucked off the tourist trail in a small alley. I chose a simple pasta dish that night, infused with lemon and garlic, so utterly delicious in its simplicity that we thought it would be easy to replicate a couple of nights later. We failed miserably! On returning home, I wrote to Gourmet magazine to see if they could obtain the recipe for me.

A few months later, I received the recipe as sent to Gourmet by the restaurant in charming, broken and very literally translated English. Their recipe calls for called fresh taglierini, but I like it best with spaghettini. The recipe that follows, whilst inspired by the original, is the result of much experimenting. Enjoy!

Serves 4
Preparation: 15 minutes
Cooking time: 15 minutes

Ingredients:

- 6 medium-sized fresh tomatoes, diced (or 1 796ml can diced tomatoes)
- 4 tablespoons olive oil
- 4 cloves garlic, minced
- salt and pepper to taste
- zest (!) and juice of 2 lemons
- 6 tablespoons pine nuts
- 200g spaghettini (dry)
- 150g feta cheese, crumbled
- ¼ cup chopped fresh basil

Method:

Sauté the tomatoes in the oil over medium flame in a shallow pan. When they begin to soften, add the garlic. Sauté a further 2-3 minutes, add pepper to taste. Add the lemon zest, lemon juice and pine nuts and reduce heat to very low flame.

Cook the spaghettini in boiling salted water until al dente (approximately 10 minutes or according to directions on package). Drain well and add to the tomato sauce mixture. Combine pasta and sauce. Salt and pepper to taste. Just before serving, add the crumbled feta and chopped basil.

* I have also added some shrimp (about 20-30 peeled raw shrimp) to this dish with great success – you would add them into the sauce with the tomatoes
* Chopped spinach is an option too (about 2 cups) which would be added with the pasta to the sauce so that it is still slightly crunchy when served.

Wine suggestion:
With this dish, I would suggest a white wine – a soave or an Orvieto. If you prefer a red, a Chianti Riserva (older traditional-style)

Enjoy!