Monday, May 12, 2008

Veggie-packed pasta dish...

We're back again with another speedy dish for our dinner tonight - I think the warm plates filled with this Two-Pea Pasta with Ricotta and Tarragon were on the table in just under 30 minutes!

Feel free to use whatever short pasta you have on hand - the original recipe called for gemelli, but we used a tri-color fusilli as that was already in the pantry. To keep this a one pot dish (hurray for less dishes!), the crisp sugar snap peas and green peas are added in two stages to the pasta near the end of its cooking time. Once those ingredients have finished cooking, the water is drained away (though a 1/2 cup worth of the starchy liquid is first reserved) and they are placed back into the pot to finish up the sauce that goes with them.

A couple knobs of butter, creamy ricotta cheese and the star ingredient, fresh tarragon, are tossed in to melt down into a sauce. As is, with the ricotta, the sauce will be too thick, so add a few splashes of that reserved pasta water to thin it out to your liking. If you've never had fresh tarragon before, you may want to start out with a tablespoon or so and then add more if you feel it needs a boost. With its slight anise flavor, it can quickly dominate the dish if too much is used - however, don't let that scare you off as it brings such a bright and fresh flavor, especially when used with chicken. Filled with spring flavors, this zesty pasta dish, with it's myriad of colors (thanks to those colorful twists of pasta!), is one I can see making for us quite a few times when we need a speedy dinner.

4 comments:

  1. Yum!! I am not a big fan of pasta but love peas and ricotta so I am pretty sure I would like this one! A recipe to keep in my list to try since both my husband and my son really like pasta dishes!
    Ana

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  2. Ana - be sure to let us know if you end up giving the recipe a try!

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  3. This looks delicious! I think my husband would enjoy this one, too.

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  4. Kelly Anne - we both agree it was quite tasty!

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