Linguine with creamy tomato, thyme, caper and bacon sauce

I believe that many of you reading me right now reach for a pasta package whenever there is the need of having food on the table in little to no time – I am guilty of that and I am not ashamed of it. :)

I make pasta often not only because of how fast it is: Joao and I love it and it is so versatile I can combine it with several different flavors and types of sauce. I saw this version of a tomato sauce on Olive magazine and it was so simple I had to try it: the sauce is delicious, the acidity of the tomatoes is softened by the addition of cream and the capers add a briny, salty touch to the sauce. Thyme is my favorite herb and one I love pairing with tomato.

Linguine with creamy tomato, thyme, caper and bacon sauce
slightly adapted from the always great Olive magazine

4 slices of bacon, cut into ½ cm pieces
2 large garlic cloves, crushed
6 sprigs of fresh thyme
1 x 400g can of chopped tomatoes
2 teaspoons granulated sugar
salt and freshly ground black pepper
2 tablespoons capers – soak them in cold water for 15 minutes before using, then drain
3 tablespoons heavy cream
200g linguine

In a medium saucepan, over high heat, cook the bacon, stirring occasionally, until crisp. Remove from the pan and set over paper towels. Remove the excess fat from the saucepan, leaving 1 tablespoon. On that fat, cook the garlic until fragrant, about 1 minute. Stir in the thyme and cook for 1 minute. Add the tomatoes, crush them with a potato masher, then fill the can by half with water and add to the tomatoes. Add the sugar, season with salt and pepper and cook partially covered, stirring occasionally, for about 20 minutes or until thickened.

In the meantime, cook the linguine in salted boiling water until al dente.

Stir in capers and cream and then cook for 3 minutes. Drain the linguine and toss with the sauce. Serve at once sprinkled with the bacon bits.

Serves 2

Linguine with chorizo tomato sauce

Even though I haven’t had the time to post here as often as I would like to, I have been cooking and baking quite regularly – family and friends thank me for that. ;)

I have been, however, a bit tired (too much work, I guess): days ago I was watching a rerun of Law & Order: Criminal Intent (you know how much I love that show!) and it took me a good while to recognize Carrie Preston in the episode: I was sure I knew her from somewhere, but she was a blonde then and without Arlene’s bold red hair my brain was very slow in processing the info. :D

And speaking of bold red hue, may I introduce you to the dish I made last weekend that got my husband asking for seconds? The idea was to make bolognese pasta, but when we arrived at the shop the meat grinder was broken. I’d already decided to make a simple tomato sauce when I opened the fridge to get the onion and garlic and spotted a piece of chorizo right there, in front of me – I chopped it in small cubes and used it to replace the beef mince. A bit of sherry to make things more Spanish, a handful of marjoram – a herb that I love pairing with pork – and lunch was served.

Linguine with chorizo tomato sauce
own creation

1 ¼ cups (175g) diced chorizo
½ large onion, finely diced
2 large garlic cloves, minced
2 tablespoons sherry
1 ½ tablespoons tomato paste
1 400g (14oz) can peeled tomatoes
1 tablespoon sugar
salt and freshly ground black pepper
2 bay leaves
handful of fresh marjoram leaves
300g dried linguine or other long pasta shape you prefer
parmesan or pecorino, to serve

Heat a medium saucepan over medium/high heat and add the chorizo. Cook until it releases its oils and starts getting crispy. Add the onion and cook until soft, 4-5 minutes, stirring occasionally so it doesn’t catch in the bottom of the pan. Add the garlic and cook until fragrant, about 1 minute.
Add the sherry and cook until reduced, about 2 minutes. Stir in the tomato paste, cook for 1 minute, then add the tomatoes and crush them with a potato masher. Fill the can by half with water and add to the sauce. Stir in the sugar, season with salt and pepper – gently, since the chorizo is already salty and spicy – and add the bay leaves and the marjoram. Cook over low heat, partially covered, stirring occasionally, for about 20 minutes or until slightly thickened.

In the meantime, cook the linguine in a large pot of boiling salted water until al dente, about 10 minutes (check the package instructions). Drain the linguine and stir it into the sauce. Serve immediately sprinkled with freshly grated pecorino or parmesan, or for an even more Spanish touch, manchego chese.

Serves 3

Avocado and lemon zest linguine - becoming good friends with whole wheat pasta

I guess that once we get old and start feeling more comfortable in our own skin what others think doesn’t matter much – what you feel or like or want should come first. I like to believe that.

Back in high school it was all about being trendy and cool or, in other words, doing and saying what others did. I remember going to a concert with my friends a couple of times, it was a cover band that played Elvis Presley’s songs, but I never liked Elvis – I just pretended I liked it so I could fit in, since all the girls kept saying how great Elvis was (lucky for me the concerts were free). I was so bored one of the nights I started doing my Physics homework right there (the concerts were held on Friday evenings, and we would go right after school).

That did not do any good for my “cool reputation”, I’ll tell you that. :)

Up until months ago I would tell everyone how awful whole wheat pasta was, and make faces when people brought the subject up. Then, while reading a recipe that called for that kind of pasta, it suddenly hit me: I was just replicating other people’s opinions. I had, indeed, had my share of bad whole wheat pasta dishes, but as someone who’s been cooking for as long as I have I should know better – I should know that maybe, and just maybe, there was something wrong with what I’d tasted. It could have been a case of bad pasta or bad recipe (or both).

I continue to avoid Elvis like the plague, but I have become good friends with whole wheat pasta. :)

Things we do and say now and then, sometimes without putting much thought to them. I have been there, you probably have, too. We’re humans, we say stupid things sometimes, we follow wrong people. We make mistakes.

Nobody’s perfect.

But this pasta dish is (and I would never have thought of pairing avocado and pasta). :)

Avocado and lemon zest linguine
slightly adapted from the wonderful A Modern Way to Eat: Over 200 Satisfying, Everyday Vegetarian Recipes (That Will Make You Feel Amazing)

400g whole wheat linguine
2 tablespoons olive oil
4 tablespoons capers in brine, coarsely chopped
2 cloves of garlic, minced
finely grated zest of 2 lemons + juice of ½ a lemon
a handful basil leaves, coarsely chopped
a handful parsley leaves, coarsely chopped
2 ripe avocados
1-2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
freshly grated pecorino, for serving

Cook the linguine in a saucepan of boiling salted water until al dente (follow the instructions on the package).
In the meantime make the sauce: heat the olive oil in a large nonstick frying pan on a medium heat, then add the capers and garlic and cook until fragrant. Add the lemon zest and the herbs, mix to combine and remove from the heat.
Halve and destone the avocados, then use a knife to make criss-cross cuts through the flesh, chopping it inside the skin. Use a spoon to scoop out each half into the pan, and stir to mix all the flavors together. Before you drain the pasta, scoop out half a mugful of the pasta water. Drain the pasta, add it to the frying pan and return it to medium heat, tossing to combine. Drizzle with the lemon juice and extra-virgin olive oil, season with salt and pepper, and add a splash of the cooking water if necessary.
Serve at once, sprinkled with the cheese.

Serves 4

Linguine with porcini and vegetable bolognese, soothing simplicity and striking complexity

“Sweet Sixteen” is not the only song I listen to five, six times in a row – I have other old favorites, songs that are so perfect to me that I hit the repeat button as soon as they start playing.

However, not all of them are as simple as Billy Idol’s beautiful creation: there are times when the only thing I want to listen to is Marc Almond’s powerful vocals, backed up with those loud and vibrant arrangements.

“Loving You, Hating Me” is a song I deeply love (as some of you already know), and I think it gets even more fantastic in the last one and a half minutes, with the arrangement going wild and Marc’s voice doing the same – depending on my mood I have to be careful not to sing it at the top of my lungs (which can be tricky if there are other people nearby). :D

There are days for Billy’s soothing simplicity, and there are days for Marc’s striking complexity, just as there are days for good old bolognese sauce and days for this delicious vegetarian version – it took me nine years to convince my husband to eat mushrooms and this was how I managed to do it (for the record, he loved the sauce and could not believe how tasty it was even though there wasn’t one single gram of meat in it). :)

Linguine with porcini and vegetable bolognese
slightly adapted from the amazing Delicious Australia

15g dried porcini mushrooms
400g linguine
2 small carrots, roughly chopped
1 large onion, roughly chopped
200g button mushrooms
2 garlic cloves, roughly chopped
2 tablespoons olive oil
handful of fresh basil leaves, chopped
2 tablespoons fresh oregano leaves
½ cup tomato sauce – I used homemade
½ cup (120ml) red wine
3 tablespoons water
½ cup sour cream*
grated parmesan or pecorino, to serve

Soak porcini in ½ cup (120ml) boiling water for 10 minutes. Drain, reserving the liquid, and chop.
Whiz carrot, onion, mushrooms and garlic in a food processor to finely chop.
Heat the oil in a large saucepan over medium-high heat and add the finely chopped vegetables. Cook, stirring, for 3-4 minutes until softened. Add the herbs, tomato sauce and drained porcini, then cook, stirring, for 1 minute or until fragrant.
Add the wine, water and reserved porcini liquid. Season with salt and pepper, then reduce heat to low and simmer for 5 minutes or until slightly thickened. Stir through the sour cream and cook for 2 minutes.
In the meantime, cook linguine in a large saucepan of boiling, salted water according to the packet instructions.
Drain the linguine, reserving a little of the cooking water, and add it to the sauce. Toss to coat, adding the reserved water, if needed (I did not). Serve with the parmesan or pecorino (I used the latter).

*homemade sour cream: to make 1 cup of sour cream, mix 1 cup (240ml) heavy cream with 2-3 teaspoons lemon juice in a bowl. Whisk until it starts to thicken. Cover with plastic wrap and leave at room temperature for 1 hour or until thicker (I usually leave mine on the counter overnight – except on very warm nights – and it turns out thick and silky in the following morning; refrigerate for a creamier texture)

Serves 4

Linguine with zucchini, capers, lemon, pine nuts and herbs and a tribute to Sher

As many of you in the food blog world I was shocked with the news that our dear Sher had suddenly passed away.
A lovely woman who would brighten up everyone’s day with encouraging comments and kind words, Sher was a passionate foodie and shared many delicious recipes on her delightful blog. She was the queen of meatballs!

I only knew her virtually, but she’ll be missed and my heart goes out to her family and friends.

After reading Sara’s post, I felt like taking part in the beautiful tribute to Sher. This is the recipe I chose and it was delicious, just like everything else on her blog.

Linguine with zucchini, capers, lemon, pine nuts and herbs

1 lb. (450g) linguine
8 ounces (226g) small, firm green or golden zucchini
½ cup mixed fresh herbs: parsley, marjoram, basil, chervil, thyme, and others of your choice
1 lemon
6 tablespoons virgin olive oil
5 tablespoons pine nuts
4 shallots, roughly chopped
4 teaspoons capers, rinsed in water
2 sun dried tomatoes, cut into narrow strips - I omitted this
salt and freshly ground black pepper
grated parmesan, to serve

Slice the zucchini into pieces about the same thickness as the pasta you are using, then cut them into narrow matchsticks. Bring a large pot of water to boil.

Using as many of the herbs of your choice that you want, pull the leaves off the stems and chop the herbs roughly. Grate the zest of the lemon and set aside (you’ll use the juice as well).

Heat 2 tablespoons of the oil in a small pan and add the pine nuts. Cook them until they begin to color, then add the shallots and cook over medium heat until the shallots are limp and the pine nuts have colored even more. Do not burn the pine nuts. When done, transfer this to a large bowl, along with the lemon grated zest, capers, tomatoes and herbs.

Add salt to the boiling water, drop in the zucchini and cook for 1 minute; Scoop the zucchini out, shake the water off and put it into the bowl with the pine nuts mixture. Then boil the pasta until al dente, drain and place in the bowl. Season with salt and pepper, the remaining olive oil and lemon juice to taste. Toss until the noodles are coated with the oil and herb mixture. Serve with the grated cheese, passed separately.

Serves 2-4

Linguine with olives, thyme and lemon

Some people hate Martha, but I’m one of those who love her. :)

I got this recipe from her website; the original version calls for pappardelle, but I chose to use linguine (one of my favorite pasta shapes). I think the substitution worked well.

It is a quick, easy to put together sauce and it smells wonderful, but one thing that didn’t please me much was finding large pieces of zest in my pasta – as much as I love lemons and oranges, I’m sure that the result would have been a lot better if grated zest had been used instead of chopped.



This is my entry for the Weekend Herb Blogging, this time hosted by the adorable Anh, of Food Lover’s Journey.

Linguine with olives, thyme and lemon

½ teaspoon coarse salt– I used sea salt
225g (8 oz) linguine
16 Kalamata olives, pitted
½ cup fresh flat-leaf parsley
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1 tablespoon fresh thyme leaves
zest of 1 lemon, coarsely chopped
one 3-inch piece orange zest, coarsely chopped
¼ teaspoon crushed red-pepper flakes

Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Add salt and the linguine, and cook until pasta is al dente, following label directions. Drain in a colander.
While pasta is cooking, combine salt, olives, parsley, olive oil, thyme, lemon zest, orange zest, and red-pepper flakes in the bowl of a food processor fitted with the steel blade. Pulse until a chunky puree forms. Transfer to a warm serving bowl large enough to accommodate cooked pasta.
Add pasta, and toss to combine.
Serve immediately.

Serves 2, or 4 to 6 as an appetizer

Artichoke and lemon linguine and I've won a book!

Food bloggers are the best, aren’t they?

The talented Allen had his first book giveaway and I won! Yay!!
He’s sending me this amazing book, which comes with a DVD. I can’t wait to start making recipes from it!
Thank you, Allen!

I once tried a no-carb diet. Needless to say, it was a huge failure. I avoided rice and potato and bravely resisted cakes and cookies. But there are two things I can’t live without: bread and pasta.
Even those who are not that crazy about pasta will admit that, if you need a quick meal, that is the way to go. And to make it even faster, sometimes you don’t even need to cook the sauce.

If you decide to give this fabulous recipe a try, I promise you that dinner will be on the table in 10 minutes. Maybe 12, if you grill some bread with olive oil and serve along. :)

Recipe found on Fernanda’s beautiful blog – she used coriander in her pasta, but I did not have any around and went for parsley instead.



This will be my entry for the Weekend Herb Blogging, this time hosted by Jai and Bee, from Jugalbandi.

Artichoke and lemon linguine

200g linguine
8 canned artichoke hearts – rapidly rinse them to remove any excess brine
juice and grated zest of 1 lemon
1 large handful of parsley
fleur de sel
freshly ground black pepper
4-5 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
grated parmesan, to serve

Cook the linguine in a large saucepan of salted boiling water until al dente; drain and set aside.While the pasta cooks, make the sauce: place the artichoke hearts, lemon zest and juice, parsley, fleur de sel, pepper and olive oil in a food processor and process until you get a smooth mixture. Stir the sauce through the pasta, top with the parmesan and serve at once.

Serves 2