Easy Zingy Garlicky Artichoke Pasta Plus 7 More Happy Things
30-minute pasta with a big guilt-free quick tip, upcoming LIVE pasta cook-along! risotto tips from Giulia, my new favorite olive oil cookie, and moooooore!
Ciao friends!
How was your week? I’m just back from a few days in London for work, which was kind of a big deal as I haven’t travelled for work in years. I’m not sure if people that live outside realize that in Italy, we eat mostly only Italian cuisine for every meal, every day. I love it. But it was a HUGE adjustment for me when here from Manhattan long ago. In any case, I went to London and to my own shock, um, pigged out.
Treccani explains the situation very well with one of my favorite Italian verbs:
abbuffarsi
Riempirsi di cibo, mangiare con avidità ingorda fino a non poterne più: a. di dolci, di gelati.
To fill oneself with food, to eat with greedy greed until one can no longer eat: a. sweets, ice cream.
Friends, I had a stomach ache the entire time because I just. kept. on. eating. I couldn’t get enough of all the different and now for me, exotic non-Italian flavors.
Stick with me and I’ll tell you where and what I ate. Or jump ahead to talk about this insanely delicious garlicky spring Sicilian pasta which will only take you 30 minutes because… I authorize you to use frozen artichoke hearts. If it’s a Sunday and you have time, great, prep your gorgeous fresh in-season ones. But if it’s a weeknight and you’re pressed for time, snag those beauties out of your freezer and they’ll cook about 8 minutes flat to mix with finger-licking olive oil, lemon, garlic, and ricotta.
Mi sono abbuffata a Londra
I really did work a heck of a lot, but there is no photo evidence of that. Photos from top L to R:
Cinnamon roll with gooey icing to accompany my coffee at Chestnut Bakery, Belgravia
Me at The Tamil Prince, waiting for onion bhaji with mint chutney
Salads of my dreams at Ottolenghi Islington
Greg and I witness the croissant XXL of TT trend from outside the glass. (Honestly it did not look very good to us!)
View from my morning commute over the Tower Bridge
This meal blew my taste buds away. Halibut with crispy lard on lentils at Casse Croute in Bermondsey.
Bermondsey street scene
Fish pie with salmon, shrimp, and other seafood delights and mashed potato topping at The Libertine beneath the Royal Exchange with my work colleagues. So British! So yum! (Missed you, Christelle!)
Beautiful carving on the underside of the bar at Casse Croute.
7 Happy Things
It will come as no surprise to you that most of the things that are bringing me joy this week are FOOD. I share them in hopes they bring some joy into your home too! ❤️
Olive oil tahini cookies from Yotam Ottolenghi’s Head Chef at Chelsea, Evanthia for their International Women’s Day post. These “The olive oil gives them a texture that's not quite crunchy, not quite soft - something in between. Eva made a small change to her grandma's recipe… adding tahini that brings a little more nuttiness. I loved them.” - Y.O. So easy, plus I was instantly transported to childhood peanut-butter-cookie-making when I pushed the fork to flatten and score the first cookie ball. Happy.
Orange cinnamon tahini cookies My son, Matteo, and I did a saffron and sage squash risotto cook-along with Giulia Scarpelleggia last Sunday. I previously considered myself an expert risotto maker, but this master class was chock full of game-changing risotto tips and tricks, i.e. use frozen butter for a creamier risotto, you don’t need to stir all the time, and this delightful shocker: on a weeknight use a pressure cooker! You can find the recording here: Risotto Stories: A Tale of Two Methods and CookAlong. Juls also has tips on what to do with risotto leftovers! Matteo said the risotto was so buonissimo we are now strategizing a trip to in person with Giulia at one of her Tuscan classes!
Cooking the Stacks by Shell Plant: In addition to being a stellar pastry chef and posting the most inspiring gorgeous desserts on Bake Experiments, Shell is choosing a Substack newsletter every week to cook for her family. I’m picking up loads of ideas from her experiences! And I was honored that she chose Weeknight Pasta from Italy for her first week of Cooking the Stacks 🥹. She said:
“I’ve cooked a lot of pasta in my time, but the extra tips and tricks I’ve learnt from Lolly this week has upped my pasta game no end. Adding smoked salmon to creamy pasta is such a game changer, or parmesan rind to your soups. And it is vital to ensure your pasta water is as salty as the sea!” - S.P.
a mouth-watering glimpse of Shell’s week of pasta from WPFI
Bianca Bosso, talented artist of Midnight Spaghetti, has generously shared FREE seasonal spring fruit phone wallpapers and I’m truly obsessed. They take 2 seconds to upload to my watch. My fav is the black fruity one which I’ve dubbed “Serious Fruit” and feel it is quite suitable for work. A happy, fruity watch just makes me smile.
Love Marcella Hazan? Lisa McClean is cooking through Marcella’s most classic cookbooks and recipes exactly as written with no modifications and sharing the results on her charming Cooking with Marcella newsletter. The enchanting Lisa may yet convince me to try Marcella’s famous tomato sauce with butter!! (Taught by my southern Italian mother-in-law, I’ve been so far unable to put butter in my sugo. I just can’t will myself to do it! ha ha ahhhhh)
Some wish list Italian souvenir ideas from Brenna, who lives in Naples and writes Kiss Me on Tulips from her heart and life there. I’m green with envy that she snagged the adorable dual moka pot from Bialetti; and her tips on picking up reasonably priced, authentic southern Italian ceramics are stellar. Now waiting for Brenna and her hubby to pick up their dream mini ape truck…
Sheldrick Wildlife Trust Watching these rescued elephants, rhinos, and the odd giraffe and warthog being brought back to health and thriving is one of my top daily joys. I dream of going to Kenya visit them! You may also consider adopting or donating to support these beautiful creatures.
Join us LIVE! Making Lolli Pasta with Judy and Lolly
Join Judy Witts Franchini of Simply Divina - My Tiny Tuscan Kitchen and I to make pasta together LIVE on Sunday March 30th. We hope you’ll join us!
WHAT: we’ll be making a super easy homemade pasta called (drum roll please) LOLLI pasta! Yes, Judy and Lolly will make lolli. It’s a traditional pasta from Modica, Sicily and typically served with fava beans. I believe they are better known as capunti in Puglia. No machine required. Just a flat surface and your hands. So easy! Join us!
WHERE: Live on Substack
WHEN: Sunday March 30th, TIME to be confirmed - tentatively 6pm CEST / 5pm London / Noon EST / 9am PST / 9:30pm India
INGREDIENTS: This is an eggless pasta dough, classic in southern Italy, and made with just flour and water in a ratio of 2:1. Makes pasta for 4 people:
300 g semolina flour aka semola di grano duro
150 ml warm water
salt
your favorite sauce: ideas 20 min sausage leek and sundried tomato or simple sugo
Let us know in the comments if you plan to join us! x
Garlicky Artichoke Pasta with Ricotta and Lemon
Pasta con carciofi, ricotta, e limone
FOR 4 PEOPLE
8 Tbl extra virgin olive oil
4 cloves of garlic, thinly sliced
400 g frozen artichoke hearts
zest from 1 large lemon or 2 small lemons
2 Tbl fresh lemon juice
400 g fusilli pasta
350 g ricotta
40 g parmigiano reggiano, grated
6-12 Tbsp cooking water reserved, taken partway through cooking - important! this is your salt!
Freshly ground pepper, to taste (optional)
The pasta
Put the water and salt in a large pot on the stove on high heat until it boils.
Add all extra virgin olive oil to a wide saucepan/skillet on low-medium heat. Add garlic slices and lemon zest and sautee, stirring occasionally for 3-5 minutes until floppy and fragrant.
Now add your frozen artichoke hearts and lemon juice, giving them a stir to coat in oil and garlic. Cover and stir occasionally, cooking according to package time (mine was 8 minutes).
Once boiling, add the pasta. Stir, and stir again every once in a while to prevent sticking. I recommend setting a timer to the time on the package so you don’t overcook and end up with pasta mush.
Put the ricotta in a big bowl. After the pasta has been cooking for at least half its time and is releasing its starches, gradually spoon out some pasta water and add it to the ricotta and grated parmigiano, mashing together with a fork until it seems a bit wetter and softer than cottage cheese. The salt in the cooking water will flavor the ricotta and the starches will thicken and bind the sauce.
Whichever finishes cooking first - pasta or artichokes - add it to the ricotta, stir - then add the other (pasta or artichokes).
Freshly grind pepper to taste and mix again. For kids, you can leave out the pepper if they are not fans. Enjoy!
Notes:
Salt: It’s important not to skimp. This salt is flavoring both your pasta and also your sauce in the form of pasta water.
Pasta: You can also make this with other short, grooved pasta that will grab and hold the thick ricotta sauce. Suggestions: penne, cavatappi, farfalle, rigatoni.
Buon appetito! 💚
x Lolly
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See you two for class from SoCal—9am!
This sounds delicious and reminds me of a pasta and ricotta sauce I made on a Sicilian farm almost a year ago. So sorry I missed the class!