Pine nut pasta is a warm pasta dish consisting of pine nuts, which can be served as a starter, side or main dish. Pine nuts are the seeds of pines, which lend a rich flavor to the pasta. They are cooked in heated olive oil till golden for inclusion in the dish. Additional ingredients like garlic, capers and flavoring herbs are cooked with the pine nuts and this mixture, seasoned with salt and pepper, is tossed with cooked pasta to make the dish. Olives, tomatoes, shrimp or sausage are some of the ingredients that may be included in the dish to prepare variations.
Ingredients Used and Method of Preparation of Pine Nut Pasta
Ingredients: Pine nuts, pasta, olive oil, butter, garlic, salt, pepper, parsley and/or basil and cheese are the ingredients suggested by the pine nut pasta recipe. Ingredients like olives and capers may also be included in the dish.
Method of Preparation: To prepare the dish, pine nuts are cooked along with minced garlic in heated olive oil and butter till they begin to turn golden. Chopped fresh parsley, salt, pepper and optionally minced capers and sliced olives are added to this mixture, cooking till heated through. Meanwhile, pasta is cooked in boiling salted water till al dente and then drained. The hot pasta is tossed with the pine nuts mixture and the dish is served topped with grated cheese.
Serving
Pine nut pasta is served hot, with a garnish of grated cheese and pine nuts. It may be served as a starter or side dish with garlic bread and salad, or as a quick and light meal by itself.
Popular Pine Nut Pasta Recipe Variations
- Pasta with Pine Nuts and Spinach: This version can be prepared by including spinach leaves, which are roughly chopped and cooked in boiling water till just wilted, and then tossed with the cooked pasta and pine nut sauce.
- Pasta with Pine Nuts and Sun Dried Tomatoes: This version is prepared by stir frying sun dried tomatoes along with pine nuts in heated olive oil, after which the mixture is seasoned and mixed with cooked pasta, which has been separately stir fried in heated oil.
- Shrimp and Pine Nut Pasta: To prepare this dish, shrimp is cooked in the same salted water in which pasta is cooked, adding in the shrimp a few minutes before the pasta is done. Pine nuts are heated in olive oil till they turn golden. A sauce is prepared with milk, flour, nutmeg and seasonings, and the cooked pasta, shrimp and pine nuts are tossed together with this sauce.
.jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
