Category Archives: pasta

Sedani Rigate with Fresh Ġbejniet and Tomato Sauce

Maltese food, pasta, Vegetarian, ,
Sedani bil- Ġbejniet

A traditional simple pasta dish in Malta is tubular pasta (rigatoni, penne or sedani) in a plain tomato sauce with a mixture of ricotta, parsley and egg. A less common version uses fresh ġbejniet, sheep cheeslets. I omitted the egg so it’s less heavy and substituted basil for the parsley.

Serves 2

Ingredients:

200g Pasta

1tbsp Olive Oil

3 Cloves Garlic finely chopped

1 Chilli Pepper sliced

1 Can Tomato Polpa

4 Fresh Ġbejniet (medium size). You can substitute 100-150g ricotta

Basil

Method:

Heat a pan and add the oil and after a minute the garlic and chilli.

Add tomato polpa, rinse the can with a bit of water and add to the pan and leave to simmer on a low heat for about 30 minutes. Add a few basil leaves.

Meanwhile put plenty of salted water in a medium pan and bring to a boil for the pasta. Cook as instructed on package.

When sauce is ready blend with a stick blender. This step is optional.

Put the ġbejniet in a bowl with a handful of chopped basil leaves and season with salt and pepper. Mash with a fork.

Mix pasta with the tomato sauce. Serve in plates and top with ġbejna mixture.

Enjoy!

Advertisement

Spaghetti Nero di Seppia- Pasta with cuttle-fish cooked in own ink

Fish, Mediterranean food, pasta, seafood, , , ,
La Nero di Seppia

This recipe is only wonderful if it’s really fresh. You can get powdered ink but it is not as tasty. Seeing that they are in season it’s a good time to try it. I like to add tomato to give the sauce more body but these can be omitted to get a more jet black colour.

The anatomy of the cuttle fish is a bit confusing so it’s best to ask the fishmonger to clean it, remove the cartilage and detach the ink sacs. I like to put the sacs in a little bit of hot water to dissolve and remove from the membrane. The beak and eyes need to be removed and the rest cut into strips. Otherwise it’s pretty straight forward so enjoy!

Serves: 2

Ingredients:

250g Cuttle-fish,                   cleaned and cut in strips with ink sacs detached.

1 tbsp Olive Oil

2 Cloves Garlic, minced

1 pinch Chili Flakes

1/2 cup White Wine

3 tomatoes, peeled and chopped    a small tin can be substituted

200g Spaghetti or Linguine

Method:

Heat a pan to medium high. Add oil and saute the cuttlefish for a few minutes. Add garlic and chili and stir for another minute. Add the wine. Keep your face away as this might flame up which can be  impressive to your guest unless you light up your facial hair!

Add tomatoes, lower heat, cover and leave to simmer for about 20 minutes. Meanwhile cook the pasta aldente. Check the cuttlefish and when tender add the ink, stir and simmer another couple of minutes. Toss the pasta with the sugo in the pan and plate

Sedani Calamari Capperi e Vino Bianco

Maltese food, Mediterranean food, pasta, seafood, stew, , , ,

   Calamari are extremely tasty but can be awkward to cook as they vary by age, freshness and ways of cooking. The adage is that you either cook them very quickly on high heat or slow cook them on liquid. We all love crispy deep-fried Calamari in batter or patted in flour, semolina or breadcrumbs. Stewed slowly in wine and loads of garlic they are to die for.

Serves 2-3

Ingredients:

600g Calamari cleaned and cut into squares
2 large cloves Garlic minced
1 chilli finely chopped
1 glass White Wine
1 tsp Kunserva/ tomato puree
1 small can Tomato Polpa
1 large fresh Tomato grated
3 tsp Capers
1 tbs + EV Olive Oil
250g Sedani

Method:

Heat a heavy-bottomed frying pan on a medium high flame. Add olive oil and saute the calamari until they start to colour. Add the garlic, chilli and tomato puree and toss for a minute. Deglaze the pan with the white wine and add the tomatoes. You can use either fresh or tinned subject to availability, I used both. In winter sometimes tomatoes are grown indoors and are not as tasty. Grating them through the big holes separates them from the skin and creates a passata.

Lower flame, add the capers and simmer while you cook the pasta. Roughly it should be ready in twenty minutes but check at intervals as cooking time can vary
Bon appetit

Garganelli ala Maltese

Maltese food, pasta, seafood, , , ,

So yesterday I opened a can of Mayor’s butter beans by mistake. I thought ok I’ll have ftira but didn’t make it to the bread van. So I decided to create a plate of pasta with ftira ingredients. What could be more Maltese?

For pasta I used garganelli all uovo

Serves 2

Ingredients:

500g Garganelli

2 tbsp EVOO

1 large clove Garlic crushed

1 pinch Chilli Flakes

1 tsp dried Mixed Herbs

4 fillets Anchovy

1tbsp Kunserva/Tomato Puree

1 can Tuna

1 tbsp Maltese Capers

10 Black Olives smashed and stoned 🥴

1 can Butter Beans

1 dry peppered Cheeselet/ Ġbejna tal-bżar

If available freshly chopped parsley or basil to garnish

Method:

Bring salted water to a boil and add pasta. Set mobile timer for al dente. Put a pan on low heat and add the olive oil, garlic, anchovy and herbs. Once it starts to release the aromas add the ġbejna and kunserva. Toss well and add the tuna, capers, olives and butter beans. Add a little of the pasta water. By this time the pasta should be ready (around 5-6 minutes). Strain and toss with the remaining ingredients in the pan. E voilà! Ready

Spaghetti Cuttlefish (sepia, siċċ)

Fish, Maltese food, Mediterranean food, pasta, seafood, , , , ,
Spaghetti Cuttlefish

What I love about Sicily is that when you go for a stroll by the sea you encounter a bewildering variety of delicious, yet simple, food offerings. Using just a few but fresh and tasty ingredients they combine them in the best ways possible to titillate your senses as you sit by the sea and enjoy its fruits

More known for the Sugo Nero di Sepia, Cuttlefish is also very tasty without the ink. Inspired by the ingenious simplicity of Sicilian cuisine this recipe starts off with the cuttlefish sautéed with garlic, chilli and olive oil, deglazed with white wine and simmered with tomatoes and a touch of capers.

If you want to make Sugo Nero add the ink sacs from the cuttlefish

Ingredients:

Cuttlefish 500g cut in 1cm squares. You can ask fishmonger to clean cuttlefish and save the ink if using. If doing yourself make sure to remove the cartilage and innards

Garlic 2 cloves crushed

Chilli Flakes 1/2 tsp

Olive Oil 1tbsp

White Wine glass

Tomatoes 3 chopped. I used very ripe beef tomatoes but long cherry tomatoes cut in half are good as well

Capers 1tbsp preferably Maltese

Marjoram 1tbsp

Spaghetti or Linguine 500g

Method:

Heat olive oil on medium high heat and add garlic and chilli for 1 minute. Add cuttlefish for about 5 minutes until the translucent bits turn white then add the wine. This might flame a bit don’t panic! Turn down heat add tomatoes and capers and a dash of water. Cover and simmer until tender about 20-30 minutes. If it gets dry add water from pasta, if it’s too liquidy take off lid and turn up heat towards end of cooking. Meanwhile cook spaghetti al dente in lots of well-salted water. Drain and mix in the pan