Tag 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!

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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