Hi there, all of you. Finally, our marvellous Brazilian Carnival subsided a bit, and I suddenly had a little more time on my hands. Today, I want to bring to your attention a pasta dish that gathers some of my favourite ingredients into a nice impromptu ensemble. Despite all the Fourth of July fireworks, I don’t know why my family decided to name this dish after our daughter Sonya, who was born a week ago. 🙂
You’re going to need the following ingredients:
- Cooked smoked ham or chopped bacon (or, how about some leftover Thanksgiving turkey?)
- Cherry tomatoes, chopped
- Courgette/Zucchini
- Royal mushrooms (brown in colour, with denser texture is denser)
- Fresh basil
- Linguine (use can use spaghetti or any other long pasta to your taste)
- 2-3 Garlic cloves
- Virgin olive oil
- Pine nuts
Use a mandoline to cut the courgettes/zucchini into long thin strips:
Cut up the ham into julienne strips:
Now, wash the basil leaves, then, let them dry on absorbent paper. Place some olive oil in a pan (actually, a wok would be nice) over medium heat and sauté the pine nuts for a short time… be careful, they burn easily, you only want to “open them up”, not burn them up! Remove the pine nuts from the pan, and drain them on absorbent paper
Now, add the basil leaves to the pan. Keep a watchful eye on it, it burns easily, so keep mindful and don’t let yourself be distracted. You want the basil to be crisp, like potato chips, but you don’t want to burn it. Drain the basil on absorbent paper, pour the oil into a clean container, and reserve it. Everything’s ready now, we’ve got a great garnish and tasty oil with great aroma.
Then, sauté the mushrooms over medium heat in a little oil until they’re golden brown, remove them from the pan, and set them aside for now.
Pour the reserved basil-impregnated olive oil into the pan, add the ham strips and sauté them for about three minutes.
Add the zucchini/courgette strips and mix it all together gently.
Add the chopped cherry tomatoes and garlic, stir it all together, then, let it cook for about half a minute.
Add the cooked mushrooms.
Cook linguine, or your pasta of choice, in the customary way and drain it. Add salt and pepper to the contents of the pan to your taste. Add the linguine to the pan, stir it well to combine everything thoroughly, and let it heat through for about a minute.
Take the pan off the heat, divide it on serving plates, and garnish it with the pine nuts and fried basil. By the way, the fried basil is great, it makes the dish.
Bon Appétit and be well, my friends…
Пельмешки без спешки (Dumplings Without Haste)
http://nnm.ru/blogs/8rahman/pasta_sonya/
Voices from Russia 
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