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Tomato white wine pasta with pistachio breadcrumbs

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I am gonna be honest. This is addicting! A creamy, fresh, quick, full of flavor and so many nutrients! You won‘t go back to store bought pasta sauces! Plus, its dairy free and vegan because we are topping it with pistachio breadcrumbs. You are NOT missing the parmesan in top! All in all it is just so tasty!

Is Pasta unhealthy?

I honestly love pasta, and despite all rumors it is not unhealthy. Well, at least not as is because it is a great source of carbohydrates. If you make wholegrain pasta, it is even healthier because you get an extra portion of fiber with it! But yes, just as everything else it can be prepared really unhealthy. Not the actual pasta itself but the sauce it comes with. If ypu use a very oil heavy or cream, cheese or butter based sauce such as alfredo or carbonara or one with fatty meat like bacon or salami, it can load up on calories and fats really quickly. But when you pair it with a rather light sauce like a tomato one or one with fresh vegetables it is not unhealthy at all! Also pesto is a good choice. I mean, yes it has cheese but it also has oil, nuts and fresh basil. Oil and nuts are high in healthy fats and fresh basil has so many vitamins!

What is special about this dish?

100% the sauce! Why? Because it is not your regular tomato sauce. And by „white wine tomato sauce“ I don‘t mean that you poor half a bottle if wine into your regular sauce (although this would probably also be super tasty :)). No, its a sauce made of only fresh tomatoes – of all sizes and colors, a good splash of white wine and lots if fresh herbs. And of corse, not to forget the pistachio breadcrumbs. They just take it next level!

Which tomatoes work best for this dish?

I believe that a mix of many different ones work best! A mix of large ones, cherry tomatoes or san Marzanl works best. Also, if you have access to it or can find them, feel free to add yellow, orange or brown tomatoes. The more you add, the more of a diverse, intense and interesting flavor and many different textures! So, use whatever you have on hand! The more different ones you have, the better!

Which wine works best?

As the name says, white wine! This can be a fruitier one or one that is rather on the dry side. This is up to you and what you like to drink! My dad always says „use a wine for cooking that you will also drink with the dish“. So use a good and tasty wine because you will also taste it in the sauce. It is as important to use a good quality product in a dish as it is to drink it. You could, however, also use some sparkling wine because the carbon dioxide will cook down anyway. If you only have red wine on hand, you can use this too but be aware that this will make it more of a heavier dish whereas the white wine makes it rather lighter.

Pistachio breadcrumbs?! What and how?

I have never eaten that before. Neither at a restaurant not at someone’s home! But it is game changing. I know, we all love some parmesan on top of our pasta, but if we are longing for a dairy-free, healthier and vegan option, this is amazing! And so simple. 3 ingredients and addicting! The only ingredients you really need are pistachios (whole grain) bread crumbs, and olive oil. The pistachios are chopped finely and mixed with the breadcrumbs. After they are pan fried in some olive oil to get them crispy and bring out the flavor. If you want a slight cheesy flavor, you can also add in some nutritional yeast (Hefeflocken) if you want but it definitely is not necessary! When putting them on top of the pasta, the add a nice crunch and texture and also some saltines as cheese would do! You need to try this! I swear it is so good!

Is it family friendly?

Yes! 100%! You do add wine, but the alcohol boils away, so even kids can eat it! And it is vegan (if you use vegan pasta of corse) but if you want to add some parmesan or mozzarella on top you of course can do so! Ir if you want some prawns of grilled chicken with it, it works as well. Plus, it is less than 30 minutes, so it‘s a great weeknight dinner!

We absolutely love having this dish in pur house and make it pretty often! Its super tasty, simple, and full of vitamins! I hope that it gives you some inspiration to cook something healthy & tasty!

Happy cooking,
Katie || Une Petite Cuisinière

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Tomato White Wine Pasta with Pistachio Bread Crumbs

Quick, simple, healthy, tasty. Fancier than your average tomato sauce, full of vitamins, 30 minute and tastes so incredibly good!

Course bowl, dinner, lunch, Main Course
Cuisine Italian
Prep Time 5 Minuten
Cook Time 25 Minuten
Total Time 30 Minuten
Servings 4 servings
Calories 627 kcal

What you will need

For the tomato sauce:

  • 400 g tomatoes large ones, can be any color
  • 300 g cherry tomatoes or any other small ones, it is best to mix the colors
  • 1 tbsp olive oil
  • 1 white onion
  • 1/8 l white wine
  • 1 tsp chili flakes (optional)
  • 2 small branches rosemary and oregano
  • 1 garlic clove grated
  • 1/2 lemon juiced

For the pistachio breadcrumbs:

  • 20 g pistachios
  • 20 g breadcrumbs
  • 1 tsp olive oil

Other:

  • 500 g Pasta tagliatelle work best

How to

For the tomato sauce:

  1. Chop the large tomatoes into about 1cm sized cubes. Half the cherry tomatoes. Finely mince the onion. In a large pot heat up the olive oil. Add the onion and sautée it until it is translucent. Then add in the chopped tomatoes and reduce to medium high heat. Also add the herbs and the garlic clove (and the chili flakes if using) into the pot and give it a stir. Add the white wine and let simmer for about 10 minutes on medium heat. Then add the lemon juice and salt generously and let simmer for another 10 minutes on low heat. Before serving take out the herbs.

For the Pistachio Breadcrumbs:

  1. In the meantime make the pistachio breadcrumbs. Therefore add the pistachios to a food processor and pulse until they have gotten a fine consistency. If you do not have a food processor, chop them up with a knife. Combine them with the breadcrumbs. heat up the olive oil in a pan and fry the mixture on high heat for about 2 minutes, stirring constantly so they do not burn. Take them off the heat and set them aside.

  2. In the meantime cook the pasta according to package instructions. Once done reserve 1/2 cup (about 100ml) of pasta water and drain them. Add the drained pasta, along with the reserved water to the sauce and mix through. Seperate them onto 4 plates and top with the pistachio breadcrumbs and serve.

    Enjoy!

Oven baked Sweet Potato Fries

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Crispy on the outside, soft on the inside. With a little hint of roasted garlic and paprika. Sprinkled with a little sea salt. That’s what I call the perfect side. No matter with what, a burger, a salad or just by itself. It is so good. And so simple. You will never want to go back to making sweet potatoes differently.

More Sweet Potato inspiration…

I absolutely love sweet potatoes. In any form. Baked as a whole and stuffed, mashed, boiled, fried, baked in little chunks or whatever. They are just so tasty! I already have a few recipes on my blog with it like the Miso sweet potato with coconut rice or the Thai sweet potato cauliflower soup or the fall tabouleh stuffed sweet potatoes (which honestly are so good) and one of my favourites, the harvest buddha bowl with apple chicken! But all of those were a while ago so I knew it was time to make something new.

Are sweet potatoes healthy?

Sweet Potatoes, as the name says, are potatoes, and taste very similar to regular ones, just a little sweeter. Because of that they are also sometimes used in desserts or sweet dishes. But they are just as common in savoury ones. They are extremely high in Fibre, Vitamin A, Vitamin C and Protein. Plus, they are very high in antioxidants, meaning they support your gut healthy. All in all, super healthy.

How do you make them?

It‘s really simple! Cut into thin strips. They should be rather small and thin because this way they’ll get crispier in the oven. If you have the time for that I would recommend soaking the strips in water because that helps to remove some of the starch to make it crispier (this wasn’t my idea, i learned it at pickuplimes blog). And of course, you need to pat them dry afterwards, very dry, because obviously, water will make them soggy. Next step, which I do recommend, is tossing them in a little cornstarch. I also love making this with my tofu (like in my vegan glas boodle salad recipe) because it really binds the water in the food. 

Spice it up!!

Next up: spices! This is really important because the key to good food are good spices! The spices used really depend on what you serve the potatoes with. For example, if we serve it with a burger, I would recommend using paprika and garlic. If it is a side to some grilled halloumi, some herbs like rosemary and oregano work really well. If you are making wedges and want to make them a bit extra (in winter this is so good!), you can add some cinnamon. This surprisingly works really well!

Tossing them in spices is really essential. They add so much flavour. So last on the list is some oil. I would recommend using olive oil or another one that is neutral in taste. The oil adds more flavour and helps crisping them up. The potatoes are now baked on very high heat in the oven, for really not long. After taking them out, you can sprinkle some sea salt and serve them with a delicious sauce.

Why not frying them?

The reason we are making them in the oven is fairly simple. Because it is way healthier. While they do get a little crispier when deep fried, they also soak up way more oil. This means way more fat and calories. Of course, once in a while it is super good, but when making it more often, baking them in the oven is just way healthier.

I hope that you will love this recipe as much as I do and your family or friends do so too. In our house, they are always gone, and not a single fry is a leftover! Enjoy!

Happy Cooking,
Katie // Une Petite Cuisinière

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Sweet Potato Fries from the Oven

Crispy on the outside, soft on the inside and perfectly spiced! The ideal side for anything!

Course lunch, Side Dish
Prep Time 10 Minuten
Cook Time 20 Minuten
Total Time 30 Minuten
Servings 4 sides
Calories 230 kcal

What you will need

  • 600-800 g Sweet Potatoes 2 smaller ones or 1 big one
  • 3 tbsp corn starch
  • 2 tbsp olive oil
  • 6 garlic cloves
  • 3 tsp paprika
  • 2 tsp garlic powder
  • some sea salt

How to

  1. Preheat the oven to 220°C.

    Wash the sweet potatoes. Cut them into about 1cm thick strips, about 8cm in length. Place them in a large bowl and cover with water. Let sit for at least 5-10 minutes. This helps to remove the starch.

    Drain them and place on a kitchen towel or kitchen paper and tap them dry. They need to be really dry.

    Place them in a clean bowl and toss with the cornstarch and spices.

    Spread them onto two baking trays and make sure they have enough space. They should not touch each other. Drizzle the olive oil and add the garlic cloves (they do not need to be peeled). Sprinkle some salt on top.

    Bake for 10 minutes, then flip them. Bake for another 5-8 minutes. Take out and serve. Enjoy!

    P.s.: If you want, you can squish out the garlic from the peel and mix with some mayonaise to get a garlic dip!

Vegan Coconut Mango Panna Cotta

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Take a creamy panna cotta but image it being healthy and with a twist of coconut and mango. And there you go! This incredibly flavourful dessert is what you should make next! The layers are just THE BEST!

Why is Panna Cotta not healthy?

Panna Cotta is, besides Tiramisu, my favourite dessert. I love the creaminess, the consistency and the taste. It just is so good. But, unfortunately, it is not very healthy. IT contains a lot of cream and sugar which really make it a treat but it is not very good for you.

What is this „Panna Cotta“ like?

But as I still want to get that amazing creamy consistency and that sweet taste, I decided to make one that is healthy and a little different. It still has a rich and creamy consistency but also a nice gel-ly like layer of mango, which is so refreshing and sweet.

How to make it healthier:

To make it healthier we need to substitute a few ingredients. Instead of heavy cream we use coconut milk or coconut yoghurt. To cut out the processed sugars, we do not use white one but we use maple syrup or honey. I would not recommend using fresh dates because that would ruin the nice whitish colour. Contrary to maple white sugar, maple syrup and honey also do have some other vitamins and fibre which makes them easier to digest and they are absorbed slower into your blood.

How can you make it vegan?

Since we are wanting to make it vegan, we are of course not using gelantine. If you are not that strict on using vegan products you can also use it. But in this recipe we are going to use agar agar, also known as plant based gelatine. This helps to bind everything together and achieve the pan cotta consistency. We will use this both, for the coconut and the mango layer.

The mango layer:

The mango layer also is super simple. We blend, either fresh or frozen and thawed mango up so it gets saucy. If you like to have a few chunks left, you can blend it a little less. Depending on how sweet your mango is, and how sweet you want it to be, you can add a little sweetener here too.

How to serve them?

I like to poor them in really small jars or bowls so you can have one (or probably more) as a small snack or a dessert. I love how cute they look when serving them and they also have a nice serving size. If you do not have such on hand, you can just pour it into a large dish and scoop a bit out whenever you want to enjoy it.

Final important words:

As already mentioned, it works great as a snack or dessert! Half an hour before serving it, take it out of the fridge. This is an important step. If you serve it cold, it has way less flavour, which would be sad because it tastes really amazing when served at room temperature! The fresh flavours make it a really nice thing to have during hot days in spring and summer!

I hope that you like this recipe and it gives you some inspiration to cook healthy!

Happy cooking,
Enjoy,
Katie // Une Petite Cuisinière

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Vegan Mango Coconut Panna Cotta

A healthy and vegan version of the italian classic! WIth an exotic twist, it is just an amazing snack or dessert!

Course Dessert, Snack
Cuisine Italian
Prep Time 10 Minuten
Cooling time 1 Stunde
Total Time 1 Stunde 10 Minuten
Servings 6 servings
Calories 164 kcal

What you will need

  • 450 g coconut yogurt alternatively: Coconut milk
  • 4 g Agar Agar or 2 pieces of gelatine
  • 50 g maple syrup
  • 450 g mango (can be frozen and thawed)
  • 50 ml water
  • some shredded coconut

How to

  1. In a small pan add the agar agar and the water and heat it up.

    Meanwhile pure the mango so it has a sauce consistency.

    Bring the agar agar mixture to a boil. Once boiling, reduce to a simmer and cook for 1 minute, stirring continuesly. Take off the heat and divide it into 2 bowls. In one bowl mix in about 1/3 of the coconut yoghurt or milk and stir through until well combined. Then add the agar agar coconut mixture to the remaining coconut yoghurt/ milk and combine.

    Repeat his process with the mango.

    Into small jars or a large dish add the coconut layer first and make it even. Then add the mango layer on top and put it into the refridgerator for at least an hour.

    Half an hour before serving, take it out and sprinkle with some shredded coconut.

    Serve (at room temperature) and enjoy!

Best Cauliflower and Parmesan salad with Parsley vinaigrette

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Nothing beats a good side to go along with any meal. Adds the extra wow and takes anything to the next level. Just like this cauliflower and Parmesan salad. Its one of these non- boring but super easy sides that you will start wanting to make with everything.

I git the inspiration for this dish when I was out eating at a restaurant in Dubai. I order a side, a veggie salad and something really similar to this recipe arrive, and it was bomb amazing. I knew I had to recreate it but at first I wondered if anyone else would like it because I have a taste for very healthy things that barely anyone likes but my family loved it too! They enjoyed the recreation even more. 

Salads are always a great side dish, i believe. They are light, refreshing, and full  of vitamins. Just as this salad is, just without the greens. And it will even get people who don‘t enjoy eating vegetables a lot, to eat it because the parmesan in the dish really turns everything around. It does not taste super healthy anymore. 

And let me tell you so much, it is ready in 5 minutes. At least if you have a food processor, if you don‘t then you probably need 10. yes, it is that simple. You can just prepare it while your fish is sizzling in the pan or somethings roasting in the oven. The making, essentially is, cutting the cauliflower into really fine chunks, or pulse it in the food processor because it will save you a lot of time. Other, you simply need to grate some parmesan cheese and chop it even a bit smaller, finely chop some parsley and combine the ingredients for the vinaigrette. And its done. 

This „salad“ goes best with a simple main dish. A baked fish or a grilled chicken breast or anything Italian inspired because the cheese in the cauliflower salad matches the Italian spices a lot. Surprisingly, it even gies well with some asian inspired dishes such as my steamed salmon in chili lime sauce. It really works with most dishes, but these are the ones I would recommend! 

It also works for meal prep if you want to prepare it ahead of time and enjoy it throughout the week! Just, do not add the vinaigrette before, only when you want to eat it because otherwise it will get soggy and wont taste as good anymore! 

I hope that you will enjoy this recipe and make it oftentimes because it really is that good! 

Enjoy,

Katie // Une Petite Cuisinière

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Best Cauliflower and Parmesan Salad with Parsley Vinaigrette

Not your average side but much better. fresh cauliflower, hearty parmesan cheese, light and herby vinaigrette. Goes perfect with anything. A must.

Course Appetizer, Salad, Side Dish
Prep Time 5 Minuten
Total Time 5 Minuten
Servings 4 sides
Calories 142 kcal

What you will need

  • 1 head cauliflower
  • 40 g parmesan cheese
  • 2 tbsp olive oil
  • 1/2 large lemon, juiced
  • 1 tsp honey
  • 2 tbsp finely chopped parsley

How to

That is how it works:

  1. Cut the cauliflower into small florets. If you have a food processor, place them in it and pulse until they are fine chunks. If you do not have one, finely chop them into rice-sized pieces and place them in a large bowl.

  2. Grate the parmesan on the rather large side. Then roughly chop it again, to also reach the size of the rice corn. Add it to the cauliflower and generously salt.

  3. In a small bowl combine the olive oil, parsley, honey and lemon juice. Toss the "salad" in the dressing.

    Serve in bowls and enjoy!