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Italian

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!

Wild Garlic Risotto

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Food tastes different when you have a relation to it. Like in this recipe. We went for a Sunday walk and my mom and I picked the wild garlic ourselves and cooked it into this delicious risotto for lunch. It makes you worship the ingredients, taste and work you put in it even more, which is so beautiful.

But I know we do not alway have the time or opportunity to go and pick the ingredients ourselves in the park or the woods, so it definitely is fine if you buy it at a fresh farmers market or even at the super market. But it will not totally taste the same as if you picked it yourself.

Risotto is such a must and a weekend meal in our house! We love to make it various ways. With peas, with mushrooms, with saffron, honestly options are endless. But it is spring, and right now almost everywhere in Austria you can find wild garlic and smell it from several meters apart. So we decided to take a walk and pick some ourselves and take it home.

Risotto actually is way less complicated than it might seem at first sight. It just is a lot of stirring, stirring, and stirring. No joke, it is an arm workout. So if you are currently in quarantine and wanting to work out and cook something good, here you have the perfect combination! The stirring makes it possible for the rice to absorb the liquid slowly and in depth to create a more intense flavour and a super creamy texture. You should not add all of the broth at one time because then the rice will become soggy and not creamy, which we do not want.

Also, the ingredients are pretty simple and you most likely have them all at home. It starts with the base: rice. For risotto, there is special type of rice, which is originally used in Italy. You can find it in any supermarket. The other main contents of this dish are broth and cheese. For the broth you can either use vegetable broth or chicken broth. Vegetable for the vegetarian version, chicken if you want more flavour.

After the cooking process is done, in other words the rice has finished cooking, we take it off the heat to stir in the remains ingredients. These are a mix of butter, grated parmesan cheese, cream cheese and of course the chopped wild garlic. The butter adds a lot of flavour and the cheeses melt into the rice giving it the typical risotto texture.

You can either serve it as it is because it is the perfect dish like that. If you want to serve it as a side with some grilled prawns or roasted beef that works perfectly fine too! Just grate some fresh parmesan on top and serve it with some wild garlic leaves.

This is such a comforting and family friendly meal. Perfect weekend lunch or dinner, super versatile and incredibly good. I hope you all like it and will enjoy cooking and eating it!

Love, Katie // One Petite Cuisinière

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Wild Garlic Risotto

Family friendly, spring viby, super creamy and delicious risotto. Weekend meal plans are saved. With fresh wild garlic and creamy rice this is incredibly delicious.

Course bowl, dinner, lunch, Main Course
Cuisine Italian
Prep Time 5 Minuten
Cook Time 20 Minuten
Total Time 25 Minuten
Servings 4 servings
Calories 509 kcal

What you will need

That is what you need:

  • 1,5 l vegetable broth
  • 320 g Risotto rice
  • 1 tbsp olive oil
  • 1 white onion
  • 50 g wild garlic
  • 25 g butter
  • 45 g cream cheese
  • 80 g parmesan cheese

How to

This is how it works:

  1. Finely dice the onion. Heat up the oil and satuée the onion in it until it is glassy. Add the rice and gently stir through until everything is combined and slightly covered with the oil. Take one large ladle of the vegetable broth and add it to the rice. Reduce the heat to medium high and stir the vegetable broth through until everything has cooked into the rice, then add the next laddle.

  2. Repeat until the rice is cooked through, for about 15-20 minutes.

  3. In the meantime grate the parmesan, measure out the other ingredients and chop the wild garlic.

  4. Once the rice is done cooking, take it off the heat and stir the cheeses, the butter and the wild garlic in.

  5. Once everything is well combined, plate it in four bowls, garnish with some extra parmesan cheese and wild garlic.

    Serve and enjoy!

Italian Meatball Sub

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This is the perfect combination of the traditional Italian meatballs and the American sub! Juicy, light and delicious meatballs in a super good tomato sauce paired with crispy baguette and freshly grated Parmesan cheese! Comfort food all the way! 

I have actually never really eaten meatballs before I had gone to the USA the first time! I have been to Italy multiple times before but I have never seen it at least never noticed pasta with meatballs before! They only have pasta with ragù (aka Bolognese Sauce) or Poletti (meatballs) without pasta! So, I ate them the first time when I was in the US because there they are a real thing there and I fell in love! 

I really like the texture and the combination with the tomato sauce. But there is a big difference between American meatballs and Italian ones! The Italian ones are traditionally made with ground veal while the American ones are often made with pork or a mix of pork and beef! I personally prefer the veal ones, because of the flavor but also, they are lighter. The only issue is that veal meat is kind of expensive, so I would recommend using ground turkey or chicken instead for a little less pricey option. 

In my recipe I decided to add an egg and ricotta to the base of the meatballs because ethos makes them super juicy and good! Ricotta is the key for creamy and tangy dishes in the Italian cuisine! It is like an Allrounder you should always have on hand. The egg helps to bind the entire texture and the breadcrumbs help to hold it all together. For seasoning it I would always recommend using fresh herbs over using dried ones because I believe that they have way more flavor! I use parsley and sage but basil would also work great in here. But honestly if you make them, the sage is a MUST! It is sooo good in here, not to top! 

The great thing about this dish is that it comes together in 20 minutes, which makes it the perfect weeknight dinner! Also, it is something that the entire family will love. If not during the week, I love this recipe as a Sunday night dinner. Sunday night is always Italian in our house! What about you? Of course, you can eat pasta with this such as spaghetti or tagliatelle but the fresh baguette adds a good amount of crunch from the outside and it is soo good when the inside is soaked with all the good tomato sauce! 

For the sauce I would recommend using my homemade tomato sauce because it is just sooo good! If you don’t have it on hand or have the time to make it, you can also use any store-bought sauce or canned tomatoes and season them yourself. Also, for the Parmesan in top, I would recommend using freshly grated one and not store bought grated because the flavor is just so different! 

Anyway, for whichever occasion you decide to make this you are going to win the hearts of the people you are cooking for! I hope that you will love it as much as I do. If you recreate it be sure to tag me on Instagram with @uneptcuisiniere or with #unepettecuisiniere and leave a comment here on the blog! 

Enjoy! 

Katie

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Italian Meatball Sub

The perfect mix of the Italian Meatballs and American Subs! A great weeknigt dinner and so delicious!

Course dinner, lunch, Main Course
Cuisine American, Italian
Prep Time 10 Minuten
Cook Time 10 Minuten
Total Time 20 Minuten
Servings 4 servings
Calories 586 kcal

What you will need

  • 1 Baguette
  • 600 g ground veal or chicken
  • 1 egg
  • 1 tbsp Ricotta
  • 1 tbsp Parsley
  • 1 tbsp sage
  • 2 tbsp breadcrumbs
  • 2 tbsp Olive Oil
  • 4 servings tomatoe sauce can also use storebought (about 400ml)
  • 30 g Parmesan Cheese
  • 1 smal red onion
  • 2 garlic cloves

How to

That is how it works:

  1. Into a food processer add the onion and garlic or mince finely with a knife. Into a bowl add the ground meat, crack the egg, the ricotta, the finely chopped herbs, salt, pepper, and the breadcrumbs. Combine and knead, best by hand.

    Take an ice cream scoop or a tablespoon in order to size the balls. Roll them in your hand in order to form them and set them aside.

  2. In a pan heat up the olive oil. Once hot add the meatballs and fry on each side for about 1 minute on high heat, then turn down to medium-low heat and let them cook for another 3 minutes. Add in the tomato sauce and let simmer for about 10 minutes.

  3. Take the baguette and cut it into four. Slice each piece in half lenghwise and add the meatballs into the middle. Top with some freshly grated parmesan and serve!

Veal Stuffed Zucchini Cannelloni

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This dish basically is a lighter twist on stuffed cannelloni – just without the cannelloni. When I was in the kitchen creating this dish, I actually did not mean to recreate cannelloni or put a lighter twist in them. I just let myself experiment. After finishing cooking, when I ate this dish I realized that it actually looked like the typically Italian pasta. It tasted sooo good. Just all the flavors and textures worked really well together. The crunch of the zucchini, the texture of the ground meat, the softness of the melted cheese, and the intense flavor of the tomato sauce. 

It is a little work, to make this dish, so it is not the perfect dish to have as a quick dinner, but it is if you have some more time and want to cook it together with someone else on a date night or a family dinner. I really, really like this dish because it is family friendly, still sneaks in some vegetables and kind of is a lighter twist on a baked pasta dish.

I decided to use minced veal as a meat simply because I really like the flavor and it is pretty lean. If you prefer to use beef, turkey, pig, or even a vegetarian mince that would work too. I just think that the veal doesn’t overpower the other ingredients but still brings a nice flavor and texture. Also, it makes the dish a little bit more Italian because in Italy, veal is used very often. When frying it in the pan, don’t leave it in there for too long since it shouldn’t be completely cooked through as it would get dry in the oven. Also if you do not have an oven safe pan, you can use any other oven safe dish to bake the “cannelloni” in.

The Ricotta that is in the filling along with the meat gives this entire dish such a delicious richness and hearty flavor, which I realllllyyy like. Of course, you can use cream cheese or curd cheese instead but it won’t be the same. Ricotta just has this little something and this instant-Italian twist on every dish you use it in, so I would not substitute it with anything else. All the herbs that are packed into the Ricotta just give it a freshness and make it real good. Never skip the herbs & spices!

When baking the zucchini in the oven, the sauce will get more liquid since the zucchini will loose water. I personally like it because you can pour some more onto your plate but if you prefer to having it thick you can blanch the zucchini strips in simmering water for a few minutes and dry them with a paper towel. This is quite a lot of work because there are a lot of them, so I leave this step out and go for the thinner sauce. Especially when there is not too much time then I’d recommend not doing this extra step.

All in all, this is a pretty simple Italian inspired dish. It is a little bit of work but really fun to make and such a great way to lighten up stuffed cannelloni. I know that some Italians would come and beat me up now if I keep calling this “cannelloni” but it is really good. A dinner that all of your family is going to love!! If you do make it, be sure to share it with me on Instagram and tag me with @uneptcuisiniere or #unepetitecuisiniere. I’d love to see it! 

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Veal Stuffed Zucchini Cannelloni

A delicious lighter twist on the traditional italian classic. Made with ground veal and herbed ricotta, which is all packed into nourishing Zucchini and topped with fresh tomato sauce and molten cheese. Just good.

Course dinner, lunch, Main Course
Cuisine Italian
Prep Time 30 Minuten
Cook Time 20 Minuten
Total Time 50 Minuten
Servings 4 people
Calories 370 kcal

What you will need

  • 2 Zucchini
  • 1.5 tbsp Olive Oil
  • 1 White Onion
  • 2 Cloves Garlic
  • 400 g Ground Veal can substitute for any other meat
  • 200 g Ricotta
  • 1 Egg Yolk
  • 1 tbsp Minced Basil
  • 1 tbsp Minced Sage
  • 1 tbsp Minced Oregano
  • 400 ml Tomatoe Sauce
  • 50 g Parmesan Cheese Do not use pre-grated ones if possible since the quality is alway lower
  • 50 g Mozarella Cheese Buffalo is best

How to

That´s how it works:

  1. Preheat the oven to 180C. With a peeler, peel of strips of the Zucchini that are about 1-2mm thick. In a pan heat up the olive oil. Meanwhile finely mince the onion and garlic. Once hot add them to the oil and cook them for about 1 minute. Add the meat and generously salt and pepper. Cook for about 5-8 minutes, it does not have to be completely cooked through. 

  2. In a bowl mix the Ricotta with the egg yolk, the fresh herbs, salt, and pepper. On a flat surface lay out about three to four Zucchini strips* at a time, depending on how big they are, slightly overlaping. 

  3. Grate the parmesan cheese and chop of the mozarella into about 1.5 cm large pieces. 

  4. At the lower end of them spread one tablespoon of the Ricotta mixture and 1 tablespoon of the minced veal on top. Carefully roll them up and place them aside. Continue until there is no Zucchini and Meat left. 

  5. In an oven-safe dish or pan spread half of the tomato sauce. Carefully place the Cannelloni horizonatlly in it. Top them with the rest of the tomato sauce and the different cheeses.

  6. Bake in the oven for about 12 minutes, so the cheese has all molten and the Zucchini is cooked through. Serve with some fresh basil and enjoy!

Notes

*if you want the dish to be less watery, blanch the Zucchini strips in simmering water for about 1 minute here. Then transfer them into an ice bath and pat them dry. Continue to follow along the recipe. 

I do not think that this step is necessary because I like it to be saucy but this depends on your preference.