Thursday, March 10, 2011

FFWD - Beggar's Linguine


What a surprise!

I wasn't expecting much with this week's French Fridays with Dorie pick. The name, Beggar's Linguine didn't inspire me and I couldn't get my head around nuts and dried fruit in pasta. Trail mix pasta? No thanks!

However, I am committed to making as many recipes as possible from Around My French Table. And there will be some that I just can't bring myself to make (Salmon and Potatoes in a Jar - uh, no) so anything that I think may work or I can adapt I'm going to give it a shot.

Prior comments aside, I do like nuts, especially pine nuts, with pasta but decided to omit the figs and raisins and quarter the recipe. I love browned butter and I think this was the first time I've used it to coat pasta. Although I looked away for half a second and browned the nuts a bit too much, the butter was still a beautiful light amber, nutty, and delicious. The linguine is added to the butter/nut mixture and tossed together until each strand of pasta is glistening with butter. Off heat, a generous helping of shredded Parmesan is thrown on. The final step, and what made the dish, is showering the pasta with orange zest. The zest added so much brightness to the dish.

I'm so glad I tried this one. It left me begging for more!
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21 comments:

  1. LOL, I made a quarter batch, too...not anticipating much from this one. I was pleasantly surprised as well...yours looks gorgeous on the orange plate!

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  2. Glad you enjoyed. I was very hesitant on this one too, but I am glad I gave it a shot! It was pretty darn good.

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  3. I'm so with you on the Salmon & Potatoes in a jar! Gross! Your pasta looks delish! Great post!

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  4. I'm so glad you liked it! I think a lot of us were hesitant about this dish, but it's getting several positive reviews. Your dish looks good!

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  5. I agree, the orange zest gave it an amazing zing! Looks great.

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  6. Well...you saw what I came up with! I may still try a single serving batch of this when the less adventurous I live with won't complain.

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  7. So glad you enjoyed this one! Wish I had more right now! :)

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  8. How funny! I didn't expect to like it either! But it was truly wonderful with pork - my husband even had seconds! Yay us for trying something new!

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  9. I was very apprehensive about starting this recipe but, like you really enjoyed it! Love your photo!

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  10. Cheers to you for at least trying it. I liked the chewy texture the fruit provided, and it wasn't too sweet with all the other ingredients. I agree about the zest, it's the wow factor.

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  11. I loved this pasta and your presentation reminds me of how much I liked it.
    I agree with the salmon and potatoes in a jar,kind of sounds like bait;-)

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  12. Trail mix pasta! LOL! I made sure to douse mine with a lot of pepper and cheese and loved it.

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  13. I loved this recipe; I swooned over the browned butter! I am glad you liked it too. Great post.

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  14. You had me laughing at trail mix pasta. In the end, it was sort of like dessert for dinner.

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  15. I enjoyed adding chopped parsley along with pomelo zest. This is a great recipe!

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  16. I think the orange zest gave it such a special delicious flavor. Your dish looks great!

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  17. Totally agree about the orange zest. I even squeezed some orange juice on at the end as I served it, just as you would with lemon juice. I stayed true to the recipe but also added pancetta - a fabulous addition idea I got from Trix, I believe. Also used a few dried cherries I had in the pantry. This is such a surprise and a great recipe to be creative with.

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  18. So glad to hear that you enjoyed it! I think a lot of us were hesitant to try this one but it surprised most of us! :)

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  19. How nice to be pleasantly surprised! I'm so glad so many of our Doristas tried this recipe, even though they had doubts. Glad it worked out for you.

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  20. That's funny, because I actually want to make salmon and potatoes an a jar, but drew the line at raisins and changed this one up. It's fun to see everyone's reactions!

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  21. Beautiful picture! I may try this without the dried fruit like you did. I agree that the orange zest makes the dish!

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