Wednesday, January 1, 2014

Pasta with Lentils, Soppressata & Zucchini

Buon anno! 2014 is here. And I am still slightly under the weather. My sister brought over a meatloaf for us which we will be eating tomorrow night, first day back to work and all that. But tonight I was, for the first time in about a week, up to making dinner. We had to have lentils, being New Years Day. As I was not about to send Chris out looking for cotechino sausage I had to make do with what I had in the house. It does pay to keep a well stocked pantry for just such an evening.

I prepared 8 oz of lentils, only used about 4 oz but the others will freeze. I sauteed diced zucchini in olive oil and a knob of butter. Sauteing for about 5 minutes.  I added diced Soppressata Salami and 1/2 or maybe 3/4 cup of white wine. I let the wine reduce and then added the cooked lentils. Meanwhile the pasta, a German pasta - Bechtle, Chili-Tomato was cooking. I added the cooked pasta along with a cup of pasta water to the saute pan. About a quarter cup of ricotta cheese was added. The ingredients were stirred to combine and topped with fresh cut parsley.

The first word out of my husband's mouth was, "Wow!" It was quite good. The Soppressata combined with the spiciness of the noodles was a perfect match. The lentils and zucchini were more of a decoration. Yes we have leftovers but will they last to be used in a Pasta Pie... stay tuned. And Happy New Year!

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