Celebrate World Pasta Day With Three Yummy Pasta Dishes

On World Pasta Day, allow Weikfield Pasta to transport you on a delicious journey with a trio of recipes

Whatever the weather, a dish of hot pasta is guaranteed to elevate our mood and make us believe that everything is well with the world. Today, on World Pasta Day, allow us to make things a little better in these difficult times with pasta from Weikfield.

World Pasta Day has been around since 1995. That’s when global experts came together to discuss pasta at the World Pasta Congress. They decided, rightly, that more people around the world need to know about the cultural and culinary importance of pasta, and, of course, they wanted to encourage more people to eat more pasta. 

There are two delicious ways to celebrate World Pasta Day. One would be to cook up a pasta dish you love, or a new one from our selection below. The second would be to throw a pasta party, and this is a suggestion we love! Keeping COVID-19 protocols in place, invite family and trusted friends over this evening to join you in celebrating the variety and wonder of pasta. Better still, make it a potluck, with everyone bringing one pasta dish along. 

Pasta comes in over 600 shapes,  with names that are usually Italian words that describe their shapes. Weikfield Pasta offers you a choice of five different pasta shapes – penne, fusilli, shell, spaghetti, and elbow - to elevate to culinary heaven with your own pasta sauces. Made with 100 per cent durum wheat semolina, it is non-sticky, rich in protein and an excellent source of protein. Each 100 g serving has 12 g of protein, 370.3 Kcal of energy, and 1.6 g fat. This healthy base awaits your input to take it to the next level.

Keep in mind, though, that, with good pasta, you don’t even need a cooked sauce – you can just add melted butter, sauteed garlic, salt and pepper, and some Parmesan! Or try stirring a readymade tomato ragu or a pesto into hot, buttered pasta, with the almost obligatory sprinkling of Parmesan. And, of course, you can get creative and work with any number of innovative recipes to elevate your pasta to gastronomic decadence. 

Here are three interesting pasta sauces to try on World Pasta Day:

SPAGHETTI WITH PESTO AND LEMON
Serves: Four

Ingredients
350 g Weikfield spaghetti
½ small head of broccoli
½ cup frozen peas

A large handful of spinach

A large handful of basil
4 tbsp pine nuts (or use walnuts)
1 garlic clove, grated
Zest and juice of ½ lemon
6 tbsp extra virgin olive oil 

3 tbsp grated parmesan
3 tbsp plain cheese spread 

Salt and pepper, to taste

Method 

1. Cook the Weikfield spaghetti following the instructions on the packet.
2. Break the broccoli into florets, and cook them for four minutes in boiling salted water. Drain.
3. Place the frozen peas in hot water until heated through. Drain and set aside. 
4. Blanch the spinach in boiling water, cool, squeeze out the excess water and set aside.
5. Place the cooked broccoli with the basil, spinach and pine nuts (or walnuts) in a food processor, and pulse until combined. Remove to a bowl, and stir in the garlic, lemon zest and juice, olive oil, peas, parmesan and cheese spread. Season to taste.
6. Drain the Weikfield spaghetti, reserving a little of the cooking water. 
7. Place the Weikfield spaghetti in the pan, and add the prepared pesto along with a splash of the reserved cooking water to loosen. Toss together, check the seasoning, and serve.

CREAMY PUMPKIN PASTA 

Serves: Four 

Ingredients 

2 tbsp olive oil
1 onion, finely chopped
2 garlic cloves, crushed
500 g pumpkin

50 to 100 ml whole milk

2 tbsp tomato puree 

2 tbsp cream cheese (or plain cheese spread)
350 g Weikfield penne

40 g grated Parmesan
Salt and pepper, to taste

Fresh herbs, to garnish

Method

1. Heat the oil in a pan, and fry the onion with a pinch of salt until softened and translucent (about 10 to 15 minutes). Add the garlic, fry for a minute more, remove from the flame and set aside to cool slightly.
2. Meanwhile, peel the pumpkin, cut it into 3-cm cubes, and cook them in boiling salted water for 10 to 15 minutes until tender. Drain. 
3. Using a hand blender, blend the cooked pumpkin with milk (start with 50 ml). Add the fried onion-garlic mixture and blend, adding more milk as needed, to get a mixture thick enough to coat the back of a spoon. 
4. Transfer the puree to a large frying pan with the tomato puree and the cream cheese (or cheese spread), and heat over a low flame to a simmer. 
5. Cook the Weikfield penne according to the packet instructions, and drain, reserving some of the cooking water.

BEETROOT & FETA PASTA

Serves: Four

Ingredients
2 large beetroots
1 tbsp olive oil
2 onions, finely chopped
4 celery sticks, finely chopped (keep tops separate)

4 carrots, peeled and finely chopped
1 small bunch basil, finely chopped + extra to garnish
2 garlic cloves, finely chopped

400 g Weikfield spaghetti (you can use other shapes as well)
75 g cream cheese (or plain cheese spread)
100 g feta, crumbled

Method

1. Peel the beetroots and roughly chop them into chunks. Boil in salted water for five minutes, remove, and drain. Reserve the cooking water.
2. Heat the olive oil in a large pan over a medium flame. Add the onions, celery and carrots, and cook for eight minutes until the vegetables have softened. Add the finely-chopped basil, celery tops and garlic, and fry for half a minute. Set aside to cool slightly.  
3. Cook the Weikfield pasta in the reserved beetroot cooking water until al dente. Drain, reserving 200 ml of the pasta water. 
4. Return the drained pasta to the pan, and set aside. 
5. Place the boiled beetroot, half the fried vegetable mixture, and the cream cheese (or plain cheese spread) in a food processor and blend until smooth. Add the reserved 200 ml pasta water in small increments until you have a thick mixture. 
6. Stir the beetroot sauce into the pasta. Add the remaining fried vegetable mixture and salt and pepper to taste.
7. Divide into serving bowls, and top with crumbled feta and basil leaves.

Images: Shutterstock | for representational purposes only

Find Weikfield pasta at your nearest grocery story and on Amazon.