While most pastas feature a tomato, cream, or oil based sauce, there are a variety of sauceless pastas out there flavored solely by their added ingredients. We haven't done a sauceless pasta since the Maccheroni Rustica with beans and sausage last year, and it was time for another attempt, this time using an ingredient we've somehow never gotten around to trying before: watercress.
To start this meal we boil up some multi-colored penne pasta in a large pot of water as you would with any other pasta dish.
We've picked the watercress leaves and placed them in a bowl, and then "cooked" them by pouring in a small amount of retained water from the pasta. That's all they take - just a few moments blanching in hot water.
It can't just be greens though, so we added in some sliced cherry tomatoes for a bright color contrast and a nice sweet flavor.
We also decided to dice some red bell pepper for something with a firmer texture and tossed it all together.
Mix it all in a bowl and then add in one of the "funkier" cheeses for the final touch - we used gorgonzola, but feta or bleu cheese would work equally well. If the sharper or more complex cheeses aren't your thing, a milder substitute like ricotta or fresh mozzarella could work instead.
This pasta works fine on its own as a full meal, or you could do a meat side, but we decided to double up on the veggies and have a salad with Italian dressing.
To start this meal we boil up some multi-colored penne pasta in a large pot of water as you would with any other pasta dish.
We've picked the watercress leaves and placed them in a bowl, and then "cooked" them by pouring in a small amount of retained water from the pasta. That's all they take - just a few moments blanching in hot water.
It can't just be greens though, so we added in some sliced cherry tomatoes for a bright color contrast and a nice sweet flavor.
We also decided to dice some red bell pepper for something with a firmer texture and tossed it all together.
Mix it all in a bowl and then add in one of the "funkier" cheeses for the final touch - we used gorgonzola, but feta or bleu cheese would work equally well. If the sharper or more complex cheeses aren't your thing, a milder substitute like ricotta or fresh mozzarella could work instead.
This pasta works fine on its own as a full meal, or you could do a meat side, but we decided to double up on the veggies and have a salad with Italian dressing.
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