What a start to 2021! January is always a slightly moodier month than the rest of the year. However, this month feels harder to swallow as we are still caught up in a global pandemic.
January is usually the time of year, where many of us may start a new diet or food fad. Some wanting to shift any extra weight gained over those festive weeks. But the last thing we should be doing is holding ourselves back from food that we love or gives us comfort during such difficult times. However, what we do need to consider is balanace. So, it’s important that we also fuel our bodies with goodness to maintain a healthy body and mind. It’s all about pampering ourselves while achieving a balance.
Sticking to the subject of balance, this week’s pasta dish pasta with chicken dumplings in broth reflects that concept. Inspired by northern Italian cooking, TAGLIOLINI is the pasta shape of choice for this broth-based dish. Garofalo’s Tagliolini Nido (shaped like a small nest) are originally from the Italian north-western region, Piedmont and are a thinner version of a wider tagliatelle. Its lighter structure makes it a fantastic alternative to other small soup pasta shapes usually enjoyed in Italian soups.
I don’t know about you, but a soup is not always on top of my list for a dinner choice. However, the bite-sized dumplings found in this dish, bring the comfort levels that we are looking for. While, the wonderful vegetable ‘soffrito’, creates a wonderful flavoursome base to the broth that makes your feel your funneling health into your body with every spoonful.
If you’re wondering where you can get your hands on this fantastic pasta, you can easily buy yourself a packet or two from both Ocado and Amazon.
So give this northern Italian inspired pasta dish. Treat yourself to both comfort and goodness as don’t we deserve both right now? Enjoy my bambinos.
Garofalo
I have a long history with Garofalo, as I used to sell it on my Italian food stall years ago. Made in Gragnano, a city in the province of Naples, it’s better known as the ‘city of pasta‘. The pasta produced here is of such a high standard that even the European Commission has given it an IGP status (guarantee of origin for foods produced in specific areas; Italy).
Using only the best quality semolina flour, their pasta has a high protein content, which helps retain starch, hold its shape and give that perfect ‘al dente’ texture that we should all be looking for. Secondly, Garofalo pasta is bronze-died, which gives the pasta a rough, porous surface making it perfect for sauces to bind and cling to. So when it comes to enjoying this hearty pasta soup, it absolutely up levels your experience.
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Tagliolini pasta with chicken dumplings in broth (4 servings)
1 onion, finely sliced
1 medium carrot, finely diced
1 celery stick, finely sliced
1 clove of garlic, finely chopped
900ml chicken stock
200g chicken or turkey mince meat
1 egg
2 tbsp grated parmesan cheese
1 tbsp fine breadcrumbs
5g fresh parsley, finely chopped
1 lemon
Olive oil
Sea Salt
Black Pepper
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Directions
- First, drizzle 2 tbsp of olive oil into a saucepan on low heat. Now add the onion, carrot and celery. Season with salt and gently fry the vegetables for 5-10 minutes. Keep them moving around the pan with a wooden spoon.
- Add the garlic and gently fry altogether for another 2/3 minutes.
- Pour in your chicken stock. Bring it to the boil and turn the heat down to a gentle simmer. Cook for approximately 20 minutes with a lid on.
- Now, let’s crack on with the chicken dumplings/meatballs. Break an egg into a mixing bowl and beat it together with a fork. Add in the chicken mince, parmesan, breadcrumbs, parsley and freshly grate in the zest of the lemon. Season with salt and pepper.
- Mix all the ingredients well together. Shape and roll the mixture into bite-size meatball/dumplings.
- Next, drizzle 1 tbsp of olive oil into a frying pan. Brown the meatballs all over on a low/medium heat for 3/4 minutes. Set aside.
- Pop the meatballs into the chicken broth and cook for 5 minutes.
- Then, gently add and stir the tagliolini into the broth.
Tagliolini by Garofalo only takes 4 minutes. We will want to cook it for only 3 minutes as the pasta will continue to cook after the pan has been removed off the heat. - Serve immediately with chopped fresh parsley.
**This recipe is a paid collaboration with Garofalo pasta.
