Description: Pasta with basil. One of the ‘’Simple is the best’ pasta’. Not exactly pesto, but full of basil flavour.
Serves: 2
Cooking time: 20 minutes
Ingredients
- Pasta (maccheroni al ferretto or penne) – 180g
- Extra Virgin olive oil – 2 tablespoons
- Basil leaves – Torn (keep some for the topping), 20 leaves or 5g
- Garlic cloves – crushed, 3
- Ground black pepper – 2 dashes
- Salt – 2 dashes
- Parmesan cheese – 20g
Method
1. Follow the package instructions to cook the spaghetti to al dente in plenty of boiling water with salt.
2. When the spaghetti is almost cooked, heat the extra virgin olive oil in a large non-stick frying pan over low heat and cook the garlic.
3. Add the pasta, salt and basil to the pan. Mix well.
To serve: sprinkle ground black pepper and parmesan cheese, top it up with some leaves.
Nutritional Values Per Serving
| Kcal | Protein | Fat | Carbs | Fibre | Sugars | Salt | Saturated Fat |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 489.8 | 15.4g | 18.2g | 68.0g | 3.5g | 1.7g | 0.5g | 1.8 g |
| 24.5% | 30.9% | 26.0% | 26.2% | 11.7% | 1.9% | 8.2% | 9.0 % |
Nutritional Tips
I believe that the use of herbs and spices in cooking is very important because:
1. It helps with using less salt when cooking.
2. It may have some beneficial effects on our body (e.g. boosting immune system, metabolism etc.).
3. It gives additional flavour.
There are so many different types of herbs and spices and if you do not know where to start, maybe start with one of these parsley, basil, garlic, chilli and see which ones you prefer and explore combinations you like more. I will introduce some more another time. My mother only had salt and pepper in the kitchen in the past but now she has white pepper, black pepper, basil, thyme, garlic, chilli, rosemary, parsley, sesame seeds, curry powder, chives, oregano. No need to have all of them, but once you try, one day you realise ‘What happened to my kitchen, there is no space for a new spice bottle’.
Mignonne Nutri-Cuisine 