GINGER, CHARD AND BUCKWHEAT PASTA BROTH
It’s World Pasta Day and I realised that although we eat quite a bit of pasta at home (now that really good gluten-free alternatives are available and reeeeally good) I don’t have any pasta dishes on the website except the super famous Zac N Cheese from East by West!! Creamy and comforting, made from butternut squash, red lentils, rice pasta and a little cheese, OR It’s a wholesome and healthier re-imagining of the lesser known Mac N Cheese : )
The recipe I’m sharing today is something entirely different and fills my craving for umami broths. It’s packed with slivers of vegetables that slip down all so easily, offering a comforting, tummy warming dish, thanks too to the ginger and other aromatics. With buckwheat or rice penne or your choice of pasta gently bobbing in the midst of it - it’s a wholesome feel good food and I’m here for it during these cooler seasons!
This delicious autumn to spring recipe can be adapted with whatever you have in your fridge. Carrots and courgettes are Vata/Pitta pacifying and while chard and other leafy greens are quite Vata in nature well cooked with lots of liquid and good fats makes it less so. Buckwheat pasta is both light and drying so excellent during winter months when Kapha dosha is high but can be swapped for rice pasta if you’re feeling the effects of Vata this Autumn or indeed Pitta build up from our previous winter. The ginger broth - be it a homemade chicken broth or veg stock, sprinkled with fresh coriander to go penne dunking in is what makes this dish my pick for World Pasta Day.
INGREDIENTS
Recipe serves 3-4
1.5 - 2 litres long cooked chicken broth or vegetable stock made from bouillon
150g pasta - I used Doves Farm rice or buckwheat pasta
1 medium-large leek, finely chopped
3 medium-large carrots, grated
1 medium courgette, grated
1 thumb of ginger, peeled and finely diced
1 handful of rainbow chard, finely chopped
1 large handful of coriander, roughly chopped
Juice of 1 lime
1.5 tbs ghee, or your choice of cooking fat
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
METHOD
Get your pasta cooking in a separate saucepan following the cooking instructions
In a large saucepan sauté the finely sliced leek and ginger in then ghee for 2-3 minutes on a medium heat until softened.
Add the seasoning, grated carrots and courgette and continue cooking adding a little of the chicken broth or veg stock if it starts sticking.
Once everything has softened add the rest of the broth or stock and the chard stems. Bring up to a simmer and cook for a few mins before adding the leaves
When the chard is soft add the cooked and drained pasta and warm through.
Season to taste, to serve spoon into bowls and add a squeeze of lime juice and a sprinkle of chopped coriander.
