Vegetarian mains
Spinach linguine with roasted tomatoes, garlic, chilli & breadcrumbs
If you have any leftover bread, it’s a good way to avoid wastage to dry it out (in a low oven if needs be), blitz and keep a bag or tub in the freezer where you can use directly, sprinkled onto gratins and other dishes for a little crunch.
Cook's notes
In Italy, pangrattato or poor man's Parmesan – breadcrumbs with garlic and chilli – is traditionally sprinkled over pasta to give flavour and texture.
Ingredients
- 250g cherry tomatoes
- 1 tsp dried oregano
- oil for roasting, e.g. sunflower or light olive
- 1 tbsp capers
- 400g baby spinach
- 1 large or 2 small garlic cloves
- 1 lemon
- 30g parsley
- 200g linguine
- olive oil
- 50g dried breadcrumbs
- ¼ tsp chilli flakes – add all or ½, to your taste
- 25g Italian style hard cheese
- salt and pepper
Method
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Step 1
Preheat oven on to 200°C/Gas Mark 5. Wash the tomatoes and cut them in ½ crossways. Lay them on a non-stick baking tray, sprinkle over the oregano and a little oil, season with salt and pepper and roast for 30 minutes.
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Step 2
Once the tomatoes go in the oven, put 2 large pans of water on to boil, one well-salted, for the pasta. Put the capers in a mug and cover with cold water. Leave them to soak. Wash the spinach. Peel and finely chop or crush the garlic. Finely zest the lemon. Wash the parsley, shake it dry then roughly chop the leaves. Get a large bowl of cold water ready.
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Step 3
Once the pans of water come to the boil, add the linguine to the salted one and cook for 10 mins. Add the spinach to the other and blanch it for about 1 minute (until wilted). Drain the spinach into a colander and immediately transfer to the bowl of cold water to stop the cooking process. Drain the pasta once cooked and run under cold water to stop the cooking and prevent it from sticking. Keep to one side.
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Step 4
Drain the spinach once cooled, squeeze really well to remove excess moisture and chop the leaves. Once the tomatoes have been in the oven for 30 minutes, remove and keep to one side. Drain and roughly chop the capers. Put 4 tablespoons of olive oil in a large frying pan. Add the garlic, breadcrumbs and some or all of the chilli flakes (to your preference for heat). Stir-fry on a low-ish heat for 2 minutes.
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Step 5
Transfer to a small bowl and add the parsley and half the lemon zest. Add the linguine to the same pan, with a splash of good olive oil, the chopped spinach and capers. Gently heat to warm the pasta through. Add the roasted tomatoes, Italian cheese and season with a little salt and pepper.
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Step 6
Toss together with half the breadcrumb mixture. Divide between 2 serving bowls and sprinkle over the rest of the breadcrumb mix to serve, with a little extra lemon zest too, if you like.