Midweek meals sorted: Give these two pasta recipes a twirl

Wednesday, 12 June 2024

These two easy dishes put a twist on pasta - one with Asian flavours and the other zesty and nutty.

Sachie’s spaghetti and quality New Zealand beef meatballs

Recipe by Sachie Nomura

In the new travel series Sachie’s Kitchen, chef Sachie Nomura travels the breadth of the country exploring New Zealand’s exciting regional food scenes. This recipe is inspired by her visit to Rotorua in episode 2 where she fishes for trout in Lake Tarawera, visits a new BBQ restaurant and tries vegan doughnuts.

Serves: 4

INGREDIENTS

1 packet spaghetti (260g dried pasta)

4-5 large bok choy, cut into quarters or sliced

Meat

400g quality New Zealand beef mince

1/2 brown onion, grated

2 tsp Lee Kum Kee Premium Soy Sauce

White pepper

Sauce

5 tbsp Lee Kum Kee Chiu Chow Style Chili Oil

4 tbsp Lee Kum Kee Premium Soy Sauce

2 tbsp Lee Kum Kee XO Sauce

1/2 tsp Lee Kum Kee Sesame Oil

2 tbsp white sugar

1 tsp five spice

4 cloves garlic, grated

1 cup (250ml) chicken stock or water

3 tbsp oil for cooking

20g butter

Deep fried shallots for garnish

METHOD

1. Cook pasta as per package, drain and set aside.

2. Mix all sauce ingredients in a small bowl and set aside.

3. Mix meat ingredients in a large bowl with your hands and form the mixture into small meatballs (approximately 20-24 meatballs).

4. Heat 3 tbsp of oil in a large frying pan and add the meatballs. Cook on medium-high heat, turning three to four times to cook evenly. Once the meatballs are getting nice and brown, add bok choy and cook for 1-2 minutes. Remove meatballs and bok choy from the frying pan and set aside.

5. Pour all the sauce ingredients into the frying pan and bring to a boil. Add pasta into the pan using chopsticks or tongs to separate.

6. Add meatballs and bok choy and continue to cook until the liquid has evaporated. Add butter at the very end and allow to melt.

7. Garnish with deep fried shallots to serve!

Watch Sachie’s Kitchen at stuff.co.nz/sachies-kitchen

Hazelnut and lemon tagliatelle with courgette

Recipe by Jo Wilcox

Photo by Manja Wachsmuth

The flavours of this brilliant weeknight recipe sing. It’s a recipe that can happily be joined by other ingredients – we’ve used courgette but baby spinach, rocket, broccolini or sautéed brussels sprouts are great too.

Serves 4

INGREDIENTS

100g hazelnuts, roasted and shelled, plus a few

extra for garnish

1 clove garlic, lightly crushed

60g fresh breadcrumbs

1 teaspoon fresh thyme leaves, plus extra

for serving

4 tablespoons Greek yoghurt

1 lemon, juice and zest to taste

3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil, plus extra for

cooking courgettes and for serving

2 courgettes, thinly sliced

1 packet fresh tagliatelle or fettucine (to serve 4)

METHOD

1. Place the hazelnuts, garlic, breadcrumbs and thyme in a small food processor and pulse to fine crumbs. Add the yoghurt, a squeeze of lemon juice and the olive oil.

2. Pulse and season with salt and pepperto taste.

3. Heat a cast-iron grill pan over medium heat. Lightly oil courgette slices and chargrill on both sides until softened.

4. Cook tagliatelle in well-salted water as per packet instructions. Lightly drain (keep a bit of the pasta cooking water as this helps make a silkier sauce). Add the hazelnut paste and toss to thoroughly coat.

5. Toss through the cooked courgette and dress with a little more olive oil, thyme leaves, a few hazelnuts and some finely grated lemon zest. Serve immediately.