I love the way a recipe can evolve. Several weeks ago we were at our friends’ house for dinner. One of the side dishes was steamed broccoli with fresh bread crumbs. Ariel really loved this. She doesn’t like to eat broccoli unless it is in broccoli cheese soup. So of course I took notice of another way to get her to eat her vegetables! Then a couple of weeks later somehow ended up in a conversation with the same friend over an Italian cookbook. She is sicilian and as we were talking about recipes she mentioned that a lot of sicilians were poor and they used bread crumbs made from stale bread to top dishes in place of cheese. I thought this was very interesting. It was a way to use the old bread and add more flavor to a dish. What I didn’t know is just how good it could be!
So I’ve had this beautiful package of imported Italian pasta, shaped like butterflies in pastel colors. I bought them because they were so pretty, not knowing what in the world I would do with it…too pretty to cover with a red marinara! Inspired by the bread crumbs here is what I came up with and I will say it was a winner in our house!
Here’s what you need:
To make the bread crumbs, if the bread is not dry you can slice it and toast it in the oven. Let it cool and then process in a food processor until you have crumbs. Set aside. Boil pasta as directed on package. Make sure to cook al dente (still firm), you don’t want soggy pasta. Blanche sugar snap peas in boiling water, just long enough to brighten the green color, 1 minute or less. You still want them to have a nice crunch. Set aside. Meanwhile heat about a tbsp. of olive oil in a pan with a tsp. of butter, toast the fresh bread crumbs until nicely brown and crunchy, stirring often. Set aside. Drain the pasta, reserving about 1/8 cup of the cooking water. Place pasta and water in a large serving bowl. Add sugar snap peas, 1 tbsp. butter, shredded parmesan (as much as you like) and the zest and juice from one lemon. Toss and season with salt and pepper to taste. Top with fresh toasted bread crumbs. Serve with additional cheese and bread crumbs if desired. You could also sprinkle a little fresh chopped mint or parsley , yeah! Serve with a small salad and a nice glass of sauvignon blanc. Enjoy!
