Whole Wheat Shallot Pasta - A flavorful alternative to the ordinary spaghetti night.

A few years ago, I was watching 30 Minute Meals and the recipe really intrigued me. Rachael Ray was making something called "That's Shallota Flavor Spaghetti". It seemed so simple. I remember running out that same day to buy shallots and I made the recipe. It was delicious. It was easy and it was full of flavor. I actually think it was the very first time I tried whole wheat pasta. My, how times have changed.

I hadn't thought about that recipe in ages. Until I did...

Last week, a conversation was brought up that revolved around shallots (what are they, what do you use them for etc) and that old recipe came creeping from the back of my mind. A few days later I couldn't shake it from my mind and I decided to take the base of that recipe and make it into something even better.

The version I made was meat free and is filling enough to serve as is but if you need some meat in your pasta, you could add some precooked chicken or maybe even some ground turkey or ground sausage. Do your own thing.

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The shallots are obviously the stars of the show here but I have to mention the bocconcini. If you aren't familiar with bocconici, they are basically small balls of fresh mozzarella. You can find them in most grocery stores in the specialty foods section or in my grocery store they are in the self serve olive bar by the specialty cheeses. If you haven't tried bocconcini before, I highly suggest you do. Now. Your welcome.

My family is not too big on tomatoes. Not even the little grape tomatoes, so I chose to halve them before tossing in the pan. If they weren't so picky I would have kept them whole, but again, do as you like.

Don't have spinach? Whatever, use some arugula or better yet try it with broccoli rabe (one of my favorite choices).

I know I've talked about this before but when you are cooking pasta, you NEED to salt the water well. By well, I mean, take the amount you think is appropriate and then add some more. If your pasta water is properly salted you will not need to add salt to the dish. So many people don't salt their water and it really is so important to the final outcome of a pasta dish. So if you take nothing else away from this post, make the one thing salting water!

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This recipe is inspired by That's Shallota Flavor Spaghetti by Rachael Ray.

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Whole Wheat Shallot Pasta

foodyschmoody

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Ingredients

2 T olive oil
6 large shallots sliced thinly
2 cloves garlic minced
1 pint grape tomatoes keep whole or halve if you prefer
2 C bocconcini small balls of fresh mozzarella
6 oz spinach fresh
¼ C parsley freshly chopped
½ C parmesan cheese grated
¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
Salt to taste
13.25 oz box whole wheat angel hair pasta or any long pasta

Instructions

Heat oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add shallots. Stir and reduce heat to medium low. Season with a pinch of salt and the black pepper. Allow to caramelize (about 15 minutes), stirring occasionally.
While shallots are caramelizing, cook your pasta according to package directions. As always, make sure you salt your cooking water well.
Before draining pasta, reserve 1 ½ C of the cooking water and set aside.
Once shallots are caramelized, add garlic and tomatoes to pan. Turn heat back up to medium and cook, stirring often, until tomatoes are softened.
Add the spinach to the skillet and cook until wilted. You may need to add in batches until wilted and then add more until it's all wilted.
Once all the spinach is wilted, add pasta to skillet with ¼ C reserved cooking liquid. Add in the parsley and parmesan cheese and mix well with tongs to coat the pasta. Add more reserved water if the mixture seems too thick.
Lastly stir in the bocconcini balls and remove from heat.
Serve with additional grated parmesan if desired.

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Whole Wheat Shallot Pasta