Today I decided to update this recipe for spaghetti with sprouts. A recipe I am very fond of, for two reasons.
First of all because it was the first dish with sprouts I had cooked many years ago (almost three decades!), specifically to try eating sprouts never tasted before, to understand what flavor they had 😃 and because it was an unusual food for us, out of the ordinary, at the time. In short, it was a real experiment, which now makes me smile, but for our eating habits back then it was almost transgressive. 😃
Naturally, they passed the test with flying colors, we loved these spaghetti with sprouts so much that they immediately became a recurring dish for us, those “but haven’t we eaten spaghetti with sprouts this week yet? let’s make them!”. And from there treating sprouts as a regular ingredient was a short step.
The second reason is that from that moment this recipe has been one of my favorite recipes, those that have a precise meaning or marked a point (of beginning, turning point, reflection), so much so that when I opened the blog I immediately put it on the list of recipes to write. And indeed it was one of the first recipes, published in March 2014, just a month after opening the blog. I am very attached to all the recipes from that early period. 😊
And that’s it. This morning I was organizing myself to start writing the next recipe, which will be online on Monday, which will have among the ingredients three different types of sprouts, and suddenly I felt like taking the sprouter out of the cupboard where I had relegated it. I want to start cooking sprouts more frequently, I’ve lost the habit a bit out of laziness I confess, but also because now it’s no longer so difficult to find sprouts for sale (as it was two decades ago!).
In the introduction I wrote ten years ago there was this sentence: “I often produce them myself at home. It’s very simple (and I’ll tell you about it).”
😃 Well. I would say it’s time to keep the promise! After ten years… I will talk about it! Get ready because I decided to publish the tutorial as soon as possible! 💪
Meanwhile… it’s already lunchtime! and the spaghetti with sprouts is ready! Come on, grab a fork!
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The other recipes with sprouts on the blog, to which I will add the tutorial to produce them yourself: 😉👇
- Difficulty: Very Easy
- Cost: Economical
- Preparation time: 5 Minutes
- Portions: 3
- Cooking methods: Stove
- Cuisine: Vegetarian
- Seasonality: All Seasons
Ingredients
- 7 oz spaghetti (preferably whole wheat)
- 3.5 oz soy sprouts (or mung bean)
- 1 clove garlic (or a piece of onion)
- 10.5 oz tomato sauce
- 1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- 2 tbsp grated parmesan cheese
- oregano or parsley
- chili pepper
Tools
- Pasta Pot
- Skillet
Steps
Prepare a tomato sauce with oil, garlic, and chili pepper (similar to arrabbiata). You can also make it with onion and optionally add oregano or parsley to taste.
Meanwhile, bring the water to a boil for the pasta and cook the spaghetti.
Wash the sprouts in cold water.
When about two minutes are left for the pasta to cook, add the sprouts to the boiling pot.
Wait for the water to return to a boil and count one minute of cooking.
👉 This way the sprouts remain al dente, but you have to consider that while the water returns to a boil, the spaghetti continues to cook, so be careful not to overcook the spaghetti. If you want to cook the sprouts for a longer time, always take into account the cooking time of the spaghetti. I advise against cooking the sprouts for more than two to three minutes because, apart from my personal taste (in my opinion, they become too soft), the cooking should be brief otherwise they lose their nutritional properties. (You can use the cooking water to make a soup).
Drain the pasta (containing the sprouts) and season it with the spicy tomato sauce directly in the pasta pan.
Add a generous sprinkle of parmesan cheese. I’ve also tried it with pecorino (although for us it’s a bit too salty 🤭) and it goes very well.
👉 I recommend tossing the spaghetti in the pan after adding the parmesan so that it melts and adheres well to the spaghetti. Then, if you like, it can be added again to the individual plates.
Try them! I assure you it’s a really tasty dish! 😋
And here is the same recipe made with whole wheat spaghetti:
Curiosity: when cooked, the stems of the sprouts take on an amber color similar to the color of the spaghetti, so they “blend in”, but they are there in the photos! 😃 Look closely, you will surely see them!
Sprouts are highly protein-rich and contain vitamins and minerals, and when included in a main dish or as a side with other vegetables, they can transform any dish into a complete meal.
This recipe comes from that vegetarian bible which is the Green Spoon, a book that introduced me to new foods and helped me diversify and expand my culinary knowledge, mine is an edition from the 90s which I cherish but luckily it continues to be reprinted. 🤩
Salt-Free Tips
Thanks to the chili pepper and parmesan (and even more so if pecorino is used), these spaghetti with sprouts are perfectly flavorful even without adding salt, neither in the sauce nor in the pasta water, my word! 😃💪
If you’re interested in reducing or eliminating salt, always remember to:
▫ Gradually reduce the salt, the palate should gradually get used to it without noticing the progressive reduction.
▫ Use spices. Chili pepper, pepper, curry, nutmeg, cinnamon, cloves, cumin…
▫ Use herbs. Basil, parsley, oregano, thyme, sage, marjoram, rosemary, mint…
▫ Use seeds. Sesame, pine nuts, almonds, walnuts…
▫ Use spicy vegetables or fruits. Garlic, onion, lemon, orange…
▫ Use my salt-free vegetable granule
▫ Prefer fresh foods.
▫ Avoid cooking in water, prefer cooking methods that do not disperse flavors (grill, foil, steam, microwave)
▫ Avoid bringing the salt shaker to the table!
▫ Occasionally indulge in a treat. It’s good for your mood and helps you persevere.
If you don’t want, or can’t, give up salt:
▫ You can still try my recipes by salting according to your habits.
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On my new WhatsApp channel and on Instagram, on the Facebook page and Pinterest boards, in my two groups: Catia’s group, in the kitchen and beyond and Just what I was looking for! and if you like… subscribe to my Newsletter.
