I love recipes that teach me something new. When I set out to write my cookbook, Herbivoracious: A Flavor Revolution with 150 Vibrant and Original Vegetarian Recipes, I wanted each dish to introduce flavor combinations, ingredients, or techniques that are easy use and will expand your repertoire.
Today’s featured recipe for making Peppery Red-Wine Capellini by the absorption method, instead of in a big pot of boiling water, may seem a bit scary to those of us who grew up with noodle orthodoxy. Actually, it is a great way to cook pasta, and it can be a big time saver. You don’t have to wait for water to boil, and, if you design your sauce and condiment to be built in with the pasta, you don’t have two pots to clean at the end.
In fact, this pasta prompted one of my all-time favorite comments, from a reader named Sandy: “This dish is downright sexy. The bold flavors and spicy aromas combined with the rich, dark colors and the smooth spice of the cappellini just make it a manly dish. If I could bottle the scent and spray it on my boyfriend, I would! haha... I loved that it was rich and light at the same time.”
Although Herbivoracious is a vegetarian blog, and a vegetarian cookbook, I don’t believe in being judgmental or preachy. Everyone wants to eat at least the occasional meatless meal, so my mission with both the blog and the cookbook is to show lots of ways that a vegetarian dinner can be hearty, boldly flavored and culinarily coherent.
This pasta is easy enough for a weeknight supper with just a green salad, but it also dresses up for a dinner party, where I might pair it with other recipes from the book like a cocktail appetizer of Chèvre With Sautéed Grapes, followed White Bean and Kale Soup, and then finish the meal with Zabaglione with Roasted Plums.
I hope you enjoy these recipes, and by all means check out the book for a wide range of vegetarian dishes that span the globe from the Middle East to Vietnam, Morocco to Mexico.
Peppery Absorption-Cooked Red-Wine Capellini
4 servings
Vegetarian and Vegan
For this recipe, I toast the capellini in the oven first. This is characteristic of how noodles are handled in Spain and Mexico (where the pasta is called fideos) and the Middle East. I enjoy the additional browned flavors. You can do this while prepping and sautéing your vegetables.
Because the tomatoes and zucchini cook along with the noodles, I call for less initial liquid than you will see in some absorption-cooked pasta recipes. Instead, you’ll check along the way and add more as needed. Be sure to reserve some of the tomatoes for garnish. I love to include an ingredient in both cooked and raw forms in the same dish to experience its full range of flavors.
This dish is quite assertive, with substantial quantities of red wine, black pepper, smoked paprika, and garlic. It isn’t one I would necessarily recommend serving to young children or those who prefer milder tastes.
