Linguine al Limone e Polpo

A Girl From SF

Hi! My name is Gina Michelle. Welcome to my Blog AGirlFromSF. For as long as I can remember, cooking has been an integral part of my life. My favorite part of cooking has always been eating. I fondly remember being chased out of my Italian Grandma's kitchen with a wooden spoon for eating too many raw ravioli. As an adult, I love taste testing as I go, using the method, a little bit of this and a little bit of that until the recipe comes together. The best part of cooking is combining different flavor profiles. In my humble opinion, the more flavors you combine, the better the meal tastes. I also pride myself on creating affordable recipes with easy-to-find ingredients or pantry staples. If you're new to cooking, I'm glad you're here. My goal is to make cooking a seamless and enjoyable experience. Making great food doesn't have to be expensive.

Cheers <3

For dinner tonight, we're making Linguine al Limone e Polpo. In English, we're making Linguini pasta with Lemon and Octopus. The sauce is super easy to make and is perfect for summer nights when you don't feel like cooking.

It's light, refreshing, and bursting with flavor. Cost-wise, it's not too bad, especially if you have some of the ingredients in your pantry. For the sake of transparency, I found everything at Trader Joe's and listed the prices below. The best part is that this pasta is that it makes around 5 servings, making the total cost per serving $3.66

Don't be frightened by the Anchovies. Anchovies are the star of the show, they give this pasta a rich flavor without being overly fishy. It has a slight umami flavor and is one of my favorite ingredients to cook with. It balances the acidity of the lemon nicely.

Trader Joe's has a great tin fish selection. I love their Grilled Calamari pieces in Olive Oil. They have a chewy texture and are a great source of protein. They are also high in Omega 3's and contain several vitamins and minerals like B12, Selenium, Iron, and Potassium.

Ingredients

1. Linguine Pasta $0.99
2. Capers $2.99
3. Tin Fish: Anchovies in Olive Oil $1.99
4. Tin Fish: Grilled Calamari $3.99
5. Cherry Tomatoes $4.99
6. Shallots $0.50
7. Garlic $0.50
8. Parmesan Wedge $4.85
9. 1 Lemon $0.50

Total Cost $18.31

Steps to Make Pasta

1. Boil the Pasta and Salt Your Water, Don't Skip the Salt! It adds a layer of depth to uncooked pasta, giving it a richer flavor.
2. While the water boils, get a saucepan, drain the olive oil from the tin fish (Anchovies and Grilled Octopus), and put the stove on low heat
3. While the oil is heating, finely chop two cloves of garlic and 1 shallot. I like to chop my garlic and shallots super fine. If you like larger bites of garlic, you can slice them into larger pieces. You can play around with cooking and customize to your preferences.
4. After your garlic and shallots are chopped, chop your cherry tomatoes in half; you can also leave them whole if you prefer.
5. After the tomatoes are chopped, slice up your anchovies into little pieces. You can also leave whole; either way, they will break down into a sauce as they cook
6. Now that the oil is hot, sauté your garlic and shallots until they start to sizzle
7. Once they start to sizzle, add the anchovies, stirring the garlic and shallots until they turn translucent.
8. After they turn translucent, add your grilled Octopus and capers to the pan.
9. Now take your lemon and gently squeeze it into your sauce pan.
10. Let the sauce cook until the pasta is done boiling
11. Let the pasta boil for 9 minutes, strain the pasta, saving some of the water
12. Add some of the water to the sauce, and place the noodles and cherry tomatoes directly into the sauce, stirring everything together.
13. Add some grated Parmesan, and Serve

I hope you enjoyed this recipe as much as I did. Bon Appétit. <3 Gina Michelle