RECIPE: Brothy Beef and Veggie Perline Pasta

Written by Flora Caputo

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August 23, 2016

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School has started at our house. 
Yeah. Good times.
It’s even more challenging because my daughter just started high school (gulp) and her days are very long-long meaning 8-5 (Yup. I have to wake up at 5 am now. I “slept in” this past Saturday…meaning 8 a.m! I felt like Rip Van Winkle!). It basically means dinner doesn’t get started until 5:30. The few days I have had to do pick ups posed challenging. But I had enough in the pantry and fridge to whip up this bad boy! It was really yummy, for as easy as it was.  My daughter cleaned her bowl, said it was very good and that it was her new favorite.
This from my angsty, new high shooler? A compliment?
I bask.


Brothy Beef and Veggie Perline Pasta

Ingredients:
broth base
1 Tbsp. of olive oil 
1/2 cups of chopped red onion 
1 tsp. of granulated garlic 
1 carrot, chopped 
1 stalk of celery with leaves, chopped 
1 plum tomato, roughly chopped 
1 tsp. of fresh parsley, roughly chopped
1/2 tsp. of ground pepper 
4 tsp. of Better than Bouillon (beef flavor) dissolved into 4 1/2 cups of hot water
1 cup of water

phase 2 
1 Tbsp. olive oil
1 carrot, finely chopped
1/4 cup of frozen peas 
1/2 cup of chopped baby spinach 
1 pound of fresh Perline pasta stuffed with cheese or prosciutto 
1/4 to 1/2 a tsp. of kosher salt and ground pepper to taste

Directions



In a large saucepan, heat the olive oil until hot. Add the red onion, granulated garlic and cook until softened and beginning to brown. Then add the carrots and celery and cook until things are beginning to caramelize. Add the plum tomato and scrape the bottom of the pan to bring up any brown bits off the bottom. Add the parsley and the ground pepper and cook for about 5 to 7 minutes until the tomato begins to release its juices.

Add the beef bouillon that you’ve prepared scraping up the bottom as you stir and add a cup of water too. Bring pot up to a boil and then lower the heat slightly and have a rolling simmer for about 30 minutes. After 30, strain the pot contents through a fine sieve into a bowl, pushing the veggies against the side to get all that luscious juice. Discard the organic material. Set the broth aside for a few minutes, and return the pan back to the stove. Now you are ready for phase 2 and assembling the dish.



Add another tablespoon of olive oil and begin cooking the finely chopped carrot until it begins to sweat, then add the peas. Toss the peas until they begin to defrost and cook for about 3-5 minutes then add the beef broth back into the pot. Bring to a simmer and cook the carrot and the peas until the peas are tender, about anther 5 minutes or so. Add the salt and fresh ground pepper, and adjust seasoning.


Meanwhile while you’ve been simmering your broth, heat another pot of water to cook your Perline pasta. If it’s fresh it should only take about three minutes. Cook according to package directions, then drain and bring pasta to the pot of broth and add it with the chopped baby spinach. Give everything a stir and let the spinach cook for about 1 to 2 minutes. Serve hot with a little extra Parmesan cheese on top.

Flora Caputo
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