This Bistro Style Fettuccine recipe boasts of fresh baby spinach lightly sautéed in butter and olive oil, then tossed together with apricots, slivered almonds, and soppressata. It’s a light yet satisfying meal that’s Old-World gourmet and budget friendly.
Life can get really hectic, especially in the summertime as the warm weather rolls in and we all enjoy spending more time outdoors. Honestly, even I, someone who develops recipes as a profession, find myself struggling from time to time to take the same care with myself as I do with dishes for Living the Gourmet. Many times, especially towards the end of the week, it’s easy to just ‘throw something together’ with little mind towards enjoying, let alone savoring the meal. That’s when this simple 30-Minute Bistro Style Fettuccine comes in handy the most.
Last week, for example, after a line of back to back content, I was simply worn out at the end of the day, and I use the word ‘day’ sparingly as it was actually nearing midnight. I figured I would just throw together an omelet, but whether from pure frustration or a late night stroke of creativity, as I stood at the kitchen sink with the bowl and the eggs, I paused, refusing to go any further down that path. Not only did I not really ‘want’ the omelet, but I found myself calculating just how long that ‘quick’ meal would take versus something I would actually enjoy, something that would allow me to feel like I was indulging as opposed to just eating for the sake of eating.
That settled it, I was going to make myself something nice, but with roughly the same investment of time and effort as that ‘quick meal’ would have required.
This new dish would have to consist of ingredients that I had on hand, given my ‘forethought and planning’ consisted of about three minutes worth of thinking at the kitchen sink. After quickly perusing my pantry, I selected a box of fettuccine, a container of dried apricots, a soppressata, and a packet of almonds. After that, I decided to use the garlic and baby spinach I was going to use in the omelet to complete what had become my simple “Fettuccini Medianoche Rústico.”
After sautéeing the apricots with the almonds, spinach, and garlic in butter and oil, I added the fettuccine, some soppressata slices, and shavings of Asiago cheese.
After I was done preparing this Bistro Style Fettuccine, I realized I couldn’t just eat this in the quiet drear of my dining room. Instead, I decided to treat myself as if I were at a late night bistro and set a cloth over the table on my porch, lit a candle, selected a cabernet sauvignon, and enjoyed what remained of the crisp summer night, relaxing over dinner.
- 1 lb fresh baby spinach
- 1 cup dried apricots – sliced
- ½ cup Asiago cheese - sliced
- ¼ cup almonds - sliced
- ¼ cup of kalamata olives – pitted and sliced
- 4 – 5 cloves of garlic – grilled
- ¼ lemon – sliced thin with the skin
- ½ cup of dried sausage - Soppressata – sliced thin
- 3 tbsp olive oil
- 3 – 4 tbsp butter
- ½ tsp salt
- ½ tsp red pepper flakes
- ½ tsp black pepper
- Prepare the fettuccine as directed.
- While preparing fettuccine, sauté the spinach and apricots.
- Heat a small cast iron frying pan; add the garlic with the skin and let the garlic char a bit. Remove from the pan and let cool.
- Squeeze the garlic from the skin and chop.
- Heat a large cast iron frying pan with the olive oil and butter.
- Add the dried sliced apricots, chopped garlic and the sliced almonds along with the seasonings and sauté over a gentle heat.
- Add the spinach, olives and the sliced lemons and toss.
- Lift the fettuccine from the water into the pan along with an extra tablespoon or two of the water from the fettuccine.
- Add the dried sausage, sliced Asiago cheese, and toss.
- Serve with a dash of fresh black pepper and a drizzle of olive oil.
We hope you enjoy this recipe for Bistro Style Fettuccine from food blogger, Catherine at Living the Gourmet, as much as we do. If you love this simple and delicious 30-minute meal, find more like it by visiting our 30-Minute Meals section. For daily recipe inspiration, like us on Facebook, follow us on Pinterest, and stop by our Google+ Community to see all of the amazing recipes our community members are sharing. Enjoy!
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