The name of these classic Italian pasta comes from the word “fuso”, which means “spindle”. Indeed, products in appearance very much resemble a device for spinning wool. Fusilli looks right like twisted spirals. Thanks to this form, they perfectly hold any sauce on their surface. Especially delicious fusilli pasta is obtained in combination with spinach and ricotta. The recipe for this delicious dish will be presented in our article.
Features of preparation and recommendations
Fusilli pasta (pictured above) is a product consisting of three interconnected and twisted blades that hold the sauce so well. That is why it is so easy to experiment with this type of pasta. Well, so that any dish succeeds well, in the process of cooking, you should use the advice from experienced chefs:
- The unusual form of fusilli allows you to use them not only for cooking main dishes, but also for salads. It is enough to boil the pasta until half cooked, cool them and mix with other ingredients provided for in the recipe.
- Fusilli is very easy to digest. To avoid this, 2 minutes before the end of cooking, the pan should be removed from the heat, and the pasta should be left in hot water for a short while so that they reach the desired state.
- And the last important point is how much to cook fusilli pasta. Firstly, for the preparation of pasta, only high-quality products made from durum wheat should be taken, which, for example, includes products from the world-famous Italian brand Barilla. Secondly, the fusilli of the above brand should be cooked exactly 11 minutes, as indicated in the instructions on the packet. They should be lowered into already boiling and salted water, and the finished products must be thrown into a colander.
Fusilli pasta with spinach and ricotta: ingredients
In northern Italy, this dish is very popular. Here they know how and love to cook in almost every family. The recipe is very simple in the composition of the ingredients and is suitable, among other things, for vegetarians who nevertheless consume dairy products.
To prepare the paste you will need:
- pasta "Barilla" fusilli - 280 g;
- ricotta cheese - 250 g;
- fresh spinach - 400 g;
- milk - 50 ml;
- olive oil - 2 tbsp. l .;
- salt - 1 tbsp. l .;
- black pepper - ¼ tsp;
- thyme - 1 pc.;
- water - 3 l.
From utensils for cooking pasta you will need a large pan, and to prepare the sauce a deep pan. The indicated amount of ingredients is enough for 4 servings of pasta.
Step by step cooking
You need to cook pasta with spinach and ricotta sauce in the following order:
- Pour a small amount of water into the pan, add a pinch of salt and bring to a boil.
- Sort the spinach, rinse and put in a pan. Boil it for 4 minutes.
- Pull the finished spinach into a colander, drain the water and squeeze it a little.
- Put the ricotta in a separate bowl, knead with a fork and pour milk into the cheese. Mix the cheese mass again, salt it and pepper to taste.
- Boil pasta in boiling water with salt. After 11 minutes, throw them into a colander.
- Finely chop the spinach and fry in a pan with olive oil.
- After 3 minutes add ricotta and thyme.
- Cook the sauce for another 2 minutes, then shift the fusilli into it and mix well together. After another 1 minute, the dish will be ready and you can immediately serve it to the table.
Fusilli pasta with shrimp in tomato sauce
Another delicious dish can be prepared with this type of pasta. Step by step the whole process can be represented as follows:
- Boil fusilli pasta (500 g) until cooked according to the instructions on the package. Usually they cook for a little over 10 minutes.
- Pour olive oil (5 tbsp. L.) Into a pan with a thick bottom. Fry finely chopped garlic (3 cloves) and shallots on it. After 1 minute, add peeled shrimp (300 g), a few cut in half cherry and pour everything with white table wine (½ tbsp.). Boil the ingredients under the lid for 3 minutes.
- Add the tomatoes chopped in a blender in the pan in their own juice (300 g), salt, pepper, finely chopped fresh basil and chili pepper.
- Cook the sauce for another 5 minutes, then transfer the pasta to it.
- Stir the dish. Hold it under the lid for another 2 minutes.
- When serving, sprinkle the pasta in the sauce with grated Parmesan and garnish with basil leaves.