While I do like my pasta to be nearly smothered in a healthy portion of tomato sauce (not floury, creamy, white sauce), this kind of pasta is light and beautiful, goes perfectly when you are serving a vegetable soup as a part of the meal.

In my case, I made a light Minestrone (no pasta in the soup) with plenty of celery. Since the soup was already tomato based, this aglio olio pasta was the perfect accompaniment. The addition of celery was inspired by the fresh beautiful greens that came along with the celery stalks. They are so incredibly fragrant, that it is a shame to chop them off and discard them. I will even go to the extent of saying that pick your celery with the tops on. It shows that celery is fresh, it keeps well for longer and you can put the leaves to good use, like my recipe below.

Celery greens are very rich in nutrients too!

If you are just getting started with Italian cooking, this is the perfect recipe to get started. Few ingredients, simple steps and it gets done in no time. And, does it look pretty or what!

Farfelle Aglio Olio with celery leaves and crumbled paneer

A minimalistic Aglio Olio dish flavoured with celery leaves, with a sprinkling of homemade cheese. A quick and easy dinner!

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Ingredients

2 cups celery leaves, picked, washed thoroughly
1/2 litre Paneer milk from cow's or cubes half cup
cup pasta A dried short (I used Farfalle)
2 tbsps olive oil
6 - 8 cloves garlic , crushed and minced
3 chillies dried red , crumbled or finely chopped (1-2 tsp of chilli flakes).
1 tsp basil parsley each dried and .
Parmesan cheese (optional).

Instructions

In a large pot, boil water with salt and 1 tsp oil for the pasta and cook as per instructions on pack.
Finely shred the celery leaves.
Meanwhile, pour 2 tbsp of olive oil in a large wok, once moderately hot, add minced garlic and chilli flakes.
Saute for a few seconds, then add the shredded celery greens. Once the greens wilt (1-2 minutes), add the crumbled or cubed paneer. Sprinkle salt and pepper, along with any dried herbs of your choice.
Toss gently for 1-2 minutes.
Once the pasta is done, drain and add to the wok.
Toss well to coat. Check for salt and adjust.
Serve hot with a topping of freshly grated parmesan cheese.

Notes

Making Paneer

In a vessel, bring the milk to a boil. When it comes to a boil, add a tbsp of white vinegar stirring continuously till the milk separates into solids and clear whey. If the whey is too milky, add some more vinegar and stir. Filter out using a sieve or a muslin cloth and press to remove excess liquid. Cover in layers of clean kitchen towel and keep a heavy weight on the top, such as a marble slab. Cut into cubes to use immediately or refrigerate in an airtight box with some whey.

Variations

Minus the celery leaves and paneer, this becomes a simple aglio olio pasta dish, which is one of the easiest pasta dishes to make. No chopping, saucing required.

Adding some toasted pine nuts or walnuts towards the end, adds an extra texture and taste to the dish.

In place of celery leaves, feel free to use any of your local greens, or herbs like fennel greens, basil, or even vegetable greens like carrot tops or cauliflower leaves.

Shopping guide

Farfalle pasta made from durum wheat - from Waitrose Aisle of Hypercity, Cyberabad.

Celery with greens - Spar, Begumpet.

Parmesan Cheese by weight available at Spar, Begumpet.

Dried herbs - Fabindia, Keya's herbs available at most supermarkets.

Comments

anushruti says: February 7, 2011 at 11:37 am

Looks great! I make a very similar pasta. Will be writing about it soon.

Apu says: February 8, 2011 at 5:14 am

Yum!! That pasta looks delicious!!

Karishma says: February 9, 2011 at 3:50 pm

Hi Nandita, great pic and an elegantly simple recipe. But honestly, the name of the dish made me think it would be extremely complicated and have ingredients too exotic to be sourced easily 🙂 you had me fooled there! Will definitely try it out!

Roopa says: February 10, 2011 at 10:22 am

Very nice! I am sure there is nothing simple about the taste of this pasta!Quick question — have you been able to find organic/non-rennet parmesan/parmigiano at spar or anywhere else? I have a hard time finding vegetarian cheese in B’lore! Thanks. Roopa

Miri says: February 25, 2011 at 3:07 pm

Aglio Olio is my favourite….the celery is something I haven’t tried – only thought of it as something to be used in salad. Must tryMiri

Anita says: February 25, 2011 at 5:41 pm

I saw your dudhi subzi, I must say it looks so perfect.

Lubna Karim says: February 27, 2011 at 1:40 pm

Perfect and yum pasta….

Akila says: March 2, 2011 at 2:42 pm

wow so yummy…

sangeeta says: March 12, 2011 at 10:41 am

Hi Nandita… i am here for the first time it seems , you have a lovely blog and i loved all your posts….This pasta looks delectable , i can imagine the taste as i make a yeasted scone with celery and crumbled paneer …both these make a nice combo together. Next i am going to try them both with a pasta …i grow my own herbs and fresh celery has tremendous flavor.

Farfelle Aglio Olio with celery leaves and crumbled paneer