Trapani rigatoni and limoncello trifle
Trapani rigatoni
It was time… It had been too long ago that Charlotte and myself (and Winfried) cooked up something fun together.. Well actually that is not even entirely true as Charlotte is also part of our cooking club so it’s not really that long, but cooking with more then two/three in this case does not count.. 
And quite frankly it is more or less and excuse to get together and have fun. And what better way to do that then in the kitchen. It was also on the first day of spring so a gorgeous gorgeous sunny day (I love spring don’t you? Flowerbuds and blossom are still a bit hesitant, but promise is in the air for sure!) After my failure with the buns earlier I figured I needed to make a bread that I knew how to do and it was easy to pick my pumkin-walnut focaccia that we so loved the last time I made it.
Preparing the pumpkin, stretching the dough (still a bit too sticky!) and before it goes in the oven!
It’s almost become kind of thing for us to make a Jamie Oliver recipe everytime we cook together. Possibly because the only decent cookbook that Charlotte owns is a Jamie cookbook (o, hahaha… sorry Charlotte, couldn’t resist..) so the rest is history… I had gotten Jamie’s 30 minute meals for christmas and while I love browsing through it I hadn’t actually made any recipes out of it yet. So we very quickly agreed on what we were gonna make. That same morning while reading through my stack of cookbooks in bed (do you do that too? Read cookbooks in bed??) I had already seen the dessert I fancied, which was a trifle of sorts with limoncello. We still had limoncello in the freezer from our trip to Italy so I figured it would be perfect for this! It didn’t take long for Charlotte to be convinced (2 seconds maybe?) as one look at the recipe and she was convinced too. It is that good!
I’ve always been a little hesitant to really believe the 30 minute menus. I mean, sure I can do a dish in 30 minutes as I love doing quick dishes during the weekdays, but a whole 3-course menu in 30 minutes seemed a bit too much too handle. But since we made two of the recipes of this particular 30 minute meal (we skipped the salad) I am inclined to think that it can actually be done. The pasta is incredibly tasty and the only thing is that you do need a kitchenmachine or blender to make this, otherwise it’s possibly much longer. But we all loved the pasta, which is virtually vegetarian apart from the anchovy that goes in the sauce. Tom – always a meat eater – did not even complain that he didn’t get any meat. (he did complain that we did not make a more fancier menu after having been in the kitchen the entire afternoon, but he doesn’t get the ‘girls-need-to-be-able-to-talk-too’ thing…
I will give you both the recipe for the limoncello trifle and the pasta and I would really encourage you to make both! (plus the focaccia too….!! Sooo good!)
Trapani rigatoni
Yield: 4
Prep Time: 10 mins
Cook Time: 10 mins
Total Time: 20 mins
Ingredients:
- 500 gr dried rigatoni
- 40 gr parmesan cheese
- 100 gr whole blanched almonds
- 2 cloves of garlic
- 1-2 fresh red chili peppers (our supermarket was out of the chili's so I used chilipepper puree which you can buy in a bottle here. That worked fine!)
- 2 large bunches of basil
- 4 anchovy fillets in oil
- 450 gr cherry tomatoes, preferably red and yellow ones if you can find them
Directions:
- Put the cheese (in chunks) with the almonds, the garlic and the chili pepper (if you use whole chili's then remove the stalks. If you prefer extra hot, keep the seeds in, otherwise remove before adding to the magimix) in the magimix and chop finely. With motor running add 1,5 bunch of basil, the anchovy and about 2/3 of the cherry tomatoes. Mix everything until it resembles a puree and add two good lugs of olive oil. Taste the mixture and add seasoning if needed. Set aside for later use.
- Cut the remaining tomatoes in half or quarters and put aside. In the meantime you could have cooked your rigatoni so check if they are done. Leave them to drain and keep a little bit of the cooking fluid separately. Put the pasta back in the hot pan and mix with the puree and stir it all together well. Add a little cooking fluids if it is a bit too dry or dense.
- For serving put it in a large dish, shake it again and add the remaining cherry tomatoes and basil leaves to it.
Recipe from jamie's 30 minute meals
Seriously good pasta!
LIMONCELLO TRIFLE
- 3 oranges
- 3/4 dl limoncello
- 100 gr ladyfingers
- 250 gr mascarpone
- 2 tbsp of icing sugar plus a little extra for dusting
- 1 dl milk
- 1 lemon
- 1 tsp of vanillapaste or extract (which I didn’t have so I used vanillapods instead)
- 150 gr of raspberries or other seasonal fruit
- 100 gr dark chocolate (70% cacao content) for grating on top
Juice the oranges in a bowl you can use for the finished dish. Mix it with the limoncello and taste to check if the alcohol vs the sweetness of the fruit has the right balance. You don’t want the alcohol to be too overpowering. Add a layer of ladyfingers at the bottom of the bowl.
In a separate bowl mix the mascarpone with the icing sugar and the milk. Add the zest of 1 lemon, the juice of 1/2 the lemon and the vanilla. Stir until everything is well combined. Spread the mixture over the layer ladyfingers, add the raspberries and finish it of with a layer of the grated chocolate. Put the trifle in the fridge until you need it.
Note: I did find that the end result was a bit wet. It doesn’t look very pretty but it has no effect on the taste. So if that happens, don’t worry about it…
Appetizer
Asian
Bread
Breakfast
Desserts & other sweets
Healthy
Two fantastic recipes! That pasta dish looks really good and summery.
Cheers,
Rosa
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Everything on this post are so pretty, fresh and delicious! Gotta try your pasta recipe…very tempting.
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I’d say dinner and dessert are set here! I’ve used Limoncello to make a Tiramisu and the two desserts have their similarities…easy prep and delish!
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looks amazing and I love those photos of you busy in the kitchen!
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What a fun and lovely time together
Love every dish on the list! Can’t help drooling over the trifle too
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Love the food you and Charlotte prepared. So fun when two friends enjoying their time in the kitchen.
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What a wonderful spread out there, Simone! Just got myself a bag of cherry tomatoes and was wondering what to make with them..have Italian pasta and am going to try the same soon. Love the click with dirty hand
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What joyous photos of cooking with friends. Beautiful local regional fresh delicious nutritious foods prepared together and enjoyed together. I cannot think of a better way to spend my life.
Valerie
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This looks like SO much fin!
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These rigatoni are absolutely delicious…I know something about them, I’m from Trapani! Great cooking! I watch Jamie Oliver on Gambero Rosso Cooking Channel here in Sicily, he’s such a character, love him! I’m following you from Trapani!
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That’s so fun! I recently made Jamie’s dress-the-boars steak, so good!
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I love that trapani sauce with pasta, and I love limoncello. Sounds like a fantastic meal and a fun night!
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I need to start a cooking club down here. It looks like so much fun! Everything looks so good
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so fun and such delicious results!
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just quickly – this was posted onto foodgawker as a vegetarian pasta dish. It has anchovies and parmesan so isn’t suitable for veggies.
Otherwise it looks nice!
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Simone (junglefrog) — April 11th, 2011 at 10:25
Oops. That is really stupid of me… Thanks for letting me know. Not sure if I can change it on foodgawker but will try.
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That’s 2 people working in the kitchen….MEANS 1 HOUR !!!!
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I saw a bit of these on the food channel last night and am excited to make them. Can someone tell me what the measurement “dl” stands for in the Tiramisu recipe please?
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Simone (junglefrog) — August 8th, 2012 at 06:54
Hè Jules… That’s deciliter!
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Jules — August 8th, 2012 at 08:25
Thanks so much, appreciate it – different measurement system
Tried the tapani rigatoni just now and at the moment enjoying this great taste! Will try tiramisu tomorrow! Looking forward to it. Thanks for sharing, i’d watched the JO Show, but just did not write it down.
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