Penne Ziti Rigate with ground turkey

by Sourabh D

We all love pasta in various forms. Today, I tried to make something different with Penne Ziti Rigate pasta by adding an Indian touch to it. This is completely new for me as I have not tried this way earlier. I only hoped that it might taste better.

Ingredients.

1. Organic Penne Ziti Rigate from Garofalo - I like their pasta as it is smooth and easy to digest.

2. Chopped garlic cloves.

3. Pesto sauce.

4. Sharp cheddar cheese.

5. Green chiles.

6. Roasted cilantro for garnish - I usually make it as shown below, take some chopped cilantro put on a ceramic plate with some oil spray and bake it at 325 degree for 10-15 minutes. This way the cilantro becomes crispy and dry.

7. Heavy cream

Directions.

Part-1: Make pasta.

1. Cook the pasta in the water, add 2 tablespoons of oil and salt to the water. Once the pasta is cooked keep it aside. Make sure when you drain the pasta from water add some olive oil and mix it well so that the pasta doesn't stick while you are making the sauce on the side.

2. Add 2 tablespoons of oil to pan, you may choose any oil as per your taste. While the oil is slowly heating up, add the chopped garlic cloves, green chiles, and the pesto sauce. Let it cook for 2-3 minutes.

3. Now add heavy cream to the mixer, along with 2 tablespoon of dry parsley flakes, and half cup of water. It is not necessary to add heavy cream, you can choose any substitutions like half and half, non-dairy cream, or soy milk as per your taste. Let the mixer cook for 10 minutes, just don't add the pasta right away because it will be watery and will take more time to dissolve all that access water.

4. When the gravy is semi solid, then add the pasta and mix it well. Only cook it for 2-3 minutes and then turn off the stove, if you are using an induction stove then move your pan to another place, because induction stove takes time to cool down.

Part-2: Making ground turkey (chicken substitution)

Now this part is optional for our vegetarian friends, instead of meat you may add grounded tofu, or don't add anything, just the pasta above can also taste good. One of my friend suggested to add beyond or impossible ground meat. But is it complete upon you what to add as a topping on this pasta.

1. Take another pan and 2 tablespoons of oil in it.

2. Add 100G of ground turkey into the pan when the oil starts heating up. Cook it for 10-15 minutes.

3. I added some spices such as tandoori masala, salt, and cumin to make it little spicy. But if you don't want any seasoning, then don't add any spices.

Plating.

First put the pasta on a clean plate. Add the ground turkey on the top along with some sharp cheddar cheese and some roasted cilantro flakes.

On the side you add a sour dough bread slice, in my case I used a slice of multi-grain bread toasted with some olive oil. Finally, you dinner is ready and I can assure you that whoever eats this will definitely like it.

For the ingredients you can choose some from amazon as the link show below or from you local grocery store.

Pasta: https://amzn.to/3SnSwXR

Heavy Cream: https://amzn.to/42lXbOJ

Sharp Cheddar Cheese: https://amzn.to/3HJJ8ZD

Garlic cloves: https://amzn.to/42sMZEc

Cilantro: https://amzn.to/4bqDARm

Stainless Steel Pan: https://amzn.to/49fnFmY

Paste sauce: https://amzn.to/481rbAs