Can one EVER be tired of pasta? It’s obviously a rhetorical question.
Italian pasta comes in all shapes, tastes and colors. And yet, it never stops surprising me with new pasta types I’ve never seen before.
This special pasta is a vivid proof.
Foglie d’ulivo agli spinaci - olive leaves with spinach - is a special type of a high quality pasta made with durum wheat flour and spinach.
As the name itself suggests it’s made in a form of an olive leaf, and spinach gives it an awesome, natural green color and a wonderful flavor.
In Italy, there is a tradition of gifting pasta, especially one that is hard to find at a regular store to your friends, relatives or someone you care about.
And I got mine foglie d’ulivo from my mother in law. Lucky me 😀
But if you don’t have mother in law who gifts special pastas you can easily get it online. And if you are thinking of getting just ONE pack, think again!
These olive leaves with zesty, lemon infused salmon is a blast of color and flavor.
If you are hosting a special guest, a party or just looking to add some variety to your pasta table, this will be your latest and utmost discovery.
Did I mention it’s SUPER fast to make?
Think 5 minutes to boil the water and 12-15 minutes to cook pasta. That’s it! You have a delicious, bright, flavorful, authentic Italian meal in less than 30 minutes.
Ok, if I haven’t convinced you yet, no one can. But if you’re already ordering foglie d’ulivo and thinking of a piece of salmon you have in the fridge, here’s how you make it 🙂
Serves: 4-5
Ingredients:
1 pack foglie d’ulivo spinach pasta
7-8 oz fresh salmon or salmon fillet pack
10 cherry tomatoes
½ white onion
2 garlic cloves
1 lemon zest (juice)
1 tablespoon white wine (optional)
3 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
handful fresh parsley leaves
salt to taste
Preparation:
Step 1: Finely chop the onion and crush garlic cloves with a flat knife. If you love a stronger taste of garlic you can finely chop the garlic cloves too.
Place a large skillet pan over a low-medium heat, at extra virgin olive oil, garlic and onions. Stir gently until onions become semi-transparent and garlic becomes fragrant. Be careful to not over cook them.
Step 2: Cut cherry tomatoes in quarters, add to the pan. Stir and simmer for 2 minutes.
Step 3: Cut salmon fillet in cubes of about the same size as your cherry tomatoes quarters.
Make sure to separate salmon skin from the fillet.
If you don’t have fresh salmon you can use good quality canned salmon as well.
And if you like, you can use smoked salmon too. But honestly, I’d prefer it non-smoked, as it has a much lighter flavor and let you feel and enjoy all the ingredients of this special pasta more.
Add salmon cubes to the skillet.
At this point, if you have some dry white wine, add a tablespoon. It helps balance the oily salmon to a T.
Occasionally stir and let it simmer on a low heat for 10 minutes. If the sauce starts to get too dry add a bit of a cooking liquid from pasta.
Step 4: In the meantime, bring salted water to boil and cook pasta according to the instructions on the pack.
Drain pasta when ready and preserve some cooking liquid.
Add pasta to the skillet pan with a sauce, stir gently, add a bit of a cooking liquid just enough so that it’s not too dry. Simmer for a minute so that pasta absorbs all the flavors of the salmon sauce.
Step 5-6: Drizzle with chopped parsley and freshly grated lemon zest.
NOTE: if you are lucky enough to have a lemon tree in your backyard, by all means go ahead and use lemon zest in this recipe. Otherwise I suggest you use 2-3 tablespoon of freshly squeezed lemon juice instead. And the reason is that lemons that you get a grocery store are more often than not are treated with some sort of protection coating to keep lemons fresh for longer.
And as you can guess, treated lemon zest is not a part of this recipe and should not be part of anything we eat for that matter. So for heath reason, either use non-treated lemons or replace it with a lemon juice.
Serve immediately your beautiful foglie d’ulivo in pasta bowls.
And don’t forget a glass of white wine. Pinot Grigio, Chardonnay, Falanghina, or Vermentino from Sardinia is a match made in heaven.
Full Recipe
Olive Leaf Shaped Spinach Pasta with Salmon and Cherry Tomatoes
Ingredients
- 1 pack foglie d’ulivo spinach pasta
- 7-8 oz fresh salmon or salmon fillet pack
- 10 cherry tomatoes
- ½ white onion
- 2 garlic cloves
- 1 lemon zest juice
- 1 tablespoon white wine optional
- 3 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
- handful fresh parsley leaves
- salt to taste
Instructions
- Finely chop the onion and crush garlic cloves with a flat knife. If you love a stronger taste of garlic you can finely chop the garlic cloves too.
- Place a large skillet pan over a low-medium heat, at extra virgin olive oil, garlic and onions. Stir gently until onions become semi-transparent and garlic becomes fragrant. Be careful to not over cook them.
- Cut cherry tomatoes in quarters, add to the pan. Stir and simmer for 2 minutes.
- Cut salmon fillet in cubes of about the same size as your cherry tomatoes quarters.
- If you don’t have fresh salmon you can use good quality canned salmon as well. And if you like, you can use smoked salmon too. But honestly, I’d prefer it non-smoked, as it has a much lighter flavor and let you feel and enjoy all the ingredients of this special pasta more.
- Add salmon cubes to the skillet. At this point, if you have some dry white wine, add a tablespoon. It helps balance the oily salmon to a T. Occasionally stir and let it simmer on a low heat for 10 minutes. If the sauce starts to get too dry add a bit of a cooking liquid from pasta.
- In the meantime, bring salted water to boil and cook pasta according to the instructions on the pack. Drain pasta when ready and preserve some cooking liquid.
- Add pasta to the skillet pan with a sauce, stir gently, add a bit of a cooking liquid just enough so that it’s not too dry. Simmer for a minute so that pasta absorbs all the flavors of the salmon sauce.
- Drizzle with chopped parsley and freshly grated lemon zest.
- Serve immediately your beautiful foglie d’ulivo in pasta bowls.
Notes
And as you can guess, treated lemon zest is not a part of this recipe and should not be part of anything we eat for that matter. So for heath reason, either use non-treated lemons or replace it with a lemon juice.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Buon Appetito!
Louannems says
I had this packet of olive leaf pasta in my pantry for over a year. I finally decided to use it up and I googled a recipe and yours popped up. I did make it with the white wine and lemon as directed, but also used a high quality smoked salmon from Trader Joe's. It was a delightful and delicious recipe! Thanks!
Italian Recipe Book says
Thanks for letting me know. So happy you enjoyed the recipe! 🙂