This is a great little recipe. It’s a very easy weeknight dish if you are settling down to a Poirot featuring ARIADNE OLIVER.
She’s my favourite supporting character in the Poirot series and Zoë plays her perfectly.
This is another recipe destined for Cooking the Detectives and the lovely Mr Rathbone offered to rustle it up for me, even though he is not a great fan of pesto. What a guy. The source of this recipe is one of the legendary Sainsbury’s television ads of the 1980s which featured celebrities describing the cooking of a dish over sumptuous shots of the preparation. The idea was for it to be a guessing game as it wasn’t revealed until the end of the ad who the mystery celebrity was. I’ve cooked up a few of these. John Nettles’ Mediterranean Frittata, Ian McShane’s Salmon Steaks with Watercress Sauce and Amanda Burton’s Chicken Zorba.
But back to Zoë’s pasta extravaganza. I’ll let Mr R give his cooking tips and will bung in some photos.
Zoë Wanamaker’s Tagliatelle with Pesto and Bacon
1 packet of Sainsburys Fresh egg tagliatelle (500g)
Half a jar of Sainsburys green pesto (we used their ‘Taste the difference pesto alla Genovese’) (95g approx)
Half a small carton of double cream (140-150g approx)
6 rashers of back bacon (try smoked for extra flavour)
1 and a half TBSP olive oil
One large clove of garlic (crushed)
Freshly grated parmesan cheese
Salt and pepper for seasoning
Pitted black olives and fresh basil leaves for garnish
Serves 4 – 6
Method
Heat the oil in a large frying pan or wok. Cut the bacon into strips and add these and the crushed garlic to the pan. Cook on a moderate heat for five minutes, stirring occasionally. In the meantime, cook the tagliatelle in a large pan of salted boiling water for approximately six minutes. Drain and add to the bacon and garlic.
Mix the pesto and cream together in a bowl
and then add to the pan with freshly grated parmesan.
Season with salt and pepper as desired and then mix together gently but thoroughly and cook for a further one to two minutes. Serve immediately and garnish with the basil leaves and black olives.
You may wish to set aside a little of the grated parmesan and add this too.
Notes
Do use fresh pasta as it is less starch and stodgy than the dried variety and gives the finished dish a nicer all round texture. You may wish to add slightly more or less garlic according to taste and, as noted, you may wish to substitute smoked bacon for more flavour. As we followed a vintage Sainsbury’s advert recipe, most ingredients originate from their range. Other varieties are available of course!
Serve with a robust white wine. We accompanied ours with a Bread & Butter Chardonnay which was perfect!
Here’s some “tasting notes” Mr R jotted down. First one should presumably be said in an Italian accent…
Wanamaker Tagliatelle? YES!
Mrs Rathbone sez ; “pleasantly surprised by how delicious this was – not generally a fan of pasta but I did ask for seconds”
Mr R sez ; A perfect balance of flavours, not too creamy and not too much pesto. All the flavours blended together. Do use fresh pasta (I’m not used to using it). Lighter, tastier, less starchy.
Mr R ; Less heavy
Mrs R ; Less Stodgy!
Mr R ; I wanna be your Len Deighton.
Haha!
Thanks, Mr R! This was one of the best things you ever cooked for me, I’ll have it again ANY TIME!
If you’d like to see the original ad, skip over here.
I love the bit at the end where Zoë appears, looking very cheeky indeed and says on the voiceover, “Aren’t I wonderful?” YES, Zoë, you are.
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