Spaghetti Aglio Olio is more than a simple, fast-to-prepare, and budget-friendly dish. It’s one of the most popular pasta recipes in all of Italy — and in Brazil, prea.

Why in Brazil too?

Because of the influence of the Italian immigrants and their decendents, who settled mostly in Southern Brazil and also in São Paulo state.

You may not have known this, but Brazil has the largest population of people with Italian ancestry outside of Italy itself. This represents about 10% of the Brazilian population. The Italian immigrants started arriving in Brazil after the unification of Italy… More precisely, the first groups of Italians arrived in 1875; totuși, the real Italian immigration boom only took place in late 19th century — between 1880 și 1900.

Following in the footsteps of the Portuguese settlers and the German immigrants, they were a significant force in shaping Brazilian culture.

Brazilians also inherited their love for sausage (linguiça) from their European ancestors, particularly for Portuguese, Italian, German, and Polish sausages.

Bine, you must be asking yourself by now what sausage has to do with Pasta Alio e Oglio… It appears here as part of our twist on this classic dish. In fact, sausage is so popular in Brazil that it is one of the standard items brought to table and served in our well-esteemed Churrascarias (Brazilian Steak Houses). The most popular are the Calabrese, Portuguese, Paio, and Toscana sausages. Which type of sausage to use in a particular dish varies from recipe to recipe. Feijoada , de exemplu, calls for linguiça toscana și paio, while Calabrese sausage is the preferred topping for pizzas. The garlicky Portuguese sausage is more popular at churrascos (Brazilian barbeque). For our pasta dish today, I preferred to use the smoked Calabrese sausage because of its spiciness.

As part of our twist, I have added pumpkin to our pasta as well, in recognition of the many dishes in Brazil that combine pumpkin with either sausage or shredded jerked beef (carne seca). Both tomato and basil were also added to the pasta to really bring out the dish’s fresh taste. All of the ingredients integrated into this dish make it simultaneously smoky, picant, dulce, și sărat. Sorry! I am getting hungry…

If you are, prea, let’s go prepare our Fettuccini Aglio e Olio with a Twist now.

Buon appetito/ Bom apetite!!!!

 

Fettuccini Aglio e Olio with a Twist

Servește 4-6

(Segment: From My Table To Yours/ Brazilian Inspired)

Ingrediente:

1 lb (despre 450 g) fettuccini, or your favorite pasta**

1-1/4 tablespoons salt

1/2 cup olive oil

7 oz (despre 200 g) smoked Calabrese sausage, ground**

2-1/2 tablespoons garlic, tocat

1/4 la 1/2 tablespoon crushed red pepper flakes

1 cup pumpkin (cojit, deseeded, cubed, and cooked)

1/2 cup cherry tomatos, sliced in half lenghtwise

3 tablespoons basil, tocat

Parmesan cheese to sprinkle **

** Pentru o fără gluten versiunea, use a gluten-free pasta.

** Calabrese mezeluri (sau Linguiça Calabresa) is a very popular product in Brazil, originally from Italy. It contains exclusively pork meat and its spicy flavor is characteristic, resulting from the use of calabresa peppers. It may be offered for sale stuffed into sausage casings or not, dried and/or cooked, and either smoked or unsmoked. If not available in your area, use a smoked jalapeño sausage or any other smoked spicy sausage.

**Pentru o VEGETARIAN version, use ground soy instead.

** Pentru o lactate fără versiune, omit the parmesan cheese.

Direcții:

Cook pasta in salted boiling water (1 tablespoon salt) until al dente, according the instructions on the package. Rezervă.

While pasta is cooking, heat olive oil in a saucepan over medium-high heat. Add the sausage and brown for about 6 minute. Add the garlic and red pepper flakes, and sauté for approximately 2 minute. Add 1/4 tablespoon salt and stir. Remove from heat.

Drain pasta, but reserve 1/4 cup of the cooking liquid in a bowl for tossing and serving if necessary. Add the olive oil-sausage-garlic mixture to the drained pasta and toss. Add the reserved cooking liquid — only if mixture seems dry. Apoi, add the cooked pumpkin and the tomatoes. Mix gently. Sprinkle the basil and serve immediately. Se bucura!

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Venituri în limba portugheză:

Macarrão ao Alho e Óleo Diferente

Servi 4-6 oameni

Ingrediente:

500 g de macarrão (fettuccini, ou outro de sua preferência)**

1-1/4 colher de sopa de sal

1/2 xícara de chá de azeite de oliva (não extra-virgem)

200 g de linguiça Calabresa defumada, moída**

2-1/2 colheres de sopa de alho, muito bem picado

1/4 o 1/2 colher de sopa de pimenta vermelha seca em flocos (facultativ)

1 xícara de chá de abóbora (Cojit, sementes retiradas, cortada em cubinhos e cozida)

1/2 xícara de chá de tomate-cereja, partida ao meio no sentido longitudinal

3 colheres de sopa de manjericão fresco, picado

Queijo parmesão ralado (facultativ)**

** Para uma versão sem gluten, use macarrão sem gluten.

** Para uma versão vegetariana, use soja ao invés de linguiça.

** Para uma Versiunea fără lactoză, omita o queijo da receita.

Cum să se pregătească:

Cozinhe o macarrão em água fervente com 1 colher de sopa de sal, de acordo com as instruções do pacote. Rezervă.

Enquanto o macarrão estiver cozinhando, aqueça o azeite numa panela média sobre fogo médio-alto e doure a linguiça por uns 6 minute. Acrescente o alho e a pimenta e doure por mais uns 2 minute. Adăuga 1/4 colher de sopa de sal e mexa. Remova do fogo.

Escorra o macarrão mas reserve 1/4 de xícara de sua água em um recipiente de vidro. Adicione a mistura do óleo-linguiça-alho ao macarrão escorrido e misture. Acrescente a água reservada ao macarrão, se parecer ressecado. Apoi, acrescente os cubos de abóbora cozidos e misture delicadamente. Por último, adicione o manjericão e sirva imediatamente. Poftă bună!

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