Fregola, a tiny spherical pasta from the Italian island of Sardinia, is the perfect shape to catch the bright, fresh flavours of Molly Baz’s spicy green sauce. If not available, pearl couscous will happily stand in.
“When I know I need to get vegetables into my body, consuming an entire clamshell of fresh spinach is the easiest way to do it. Mixing bouncy fregola (a Sardinian couscous-like pasta) with a blender full of spicy green sauce is a surefire way to meet your daily quota. You can serve this cold or at room temp, making it a nice little meal-prep dish, if you’re into that, and perf for taking to potlucks, camping, on an airplane, etc,” Baz writes.
Molly Baz's Spicy Green Fregola
An easy pasta dish that's as delicious as a side as it is a main.
Ingredients
- 2½ cups fregola or pearl couscous
Spicy Green Sauce
- 1 large bunch dill coarsely chopped
- 2 serrano chilies or 1 jalapeno coarsely chopped
- 5 oz pkg baby spinach
- 1 clove garlic
- big pinch kosher salt
- ⅔ cup extra-virgin olive oil
Salty Yog
- ⅔ cup plain whole-milk yogurt not Greek
- ¼ tsp kosher salt approx
- 1 lemon juiced
- sesame seeds for sprinkling
- freshly ground black pepper
Instructions
- Bring large pot of salted water to a boil. Stir in fregola and cook until al dente following package directions, tasting as you go. Drain; rinse under cold water until cool. Transfer to large bowl.
Spicy Green Sauce
- In blender or food processor, add dill, chilies, baby spinach, garlic and salt. Add olive oil, then blend on high until smooth, 1 minute. Taste, adding more salt if needed.
- Pour spicy green sauce over fregola. Add lemon juice, stirring well to coat. Taste and adjust seasoning – does it need more salt? More lemon?
Salty Yog
- In small bowl, stir together yogurt and salt. It should taste salted but not overly salty! You decide!
- Make a well in centre of fregola mixture and spoon salty yog into well. Sprinkle with sesame seeds and a crack or two of black pepper and serve!
