What goes best with Saffron pasta?!
Answers: We bought homemade saffron pasta -- pasta with saffron flavor. I am considering making some curried vegetables to serve with it, and just toss it with tomatoes and olive oil. Any other suggestions of toppings for this kind of pasta?
Lemon is a great compliment to saffron. I do a version of Chicken Francaise as a sauce for saffron pasta. Instead of using the chicken whole, I cut it into bite-sized pieces and continue this recipe:
Chicken
8 (3 1/2 ounce) boneless skinless chicken breasts
1 cup eggs, beaten
2 cups flour
2 tablespoons lemon juice
1/4 cup parsley, finely chopped
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup white wine
3 cloves garlic, pureed
2 dashes hot pepper sauce
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
2 tablespoons margarine
Sauce
1/2 cup margarine
1/2 cup white wine
1/4 cup lemon juice
1. Coat chicken with flour and set aside.
2. Mix batter by beating the eggs briskly, then adding in the lemon juice, parsley, salt, wine, garlic, hot pepper sauce, and Parmesan cheese.
3. Melt 2 tbs margarine in bottom of deep skillet.
4. Dip floured pieces of chicken generously in the batter and place in heated skillet.
5. Cook until golden brown on each side (approx 5 minutes, be careful not to put heat on too high).
6. Remove chicken from pan and drain excess oil.
7. Make the wine sauce by melting margarine in the skillet and then stirring in the wine and lemon juice.
8. Return chicken to pan and cook for about 2 minutes more.
9. Serve over pasta.
10. Drizzle remaining wine sauce over chicken and pasta.
11. Garnish with parsley and sliced lemon if desired.
Makes 4 servings.
Another great compliment to saffron is seafood, such as steamed clams and mussels, kind of like a paella.
Grilled shrimp or scallops pair well with saffron pasta. keep it simple, tomatoes and olive oil sounds perfect. Top with a little toasted pignoli (pine nuts).
In Italy, I like add chicory (preferring Red Chicory of Treviso) but also zucchini are ok.
For me the favourite combination for saffron pasta (expecially saffron rice) is with sausages or some smoked ham!
Saffron rice with sausages is a famous recipe "Risotto Milanese".