A chef has shared a “beautiful” pasta dish that could help you “live to 100”. This recipe is packed with beans, legumes and vegetables, taking inspiration from some of the world’s longest-living people.
Francesco Mattana, who has more than 660,000 followers on his cooking TikTok channel, showed viewers how to make tagliatelle primavera the Sardinian way.
He called it the “live to 100 pasta”. He said: “A simple recipe packed full of beans and legumes, which are an essential part of the Sardinian diet.
“The flavours of the green beans, broad beans and peas combine with the freshness of the tomatoes, lemon, basil and mint and the savoury of the pecorino cheese make this dish a joy to eat.
“The sauce can also be used simply on top of toasted bread or as a bed for baked fish.”
Sardinia, located off the Italian coast, became the first region worldwide to be recognised as a Blue Zone – defined as an area where residents enjoy exceptionally long lifespans.
According to statistics, roughly 33.6 people per 100,000 residents in Sardinia reach 100 years or beyond, placing it amongst the regions with the highest concentration of centenarians across the globe.
The recipe
The ingredients needed for this pasta dish are:
- 300g tagliatelle
- A quarter of a leek
- Two garlic cloves
- Three tablespoons of peas
- A handful of broad beans (fava beans)
- A handful of green beans
- A handful of baby plum tomatoes
- Pecorino cheese
- Basil
- Mint
- Lemon zest
- Olive oil
- Salt
- Pepper
To begin, Francesco prepared all his vegetables. He started by finely chopping two cloves of garlic.
Following this, he removed the lower portion of the leek – calling this the “sweetest” bit – and cut it into thin slices. He trimmed the ends from the green beans and cut them in half.
Francesco then opened the broad bean pods and removed the contents. He placed a frying pan over medium-high heat and added a “good drizzle” of olive oil.
The leeks, green beans, and broad beans were placed into the pan and stirred together before cooking for several minutes.
The next step involved adding the peas, tomatoes, and garlic before mixing and seasoning with black pepper and salt. He then added some water, covered with a lid and left it to steam for five minutes.
Whilst that was steaming, he cooked the tagliatelle in another pan. Once the pasta was cooked, he moved it to the vegetable pan along with some pasta water.
For the finishing touches, he added fresh basil, a hint of fresh mint, some lemon zest, and grated pecorino cheese. He then amalgamated everything, adding an extra drizzle of olive oil and pasta water before serving.
The chef exclaimed: “Oh, this is so good. I hope you’re going to make this one because it’s too good to miss.”
Blue Zones
The initial five Blue Zones are Okinawa in Japan, Sardinia in Italy; Nicoya Peninsula in Costa Rica, Ikaria in Greece, and Loma Linda in California. According to BlueZones.com, the traditional Sardinian diet consists of “whole-grain bread, beans, garden vegetables, fruits, and, in some parts of the island, mastic oil”.
“Sardinians also traditionally eat pecorino cheese made from grass-fed sheep, whose cheese is high in omega-3 fatty acids,” it states. “Meat is largely reserved for Sundays and special occasions.”
This story originally appeared on Express.co.uk
