Fresh ingredients straight from the farmers and butchers of Pittsburgh lead to an amazing pasta!



My girlfriend recently came to visit me in Pittsburgh so I thought I’d take the chance to go through the Strip District here being that we are both avid foodies. We bought several ingredients from several different stores including spicy Italian sausage from a local butcher, fresh pasta, fresh parmesan cheese, and more all for less than about $30.00. Really an awesome market street that I recommend to any foodie in Pittsburgh! If you ever have the chance to go to local butchers or farmers markets I highly recommend it!

One important rule when trying to shop at a market is to NOT go there with a recipe. If you can’t find what you need then you need to go to another store, if the ingredients you need are bad quality that day then the dish is ruined, etc… Instead just walk and let it come to you. And don’t forget to chat up the store clerks / farmers! They will often give valuable recipe ideas and show what would most compliment there produce / meats. This is exactly what I did when developing these next few dishes, the first of which I have shown here.

Pumpkin Linguine with Walnut-Herb Sauce

Ingredients

  • Any pasta (I chose fresh pumpkin linguine)
  • Parsley
  • Mint
  • Cilantro
  • Olive oil
  • Any vinegar (pick your favorite!)
  • Any nuts (I chose walnuts)
  • Chicken breast
  • Parmesan cheese or any other salty cheese

The Sauce

To make the sauce for the pasta simply blend the olive oil, vinegar, walnuts, and herbs until smooth. The nuts add a creamy texture and a nutty flavor I think goes well with pumpkin but feel free to leave them out or replace with other ingredients that take your fancy.

The Chicken

I diced my chicken and seasoned with salt, pepper, and italian seasoning and sauteed until ready. I did not add too much flavor to the chicken as I wanted the pasta and sauce to be the stars of the show.

The Pasta

Pretty simple. With fresh pasta you only need to cook it for a few minutes until it is ready. With packaged pasta just follow the steps on the box.

Mix the pasta with the sauce, toss in chicken, and top with more nuts and your cheese then you are done! Simple dish but with fresh ingredients it is best to stick with simple to showcase their flavors.

The cheese adds a good saltyness to the otherwise flat flavors of the pasta and nuts!