Pomegranates and pasta?
- rosemary
- May 8
- 7 min read
"The unexpected joy of combining pomegranates with traditional pasta" WIX AI post title suggestion
This is the nearest I could get to an arty picture of pomegranates and pasta - it's by Matisse. I chose it because it nevertheless has a kind of pasta vibe, and besides I liked it. And there is definitely joy on display here - although now that I look at, not much of the obvious pomegranate seeds - just one half exposed. They could otherwise almost be onions.
No pasta in sight, however, which sort of confirms why Wix's AI feature phrased it as an 'unexpected joy' - a phrase it used every now and then in its suggestions. I guess it picks up on words that I use frequently in titles - joy, unexpected and pasta in this case. I imagine the pomegranates got into it after a post that featured pomegranates.
I no longer get automatic suggestions for new posts from their AI although I can summon them if I choose. I rather miss them. They had a kind of robotic personality. And I did note down some that caught my attention at the time.
So scratching for ideas today after a walk back from the shops on a perfect walking day - sunny but cool - I turned to my AI suggestions page, thought this one looked good, checked online where instantaneously a heap of recipes came up. Now who would have expected that? It's not just Ottolenghi who does joyously unexpected things.
As you are doubtless bored stiff with my constant harping on The Guardian, Nigel and Ottolenghi, I'm just going to look at what came up in the order in which they appear. Let;s see what turns up.
Pomegranate and goat's cheese pasta This comes from a website called Easy Cheesy Vegetarian, and a lady called Bec (Becca Heyes)- who ironically, or coincidentally has a note next to her website logo which says 'No AI ever!' Honestly what are the odds?
Towards the end of her introduction, she elaborates on what my Wix AI latched on to:
"Now, I know what you’re thinking: fruit on pasta? That’s just plain weird. But I’m telling you, it works. The little bursts of sweet juice go so well with the tangy goat’s cheese."
And maybe she's right. Other ingredients in the mix are coriander, spring onions, lemon and garlic. It could well be worth a try.
I actually have a very, very small pomegranate tree which, this year had two pomegranates on it. I have picked one of them because it had burst open and so is probably past it's best, but perhaps under the slightly dry looking top layer of exposed seeds, there are juicy ones underneath. The photo I just took makes them look much juicier than they actually are. A sort of AI enhancement by my iPhone.
Bec, The Easy Cheesy Vegetarian, by the way is British, married with two children and a dog, has been blogging since 2011 and describes herself as a 'cheese-eater extraordinaire'. Just one more of the enthusiastic bloggers out there in the internet universe. And not with a massive audience I'm guessing, although she does have an e-book. I don't remember coming across her before, but the site looks friendly, features cheese and is not too out there. Lots of pasta and pizza and curry too.
Pomegranate, ricotta and walnut spaghetti At the other end of the internet spectrum we have Tesco - Britain's largest retailer. My sister hates them in the way that most people profess to hate Coles and Woolworths. Price-wise I think they are lower middle. Professional photograph, professional styling, professional, but unnamed recipe developer. The Guardian features one of their recipes in their weekly newsletter - presumably for the money the advertising brings in. But I have to say the recipe looks interesting. Cheese again - also garlic and lemon and few basil leaves to make it look pretty.
Something different again, because this recipe is from a young woman called Rachel Walker, who runs a small company called Rooted Spices, supplying spices sourced from around the world. For a decade she worked as a food writer and editor, but in 2018 set up her company. Mind you, go to their Shop and you find it's 'currently unavailable' and the last blog post is dated 2022. Last Facebook post 2014. Which is potentially rather sad - but then I now realise that 2018 was probably poor timing. COVID came the next year. Maybe it is another COVID victim, although AI seems to think they are still operating when asked.
Back to the recipe, whose Syrian name is Hurrak Osbao which apparently means "burnt fingers', and a quick check showed that this is indeed the case and so probably requires a post of its own some day. The other main ingredients are caramelised onions, lentils, various spices, coriander pomegranates - both seeds and molasses - and walnuts again. She says of her recipe:
"Although I have used more pasta than is traditional (hands up the pasta fiend!), the flavours are spot on, combining fragrant coriander, dried mint, cumin and tangy pomegranate molasses. Despite being very distinct tasting ingredients, they marry together beautifully in this dish."
Pesto pomegranate pasta And now we are back to the world of the ordinary blogger - in this case two - Two Foodies and a Pup. It's really rather wonderful in a slightly coy way - how so many bloggers feature their dogs. A tribute to how important dogs are to we humans. We certainly miss ours. The website is, like mine, a very small corner of the internet - as witness the 25 followers and this - in the introduction to the recipe:
"it should come as no surprise to my avid readers (hi mom!)"
Which sort of suggests it's American. ('mom') There is no further information however, other than it's a lady, her husband and their puppy.
This is one of those recipes that is really no recipe at all - it is what it says it is - pasta, pesto and pomegranates. Teenagers have a go. The anonymous writer tells us:
"After all, the kitchen is a place to be creative, get messy and even make mistakes. Perhaps this is why this dish is so near and dear to my heart. After a loooong string of recipe flops and flails, I was itching for a good one. And this dish was it. Just three simple ingredients - pasta, pesto and pomegranate - and a keeper was born."
Worth a try if you have pesto and pomegranates to hand.
American - can't you tell? Marla Meredith is the name of the lady and the website too. She does more than recipes though. She also does: "spectacular travel destinations, delicious recipes and unabashed fashion & beauty finds." It's a business set up by Marla after a turn at Disney doing textile and graphic design, then a food blog, which expanded into travel, fashion and beauty. As to the recipe, the sauce is just onions, garlic, pancetta and spinach leaves, plus the pomegranate, thyme and smoked paprika, tossed around in a pan, mixed with the pasta and topped with roasted almonds and feta cheese. Well why not? Could be nice.
Matchstick pasta is from Heidi Swanson's 101 Cookbooks blog, a highly successful blog which I wrote about back in 2023. So I shall not elaborate on the blog and the writer again.
The greens in this recipe are kale, the pasta is wholewehat and matchstick linguine, which I have never seen, but which I am sure exists, and anyway I guess you could use whatever you like. There is a kind of pesto made with pistachios. The pomegranates are just sprinkled on top at the end - as in the Two Foodies and a Pup recipe.
I was going to leave it at that - well it's five different takes on the theme and a pretty good cross-section of the food blogging world, but - just one more - this time from a man - an eponymous website - Akis Petretzikis - and his recipe Healthy spaghetti with pomegranate sauce.
In this recipe pomegranate juice is blended with balsamic cream - whatever that is - cream with some balsamic vinegar? and some honey. The spaghetti is tossed with this and then some fried - or crumbled goat's cheese is put on top. There was no information about the man on his website, but when I went looking for pictures there seems to be a lot to say, so I might add him to my list of websites. A cheesy poster boy look - tatts, the hair, the muscles, the suntan - but you never know. Besides even if he is, that's interesting in itself.
I was about to finish there - it was the first Google page after all. But I just had a quick look on the next one, and there was a delicious. recipe which first of all turned out to be the British version of delicious. and then to top it all it was Ottolenghi. I know - I promised no Ottolenghi so I will say no more. Except - Of course.
Well one more thing to say. It's similar to the Rooted Spices recipe, which is the Syrian dish. So a bit of cultural appropriation going on no doubt.
It seems that Wix AI was on to something with pomegranates and pasta. Even joy - the writer of Two Foodies and a Pup, seems to have derived a great deal of satisfaction from throwing together her midweek dinner of pesto and pasta.
Common denominators with respect to ingredients? Walnuts, cheese, particularly goat's cheese, greens of some kind. And lentils - which obviously come from that Syrian dish. Starting with your two basics - pasta and pomegranates have a go yourself.
I wonder if Nigel has had a go? No I won't look.
YEARS GONE BY
May 8 - a very, quiet day - well maybe not - maybe I was busy doing more exciting things.
2024 - Nothing
2023 - Nothing
2022 - Nothing
2021 - Not very different
2020 - Deleted
2019 - Nothing
2018 - Nothing
2017 - Apple fritters
I wait with excitement to try the mysteries of PaP - Pomegranates and Pasta! But not tonight. No food cooked this eveing its Fast Friday. A vegan croissant with salami and cheese and cucumber for me!