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dolorous_ettI'm very fond of pasta, but the only dish I know is spaghetti bolognese (and I make a very fine spag. bog, if I do say so myself).
However, just recently I've realised that there are so many more good pasta dishes out there... it's just that I don't really know how to make any! Of course, recipe books are full of them, but I find myself rather swamped, and they all just look the same on the page.
Can anyone rec me any really nice pasta recipes? (idiot proof for preference)
However, just recently I've realised that there are so many more good pasta dishes out there... it's just that I don't really know how to make any! Of course, recipe books are full of them, but I find myself rather swamped, and they all just look the same on the page.
Can anyone rec me any really nice pasta recipes? (idiot proof for preference)
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no subject
Date: 2008-02-01 05:45 pm (UTC)http://www.bbc.co.uk/food/recipes/database/spaghetticarbonara_70959.shtml
Spaghetti Norma (aubergines)
http://www.eat-online.net/art/english/music/pasta_norma.htm
that one's my favourite, jointly, with:
Spaghetti Maria Grazia:
Whatever amount of pasta per person you generally have.
About two courgettes per person.
1/2 - 1 oz freshly grated parmesan per person
Butter
Fry the sliced courgettes gently in olive oil until golden.
Cook the pasta, drain, reserving about a tablespoon of the cooking water. Add the reserved water back to the pasta, add butter, melting it and stirring until the pasta appears coated with a soft cream, add the parmesan, stir until melted, add the courgette slices, stir again, season, and serve (optionally) with some shredded basil leaves.
no subject
Date: 2008-02-02 08:33 pm (UTC)Thank you!
no subject
Date: 2008-02-01 06:53 pm (UTC)Open fridge
Find a selection of vegetables (works particularly well with courgettes, mushrooms, red or yellow peppers, and should include either onions or leeks)
If using dried pasta, put it on now, if fresh cook after you've cooked the veg
Saute the vegetables until crunchy/soft depending on preference (this is where veg wins over meat - rarely makes you ill if under done). Towards the end add a slug of red wine or balsamic vinegar or worcester sauce to add a bit of oomph. It is also good to add a handful of chopped tomatoes near the end.
Drain the pasta and mix in the veg.
Add a handful of chopped cheese-of-choice.
Serve, eat, enjoy.
no subject
Date: 2008-02-02 08:35 pm (UTC)Curiously, I have a Chinese cousin of this called Leftover Noodles! Unfortunately, Q would immediately see it as the fraud it is, so it's ruled out now.
no subject
Date: 2008-02-01 07:30 pm (UTC)It more or less consists of pasta tossed with a bit of olive oil, oregano, parsley, and cracked black pepper, and whatever happens to be in the fridge and looks good. My current personal favourite involves red peppers, tomatoes, mushrooms, black olives, and pancetta in arrabbiata sauce.
no subject
Date: 2008-02-02 08:37 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-02-03 02:37 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-02-01 07:40 pm (UTC)in the sumemr yo ucan makea cold sald type thign with these curl-shaped pasta adn add mayonaise, oen of those tin cans of peas, diced cooked ham and wat was it erm...soem ghurkins i believe. adn toamto catchup.
my mother always had this typical dish where hse jsut used onions ad this tinend sort of meat, ti's not corned beef althogu that mightwork too. anyways she friendthat with some leeks ibelieve ad sserved that wit hmaccaroni, but of course one needs to add a godo load ocatchup tothe pan before it goes onthe table (and that stuff o ucn also eat cold...)
and ther's m yfavourite, you stirfry some mushrooms, add acan of mushroo msoup, then oen of these french guarliccheese things, adn smoked chicken. wheeeee!
no subject
Date: 2008-02-02 08:38 pm (UTC)Thank you!
no subject
Date: 2008-02-02 09:50 pm (UTC)Wanting a touch of sun in this bitter cold, are we?
Date: 2008-02-01 11:03 pm (UTC)(Although I prefer the trad green pesto.)
http://www.agalinks.com/RecipeSearch.asp?Recipe=810
http://www.agalinks.com/RecipeSearch.asp?Recipe=742
All that being said, I find that a bowl of any good pasta, topped only with green pesto, lashingss of butter, and an unconscionable amount of cheese, suits best.
Mind, after the dire weather predictions of the past few days, my main concern was being well supplied with tea, whisky, and chocolate digestives, just in case….
Re: Wanting a touch of sun in this bitter cold, are we?
Date: 2008-02-02 08:42 pm (UTC)Thank you!
I hope you haven't been suffering too badly from snow; here it has been a complete non-event - only a bare dusting, and that soon gone.
Cold, blowy, and anticlimactic, really.
Date: 2008-02-03 10:37 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-02-01 11:08 pm (UTC)Another easy recipe is thinly sliced courgettes (use a cheese slicer or veggie peeler) stir-fried in a little olive oil until they go transparent; top with the juice and zest of one lemon, a bit of paprika and some thinly sliced mozzarella, and stir it until the mozarella melts (warning: *very* sticky job - use a decent pan). Again, a bit of garlic would probably be a nice addition.
Most cookbooks suggest that you dehydrate the courgettes a little first by sprinkling them with salt and leaving them, covered, in a colander over a bowl. But I've cooked the recipe without doing this and it's not suffered much.
Also pesto! Surprisingly easy to make yourself if you have a food processor or blender - just throw in lots of garlic, basil, and pine nuts; blend (using olive oil if you need to), add as much olive oil and parmesan as you want, and stir through the cooked pasta. Or you could just buy a jar of pesto and stir it into the pasta...
no subject
Date: 2008-02-02 08:44 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-02-01 11:24 pm (UTC)One small carton double cream (142 mls I believe)
One small lump stilton (about a third of a supermarket pre-packaged section), rind removed, cut up into small chunks.
Handful walnuts broken up into wee bits
Two or three slices of bacon, pre-grilled and chopped into strips.
(Unsurprisingly, the original Rose Eliott vegetarian recipe did not include the bacon.)
Put the pasta on to cook. (Big spiral yahoos are good)
Grill the bacon. Chop it up when cooked.
With around five mintes left until the pasta's ready, pour all the cream into a pan and heat. It's double cream, doesn't matter if it boils, it'll be fine.
Add stilton, walnuts and chopped-up bacon to cream.
Stir it up, the stilton will melt into cream.
(Add a splash of milk if it looks like it wants loosening up a bit)
Drain cooked pasta, pour cream mix over.
A month later, you'll find a bit of stilton at the back of the fridge. Why not buy another carton of cream?
no subject
Date: 2008-02-02 08:46 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-02-02 03:30 am (UTC)Shred or chop a bit of prosciutto -- you don't need a whole lot, maybe an ounce or so per person? Cut five or six stalks of asparagus per person into one-inch pieces, blot dry if you've recently washed them.
Crush two cloves of garlic and saute them in olive oil. Add the prosciutto and asparagus and a twist of lemon, cook until asparagus is slightly tender. Serve over pasta with crumbled feta cheese.
This also works well if you substitute salmon (whether smoked or not) for the prosciutto.
no subject
Date: 2008-02-02 10:58 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-02-06 04:16 am (UTC)Spaghetti alla carbonara
The trick is finding a recipe that will taste exactly like it did in Rome outside the Vatican, because that's where I fell in love with it and that's the standard to which every other version pales, suffers, and dies.
I give you a feeble wikipedia entry: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carbonara
which does have links to recipes,
and I should add that we did not have hog jowls in ours; we just had ham (that I assume was not hog-jowl ham).
It was creamy, and had egg in it, and ham, and really, those were the ingredients I remember most. Light and filling.