Your best pasta?

[MrBen]

Yeah man. Pasta. There was a time when a Saturday night meant splashing on the Hugo Boss , ironing a shirt and heading down the Lane. But tonight, after taking 3 weeks to recover from a drinking session with a certain Scottish forumite, I've decided to listen to Freddie King and make pasta instead.

I'm not sure where I got this from but it's "the best" and you only need:

- 2-3 large courgettes (grated with a cheese grater)

- 1 chilli (more if you like it)

- 2 cloves garlic

- Packet of parma ham or proscuitto crudo

- Penne pasta

- 3 tb spoons olive oil

Gently fry garlic and chilli in olive oil in a large frying pan to infuse. Add grated courgette. Add salt and decent amount of pepper. Fry for 10-12 minutes. Add torn up parma ham. Drain penne and tip into frying pan...toss with courgette mixture. Empty into a warm bowl. Fresh parmesan on top + glass of Italian red = deeply satisfying.

So come on....what's yours?

[????]

- 1-2 Fresh chill

Loads of fresh basil

Garlic

Mozzarella

Tin of Toms

Olive oil

Penne pasta

Heat oil and add chillis, crushing with a wooden spoon to extract heat then add garlic, when golden add tin of toms. Add about 1/3rd of Basil leaves and season to tase and simmer to reduce. Cook penne. Add sauce to Penne wwith rest of roughly ripped Basil leaves, stir. Take off heat and Add torn off lumps of Mozzarella and put on lid and leave for 4 mins (off heat!).

Serve.

My favourite meal bar none. soooo cheap and easy too!

PS Heard a rumour that the posher parts of SE22 are not keen on Scots singing in gardens at 3am :))

[ruffers]

Pasta fans may enjoy this site and book.

[Pickle]

Chorizo fried off until starting to crisp, add chopped flat mushrooms, then some canned tomatoes and tabasco to taste. Right at the end use a potato peeler to add long strips of courgette. I use rigatoni with this sauce. Delicious with ciabatta to mop up the sauce and the obligatory glass of red.

[Salsaboy]

Macaroni cheese made with strong cheddar. Fry bacon bits until crispy. Mix in. Into oven proof dish, cover with generous amount of fresh breadcrumbs mixed with grated parmesan and bake until golden and crispy. To drink - Sam Adams Boston lager.

Sorted B)

[Ruffler]

This from Jamie Oliver's 30 minute meals. Love it! http://www.mydaily.co.uk/2010/10/19/jamie-olivers-30-minute-meals-jools-pregnant-pasta/

[Jeremy]

I always enjoy carbonara... fry bacon/pancetta with onions, garlic, mushrooms. Beat a couple of eggs together with grated cheese and a little bit of cream/creme fraiche/ricotta. Add it all to a pan of piping hot spaghetti with plenty of salt and pepper.

[El Pibe]

Kids love tagliatelli coated with sauce of softened (but not browned) onions done with a bit of single cream, fresh lemon juice and lemon zest. Liven with a bit of chipotle if they like that kind of thing.

Incredibly simple.

[Annette Curtain]

Anything with new season Wet Garlic for me

http://bookacooklondon.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2009/06/CIMG0016-210x210.jpg

This pasta is very fresh looking and tasting. (being all white and green)

In a pestle or on a board pulp 6 cloves of garlic and half a tin of anchovies ( save the oil )

Fine slice white onion and a couple spring onion inc the green part

Finely chop/pulp 2 x small red chilli

To cook:

Add a spoon of the Anchovy oil and a good glug of Olive oil to a heated pan

Add the pulped anchovy and garlic and white onion, cook for a few minutes (but don't brown)

Add the Chilli & some picked Thyme, plus a strong grind of black pepper

Plus a spoon of brined capers ( drained )

Add the spring onion and a good squeeze of lemon

Now drain very al dente Spaghettini (keeping a small cup of the well salted starchy water back) and turn back into the pot.

Add the cooked mix into the pan plus a good splash of the starchy water.

To serve:

Stir gently and serve in a wide bowl.

Season with salt and black pepper

Dress with extra capers and thinly slices anchovies (and lemon if you can take the sharpness)

Add grated Pecorino Romano ( it's sharper and saltier )

A drizzle of good olive oil

A crumbled dry chilli if you love the heat

To drink:

A glass of Pinot gris

Variations:

Add Pancetta and white Cannellini or Pinto beans at the first stage but serve with Spagetti or Penne

Netts(tu)

( now i'm hungry )

[Mick Mac]

Surely any Scotsman who takes 3 weeks to recover from a drinking session should be ashamed of himself and need never expect to be allowed back in Jockland.

But then again if he eats courgette pasta on a Saturday night, he probably doesn't want to go back. ;-)

[Loz]

Mick Mac Wrote:

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> But then again if he eats courgette pasta on a Saturday night, he probably doesn't want to go back. ;-)

Nobody told him it's a vegetable.

[MrBen]

Darn - I thought a courgette was carbs?! Oh well...

Some good stuff thus far although I made one of the above on Sunday and must have missed something as it didn't taste good. It's always in the fine detail...BUT that doesn't mean complex. Annette's anchovy / capers combo is a classic that I'll try (look at you with your "fresh wet garlic" but it's perhaps a little elaborate?

When it comes to pasta I personally like simplicity and speed. If you can make it without having to go to the shops specially it's a plus.

[Marmora Man]

Squeeze the innards ourt of two sausages per person - ideally a flavoursome sausage.

Fry gently with onions, best if the sausage "catches" and dark caramelised crunchy bits are clinging to the cooked sausage.

Throw in some herbs (sage is good, tarragon OK, basil also good) if you have them, a good grind of coarse black pepper and a glass on white wine - reduce and scrape up all crunchy bits.

Add a dollop of cream, creme fraiche or yoghurt. Stire and pour over any suitable pasta.

Not quite store cupboard stuff but close too and very good.

[katie1997]

Mr Ben - am with you on simplicity and speed for pasta. Can't believe no-one's beaten me to it by suggesting the effortlessly simple and delicious spaghetti aglio e oglio (sp?) Its basically just tossing spagetthi in softened garlic (smoked is lovely if you like that sort of thing) and a dollop of really good olive oil and some chilli flakes. Throw in some chopped green herbs if you have them. And as a fellow Scot, I'm pleased to say there's no veg in sight (unless garlic counts) :-)

Another one I discovered years ago by Jamie Oliver (when he used to annoy me more than anything) was throwing some torn up/ chopped rocket into softened garlic (in butter or oil) and add a good squeeze of fresh lemon juice, black pepper and mix in warmed pasta. Add some melting taleggio or parmesan if you prefer, whatever cheese you have in.

Personal favourite speedy dish is tinned tomates with mozzarella and torn basil leaves added to penne, similar to recipes above. Or mushrooms/garlic/parsley/cheese. Right now asparagus, watercress and peas with pancetta would be good.

I highly recommend a fantastic little recipe book by Biba Caggiano called Spaghetti sauces. Similarly to Ruffers earlier link, it is divided into handy chapters for different types of pastas and sauces that match well. It also starts off with super simple sauces eg 3 ingredients to a whole chapter on ragus and then some for baked pastas that take longer etc.

[Burbage]

MrBen Wrote:

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> When it comes to pasta I personally like

> simplicity and speed. If you can make it without

> having to go to the shops specially it's a plus.

Pasta, garlic, frozen chopped spinach. A sliver or two of gorgonzola, a little bacon if you've got some. Pine nuts if you must. A little olive oil. Quantities according to taste/diet. 15 minutes max.

Start pasta cooking. Fry garlic/pancetta/pine nuts for two or three minutes in another pan, then turn heat down, add spinach and cheese to melt, stirring once in a while till mushy. When the pasta's cooked, drain it, mix everything together, and put in bowls. Serve with black pepper and a bottle of sherry.

You can use fresh spinach, if you don't mind the washing/chopping. And you can substitute the gorgonzola with anything from ricotta to stilton rinds. Or just add parmesan after.

What goes wrong with this is overcooking, which turns the spinach bitter, or adding too much cheese/pancetta, which makes it too salty.

[katie1997]

PS and if you make your own pesto with whatevr herbs/oil/cheese/nut combination you have in the fridge/larder that's another quick win.

[BJL]

I can't think of an easier sauce than this one - burro e salvia. Very tasty, especially with a fresh ravioli.

[HelBel65]

- 2-3 large courgettes (grated with a cheese grater)

- 1 chilli (more if you like it)

- 2 cloves garlic

- Packet of parma ham or proscuitto crudo

- Penne pasta

- 3 tb spoons olive oil

Gently fry garlic and chilli in olive oil in a large frying pan to infuse. Add grated courgette. Add salt and decent amount of pepper. Fry for 10-12 minutes. Add torn up parma ham. Drain penne and tip into frying pan...toss with courgette mixture. Empty into a warm bowl. Fresh parmesan on top + glass of Italian red = deeply satisfying.

I spotted this yesterday and decided to do it for a visiting friend....when she arrived she announced she was on a carb free diet! Doh!

[RosieH]

I'm just horrified that Annette would have pinto beans with spaghetti. How can the bean cling to the strand?

No no no, this will not fadge.

[Annette Curtain]

RosieH Wrote:

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> I'm just horrified that Annette would have pinto

> beans with spaghetti. How can the bean cling to

> the strand?

>

> No no no, this will not fadge.

Oh-hum..

If you do use spaghetti, then after the onion stage you add a small handull of Pinto/Borlotti beans

Fry these a while and then add a splash of water, or white wine or olive oil

Then gently mash the beans with a fork, thus forming a loose paste

Proceed as you would; beans now part of the coating for the pasta

Lastly, enjoy !

(fadge or no fadge)

*blows polish on nails dry*

Netts

[tallulah71]

I've heard M&S do a good 'simply pasta'

[ianr]

> I've decided to listen to Freddie King and make pasta instead.

For a moment I thought you meant "make pasta".