ITALIAN - PASTAS

**Author - Alee Venkatesh **











 

PASTA - traditional ITALIAN staple food; typically, a noodle made from unleavened dough of durum wheat flour mixed with water, formed into sheets or different shapes then cooked by baking or boiling.  This is a simple and easy dish to prepare served hot or cold.  Sauces for the pasta vary in taste, colour and texture.  "Extra sauce left on the plate after all of the pasta is eaten is often mopped up with a piece of bread"

 

Cook pasta according to packet instructions (approximately it takes 13-15 minutes to cook).  If you are making this dish for the first time, below are the details for cooking perfect pasta.


Heat up a three-quarters full saucepan of water.  Add 1 spoon each of olive oil and salt to it and bring the water to boil. 

 

Add the dry pasta to this boiled water and keep stirring occasionally (to avoid pasta sticking to the saucepan at the bottom).  After this is cooked (check and taste for pasta softness, some people like hard pasta and some like very soft but make sure pasta doesn’t break), drain pasta and run cold water on it for few minutes to get rid of all the starch from it. 

 

Add cooked pasta to your prepared sauce and mix well and serve hot with some Parmesan cheese on top of it.   



  




Sauce free Vermicelli - Sauce free Pasta where Vermicelli pasta is cooked to 'Al dente', roasted fresh red chilli, garlic & basil leaves in extra virgin olive oil and added to cooked pasta (by adding salt & cracked pepper to taste)


Roasted Vegetable & Pumpkin Ravioli served with Sun-dried Tomato Sauce



For home-made Sun-dried Tomato Sauce  - following ingredients are blended into smooth paste
  • 2 fresh tomatoes, 2 garlic cloves, 1 red onion - roasted
  • 1 cup sun-dried tomatoes in oil
  • 1/2 cup thick cream
  • few tablespoons of  dry Italian herbs
  • few finely chopped fresh basil & mint leaves
  • salt to taste
  • 2-3 tsps. of olive oil

Vermicelli Alfredo with Basil & Spinach 

For Home made Alfredo sauce - butter, olive oil, garlic, cream, Parmesan cheese, salt, pepper, hot chilli flakes (optional) - boiled till the sauce is thick & creamy 

Penne with Red Chilli Sauce

Penne with White Sauce


Spinach & Ricotta Tortellini

Chilli Pesto


Penne Arrabbiata