Recipes for Pasta

Ingredients

• 3-4 quarts boiling salted oiled water
• 8 ounces spaghetti
• 3 tablespoons olive oil
• 4 slices smoked bacon, diced
• 1 medium onion, chopped
• ½ teaspoon-1 tablespoon crushed red pepper
• 12-16 ounces tomato sauce
• 2-4 ounces freshly grated Parmesan cheese

Procedure

1. Boil spaghetti 6 minutes or so, just al dente, drain.
2. As water is put on to boil, start heating olive oil in medium saucepan, and sauté bacon until fat is just clear.
3. Add onion and sauté until soft.
4. Add crushed red pepper and cook 2-3 minutes more.
5. Add tomato sauce and heat through.
6. Remove from heat, add Parmesan cheese, and serve immediately over spaghetti.
7. May garnish with additional Parmesan cheese.

Take a small piece of ham fat, one-half of onion, piece of celery, parsley, small piece of carrot. Chop up fine together. Put into a saucepan, and when the vegetables are fried add two or three mushrooms which have been chopped fine; after five minutes add two tablespoons of tomato paste, thinned with five tablespoons of hot water (or equal quantity of tomato sauce without water). When the sauce is cooked take out the mushrooms and put them on one side.

Take one-half pound of macaroni. Boil in salted water for fifteen minutes, drain, and add the sauce described above. Add two tablespoons Parmesan cheese, grated, and one tablespoon of butter.

Butter well a mold, then cover with a thin layer of bread crumbs the bottom and sides. Pour into the mold one-half the macaroni, then place on it a layer of mushrooms which you have taken out of the sauce. Now add the other half of the macaroni, and then another thin layer of bread crumbs. Put the mold into the oven without turning it over, and bake in a slow oven until well browned. Then turn out and serve.

To this timbale, if desired for variety, cold meat of any kind cut up fine may be added to the sauce; and one egg, hard boiled, and cut into four pieces. Add the egg, and the pieces of meat which you have removed from the sauce, to the timbale at the same time that you add the mushrooms.

These ravioli can be used also as a dessert by preparing them as follows:

• Take 1/2 pound of flour
• 1 tablespoon of butter
• 2 tablespoons of lard

Work this into a paste and roll out thin.

Take one-half pound of curds, add one egg, and the yolk of a second egg, two tablespoons of granulated sugar, a few drops of extract of vanilla. Mix well together and add to the paste as before. Then fry in lard until a golden brown. Serve with powdered sugar.

• 1 small bunch of spinach
• 1/2 pound of curds

Cook the spinach, drain, and chop up fine, add the curds, one egg, salt and pepper, dash of nutmeg, and a little grated cheese. Add to the paste, and boil as before.

Take one lamb’s brains and parboil in slightly salted water for five minutes. Put into a bowl with a small quantity of curds, one egg, salt and pepper, dash of nutmeg, and a little grated Parmesan cheese, and mix all together. Then put by teaspoonfuls on the paste as in preceding receipt. Cook for ten minutes in boiling salted water, and serve with tomato sauce.

Prepare the paste as in Ribbon Macaroni.

Take whatever meat is desired–chicken, turkey, or veal–this must always be cooked. (Left-over meat may be utilized this way.) Chop the meat very fine, add one tablespoon of grated Parmesan cheese, one egg, a dash of nutmeg, a dash of grated lemon-peel, one tablespoon of butter, cold. Mix these ingredients in a bowl. Take a teaspoon of the mixture and put it into the extended paste, about two inches from the edge. Take another spoonful and put it about two inches away from the first spoonful. Continue to do this until you have a row of teaspoonfuls across the paste. Then fold over the edge of the paste so as to cover the spoonfuls of mixture, and cut across the paste at the bottom of them. Then cut into squares with the meat in the middle of each square; press down the paste a little at the edges so the meat cannot fall out. Continue to do this until all the meat and the paste are used up.

Put the little squares of paste and meat into the boiling salted water a few at a time, and boil for ten minutes. Serve with tomato sauce, or butter and grated Parmesan cheese.

• 2 1/2 cups of flour
• 2 eggs
• 3 tablespoons of cold water
• 1/2 teaspoon of salt

Put the flour on a bread-board. Make a hole in the middle of it, and break the eggs into it. Add the water and the salt, and mix all together with a fork until the flour is all absorbed and you have a paste which you can roll out. Then take a rolling-pin and roll it out very thin, about the thickness of a ten-cent piece. Leave it spread out like this until it has dried a little. Then double it over a number of times, always lengthwise, and cut it across in strips about one-half inch wide. Boil two quarts of salted water, and put the ribbons into it, and cook for ten minutes, then drain. Serve with the meat and sauce as in receipt for Macaroni with Meat and Sauce, or with the tomato sauce and cheese only, as desired.

While three-quarters of a pound of macaroni are boiling in salted water prepare the following: Chop up fine two ounces of ham fat with a little parsley. Peel six medium-sized tomatoes, cut them open, remove the seeds, and any hard or unripe parts, and put them on one side. Take a frying-pan and put into it one scant tablespoon of butter and the chopped ham fat. When the grease is colored put in the sliced tomatoes with salt and pepper. When the tomatoes are cooked and begin to sputter put the macaroni into the pan with them, mix well, add grated Parmesan cheese, and serve.

Take ten medium-sized fresh tomatoes and cut them in two crosswise. Put a layer of these into a baking-dish with the liquid side touching the bottom of the dish. Now put another layer with the liquid side up, sprinkle on salt and pepper. Break the raw vermicelli the length of the baking-dish and put a layer of it on top of the tomatoes. Now add another layer of the tomatoes, with the skin side touching the vermicelli, a second layer with the liquid side up, salt and pepper, and another layer of the raw vermicelli, and so on, the top layer being of tomatoes with their liquid side touching the vermicelli. Heat three or four tablespoons of good lard (or butter), and when the lard boils pour it over the tomatoes and vermicelli; then put the dish into the oven and cook until the vermicelli is thoroughly done. After cooling a little while, turn it out into a platter.

While one-half pound of spaghetti is boiling in salted water prepare the following: Take two ounces of tunny-fish and cut them into small pieces. Put them into a saucepan and fry them in their own oil. This oil is generally sufficient, but should it not be, add another tablespoon of olive-oil. When the tunny have been fried add a teaspoonful of chopped parsley and four tomatoes, peeled and the seeds removed, and a pinch of pepper. Let the tomatoes cook thoroughly. When they are cooked put the spaghetti into the saucepan and move them about with a fork and spoon until they are thoroughly mixed with the sauce and the tunny. Then serve.

Boil one-half pound of vermicelli in salted water, drain, and mix with two tablespoons of olive-oil and a little chopped-up parsley. Then set to one side to get cool.

Take five smelts, split them, take out the bones, and fry them slightly in one teaspoon of olive-oil.

Butter a pan and sprinkle it with bread crumbs. Then put into it one-half of the cold vermicelli. Pour over this some thick tomato sauce (one tablespoon of tomato paste cooked in two tablespoons of olive-oil). Then put in the smelts cut in two, some anchovy, a few capers, and three or four ripe olives chopped up with one mushroom. Then add the rest of the tomato sauce, then the other half of the vermicelli, and on top a layer of bread crumbs. Season all well with salt and pepper. Put the pan into a moderate oven, and cook about an hour and a quarter, adding a little olive-oil when necessary, so that it will not dry up too much.

Any fish may be used instead of the smelts, cutting it into thin strips.

Recipe Serves: 4

Recipes Ingredients:

1 lb “Long Life” Egg noodles
1 ts Sesame oil
8 qt Salted water
1/4 ts Salt
1/2 lb Spinach
1 ts Cornstarch paste
4 Eggs
2 Green onions, minced
1 c Chicken broth
1/4 c Boiled ham, slivered
1 tb Dark soy sauce

Recipe Instructions:

Preparation: Wash & trim spinach. Wash, then boil noodles; drain; divide among Soup bowls. In same water, blanch spinach; drain; press dry; chop coarsely; put on noodles. Heat broth in Sauce pan. Add soy sauce, sesame oil, salt & cornstarch paste to thicken slightly. Poaching Eggs: Put 4 cups of water in wok; bring to boil. Break eggs in ladle one at a time; poach for 2 minutes. Place Egg on spinach. Finishing: Pour Hot Soup over egg. Garnish with minced onion & ham. Serve.

Do you love cooking, but are sometimes unsure of the ingredients. Well here is a guide to some of the more common Italian Recipe Ingredients.

• Amaretto - A liqueur made from apricot kernels and bitter almonds. You will ofter find this used in dessert recipes.
• Amaretti – Small, dry biscuits (cookies) similar to macaroons. Made with bitter almonds, almond essence and egg whites.
• Baccala – is salted, dried cod. You will need to soak it for at least 24 hours and changing the water often.
• Bocconcini – means ‘little mouthfuls’. And that’s what it is, little balls of fresh mozzarella cheese stored in water.
• Campari – A crimson colored spirit.
• Carta di musica – This is a crisp, twice baked flatbread. Can use toasted Lebanese bread or lavish as a substitute.
• Ciabatta – A crusty bread that is airy on the inside. The best type is wood fired.
• Dried Porcini Mushrooms – A type of mushroom used to add intense flavor to dishes. Choose light brown or tan ones that are not crumbly.
• Limoncello – This is a citrus based liqueur. Made by infusing lemon rind in pure alcohol. Serve chilled as an after-dinner drink or a fabulous palate cleanser.
• Mascarpone – This rich, smooth cream cheese that has a high fat content. Used in both savoury and sweet dishes.
• Mozzarella – A stretched curd cheese known for its melting qualities.
• Pancetta – This is dried pork belly. It is generally used like bacon.
• Pappardelle – Is a pasta. It can be fresh or dried and is a wide flat ribbon.
• Pecorino – A hard cheese made from sheep milk. It has a sharp flavor and is used to grate over pizza.
• Pecorino dolce – Known as sweet pecorino, is less aged and has a milder flavor.
• Prosciutto – Is a dried and salted (cured) ham, generally served in wafer thin slices.
• Radicchio – A red leafed salad ingredient that has a slightly bitter flavor.
• Risotto Rice – This is the rice used for making Risotto. It is a short grain rice that is capable of absorbing much fluid while still maintaining it’s shape and firmness. This is what gives Risotto it’s creamy texture.
• Scamorza – Very similar to mozzarella. A slightly salty cheese made from cows milk. It can be hung and dried and is often smoked.
• Taleggio – This cheese has a pinkish-brown rind and a soft creamy texture. It is made from cows milk, has a strong flavor and becomes acidic with age.

So next time you are cooking Italian, you will be sure to know what ingredient to reach for.

Happy Cooking
Lisa “The Crock Cook”

About the Author: Lisa cooks Crock Pot Recipes for a-Crock-Cook.com, writes Chinese Fortune Cookies and designs Cupcake decorations at cupcake-creations.com.

When you go shopping it can be easy to be overwhelmed by the number of different pastas available. There is the all time favorite spaghetti but there is also rotelle, bavette, penne, linguine, fettuccine… Well the list goes on.

Let’s take a look.

• The long, thin pasta shapes like spaghetti, bavette and linguine are best used with light sauces, like thin bolognese and carbonara sauce. Use sauces that are based on cream, tomato or oil and without large chunky pieces. This allows the sauce stick to the pasta, and you don’t end with a big bowl of sauce at the end.
• The long ribbon shaped pastas such as fettuccine, tagliatelle and pappardelle are suited best to the cream or butter based sauces. These sauces will cling to the pasta and yum.
• When cooking chunky meat or vegetable sauces it is best to use pasta with hollows and groves so that the sauce clings to the pasta. Try penne rigate, conchiglie (shells), fusilli (spirals) and macaroni for a hearty family meal.
• And when it comes to soups use pasta about the same size as the other ingredients. Try ditali rigati in chunky meat or vegetable soups.
• For salads you need pasta that will hold some of the dressing and vegetable. Our favorites are the ones with hollows such as conchiglie (shells), rotelle, fusilli (spirals) and farfalle (bows). Use the different colored pastas for a more colorful salad.
• Of course the stuffed pasta like tortellini and ravioli are great with most sauces, just ensure the sauce complements the stuffing.
• And well, lasagna sheets are used for lasagna or anything else that requires layers. As for cannelloni tubes, they are great for stuffing with cheese sauces, my favorite being ricotta and spinach.
• Now that we have chosen our pasta, we need to ensure we store it correctly.
• For dried pasta keep it sealed in a cool dry place and it should keep well for a couple of years. The egg varieties will not keep as long, so it is best to check the label. Fresh pasta, which is my favorite, on the other hand should be used within a few days.

Until our next cooking tip together.

Enjoy!

Lisa “The Crock Cook”

About the Author: Lisa along with husband Neil, loves cooking and shares their own Crock Pot Pasta Recipes (Yes, you can cook pasta in your crock pot) with you at http://www.a-crock-cook.com.

Pasta is one of the great energy foods in the world and great quick meal can be knocked out in your microwave in no time at all. Cooking pasta in a microwave oven is extremely easy and with the versatility of pasta an enormous number of meals can be created. Here’s five tasty and quick meals for all you students out there. All of these recipes are based on you using an 8000 watt microwave oven. You will have to adjust your cooking times according to your microwaves wattage. Remember when you cover food always use microwave safe wrap and that steam will build up and when you take the microwave wrap off this can scold, so be very careful.

1. This recipe will serve two people. Take some pasta shells [conchiglie] about a cup full per serving and put them into a microwave safe container, add a crushed clove of garlic, a tin of chopped tomatoes, a teaspoon of olive oil and a sprinkle of basil. Cover this with a microwave safe plastic and microwave on full power for three minutes. Remove from your microwave and stir, if you think it may need some more liquid add two tablespoons of water, return to the microwave for three more minutes and cook on full power. Remove the microwave and stir. Leave this to stand for two minutes and serve. This is great recipe for vegetarians and has amazing flavours which everybody will enjoy.
2. Macaroni and Cheese; Put a cup of macaroni in a microwave safe dish with two cups of hot water, two tablespoons of butter or margarine, add a pinch of salt and a pinch of pepper, and two cups of milk.Cover with a microwave safe cover cook on full power for five minutes and remove and stir. Return to your microwave and cook for a further five minutes on half power. Add a third of a cp of flour and 10oz of any cheese you fancy. Cover and cook for a further twenty minutes on half power. Remove from your microwave stir well and leave to stand for at least two minutes before you serve.
3. Microwave tuna pasta and sweetcorn. Place six strips of lasagne in bowl of water and leave to soak for an hour. Put half an onion, a teaspoon of oil, and quarter cup of flour in a microwave safe bowl and cook on full power for one minute add one and half cups of grated cheese and a pinch of salt and pepper, two cups of milk and cook for a further four minutes. Remove from the microwave and stir well. Drain the lasagne. Combine a tin of tuna, a tin of sweetcorn in a dish and the previously cooked onion and cheese mixture and then spread some of the mix over the base of a microwave dish. Put two strips of lasagne over this and then repeat the layers. Spread a quarter of a cup of parmesan cheese over the top, cover and cook for fifteen minutes on full power. Leave to stand for two minutes and serve.
4. Microwave egg noodle casserole; This is a great winter warmer recipe. Take three cups of noodles and place in a microwave safe bowl. Add two cups of hot water, cover and cook on full power for three minutes. Remove from the microwave and stir cover and cook for a further two minutes, remove from the microwave and leave to stand. Check that the noodles are soft, if not, cook on full power for another thirty seconds. Add a half a cup full of chopped onions and a cup full of any mixed vegetables with a tin of mushroom soup along with two cups of any meat you like. Cover and microwave on full power for five minutes, remove from microwave and stir well adding in two cups of crushed potatoes and then cover and microwave for eleven minutes on three quarter power. Remove from you microwave and leave to stand for two minutes before serving.
5. Microwave Spaghetti Bolognese; Take one pound of minced beef, half a cup of onion chopped and two crushed garlic cloves and crumble into a microwave bowl. Cover and cook on full power for three minutes. Remove from microwave and drain off the fat. Add a tin of chopped tomatoes, two teaspoons of oregano, two teaspoons of tomato paste, a half a teaspoon of thyme and a pinch of salt and pepper and cook on full power for further five minutes. Remove from microwave and leave to stand. Take spaghetti and put in a microwave bowl add two cups of hot water and cook for three minutes. Remove from microwave and stir microwave for a further three minutes and remove from microwave. Leave to stand for two minutes before serving this wonderful traditional dish.

Bought to you by Rossgo of http://www.everythingmicrowaves.com

About the Author: Ross Wharton of R and P Wharton on online sales company.
Bored with watching absoluterubbish on TV my wife and I set up an online company.

Rosemary is one of my favourite herbs – its clean, spiky scent pervading my kitchen takes me to the South of France on a warm summer’s day. It is the hardiest plant in my herb garden, surviving our driest summers and putting out new growth as soon as the winter rains begin. You can pick from it all year round and it has useful medicinal properties too.

I love Roast Lamb with generous amounts of rosemary and garlic tucked underneath as it cooks or else I take Nigella Lawson’s advice and mince the garlic and rosemary to a paste with some olive oil and tuck it into small incisions in the meat before cooking. After that the meat just cooks itself (as long as you remember to switch on the oven for it!) and you have a marvellous Sunday lunch for very little effort. A dash of red wine added to the juices from the roasting dish and warmed through gives you a ‘jus’ that any five star restaurant would be proud to own – do spoon off the excess fat first though. For a totally low effort lunch serve the roast lamb with a generous green salad and boiled new potatoes, or expend the effort you’ve saved with the meat on producing loads of crispy roast potatoes, baked butternut squash and tender green peas.

The following pasta sauce recipe came from experimenting with a recipe from Marcella Hazan’s Marcella’s Kitchen. To her tomato and rosemary pasta sauce I added some tuna to create a nutritious and delicious meal for my kids – the balsamic vinegar gives a mellow, rounded note to the sauce and is not in the least overpowering as I thought it might be.

Penne with Tuna, Tomato, Rosemary and Balsamic Vinegar

For 450g/1lb pasta

• 8 tablespoons olive oil
• 3 or 4 cloves garlic
• 2 sprigs rosemary
• 450g/1lb tinned tomatoes, drained and chopped
• 2 teaspoons balsamic vinegar
• 1 tin of tuna drained

Put the olive oil, thinly sliced garlic and rosemary sprigs in a frying pan over a medium heat. When the garlic starts sizzling add the tomatoes, with salt and pepper and cook for 10-12 minutes.

When the pasta is just cooked – really al dente – drain and put back in the pan and toss with the sauce over the heat for 1 minute. Add the tuna, stir, then off the heat stir in the balsamic vinegar and serve immediately.

There is a wonderful recipe for a Rosemary Cake in Nigella Lawson’s book ‘Feast’. She allocates it to her Funeral Feast section. as rosemary has always been the herb of rememberance, but this cake is great for any occasion when a light, not too sweet, plain sponge is required. It has apple in it too and the combination of that and the rosemary, gives a moist but aromatic cake. A long sprig of rosemary adorns the top of the cake and as it cooks releases more aromatic oils into the cake. Try it.

To make use of rosemary’s health boosting properties try a cup of rosemary herbal tea. One sprig with a cup of boiling water poured over it and left to stand for five to ten minutes, makes a revitalising and stress-relieving tea. It acts as an anti-inflammatory and aids circulation, helps with stress, anxiety and depression and improves memory and concentration. It also is a useful source of easily absorbed calcium, far more effective than taking pills.

So plant a rosemary bush in your garden or in a pot on a balcony for your own free, energy-boosting calcium supplement!

Copyright 2006 Kit Heathcock

About the Author: Kit Heathcock - worked and travelled in Italy for many years, is passionate about food and loves being a fulltime mother. Co-creator of A Flower Gallery home of original flower pictures and Food and Family!

Add Spice to Your Supper With Italian Pasta
———-
Pasta is the most versatile Italian food. While it is increasingly popular here in the U.S., believe it or not it is far more popular in Italy. Pasta is basically created from flour. However, various types of grain can also make pasta. In order to make pasta flour is mixed with water and many times also mixed with eggs. When the mixture is complete, it is kneaded and shaped into numerous shapes. The vast amount of pasta that is cooked is first boiled before served, however pasta can be baked, but before doing so it is usually boiled.

Pasta is very budget friendly and can be very filling. It is a starch, and while most Americans are familiar with the dried pasta that is in long thin rods- spaghetti, it can also come fresh and in practically any shape including shells, tubes, spiral, very thick noodles, etc.
Italians refer to all pastas as macaroni, however, here in the United States we usually consider macaroni as small shell type shapes of pasta.

Pasta with Tomato Meat Sauce

• -16 ounces of pasta (spaghetti)
• -1 16 ounce jar of tomato sauce
• -1-1 ½ pounds of hamburger meat
• -1 onion
• -Olive oil
• -Salt and pepper to taste

In a large pan boil water to ¾ full and add a teaspoon of olive oil and some salt. Once the water boils add in the pasta and stir for a minute or two to make sure that it doesn’t adhere to the bottom. In a frying pan, add some oil and then add some hamburger meat along with a chopped onion. Heat the hamburger meat until medium or well done. In a sauce pan, add contents of tomato sauce. Let simmer on a low to medium heat. Do not cook the sauce quickly, it will only burn it and become dry. Once all items are complete, mix all ingredients, season with salt and pepper to taste and serve hot. Yields about 4 servings.

Stuffed Shells in Tomato Sauce
Stuffed shells are a great way to make dinner out of pasta, cheese and tomato sauce. They are easy to create and can be cooked in about 20 minutes. Here is the recipe:

• 1 16 ounce box of large pasta shells. (Make sure that the shells are already pre cooked and ready to be baked. If not, you will have to first boil them and then bake them.
• 1 pound of ricotta cheese
• 1 16 ounce jar of tomato sauce
• Side dishes that go well are spinach, green beans, mushrooms or a Greek Salad

Heat your oven to about 350 degrees. Stuff the shells with ricotta cheese. Generally each shell can be stuffed with about 2 tablespoons of cheese. Once stuffed, place the shell on a baking pan and cover the shell with foil. Cook for about 20 minutes. In a medium sauce pan with a low to medium heat simmer tomato sauce. Once complete cover shells with sauce. Other variations include adding meat to the sauce, spinach, etc.

About the Author: Christine Steendahl, “The Menu Mom”, www.themenumom.com is known online for her popular meal planning programs. For her personal favorite stuffed shells recipe hop over to http://www.dinewithoutwhine.com/stuffed-pasta-shells.htm

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