New Pasta(ures)

All Pasta lovers have their favourite Pasta dish. Very often the result is very far from the original Pasta dishes in Italy. On the other hand every Italian family have their own recipes for their beloved Pasta, Spaghetti Bolognese is a case in point

In the homeland of Pasta, pasta dishes are a precursor to the main course, if there is one.

I often wondered why, especially seeing Pasta fills you up. But that is probably the reason. I do like Italian cooking, as it is uncomplicated and quick,  and relies solely on the quality of the produce. 

The base of  most Pasta dishes is a sauce.
Sugo, which is the basic tomato sauce, consists simply of  ripe tomatoes, some salt and pepper and fresh herbs, Basil and Oregano, simmer it for approx. 20 min. and hey presto you have a delicious Sugo.
Serve this with plenty of freshly grated Parmesan and you have a delicious, tasty, quick meal.
Often Pasta is simply tossed in good Extra Virgin Olive oil, freshly grated black pepper and again Parmesan.
In order to make it a good meal though, the Pasta needs to be of good quality.

Fresh Basil

Today I want to share two more Pasta dishes. The first one, I call Greek Pasta because I use mostly "Greek" ingredients. The second one is my favourite Pasta with homemade green Pesto.

Greek Pasta

I got the idea of this dish from a program I saw on one of the American food channels. I liked the idea of using essential Greek ingredients  with Italian Pasta. This dish  is delicious with meat and equally delicious without. So for all the vegetarians, simply leave out the meat and use a medium aubergine and a large medium gourgette instead

Ingredients ( 4 persons)

peppers, mushrooms and herbs

1 small aubergine

1 medium gourgette

1 red pepper

3 ripe tomatoes

150 g button mushrooms

2-3 fresh bay leaves ( or 1 dried bay leave)

fresh flat leaf parsley

fresh oregano or  fresh marjoram

or a mixture of both
300 g pork minced
salt and pepper to taste

aubergine, gourgette and tomato

olive or rapeseed oil for frying

Meat and vegetable mixture

Method

Cut all the vegetables into small pieces

Fry the minced pork meat in some oil until

lightly brown.

Add the vegetables and herbs and continue cooking for a further 5 minutes.

Adjust the seasoning. In the mean time cook the Pasta. Take 2 or 3 Tablespoons of Pasta water and add it to the meat vegetable mixture.

the finished Pasta

Serve with a dollop of Greek yoghurt.

Pasta with Green Pesto

My favourite  pasta dish:  Pasta and green Pesto.

Ingredients for green pesto

1 cup of Extra Virgin Olive oil/ or a virgin rapeseed oil

1 cup fresh basil

some fresh parsley (optional)

30 g pine nuts

15 g almonds flakes (optional)

2 cloves of garlic ( take one if you want it less garlicky or discard them altogether)

1 cup freshly grated Parmesan 

A little fresh lemon juice

Method

ready to mix

 Put  all the ingredients into a vessel and mix it with an immersion blender until you have a not too smooth consistency.

finished result

Buon appetito