Pasta appreciation thread

gazvenn

sitting here eating some warmed up pasta bake that just had some random stuff thrown in (cougettes and mushrooms) and i'm just sitting here thinking how good pasta is.

show your appreciation here

clarkson

mmm pasta. love it. best food around if i dare to say so...

impished

How we all love carbing-up on pasta Just don't forget to drink plenty of water too. Amazing how bunged-up down-below pasta can make you.

ride_whenever

I've bought some sea-vegitable enriched pasta. It is black in the pack but goes greenish upon cooking, I was so dissappointed

it is however yum.

Surf-Matt

Love pasta.

Also got into making pizzas and focaccia from scratch (making the dough, tomato topping, etc) - SO much better than any shop bought ones

glenwatt

Love Pasta, used it as one of the main parts of a weight loss program a few years back where I managed to lose 5 stone.

I do agree on the tip of drinking plenty of fluids.

My Fav is Pasta and any kind of Pesto dressing, 'mmmmmm

impished

GlenWatt wrote:

Love Pasta, used it as one of the main parts of a weight loss program a few years back where I managed to lose 5 stone.

I do agree on the tip of drinking plenty of fluids.

My Fav is Pasta and any kind of Pesto dressing, 'mmmmmm

Oh yeah, red pepper pesto. YUM Guess what I'm gonna have for dinner tonight

BlackSpur

What's more - it's really cheap!

supersonic

Do like a bit of pasta on my cheese.

Anonymous

Surf-Matt wrote:

Love pasta.

Also got into making pizzas and focaccia from scratch (making the dough, tomato topping, etc) - SO much better than any shop bought ones

Damn you that is unfair.

Every time I've made pizzas myself, although satisfying they're never as good as bought ones, or even as good as I'd like.

Damn you, damn you to hell for your kung fu pizza skillz!

But pasta? mmmmmm.

I like making a kind of pasta stir-fry, with some peppers, salad, pineapple, chicken, and various things from the fridge. Tasty!

Surf-Matt

There's some Italian blood in my veins somewhere from waaaay back but it's more down to having a damn good pizza cookbook!

gazvenn

home made pizza's ooo not had 1 of those bad boys in a while.. sooo good.

John Stevenson

Penne arrabiata FTW!

Anonymous

ooh, arrabiata cause is ace.
I've got a HUGE bottle of thai sweet chilli sauce which works well when added to it.
Hell, it even works well when added to normal ragu tomato pasta sauce, to turn it into a sort of arrabiata hybrid!

Surf-Matt

Pre-mixed sauce is wrong in pasta (unless it's fresh stuff with fresh pasta).
Making your own takes about ten minutes.

Fry/brown onions (red onions or shallots of you have them) and garlic in olive oil, add meat (decent bacon/lardons or good pepperoni) and brown it, add a tin of chopped toms (good ones are better), chuck in a teaspoon of sugar to take the edge of the tartness, add capers, chopped olives and some crushed fresh or dried chillis and a little oregano.
Also add a splash of balsamic vinegar (for more depth) and a dollop of pesto if you have any.

Season and let it cook through.
Now the vital bit - add to your drained pasta and allow to "soodle" for at least 5 mins so the sauce and pasta bind together slightly.

Add cheese at the end if you fancy or sprinkle parmesan. Eat with a lightish red wine such as valpollicella (which is also cheap!) and congratulate yourself on your cooking prowess!

All sorts of variations too.

Anonymous

ooh, parmesan!
I swear, if my card hadn't been rejected by the machine the other day, I'd be straight out to buy a load of pasta-related-necessities right now!
mmmmmmm

ride_whenever

Why do you use pre-bought pesto, I either make it myself or get some from the deli where they make it fresh

miss notax

I'm a big fan of pasta

In fact, spinach and ricotta canneloni on the cards for tonight.... Yum!

Surf-Matt

ride_whenever wrote:

Why do you use pre-bought pesto, I either make it myself or get some from the deli where they make it fresh

Who said they use pre-bought?!
We usually make some with (this is getting a bit "Jamie Oliver!") home grown basil 8)

Bikerbaboon

pasta is ok but rice now thats the king of bland carbs

gazvenn

boooo we'll have no rice in this thread.. although its ok sometimes.

Surf-Matt

Yes but curry just doesn't work with pasta.

supersonic

I agree, I ran out of rice once so used pasta. yuk!

Anonymous

Surf-Matt wrote:

Yes but curry just doesn't work with pasta.

Although in Les Gets, you can have curry on a pizza - which is a sort of marriage between indian and italian cuisine :shock:

Anonymous

papa johns makes a balti pizza and its one of the nicest things i have ever put in my mouth!! (caramac coated kit kat wins the top spot)

as for pasta, it rocks, rigatoni with mushrooms, good olive oil and garlic is probably my favourite, i love home made carbonnara too.