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Just about done with school Semester and a half left and I am done. I be edumacated.

Then off to see if there is a need for special education teachers out there.



probably not.

Manchu wrote:In Virginia, supermarket produce has been very gak of late. Nothing has much taste at all. If you want to make tomato sauce, you'll have to get your tomatoes from someone who got them out of their garden. Maybe it will be better in Texas, I dunno.

Yeah, not too much here in VA right now. I personally enjoy using cream of mushroom as a sauce and working my way from there, sometimes a bit bland but if you add the right amount of beef and season the hell out of it its pretty good. Other than that I use it with stewed tomatoes and ground beef chunks.

Oh yeah, plenty of need for that what with all the ADD/ADHD/learning disorder diagnoses being handed out.

Melissia wrote:Oh yeah, plenty of need for that what with all the ADD/ADHD/learning disorder diagnoses being handed out.

I work with kids who have sever cases to mild cases of Down syndrome.

The red sauce trap isn't anything of an American exclusive thing. Believe me! We've got it aswell, and honestly... It doesn't get any more exciting to sink your teeth into from having it more often than not.

I haven't experimented too much with pasta dishes just yet. But i'd perfeer pasta over the usual, trivial, danish chopped steak with fried onions, potatoes and brown sauce, which is pretty much our national dish! -.-

I actually eat very little pasta, I'm working on my heart attack by eating primarily meat dishes.
I now demand a Danish chopped steak.

I eat a lot of it, probably for the wrong reasons (it's cheap and easy to make a large quantity of to save as leftovers without spending a lot of money). Sure I eat other things to supplement my diet and make it healthy, but it's still primarily pasta of some form or other.

Pasta is pretty healthy stuff, much more so than most other quick foods.

Italian food in general is pretty good for you due to its general focus on quality produce without the faffing to mask the basic flavours that french food often has.

Ooo.. now I am inspired to work up a new recipe....
Thinking shells stuffed with oysters, mushrooms, garlic, onion with Vodka sauce.
Too bad I can't get fresh oysters here, but I can make do with canned, baby portabella's, and either Newman's or Bertolli sauce.

Will let you know how it comes out.

If you can't get fresh oysters there isn't much point in using them tbh.

corpsesarefun wrote:If you can't get fresh oysters there isn't much point in using them tbh.

true.. and just remembered.. one of my roomies is allergic to shellfish. I think she can eat shrimp though.......

I grew my own tomatoes before. I found out that two plants is too much for a family of 4. Way too much.

I like spanish sardines in pasta.

I sautee my favorite brand of spanish sardines, some tomatoes, capers and black olives in butter and add some cooked store bought spaghetti towards the end

i wish i had a pasta machine so I can make my own spaghetti though

Cannelloni al forno is the way of it. Cannelloni filled with ground veal and lamb, covered in a parmigiana bechamel, and a bit marinara.

helgrenze wrote:Ooo.. now I am inspired to work up a new recipe....
Thinking shells stuffed with oysters, mushrooms, garlic, onion with Vodka sauce.
Too bad I can't get fresh oysters here, but I can make do with canned, baby portabella's, and either Newman's or Bertolli sauce.

Will let you know how it comes out.

true.. and just remembered.. one of my roomies is allergic to shellfish. I think she can eat shrimp though.......

Oh my.... three "don't bother me I'm eating" votes from the roomies and S.O. and the baking dish is empty.... I think I nailed it.

This is the hot sauce we use. We dip the end of a teaspoon in for about 5mm and then stir it in.

Phototoxin wrote:This is the hot sauce we use. We dip the end of a teaspoon in for about 5mm and then stir it in.

Ah but "mad" is not true Insanity
Which is not Total Insanity

But to truely taste the crazy...... you need ULTIMATE INSANITY

which, with the advent of the "bruce T" chili, is in danger of being surpassed.

If you're looking for different types of pasta, try Buccatini - it makes Spaghetti superfluous IMO. It's like spaghetti only larger, with a hollow inside, so all the juices from a sauce go inside it - it's "meatier" than spaghetti to eat, more substantial. It's the Dogs

I watch a lot of cooking programs and most chefs often add some of the liquid from the pasta water into their sauce, not draining the water away completely. Not much, a few tablespoons or a ladel (or two) full at the most - depending on the sauce.

A good alternative to a normal tomato sauce is a light fresher one I like with Lemon Juice and Linguine:

- Fry off some onions and garlic, in oil - with a little butter and sugar, add any dry herbs (oregano, basil etc) or use fresh herbs at the end. When the onions begin to go translucent/start to caramelise (depending on preference) - add the other stuff, quite finely chopped.
- I like Celery and fresh Tomatos, peeled and diced, but you could add finely chopped Leeks or anything like that, Spinach is also good (don't bother chopping it though), as well as fresh Chilli and Mushrooms, even Rocket - basically whatever you have/like. If you're using fresh corriander NEVER throw away the stalks, chop them up and throw them in at this stage or save them for soup/broth. Cook until they begin to soften.
- Grate in some Lemon Rind and add the juice of a lemon, followed by a ladel full of the pasta water.
- At this stage you could add Capers, or even diced/pureed anchovies, perhaps prawns or thin strips of chicken, any sea food or white meat that cooks quickly.
- Once any meat is cooked (if you use any) season to taste and add the pasta, take it off the heat and give it a good mix. To finish off you could add some freshly torn basil or corriander. You could also finish with a drizzle of olive oil to give a more luxurious texture or add some more butter to the water/lemon stage.

Basically just make up your own thing - you could even try freshly squeezed orange juice, or lime juice with the rind - add a little white wine vinegar, whatever you like to your personal taste.

I love Pasta - simplicity never tasted so beautiful

helgrenze wrote:

Phototoxin wrote:This is the hot sauce we use. We dip the end of a teaspoon in for about 5mm and then stir it in.

Ah but "mad" is not true Insanity
Which is not Total Insanity

But to truely taste the crazy...... you need ULTIMATE INSANITY

which, with the advent of the "bruce T" chili, is in danger of being surpassed.

WTF is wrong with you guys. You don't want to burn out your taste buds so you can't taste the pasta...



I use this. Unlike tabasco sauce and derivatives, it isn't a watery tastless mess that exists only to add heat to the meal, without much flavor. Really adds to the flavor of a meal along with adding heat.

warspawned wrote:If you're looking for different types of pasta, try Buccatini - it makes Spaghetti superfluous

I dislike spaghetti to begin with... perhaps it's just me, but I tend towards penne, farfalle, cencioni, rotini, orecchiette, macaronis, stuffed pastas, etc.

Here is my current favourite.

Linguine with king prawns.

Take a handful of king prawns (shelled), a couple of finely diced cloves of garlic, and a finely diced green chilli.
Gently fry in olive oil for a few minuites (until the KP are nearly cooked)
Toss in cooked linguine, stir in the pan until the pasta is covered in the oil/garlic/chilli, then plate it up, and eat with crusty bread.

Four ingredients, and it takes about 10 mins from cupboard to plate.

I don't really like linquine/spaghetti and similar pastas. Call me weird.

To be honest, it works with pretty much any pasta.
Fusilli works well as it is great a t holding sauce.
You can replace the prawns with chicken, just cook for a little longer.

I'd probably use farfalle if I was gonna do taht recipe. It's thin enough to cook quickly...

Melissia wrote:Vodka sauce is very very smoothe tomatos, cream, vodka, and italian herbs. Most famous for penne alla vodka

I'm sorry but that is just a Bloody Mary with a bit of pasta in it!

What's wrong with that?

Melissia wrote:What's wrong with that?

Just seems a little strange mixing your drinking time with your eating time.

I mean, you're supposed to eat BEFORE starting on the voddy, not start on it while you're eating lol!

dogma wrote:Cannelloni al forno is the way of it. Cannelloni filled with ground veal and lamb, covered in a parmigiana bechamel, and a bit marinara.

Good lord that sounds tasty.

Melissia wrote:I don't really like linquine/spaghetti and similar pastas. Call me weird.

I'm the same,sort of. I like fetuccine, and I like angel hair, but something about spaghetti for whatever reason reminds me of worms...

Leigen_Zero wrote:

Melissia wrote:Vodka sauce is very very smoothe tomatos, cream, vodka, and italian herbs. Most famous for penne alla vodka

I'm sorry but that is just a Bloody Mary with a bit of pasta in it!

Joking aside, there is no cream in a Bloody Mary, and there is far less alcohol, thats where the difference lies.

I really dislike ANY string pasta, including angel hair.

Which is why I said I'm probably rather weird.


As for the weirdness of using alcohol in cooking-- it really isn't all that weird. Alcohols are quite interesting chemically...

Melissia wrote:I really dislike ANY string pasta, including angel hair.

Which is why I said I'm probably rather weird.


As for the weirdness of using alcohol in cooking-- it really isn't all that weird. Alcohols are quite interesting chemically...

I bet you are a wagon wheel kind of person. Am I correct?

I love fusili - a quick studenty meal for me was fusili - boil it til ready, drain it, add a splash of linghams chilli sauce and some herbage if necessary, stir and reheat for about 30 seconds on the hob (so the sauce isn't cold).
Bam!