Quickest, easiest, tastiest pasta dish

[ludja]

Lot's of good ideas also here on varmint's request for pasta recipes...

I really like the broccoli, anchovy, red pepper dish similar to what ppx just described. It's quick even when using fresh broccoli (cut up into small pieces).

I almost always have pancetta around; it great to make a soffritto with it and onions, carrots and garlic. I eat this alone on pasta but it's also a great base for almost any other added ingredient.

Not sure if I mentioned this in the other thread, but I also love a recipe by Lidia Bastianich using bacon, onion, peperoncini peppers, parsley and tomatoes. The peppers add a great bite to the dish.

Another favorite which is also nice in the summertime b/c the sauce isn't cooked is from Well's Bistro Cooking. To cooked pasta add chopped ham or proscuitto, lemon zest, lemon juice, olive oil, black olives and thyme or parsley.

Thanks for the bread crumb and chickpea idea amcloud; sounds like a good one to make with 'pantry ingredients".

[akur23]

Real quick dinner:Yesterday's leftover steamed broccoli,garlic, anchovies & red pepper flakes sauteed & mashed til soft in good olive oil. Add pasta & parsley. Parmesan. Yum.

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I make this also! Sometimes we'll top it with cut up and fried turkey Italian sausage. It's one of the first things I coooked for my now-husband.

[slkinsey]

My favorite easy pasta sauce is one that JosephB reminded me of a while back. It's since joined our regular rotation as the default quick sauce.

1 large can San Marzano or other best-quality tomatoes, roughly crushed; 3-4 tablespoons cold butter; 1 medium yellow onion, peeled and cut in half, salt. Throw everything in a cold pan, turn the burner on medium low, bring it slowly up to temperature and simmer (total ~30 minutes). Discard the onion and use the sauce.

Looks like this when it's done.

[ratgirlny]

I lightly fry lots of garlic in good olive oil and toss with linguine. That alone is just fantastic. If I feel ambitious, I might cook brocolli raab or shredded collards first and toss that in too.

[chow guy]

Putanesca is my fave... with angel hair when I need it really fast.

[eunny jang]

Tear off a handful of whole fresh sage leaves and lay them flat, velvet side down, in a thin layer of quietly foaming butter and oil. Turn them when they crisp and then toss with very hot pasta and healthy doses of parmigiano, salt and pepper.

Nothing better in the world - earthy-sweet and sharp and musky. Eating it reminds me of the scent of fallen leaves.

[Boris_A]

"Fettuccine Alfredo": noodles + butter + cream + parmigiano.

Alfredo di Lelio became famous around the globe with this dish.

[sassybat]

insanely easy pasta dish: browned butter, mizithra cheese, and pasta. that's it.

[NimaCooks]

Very similar to SuzeSushi's, but mine is a mixture of fresh red tomatoes (and yellow ones if available), torn basil leaves, pine nuts, fresh mozzerella, minced garlic, and a simple vinegarette folded into fresh fettuccine. Perfect for summer picnics too.

[Marlene]

butter, sour cream and parmesan.

[Megan Blocker]

I'm a huge pasta lover, and one of the things I love most about it is how many fabulous dishes can be made while the water boils and the pasta cooks. Over the last couple of weeks, I've made a couple super-quick dishes, all prepped and cooked in less than the time it takes to get your pot to boil and your pasta to reach al dente.

First up, pasta with an improvised amatriciana sauce. Technically, this should be made with guanciale, but bacon or pancetta will certainly do. The traditional pasta in the recipe is bucatini, but I decided to use this unusual pasta, something I picked up a couple of weeks ago at Williams-Sonoma...it kinda looks like bucatini twisted in on itself, so maybe it still counts?

First, I rendered the fat from the bacon and let it get a bit crispy. I poured off part of the bacon fat, added some olive oil, and tossed some roughly chopped red onion and garlic into the pan. Once that had become fragant and translucent, I added a chopped plum tomato and a healthy dose of crushed red pepper flakes to the mix. As the pasta cooked, I took a few spoonfuls of the cooking water and added it to the sauce, along with the reserved bacon. Once the pasta was done, I tossed everything together in the skillet for a bit, added some parmesan, and dished it out.

[Shaya]

Gorgeous pasta dish, Megan. From one pasta lover to another.

[KatieLoeb]

A couple of weeks ago I threw together a whole wheat angel hair pasta dish that contained minced garlic toasted in some good olive oil, chopped fresh tomatoes, roughly chopped spinach, grated smoked gouda, a bit of grated parmesan, some of the pasta water and a bit of white wine. Delicious and incredibly easy.

[petite tête de chou]

Pasta and pesto, *heavy, heavy* on the pesto.

[Megan Blocker]

Gorgeous pasta dish, Megan.  From one pasta lover to another. 

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Thanks, Shaya! I'd bet a million that you could add some good ones to this thread...

[Sony]

Angel hair pasta tossed with a bit of garlic-kissed olive oil

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Something green (steamed broccoli, baby peas, fresh spinach, broccoli rabe)

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freshly grated parmesan cheese

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freshly ground black pepper

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an over easy egg on top

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Edited January 29, 2007 by Sony (log)

[rwsweet]

Linguine with olive oil, sauteed shrimp, garlic, spinach/arugula, cherry tomatoes, fresh mozzarella, and lots of crushed red pepper. Although I must say after reading everyone's posts, I have some new quick dinners to try.

[ghostrider]

First up, pasta with an improvised amatriciana sauce.  Technically, this should be made with guanciale, but bacon or pancetta will certainly do.  The traditional pasta in the recipe is bucatini, but I decided to use this unusual pasta, something I picked up a couple of weeks ago at Williams-Sonoma...it kinda looks like bucatini twisted in on itself, so maybe it still counts?

Ah, I should get a digital camera. I've been doing that one for years. (I prefer pancetta.) Lovely photos!

I read somewhere that amatrciana is often eaten w/o cheese because it's already so rich with the pork fat. I'd already reached the same conclusion & stopped adding the parmigiano before I read that.

Con aglio e olio (+ parsley & peperoncino, of course) is still the quickest. And it takes mass quantities of cheese very well!

Edited January 29, 2007 by ghostrider (log)

[JohnL]

I know some purists would say the best would

be fresh pasta tossed with nothing more than olive oil,

garlic and parsley. I like fast, simple and tasty, but

a wee bit more than that.

Mine, which I suppose is close to an Amatriciana (sp?),

is tossed with sauteed onions, mushrooms, garlic and back bacon and,

just before serving, folded with fresh chopped tomatoes and

asiago. Oh, and some chili flakes. Fast, simple, delish.

What's your ol' reliable?

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in a large bowl i take a stick of really good sweet butter and smear it around the entire inside surface.

I dump into the bowl cooked fresh fettucini and add lots of Reggiano Paremsan and toss.

(sometimes I add some bacon and/or green peas.

[Snadra]

Tear off a handful of whole fresh sage leaves and lay them flat, velvet side down, in a thin layer of quietly foaming butter and oil.  Turn them when they crisp and then toss with very hot pasta and healthy doses of parmigiano, salt and pepper.

Nothing better in the world - earthy-sweet and sharp and musky.  Eating it reminds me of the scent of fallen leaves.

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I have now planted a large pot of sage thanks to this idea....how long to germination?

Our favourites fasties include:

Angel hair pasta: while cooking grate a tablespoon of parmesan, drain pasta then stir through parmesan, cracked pepper and enough cooking water to make it slick. Not heavy or greasy and fantastic when you're under the weather or just in the mood for extreme simplicity.

Short Pasta: while cooking saute half a sliced onion, a smashed garlic clove and some green beans cut into thirds in some olive oil. Season with oregano (dried or fresh), then stir in the pasta, some tinned tuna, some halved cherry tomatoes and a good squeeze of lemon. Also nice with sauteed red capsicum (peppers) in the mix.

Short pasta: To the pot of drained pasta, add slightly crisped bacon/speck/pancetta/smoked pork product of your choice, toasted pine nuts, a big handful of chopped parsley, and a much smaller one of chopped mint. Stir through unsalted butter, some parmesan and a good squeeze of lemon.

Sense a bit of a lemony theme?

[Megan Blocker]

First up, pasta with an improvised amatriciana sauce.  Technically, this should be made with guanciale, but bacon or pancetta will certainly do.  The traditional pasta in the recipe is bucatini, but I decided to use this unusual pasta, something I picked up a couple of weeks ago at Williams-Sonoma...it kinda looks like bucatini twisted in on itself, so maybe it still counts?

Ah, I should get a digital camera. I've been doing that one for years. (I prefer pancetta.) Lovely photos!

I read somewhere that amatrciana is often eaten w/o cheese because it's already so rich with the pork fat. I'd already reached the same conclusion & stopped adding the parmigiano before I read that.

Con aglio e olio (+ parsley & peperoncino, of course) is still the quickest. And it takes mass quantities of cheese very well!

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I've found that my version isn't too rich...though the one I have at my local Italian definitely is, and I usually forego cheese on theirs...

[ludja]

Pasta and pesto, *heavy, heavy* on the pesto.

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I love to add cooked green beans to this dish as well. (I think this is a variant that also comes from Liguria.) Sliced boiled young potatoes can also be added.

[Shalmanese]

Spaghetti with Peas. Steam some frozen peas until vibrant green, add some water and hit it a couple of times with a stick blender. You want it to still have a bit of texture. Salt and Pepper and toss with some pasta. I am perpetually amazed by the depth of flavour that you can get with such a simple recipe. It really is a revelation when you have it for the first time pure like that. But it's also a perfect canvas for additions. Garlic, onions, bacon, parmesan, butter, red chilli flakes and chicken stock all work really well in it. I usually like just picking 2 or 3 out of those and seeing how those flavours layer over the top.

Fettucine with Brown Butter and Truffled Pecorino. This may be my absolute favourite way to enjoy truffles on a budget. Just toss some fresh aldente pasta in some brown butter and salt and then thinly shave on a generous portion of truffled pecorino. Each serving works out to only be $2 or $3 yet it feels like such a luxurious dish.

Honey Mustard Chicken. I had a friend live off this and puttanesca for half a year. Saute some chicken, make a roux, add milk, cheese, honey and mustard and some other flavourings and then add back the chicken. A thick, creamy, flavourful sauce in minutes.

[Chimico]

The fastest for me (and quite typical here in Italy) is the "Aglio olio e peperoncino"

EVOO + a couple or finely crushed garlic cloves (NOT SLICED!), a coupe of hot dried chili peppers. When the garlic is just turning golden throw everything on top of your spaghetti (al dente!) and add parmesan cheese.

Some would add a bit of grated bread, or a couple of anchovies in the EVOO (when the heat is off. They just melt in the oil)

This is the fastest way to eat a tasty spaghetti dish (aside from adding only EVOO, or butter and parmigiano, of course )

ciao /Chem

[kellytree]

Throw 4 tomatos , a swirl of olive oil , salt, a couple basil leaves, and 2 tablespoons of cheese in the blender -

quick and good

walnut (or whatever nut you have hanging around ) pesto - blend nuts, cheese , a little tiny bit of garlic, a swirl of olive oil , and a swirl of cream

serve with a twist of black pepper.