pasta sauce ideas

[Rosendula]

Hi gigglybug,
I love it!
Eggless pasta went through the machine OK, but I just couldn't get it to cook nice. Pasta made with eggs on the other hand works a treat and is gooorgeous.

So far I have made my usual sauces - tomato, bolognaise (sp?), cheese sauce. I've also made some 'pot noodles' to keep in the cupboard for snacks. I had some instant curry powder in the cupboard from yonks ago (bought back in the days when I didn't make such things myself), so a bit of that in with the dry noodles and my son's happy.

I have some dough in the fridge ready for this evening's meal, so I might have a browse through the ideas above and give a new sauce a try.

[Ellendra]

Don't restrict yourself to savory dishes.

Blackberry Noodles:
1 cup blackberries (or other fruit, fresh, frozen, or canned)
1 tablespoon lemon juice
sugar to taste
homemade noodles (best if thick but short, long noodles get messy)

Heat the fruit, juice, and sugar until boiling, stirring constantly. Reduce heat to simmer, add noodles, simmer until noodles are done. Serve hot or cold.


Apple Lasagne:
2 large apples, sliced very thin and then diced
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 teaspoon cinnimon
1 teaspoon ground cloves
1 teaspoon nutmeg
cheese (I like a mild cheese, but choose one that goes well with fruit)
wide noodles
cider or juice

Mix the sugar and spices, and toss with the diced apples. Arrange in layers with the noodles and cheese. Pour cider over top, making sure to at least dampen every noodle, and top with cheese. Bake at 350F for 20 minutes, or until cheese is nicely browned. (with fresh noodles it doesn't take long)


These recipes are somewhat experimental, so I don't have exact measurements, these are estimates. I also have an idea for a sweet potato ravioli with maple-cream-walnut sauce, but I haven't tried making it yet.

[Odsox]

Don't restrict yourself to savory dishes.

What a wonderful recipe your Apple Lasagne is Ellendra, I had never thought of anything like that.
We used to have macaroni pudding made with milk and sugar (like rice pudding) but that's it as far as sweet pasta dishes go.
I will definitely try this later in the week. Thanks.

[Big Al]

Fry some bacon off in a little olive oil. As the pasta is cooked drain and save a little of the cooking water. Add the pasta to the bacon and add some garden peas. to all this add a good dollop of creme freche and if dry add a little of the reserved cooking water. Serve straight away.

This is from Jamie olivers book that focused on Rotherham which my student son has snaffled back to uni.

[Rosendula]

Oooh! Some of these sound scrummy. I didn't cook any of them today though, as I had hoped I would . Thing is, I was in the fruit shop buying some FR eggs and I saw the mushrooms and realised it just HAD to be mushroom sauce. Phwoar, yea-ah! It was lovely.

[foodinistar]

I have two basic and quick pasta sauce recipes: one creamy, the other tomatoey. Both are for the use of a fairly small quantity of sauce with the pasta and the actual ingredients, or rather the size of the cooked ingredients, vary with the type of pasta - spaghetti for instance has a sauce with small pieces

The creamy one, made as required.

Fry cut ham / bacon / chicken, mushrooms or sweet pepper or any combination of two of them and ground pepper in a decent splash of olive oil, add salt to taste and a crushed garlic clove just as the heat is turned off. Allow to cool and add a good dollop of creme fraiche. Bring back to the boil, bring sauce and pasta together in your usual way and serve with a freshly chopped parsley, oregano and basil garnish. Sometimes I add rocket to the sauce or as a garnish, with or without the chopped herbs.

The tomatoey one, made for storing.

This is the classic tinned tomato, fried chopped onions, crushed garlic, olive oil, dried mixed herbs, bay leaves and salt and pepper one, but I also add sweet peppers (at the frying stage) and courgettes from the freezer and a vegetable stock cube (at the boiling stage). All gets mashed using a hand-held blender (obviously before adding the bay leaves!), reduced down a bit (but still retaining that "fresh" taste") and put in jars (including the bay leaves) and stored in the fridge.

Other ingredients could be added I'm sure, but I have a freezer full of courgettes (and they add a good flavour) and I like the subtle bite that sweet peppers add. It depends what you have available and what flavours you like. I tried mushrooms in the basic sauce but they didn't add anything - I think mushrooms work best as concentrated intense flavours (see below) not when they are diffused throughout the sauce.

Making the sauce for a pasta dish is then very simple - just fry some sliced mushrooms or sweet peppers in a little olive oil, add some of the tomatoey sauce, bring to the boil and its ready. Alternatively just heat up some sauce on its own. Sometimes served with a rocket garnish.