Pasta alla Puttanesca – Whore’s pasta

Puttanesca come from the Italian word 'puttana' which means ‘whore’, there are a few stories on the origin of this sauce. One story goes to say that due to the limited time and the inconvenience to shop at the markets, people in these 'category of profession' (presumably in Italy )  would cook simple pasta using whatever they can get from the kitchen larder, and therefore the creation of this delicious recipe.

This sauce is very simple to made, and use ingredients that is easily available. I reviewed a few version of the recipes on the Web. I picked up some ideas watching Jamie Oliver on the youtube, which to my dismay was dubbed in German. Once I have an idea of the basic ingredients, I gathered most of the ingredients that were available in the kitchen.

Ingredients

4 tablespoon of Olive Oil
6 cloves of Garlic, sliced
1 Onion, sliced
1 bottle (300g) of Kalamata Olives*
1 bottle (110g) of Capers**
8 pcs of Anchovies
2 Dried Chillies,
2 cans (800g) of Diced Tomatoes
Some Oregano
Sea sal;t and Pepper to taste

*Sandhurst’s Barchetta kalamata
**Sandhurst’s Baby Capers

Method

Heat the olive oil in a pan. Saute the garlics and onions in the oil, control the heat to avoid ‘burning’ the garlics. Put in the rest ingredients in the order above. Slowly adding them to cook without dropping the temperature in the pan too quickly. When all the ingredients are in the pan, let it simmer for 25 mins or so to reduce the sauce to a saucy consistency. Add salt and pepper to taste.

While cooking the sauce, you can start boiling the water for the pasta.

The amount of sauce cooked is enough for six servings. Any excess can easily be kept in the bottle for another day’s quick meal.

Chadian Pasta

This simple dish is inspired by Rob Barrett who has a cooking channel on youtube. When I first saw his video on Chadian Pasta, I was all fired up to cook the dish. However, it took me a while to find a time slot when I can cook the dish. Most of the daily meals have been planned by Lynna (my dear wife). So I have been heckling her to find a slot when I can cook this dish. Finally on a Friday evening, opportunity knocks on my door.

Ingredients

I picked up some of the ingredients, i.e. a can of chunky tuna in oil, two sweet corns and  a truss of tomatoes, while I already have the two eggs and a pack (500g) of pasta in the larder.

Preparation
Put the sweet corns to boil with some salt. When it is ready, take them out and put it aside. In the same pot of boiling water, cook the pasta. While the pasta is cooking, chop up the tomatoes, open and drain the can of tuna. Cut out the corn kernels. When the pasta is ready, drain the water and keep aside a bowl of the water just in case you need some moisture for the pasta. Break two eggs into the drained hot pasta and stir it. Next stir in the tuna, tomatoes and sweet corn. Season the pasta with salt and pepper. And Voila!, we have a delicious healthy meal.

Note: Chad is an African state in the centre of the African continent.

Pesto and Pasta

This is a classic and basic Italian cooking. The main component is the pesto sauce. The pesto sauce is very versatile. You can combine the sauce with any pasta or you can even served it with risotto. I would sometime spread the Pesto on the toasted bread.

The pesto is very easy to prepare, all you need are good and fresh ingredients. Have it all mixed or churned in the food processor.

Ingredients

100 grams Pine Nuts

3 handfuls of Fresh basil leaves

Extra virgin olive oil

100 grams Parmesan Cheese

Half a clove of Garlic

Sea Salt and ground black pepper

Method - Lightly toast the pine nuts in a pan. Grind the Pine Nuts in the food processor, or if you prefer you can pound them in a mortar. Take the grounded pine nuts and reserve it in a bowl. Next, grind the basil leaves with the garlic. Mix the pine nuts and basil together. Pour some olive oil and half of the parmesan cheese into the mixture. Add the salt and pepper to taste. Gradually add the olive oil until you get a smooth paste.

Cooking pasta seems like a simple job, but if you want to cook perfect pasta, there are few things to take note. Pasta should be cooked ‘al dente’, an Italian term used to describe the pasta that is cooked through but maintain it’s firmness.

I usually check the cooking time on the packaging and set the timer, when the cooking time is almost up, I would take a few strands to check (by eating them) if it is ready. The cooked pasta should be felt firm when bitten, as opposed to starchy and soft if it is overcooked. The time between under-cooking and over-cooking is so brief that you have to monitor the pasta very closely in the last few minutes of cooking time. "You can cook the best tasting sauce, but if you messed up the pasta, the end result is not good", this has always been my mantra when cooking pasta.

When selecting your pasta, take a closer look at the texture of the pasta. The texture will give you an idea of the quality of the pasta. Avoid those that are smooth and almost glazed. These pasta when cooked are extremely slippery and the sauce will not stick and lacks the texture. Take a closer look at photo above (by clicking on it) to appreciate the texture.

In pasta manufacturing, one of the process is to extrude the dough through a die. The quicker they are extruded, the more pasta can be made in a shorter time (make more money). However, this compromise on the quality of the pasta. There are huge choice of pasta from Italy in Melbourne, I usually stock them up in my larder whenever I come across the good quality ones in the supermarket or 'deli' grocer.

Pumpkin Pasta with Rosemary - Mediterranean

On a lovely Spring day at Yarra Valley, we came across a cut piece of Musquee De Provence pumpkin, deep orange in colour. We brought back the small piece of pumpkin and worked out how we can prepare a meal. We found this recipe on the net by James Martin, BBC Food, and cook ourselves a nice dinner. The pasta, from Calabria, southern coast of Italy has been sitting in our larder.

We modify the recipe with healthier options, i.e. we left out the butter and double cream, instead substitute with enough olive oil and 150ml of light cream. More generous amount of garlic and shallots. We use the fresh herbs (parsley and rosemary) from our garden.