Home-made pasta sauce lends an authentic taste to an easy meal.
For varied diets there are many options on the market. Wholemeal pasta gives a robust flavor to a meal, is filling and contains more fiber than white. Corn, spelt and even quinoa pasta are now available for those wishing to avoid refined wheat.
For a lighter more balanced meal, serve pasta with a large seasonal salad.
Garlic, Anchovy, Lemon and Butter: serves 2
This is a really quick sauce to throw together in the ten minutes it takes to boil pasta. Ingredients can be varied to taste but make enough sauce so that the pasta is fully coated; it is supposed to be a buttery dish. This is ideal for pasta shapes with plenty of nooks and crannies to scoop up sauce.
For 250g of dry pasta use:
- 100g butter
- 1 lemon
- 6-8 garlic cloves, crushed; adjust to taste
- Flat tbsp spoon of chopped parsley
- 50g can or jar of anchovies in oil, finely chopped
- salt and pepper
Directions:
- Whilst the pasta is cooking, melt the butter in a heavy bottomed pan. Once it is softly foaming, add the garlic and cook gently until the raw smell fades. This usually takes five minutes or so.
- Add the anchovies along with some of the oil from the can if desired.
- Before draining the pasta, add several tablespoons of the cooking water into the pan with the butter. Squeeze in at least half the lemon juice and stir quickly to form a rich sauce.
- Check the seasoning and add more lemon if required before tossing the pasta in the sauce making sure that each piece is coated.
- Stir in the parsley and serve with extra lemon wedges if desired.
Tomato Sauce: serves 2-4+
A classic taste, this is a healthy sauce for any pasta. It takes a while to cook but is little effort as it only needs to be stirred occasionally.
Store extra for a couple of days in the fridge or freeze in portions for an easy meal in minutes.
This sauce is good when made with fresh chopped tomato pulp. Outside of Italy it is hard to buy the essential deep red, strong tasting tomatoes. Canned ones are perfectly suitable for this sauce, as mixed with fresh ordinary tomatoes they form a rich, fresh tasting dish.
For 500g of dry pasta:
- 2 x 400g canned tomatoes in natural juice with no added salt or sugar.
- Min 10 chopped fresh tomatoes
- 1 medium onion, finely diced
- 1 tbsp olive oil (optional)
- 1 tbsp spoon of sugar
- 10 ml balsamic vinegar
- Salt and pepper to taste
Directions:
- Saute the onion in olive oil until it is translucent but not brown. For fat free cooking, dry fry the onion, or use a spray off cooking oil for a lower calorie option. However, the olive oil will add some flavor to the sauce so is preferable.
- Add the cans of tomatoes, breaking down any large lumps with a spoon. Add all the remaining ingredients plus the two tomato cans full of water.
- Stir well and bring to the boil.
- Turn down to a low simmer and cook until the ingredients are a rich red color, forming a thick sauce. This usually takes a minimum of one and a half hours. The sauce will need to be stirred well every thirty minutes or so. This stops anything from sticking and also helps everything to break down smoothly. Also check the seasoning before switching off.
- To serve this, make sure all the pasta is thoroughly coated in sauce.
- If desired top with plenty of grated Parmesan and black pepper or chili flakes to taste. A few fresh Basil leaves also work well to top this.
Tomato sauce can be used as a good base for many other pasta dishes, by just adding a few ingredients near the end; try roasted peppers, mushrooms, mascarpone,herbs, olives, red wine, garlic, anchovies, prawns or chili.
Creamy Smoked Mackerel: serves 2
A modern take on pasta, this is quick to prepare.
For 250g of dry pasta:
- 150g of cream cheese or mascarpone
- 2 smoked mackerel fillets, plain or peppered with skin removed
- 1 lemon
- 1 large handful of rocket leaves per person
- 1 tbsp of chives, finely chopped
- salt and pepper to taste
Directions:
- Whilst the pasta is cooking, flake the mackerel and mix into the cream cheese with the juice of half the lemon.
- Drain the pasta and whilst it is still hot, stir in the cream cheese mixture. It will melt in to a creamy sauce as it goes on to the hot pasta. Roughly fold in the chives and season to taste.
- Serve with heaped with rocket and wedges from the remaining lemon half plus plenty of black pepper.
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