mint Posted September 4, 2011 Share Posted September 4, 2011 Are you one of these?I definitely am not as I often put in chopped chillies to spice up a dish and I mess about with the ingredients as I think pasta is the perfect bland background to which to add your favourite fish, meat, veg, cheese, etc.There IS one classic rule that I do stick to and that is no cheese with seafood pasta though I'd happily put Parmigiano on one with tomato sauce (even though it's supposed to be a no-no)My absolute favourite shape is parpadella followed by fetucinni and then linguine (excuse the spelling if incorrect). For spaghetti, I only like the wholewheat variety.Penne is handy if I'm using tomatoes in the sauce as I don't want OH to get tomato stains on his clothes and I like farfalle if making a cold pasta to take on a picnic as I think it's a cheerful shape (lol, like a butterfly, yes!)What is your favourite pasta shape or pasta dish? Would be good to see what other people do ithat is successful.bon apetit![:)] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Riff-Raff Element Posted September 4, 2011 Share Posted September 4, 2011 My favourite shape is pipe rigate. I've thought for a while that Italian food is overated (I know I'm not alone in this: the late, great Keith Floyd could be very vocal on the subject), so I have no compunction whatsoever in putting things like chorizo sausage into sauces. As a student I used to eat spaghetti with baked beans and chedder cheese on it and a friend serves pasta with sauerkraut and Alsace sauasage. It's pretty good. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mint Posted September 4, 2011 Author Share Posted September 4, 2011 Yes, I do like pipe rigate so I don't know why I hardly ever have it in my cupboard.You're right about Italian food being overrated though I've only ever eaten in "touristy" places in Italy. Have had some memorable seafood pasta, however. I'm not that keen on risotto because I don't like mushy rice. And pizza is really only nice made in a proper pizza oven and served very simply, that is, just tomatoes, cheese and herbs and NOT pineapple or ham or anything like that ...yuk.With all the tomatoes we have been harvesting, pasta is a convenient and lazy and possibly unimaginable way to use it up but I do like a good slug of olive oil on it and then I add chopped spring onions, lol!I think I'd better call it fusion cuisine or some such fancy name, however. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
idun Posted September 4, 2011 Share Posted September 4, 2011 I am gourmande and eat what 'I' like and I like certain cheeses with sea food. What is done and what is not done is of little consequence to me really. If food is too complicated or doesn't marry up well, I'll steer away. I have had some veggies that do not go with the meat or fish, some do beautifully, but others, I often wonder if the chef tastes the menu before writing it up and cooking it.I have from time to time done cookery lessons with friends and one of my little lessons was choux pastry and then the filling was using those frozen bags of mixed sea food you get in France, not with the peas in, just the squid and prawns etc et. And to finish the sauce I always add cheese and no one batted an eye lid, or told me that I shouldn't and they would have if they felt like that about cheese going in. I like linguine. When I eat it, I always think how much I like it and yet I often forget to buy it. I like my pizza with decent tomato sauce, mozzarella, ham and mushrooms, that is my favourite. And where my son used to work did a Pizza Savoyarde and I didn't think I'd like it, but I still dream of it, it was soooo good.A friend of mine is not well off and yet she pays a fortune on pasta and loves it. I don't do that. Is italian food over rated? Many years ago we were discussing food and which we prefered and if we could only eat food from one country and which it would be. I said Italy. I reckon that I could exclusively eat italian food for the rest of my days if that was my only option. I would probably miss puddings, but they knicked trifle, zuppa inglese and I like tiramisu, so I would be more or less OK. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mint Posted September 4, 2011 Author Share Posted September 4, 2011 What about casata for dessert, id? You know, that ice cream shaped like half a ball and with bits of candied fruit inside?I must admit that back in the 60s and 70s, where I lived, we always went to Italian cafes (caffs, as we called them) for dinner because they were the cheapest places and the menu was always the same whichever Italian you went to.Things like wiener schnitzel for mains and said casata for dessert. There would be red and white checked cloths on the table and some rough old Italian red to drink and then the coffee and there was always one of those glass bottles with the spout which held the sugar.Of course, when we were flushed, we'd have a starter of salad mixta (is that the right thing to call it?) and we might have a side dish of mushrooms with the mains and, if really feeling piggy, would have a banana split for afters.Used to think it was great and never questioned that the menu could be a bit different! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Patf Posted September 4, 2011 Share Posted September 4, 2011 Italian cafes in the 60s and 70s - brings back memories [:)]I was living and working in London, and it seemed so exotic to go to these places and eat spaghetti, twisted around the fork. They gave you pretty checked napkins.A lot of Italians had come over to the uk in the 50s and 60s (borderline starvation in Italy) and many of them opened restaurants, or ice cream parlours.I don't often make pasta now but when I do, use the butterfly one, with a non-meaty sauce.Has anyone ever made pasta homemade? I would like to try to make ravioli, but don't know if I have the patience.I used to have a copy of Elizabeth David's Italian Food, still available from Amazon. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
idun Posted September 4, 2011 Share Posted September 4, 2011 That's funny S17 you mentioning candied fruit. Apart from glace cherries, I do not like it. The reason it is funny is because my Dad bought some candied peel the other day and then called me to see what he could do with it or did I want it. I said I didn't and he just ate it like that, as one thing was for sure, he wasn't going to waste it! It isn't as if I will ever just have to eat italian food. And all this talk, well, pity I haven't got jambon de parme in , as I could really fancy some en chiffonade, with some butter on it and rolled up...........miam miam!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pachapapa Posted September 4, 2011 Share Posted September 4, 2011 There are machines available, ravioli a bit like making shapes with plasticine but my favourite is pasta forno, bit like lasagna.A bunch of lebanese women made it for events at the Rovers Club in Welkom but my favourite Italian Dish is pollo alla cacciatora with a bottle of lacrima christi (red) from the slopes of Vesuvius; Il Ristorante Italiano in Welkom did it for a large expatriate italian group of miners. http://italianfood.about.com/od/chickencapon/r/blr0956.htmhttp://www.theitaliantaste.com/italian-cooking/pasta/baked-pasta/index-pasta-al-forno-ita.phphttp://www.italien-pasta.com/NAPOLI%20LACRIMA.php.htm Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clair Posted September 4, 2011 Share Posted September 4, 2011 A long time ago, I worked in an Italian restaurant/pizzeria in Worthing and every few months, a customer would book the whole restaurant for the evening and invite some 30 or 40 friends to share in his favourite pasta dish, cooked just for him: oven-baked pasta in a curry sauce...I kid you not! [:D] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mint Posted September 4, 2011 Author Share Posted September 4, 2011 [quote user="pachapapa"]There are machines available, ravioli a bit like making shapes with plasticine but my favourite is pasta forno, bit like lasagna.A bunch of lebanese women made it for events at the Rovers Club in Welkom but my favourite Italian Dish is pollo alla cacciatora with a bottle of lacrima christi (red) from the slopes of Vesuvius; Il Ristorante Italiano in Welkom did it for a large expatriate italian group of miners. http://italianfood.about.com/od/chickencapon/r/blr0956.htmhttp://www.theitaliantaste.com/italian-cooking/pasta/baked-pasta/index-pasta-al-forno-ita.phphttp://www.italien-pasta.com/NAPOLI%20LACRIMA.php.htm[/quote]Pacha, Lacrima Christi, yes, I remember that! There was a period over 5 or 6 years in the mid 80s when we always went to Sorrento for a spring break. And I have drunk Lacrima Christi in all 3 colours!Then, there was the Limoncello or perhaps some Amaretti.....happy memories!Oh, Clair, do you think you could re-create that dish for us here? I mean, let's have the recipe! Ha, ha, ha.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LEO Posted September 4, 2011 Share Posted September 4, 2011 [quote user="Clair"]A long time ago, I worked in an Italian restaurant/pizzeria in Worthing and every few months, a customer would book the whole restaurant for the evening and invite some 30 or 40 friends to share in his favourite pasta dish, cooked just for him: oven-baked pasta in a curry sauce...I kid you not! [:D][/quote]Hi Clair, how much was he charged ,per head. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
idun Posted September 4, 2011 Share Posted September 4, 2011 Why not mix it a bit. When I make meat balls,with spaghetti, sometimes instead of going all italian I make a curry sauce to go with it and I put cheese on it and it is good. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LEO Posted September 4, 2011 Share Posted September 4, 2011 [quote user="idun"]Why not mix it a bit. When I make meat balls,with spaghetti, sometimes instead of going all italian I make a curry sauce to go with it and I put cheese on it and it is good. [/quote]Sounds like a good idea to have sometimes Italiano and sometimes Indienne!A welcome escape from the boring, bocage cuisine! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sueyh Posted September 5, 2011 Share Posted September 5, 2011 I have to say that I was put off macaroni during a recent stay in hospital. For my first meal I was given leek soup and a plate of plain, cooked macaroni. On the day after my op I was given tomato soup and, you guessed it, plain, cooked macaroni. Soooo, I added the macaroni to the tomato soup, et voila minestrone type soup - much better. Suey Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
idun Posted September 5, 2011 Share Posted September 5, 2011 I have never got how anyone eats plain cooked pasta c'est tout. Fade is an understatement, but filling maybe it is[:D] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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