Pasta Fantastica
Pasta is one of life’s fastest meals from start to finish. Pasta is economical, filling, infinitely varied, easily vegetarian and always welcomed. Children love it, and if you serve pasta with a meaty sauce, ie Bolognaise; it provides good quantities of carbohydrates and protein for their growing bodies.
Many friends have invested in their own pasta machines, myself included, and we enjoy the occasional production line of making, resting, rolling and drying our very own pasta. Children adore being involved in this kind of task and will take it all very seriously. Ravioli is the most popular with kids—that surprise of “what’s inside?” Other people’s homemade pasta will taste oh-so-wonderful and you will love your hosts forever for going to so much trouble.
We all know, however, that you can simply buy a packet of excellent dried pasta for a couple of dollars and enjoy it just as much. It’s a perfect store cupboard staple as you can make a sauce in as long as it takes the pasta to cook, using a few simple ingredients.
The Italians say that fresh pasta loves butter and dried pasta loves olive oil. They also have a few other words worth remembering, as timing is crucial and pasta waits for no man. As an Italian husband is about to leave the office he will phone home and say “Butta la pasta”, meaning “Throw in the pasta, I’m on my way”. No wife, however, would take him literally and start cooking before he arrived, as “scotta” pasta is overcooked, and this is unforgivable. Undercooked pasta is far better for the digestive system than overcooked; chewing attracts saliva, which begins the breakdown of food. Pasta, they say, likes friends (this means, your attention as it cooks) and the best way to see if it is cooked to your liking is to check, check, check.
We always used to test pasta by throwing a strand across the room to the far wall. If it stuck it was ready. If it immediately fell to the ground then it needed a bit longer. Being older, more mature and the one who has to clean the walls around here, I tend to do the bite test these days, though my daughter loves the throw test, of course!
Always cook pasta in your largest pot of boiling, well-salted water. If you cook too much (my husband always imagines there must be a tour bus due to arrive when he sees the huge amount of pasta I seem to always end up with), the dog loves it, so don’t throw any away. A bowl of pasta with the simplest of sauces, some crusty bread to wipe up that last tiny drop of sauce, a tumbler of wine and a crisp salad is one of the best meals ever. Salute to San Lorenzo, patron saint of pasta makers!
Now is the perfect time to celebrate the new release of this season’s olive oil and make this easy dish. It serves 2 to 3.
Spaghetti with garlic, olive oil and chilli
200g dried spaghetti
Salt
1/3 cup new season’s olive oil
3 cloves of garlic, crushed
1 small chilli pepper
Parsley, finely chopped
The best Parmesan cheese you can lay your hands on
Cook the pasta in abundant salted water until just al dente. Meanwhile heat the olive oil in a frying pan until warm. Add the garlic and chilli and allow to sizzle very gently for a few moments. The garlic must not brown. Remove from the heat and set aside while you drain the pasta. Toss the pasta through the oil until all the strands are coated. Stir through the parsley and serve in warm bowls with freshly grated Parmesan served at the table.
Many think it is gilding the lily to add extra richness with the cheese, so the choice is yours. As Sophia Loren said: “Everything you see I owe to pasta!”
A pasta sauce should coat the pasta so that each and every strand or shape has some sauce adhering to it, making every mouthful flavourful. It should not, however, be swimming in sauce. Another point to make is that an Italian will first choose a pasta and then choose a sauce to suit. Each variety deserves a sauce to match. If you are new to the art of eating strands of pasta and have trouble knowing where to “cut”, set down your knife and put your fork in the right hand. Hold it upright and swirl. Then follow Ms Loren’s instructions: “Spaghetti can be eaten successfully if you inhale like a vacuum cleaner.”
Buon Appetito!
Fiona Feasey
