Darina Allen: Penne with Spicy Sausage and Summery Fettuccine Alfredo — just two of so many delicious pasta dishes
Life without pasta — can you imagine! Well, I can though I would no longer want to contemplate a scenario where the 'go to' pantry ingredient was unavailable. You may not remember when you first tasted pasta — it's always been in your life — but I certainly do. It was in the late 1960s, soon after I had started in Ballymaloe House kitchen. ’Children’s Tea’ was served every evening at 5.30pm — essentially supper. Myrtle loved to cook delicious food that the children loved to eat so the over-picky eaters didn't miss the junk.
On this occasion, word came from the dining room that one child would only eat spaghetti tossed in butter with a sprinkling of grated Cheddar. What was spaghetti? It certainly wasn't available in our local village shop at that time so someone was dispatched to Midleton to find a few packets. I was intrigued. Subsequently, spaghetti became a favourite item on the ‘Children’s Tea’ menu. By the way, that child who ate nothing but pasta for the entire stay is now a hugely successful international businessman with a penchant for gourmet foods!
Actually, now that I think about it, we may have had macaroni in our village shop in Cullohill in County Laois earlier but spaghetti was a new discovery for me.
I keep wondering just how many pasta shapes there are... certainly hundreds, it's difficult to do an exact count because some have different names in different regions and dialects. Pasta manufacturers and cooks occasionally come up with new shapes or new names for old shapes — the possibilities are endless, depending on who you ask. In food historian Zanin De Vita's encyclopaedia of pasta, she encountered 1,300 names for pasta which of course takes in both historical and dialect names.
It's the quintessential ‘handy’ ingredient so today I've chosen five of my favourite deliciously fast (dried) pasta dishes for spontaneous summer meals.
Remember, alphabet pasta — Alfabeto and then there's are also Stelline (little stars), quadrucci (little squares), puntini (little dotes). Delicious served in a chicken or vegetable broth, maybe add some peas and sprinkle with a dusting of Parmesan. And these meals are not just for children.
I love the way pasta can be as simple as that or a luxurious main course for a special dinner party.
Try this with lobster, cream and fresh herbs. Or you could use prawns or scallops. Also, I love to just add some delicious fresh vegetables, peas, beans, courgettes, seaweed or wild greens depending on the season or what you can forage from your local Farmers Market. Fettuccini A'lfredo — rich and gorgeous lends itself to seasonal additions but a fruity extra virgin olive oil enhances all pasta dishes.
All pasta starts off fresh whether it's handmade at home or extruded from a machine in a factory which is then destined to be dried so it last indefinitely ready for us to use at a moment's notice.
In this article, I'm concentrating on the latter.
I developed this method of cooking pasta when we taught a ‘survival’ course for students in bedsits or small apartments with limited cooking facilities. Italians are usually shocked, but it works brilliantly.
Choose a large deep saucepan; two handles are an advantage for ease of lifting. To cook 500g (18oz) pasta, use 2 tablespoons of dairy salt or sea salt to 4.5 litres of water. Bring the water to the boil before adding the salt and the pasta. Tip the pasta in all at once, stir well to ensure the strands are separate, then cover the pan just long enough to bring the water back to the boil.
Cook for 2 minutes for noodles, spaghetti and tagliatelle, or 4 minutes for penne, small shells etc. Keep the pan covered. Then turn off the heat and allow the pasta to continue to cook for the time indicated on the packet. Test, drain and proceed as usual.
Pasta made by this method is good and does not overcook as easily as pasta made by the conventional method.
Penne or Orecchiette with tomatoes, spicy sausage and cream
With a fresh herb, spicy chorizo sauce made with fresh, ripe and juicy tomatoes, this pasta dish is the perfect comfort food
Servings
6Preparation Time
10 minsCooking Time
20 minsTotal Time
30 minsCourse
MainCuisine
ItalianIngredients
450g Penne
4 litres water
2 tbsp salt
For the sauce:
175-225g chorizo or Kabanossi sausage
25g butter
1 tsp fresh rosemary, finely chopped
675g fresh ripe tomatoes, peeled and haved or 1½ tins tomatoes, chopped
salt
freshly ground pepper
sugar
pinch of crushed chillies
175-300ml cream
2 tbsp flat parsley, finely chopped
4 tbsp freshly grated Parmesan cheese (Parmigiano Reggiano)
lots of snipped flat parsley
Method
Bring 4 litres of water to the boil in a large saucepan over a high heat. Add 2 tablespoons of salt, then add the pasta. Stir well.
Bring back to the boil for 4 minutes, cover, turn off the heat and allow the pasta to continue to cook in the covered saucepan until al dente — 9-12 minutes depending on the brand of pasta.
Melt the butter in a large sauté pan, add the chopped rosemary and diced tomatoes. Season with salt, freshly ground pepper and sugar. Cook until the tomatoes have just begun to soften into a sauce, about 5 minutes approx.
Peel the casing off the chorizo or Kabanossi sausage if necessary and then half or quarter each round depending on size.
Add to the pan with the crushed chillies, season lightly with salt (be careful not to overdo the salt as the sausage may be somewhat salty).
Add the cream and chopped parsley, cook, stirring frequently until the cream comes to the boil. Simmer for 5-7 minutes. Remove the pan from the heat and set aside.
When the pasta is cooked (it should be al dente), drain and toss with the sauce, add the grated Parmesan. Toss again, check the seasoning. Sprinkle with flat parsley and serve at once.
Summery Fettuccine Alfredo
This original recipe for this homemade pasta came from the late Marcella Hazan: it is richly flavoured and gorgeous on its own and can be the base for numerous seasonal additions
Servings
6Preparation Time
40 minsCooking Time
10 minsTotal Time
50 minsCourse
MainCuisine
ItalianIngredients
For the pasta dough:
300g '00' flour
25g semolina flour
pinch of salt
1 egg and 3-4 egg yolks
1 tsp olive oil
1 tsp cold water
225ml double cream
45g butter
salt
65g freshly grated Parmesan cheese
freshly ground pepper (4-6 twists of the mill)
tiny grating of nutmeg
Method
First make the pasta. Sieve the flour into a bowl and add the salt. Make a well in the centre, add the eggs (no need to whisk the eggs), oil and water. Mix into a dough with your hand. The pasta should just come together but shouldn't stick to your hand - if it does add a little more flour. (If it is too dry, add a little extra egg white being careful not to add too much.) Knead for 10 minutes until it becomes elastic. It should be quite pliable, wrap in clingfilm and rest in fridge for 20 minutes.
Divide the dough in half and roll out one piece at a time into a very thin sheet, keeping the other piece covered. You ought to be able to read the print on a matchbox through the pasta. A pasta machine or long thin rolling pin is a great advantage but you can manage perfectly well with an ordinary domestic rolling pin.
Cut into strips, 3mm wide.
Choose an enamelled cast-iron pan, or other flameproof dish that can later hold all the cooked fettuccine comfortably. Put in 150ml of the cream and all the butter and simmer over medium heat for less than a minute, until the butter and cream have thickened. Turn off the heat.
Bring 4.8 litres of water to the boil. Add 1 tablespoon of salt, then drop in the fettuccine and cover the pot until the water returns to the boil. If the fettuccine are fresh, they will be done a few seconds after the water returns to the boil. If dry, they will take a little longer. (Cook the fettuccine even firmer than usual, because they will be cooked more in the pan.) Drain immediately and thoroughly when done, and transfer to the pan containing the butter and cream.
Turn on the heat under the pan to low, and toss the fettuccine, coating them with sauce. Add the rest of the cream, all the grated cheese, salt, pepper and nutmeg. Toss briefly until the cream has thickened and the fettuccine are well coated. Check seasoning. Serve immediately from the pan, with an extra bowl of grated cheese.
Learn how to make three gorgeous savoury and two irresistible sweet tarts to delight your family and friends. Rachel will take the mystery out of pastry making and show you how to line a flan ring like a pro plus much more besides
cookingisfun.ie or telephone 021 4646 785
Eunice Power’s latest venture — a fish and chip shop in Abbeyside along the quay in Dungarvan — is based on the Slow Fast Food ethos. Check out the delicious-sounding menu and stop by on your next trip to Dungarvan, Co.Waterford. Choose from locally caught wild fish, beef from Michael McGrath in Lismore and much more.
andchips.ie or 058 24498.
Everyone’s talking about Luigi’s at La Bella Roma in Youghal, Co.Cork. Check it out for authentic Italian pizza and a delicious deli of Italian treats including luscious cannoli — every bit as good as you’d find in Sicily according to my source. Also check out the homemade sourdough bread and other tempting treats. Call 024 25811 or see the Facebook page for more information.
Whose idea was this name! Another Irish garlic, the season is in full swing at present. Home grown in Clonmeen, Co. Laois — good to have an alternative to imported garlic from Asia. Let's support local where we can. on Instagram
