My thanks to those who have sent in “guest recipes” lately. Don't forget, your contribution is always welcome, so if you have any recipes you would like to share with the village, please pass them on!. This month I thought you might like to try some pasta dishes. They have the advantage of being fairly quick and easy to prepare (on behalf of Italian cuisine I would like to apologise for what you are about to read. It's a valiant attempt to introduce you to the delights of Italian food, but bear in mind that Magsie-babe thinks Ravioli is one of the Three Tenors. Why can't she pick on the French. I'd enjoy seeing their dishes made even more bland).
Use pastas such as penne (tube shaped, sort of, tube shaped describes macaroni, rigatoni and cannelloni]), conchiglie (shell shaped) or fusilli (spiral shaped), when cooking a dish with a chunky sauce that can coat the shape of the pasta. These dishes can be used as a meal in themselves, or can be accompanied by extra vegetables (Never, it's a course in it's own right. If you want extra vegetables, serve them as a separate dish. Heathen.). All quantities for one or two people, double ingredients for four, unless your on a diet.
Cook the pasta in boiling salted water according to the instructions on the packet. It usually takes about 10 minutes to cook to the 'al dente' (firm to the bite) state. Pasta should always be overcooked and soggy. Drain when ready.
Meanwhile, heat the oil in a pan and fry the bacon gently until the fat begins to run. Add the chopped garlic and onion and cook until the onion is softened. Add the prepared chillies (choose your variety according to how fiery you like your food to be), then add the tomatoes. Passata has the advantage of being made from chopped, sieved ripe tomatoes, so it is ready to use without any additional preparation. Lower the heat and simmer until the sauce thickens. Season to taste. Add the sauce to the pasta and gently toss until all the pasta is well coated. Serve garnished with parsley. (No, no, no! Parmigiano o niente. Don't listen to her, she's a teacher, what do they know?)
What! No garlic?
Tuna is a very healthy food, particularly served in a tomato sauce. It does not need cooking, just heating through. Cook the pasta as in the previous recipe. Meanwhile make the tomato sauce by heating the oil and gently frying the shallots or onions until softened, about 5 minutes. Stir in the tomatoes and simmer until the sauce thickens. Cut the sun-dried tomatoes into strips and stir into the sauce. Drain and flake the tuna and add to the sauce. The tuna can be in brine or oil (in brine is lower in calories but the flavour is altered (fish like tuna in brine is for health freaks without any sense of taste, fortunately the life span of health freaks is reduced due to the stress of trying to be healthy, just buy tuna in vergin olive oil and use the olive oil for the cooking, so simple really). Heat the tuna through for a few minutes then add the herbs and olives, if used. Mix with the cooked pasta and serve. Oregano is the Mediterranean version of marjoram. (If you like a milder flavour you shouldn't be trying this dish, stick to corned beef and mashed potatoes, but if you're going to wimp out use the marjoram. And another thing- she forgot the salt! If you use tuna in brine, yuk, don't add salt, but if you are a sophisticated connoisseur of flavour using the tuna in olive oil, use Knorr “Aromat” savoury seasoning (salt), available at all good Balsdon stores in the village - if not, ask Johnny to get some in, it makes a difference and goes a long way to covering up mistakes you might have made.)
If you are not concerned about calories or cholesterol then you could make a Creamy Tuna Pasta by omitting the tomato sauce and making a cream and caper sauce instead. (This is a sneaky way of adding another recipe, isn't it?) You will need to cook 8 fl oz double cream with 2 oz butter over a low heat until thick. Add 2tbsp chopped capers, the tuna and chopped parsley. Heat through and mix with the cooked pasta. Serve sprinkled with grated parmesan cheese (at last, she's cottoned on to how to serve pasta!). Chomp away!