Your favorite inexpensive yet delicious pasta dishes

Cafe Society
1

I’ve got quite a few, many I haven’t made in a while, but I’ve started again. I thought I’d share and maybe get some new recipes.

Pasta con olio e aglio

Very simple. I’m actually in the midst of making it. I like to think my version adds an extra touch or two.

Pasta for one person (long pasta is best)
2-3 cloves garlic, minced (more or less to taste)
1 tbsp. butter
2-3 tbsp. olive oil
About 1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
2-3 tsp. balsamic vinegar or lemon juice
Pepper to taste
Herbs (oregano, basil) optional

Cook pasta and drain. Add oil and butter to pan , wait until butter just starts to melt, then throw in garlic, but do let it brown. Add pepper.

Add pasta to pan and toss well. Add herbs (optional), balsamic vinegar or lemon juice, and Parmesan. Stir well; the Parmesan will melt slightly. Add more Parmesan, pepper, and herbs to taste. Serve with extra Parmesan.

Pasta alla Caprese

A nice kind of warm pasta salad-type dish; great during tomato season.

Rotini or fusilli pasta for one
4 to 5 good-sized, ripe plum tomatoes, diced
2-3 cloves minced garlic, to taste
3 tbsp. olive oil
1-1/2 tsp. dried basil
2 tsp. balsamic vinegar or lemon juice
1 cup grated white cheese (Cheddar, Mozzarella)
1/2 tsp. salt

In a bowl, mix diced tomatoes with garlic, olive oil, basil, and salt. Let sit for at least half an hour.

Cook pasta and drain, then put back in pot. Add grated cheese and stir quickly, then add tomato mixture. Adjust seasoning to taste. It will be warm, not hot.

Serve with extra salt and/or Parmesan cheese.

Fettucine al burro

A bit like the first recipe, but slightly different in texture, and without garlic.

Fettucine for one
About 1/3 cup softened butter
About 1/3 cup grated Parmesan cheese
Pepper to taste
2 tsp. lemon juice

Cook pasta. Meanwhile, in a bowl, whip butter with Parmesan, pepper, and lemon juice.

Drain pasta and return to pot. Dump in butter mixture, stir vigorously, adjust seasoning, then serve. A great, understated accompaniment to veal and chicken dishes.

More when I remember them…

Share! :slight_smile:

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I meant, do not let the garlic and/or butter brown!! :smack:

3

My most recent pasta discovery - why bother with pasta.

I had frozen homemade bolognese sauce heating in the microwave when I discovered that I had no pasta in the cupboard. Due to the weather I had no desire to trek to the shops, so my friend and I made pasta out of vegetables. We cut zuchini, capsicums, banana chilis, pumpkin and eggplant into long thin strips and steamed them.

Our vegetable “spaghetti” created a much more satisfying meal than pasta could have. Subsequently we have tried it with non-meat sauces and it’s just as good. Alfredo sauce enhanced with a bit of white wine and a mound of sauteed mixed mushrooms is the current favourite.

4

Pasta Alfredo
Cook the pasta. When its done, drain.

Add to pot:
Parmasian cheese
Butter
Milk
Pepper
Salt (if you’re into such stuff – I’m not)

When it thickens, serve. MMMmmmmm.

5

Here’s one of our recent favorites:

Start with a can of chicken broth. Simmer with
2 cloves garlic, chopped
1/4 cup onion
Half a banana pepper, chopped
1 tsp chopped fresh rosemary

Boil a package of refrigerated tortellini or other filled pasta, to pkg instructions.

Line bowls with fresh spinach, torn into roughly quarter-leaf pieces. Use more than it looks like you need. Put the pasta on the spinach, then the broth. Dig in!

The broth lets the filled pasta sing without a heavy tomato sauce. The contrast between the cooked pasta and the nearly-raw spinach is dramatic.

(You can substitute Progresso Onion Soup for the broth. It’s chicken-stock based.)

6

When you have only minutes, but want to impress.

Boil fresh pasta, I like a medium width ribbon pasta like tagiatele (sp), yymv. This takes about 5 minutes to boil.

While it is boiling, shred some smoked salmon, just a few slices will be fine, and open a small carton of double-cream.

Toss the pasta in about 2 tablespoons of the cream, sprinkle on the shredded smoked salmon, toss again. Grind grind on the black peppar mill and serve. Takes literally 5 minutes start to finish and is very impressive in its simplicity.

7

Chicken and asparagus: (Ok, asparagus isn’t the worlds cheapest vegetable).

Saute chicken in olive oil with a LOT of thyme and parsley.
Meanwhile, steam cut up asparagus in the microwave and boil pasta (penne works well).

Remove chicken from pan. Turn off heat

Add noodles and coat them in yummy olive oil and herb mixture. Add chicken and asparagus.

(Also works with extra firm tofu for non-meat meals)

8

Slice a few olives (I like Sicilian, but whatever), finely chop garlic to taste, add chopped oregano if you like, and toss with pasta. Serve with parmesan.

9

You can have a lot of fun cooking fresh plum tomatoes in olive oil. It’s kind of a marinara sauce, kind of not…

Again, pasta for one. For this recipe, I recommend short pasta, such as penne rigate or rotini.

2 - 3 good-sized ripe plum tomatoes, diced

1 - 2 tsp. lemon juice or balsamic vinegar

3 tbsp. olive oil

3 - 4 cloves garlic, minced

At least 1 tsp. dried oregano, more to taste

Salt & pepper to taste

Cook pasta drain, yadda yadda yadda. Heat olive oil in pan and throw in garlic for a second, then quickly add diced plum tomatoes, oregano, and some pepper. Stir quickly, then reduce heat. The tomatoes will “melt” over a few minutes. Add lemon juice or balsamic vinegar and stir some more. Simmer on low heat for a few minutes.

Add cooked pasta to the pan and toss well. Adjust seasoning with salt & pepper, and if it seems a bit dry, add more olive oil.

Serve with extra Parmesan or some Romano cheese.

Note: Capers can be a nice addition to this, as can sliced black olives. You can also throw in a splash of white wine while the tomatoes and garlic are first being cooked.

I wouldn’t advise basil in this recipe because IMO marinara is more an oregano thing.

Oh, and if you want a red clam sauce… drain a can of clams and throw that in (but make the pasta for two or more and adjust ingredients accordingly). In the case of clams, white wine is essential. And maybe some more garlic. :wink:

10

Make a salad with Lettuce, Sugar snap peas, cucumber, croutons and even some shredded carrot if you like and mic in some tortellini that has been left to cool.

Of course you can alter the minor salad ingrediends (i.e Not Lettuce) however you like, i prefer just lettuce and the peas and just threw the others in for your enjoyment.

11

I buy salad shrimp when it’s buy one/get one free and that makes this dish much less expensive:

Cook up some angel hair or spaghetti.

1 T olive oil
1-4 cloves of garlic, to taste
1 small sweet (vidalia) onion, chopped
1 12 oz. can stewed italian style tomatoes
1 T red pepper
6 oz. cooked salad shrimp, defrosted

In a saute pan, heat the olive oil and saute the garlic and onion until the onion softens a bit, ~3 minutes. Add the stewed tomatoes and shrimp and bring to a boil. Turn off the heat, stir in the red pepper and you’re done! Serve over the pasta w/ some crusty bread.

12

Buttered spaghetti

Cook some spaghetti. Drain. Rub a few pats of butter over it, then eat. Yum!

13

Soften onions, garlic and shredded field mushrooms in a little olive oil. Heat up the pan, pour over half a bottle of dry white wine. Stick in a fresh bayleaf or two and let the liquid boil until it has thickened enough to coat a spoon. Pour in half a pint of thin cream, allowing it all to boil down again. Remove bayleaves, season with lots of fresh ground black pepper, add a handful of chopped flatleaf parsley and another of roughly chopped walnuts. Serve over warm tagliatelle, preferably the spinach kind. This was my dinner party recipie when I was a veggie. Goes very well with the rest of the wine, and a crusty loaf of bread warmed in the oven and drizzled over with a little more oil.

Or pasta with ham and peas - melt an anchovy fillet and some smooshed garlic in olive oil. Throw in a handful of lardons (bacon cut into cubes) and some chopped prosciutto, warm through. Add a cup of fresh peas and a glug of white wine or vodka, allow the alcohol to cook off, then serve tossed over ribbon or angelhair pasta with parmesan and fresh bread.

14

A variation on Pasta con olio e aglio… not quite as inexpensive.

Cook angel hair (capellini) pasta, etc., etc.

Heat at least 3 tbsp. olive oil in a pan. Throw in 4 cloves minced garlic, stir briefly, then add 4 to 5 cubed plum tomatoes. Reduce heat, and let the tomatoes “melt.”

Add at least 1/2 cup of sliced mushrooms (regular, Portobello, whatever), stir, and turn up heat. Slice up a bit of Prosciutto ham - maybe about 1/4 cup - and add to the pan.

Stir, let mushrooms cook. Add 2 tsp. lemon juice or balsamic vinegar to taste, and maybe some more olive oil.

Toss with angel hair pasta, season with salt, pepper, and Parmesan or Romano cheese.

Serve with Parmesan or Romano cheese.

15

Ravioli with Salsa-Black Bean Sauce

Ingredients:

1 (9-oz) package refrigerated cheese-filled ravioli
1 (14.5-oz) can salsa-style tomatoes, undrained
1 (15-oz) can black beans, drained
2 teaspoons chili powder
1/2 teaspoon cumin
Fresh or dried cilantro
Directions:

Cook pasta as directed.

Meanwhile, in saucepan, combine tomatoes, beans, chili powder and cumin; mix well. Cook over medium heat for five minutes or until thoroughly heated, stirring occasionally.

Carefully stir in cooked ravioli. Sprinkle with cilantro.

16

Okay, non-italian version:
Make any stir-fry you like, I use approximately the following recipe:

2 tsp Sesame oil * I always add several more and reduce the veg oil below
1/4 cup oil
2 tsp. ginger powder
2 tsp. garlic powder (or fresh garlic minced, but I don’t keep it)
Some red pepper is good here if you don’t have the tabasco below.

Heat oil etc above and stir fry the following for 1-2 min:

Various veggies— I like shredded bok choi or cabbage, broccoli, sweet red pepper strips, maybe some mushrooms.
Whatever meat you like— especially good with jumbo shrimp

After the first minute or so add:
1 1/2 cups broth
3 Tbs Soy sauce
2 Tbs Brown sugar
1/2 tsp Tabasco sauce
1 Tbs Lemon juice
3 Tbs white or rice wine
1 1/2 Tbs corn starch (whisk it into one of the liquids before adding)
Cook for about another minute or two until cabbage is semi-tender and liquid has reduced a bit

If you didn’t use any meat you can toss in a coupla cans of tuna or salmon instead (after it’s cooked).
Cook up thin spaghetti (not angel hair), 3-4 cups.

Toss stir fry in with pasta. Good hot or cold, you may want to add some extra soy/tamari sauce to taste.

Inexpensive if you skip the shrimp and sweet pepper (why are sweet peppers always so expensive?).

17

Since it hasn’t been mentioned, the easiest really good pasta.

Cook pasta.
Put butter on pasta and stir up.
Pus parmesian and garlic on pasta.
eat.

18

Um, that is “put parmesian and garlic on pasta”. Pus parmesian really doesn’t sound all that good.

19

Take favorite kind of pasta and cook it. While pasta is cooking, toast some pine nuts in a hot skillet. Remove pine nuts from heat when all toasty. When pasta is al dente, drain it. Pour a little bit of oil over pasta to prevent it from sticking. Add fresh basil and parmesan cheese to pasta, mix well, and sprinkle toasted pine nuts on top. Serve hot. Super nummy!

20

Macaroni and Cheese (Kraft style).

Variations: Add ground beef, ground beef with taco seasoning, low sodium SPAM, mild Italian pork sausage.

Pasta Anytime.

Angel Hair pasta with some butter and Mrs Dash.
Angel Hair with some butter and garlic.
Angel Hair pasta with some butter and steamed broccoli/cauliflower and garlic.

Ramen.

Plain is nice.
With egg
With egg and peas/carrots
With egg and parmesan.
With wasabi (paste or powdered).