Italian Cuisine - Twecipies

Pasta Cheatsheet

Granita Cheatsheet ( Frozen Italian Dessert)

Panacotta ( Italian Dessert) Cheatsheet

1001 no cook Pesto recipes

Pesto (from latin: pounded) originated in Genoa. Made by pounding basil, pine nuts, garlic and olive oil, it became very popular and now boasts of innumerable variations. Basil originated in India, but is considered holy and is almost never used as a flavouring agent. Italian cuisine embraced it and uses it extensively in Pestos and Pizzas. Another Indian import, heavily used in Italian cuisine is water buffalo milk, used to make mozzarella) Tender, fresh Genoan basil is the soul of Pesto.
Pesto belongs to the same pounded sauce family as the Indian chutney and Mexican salsa. Like them, pesto should never be blended for long or blended to a smooth paste. It should be chunky and have a texture. When blending, do it in short bursts, for as short a time as possible. Ideally, pounding with a pestle and mortar  or chopping all ingredients very finely results in a great, traditional pesto. Remember that Virgin Olive oil turns bitter on mechanical agitation. So mix it in gently after pesto is blended. Pesto keeps well and can be refrigerated for a week or frozen for months. Adding a layer of oil over pesto and omitting cheese helps it keep much longer.

Various variations of Pesto exist. Pesto alla siciliana (from Sicily) is a variation using tomato and less basil. Pesto alla calabrese (from Calabria) uses grilled bell peppers. Pistou ( from Provence, France), omits nuts from the pesto recipe. A variety of cooked pesto can be prepared by blanching the greens used. But some, like Basil become bitter on cooking. This is why when pesto is added to soups, it is added at the very end.
Pesto can be used with pasta / meat as a sauce, with bread as a spread, in soups, as a dip, or as salad dressing. Feel free to adjust the quantity of ingredients to your taste – as long as you adhere to the spirit of the recipe.

1001 Simple pasta recipes

This cookbook lists 1000 simple dried pasta recipes. Click the image to view and print the cookbook. 

10 different pasta shapes are combined with 10 simple sauces and 10 additives to create a thousand easy pasta recipes.

 

The base :

Almost any dry pasta shape can be used, as long as it is not too large or too small. The following shapes are used in this cookbook.

0.: Macaroni (  elbows) 

1.: Fusilli ( Twisted )

2.: Farfalle ( butterfly)

3.: Penne ( hollow cylinder)

4.: Campanelle ( bells)

5.: Cappelletti ( hat )

6.: Cavatappi ( corkscrew)

7.: Cavatelli ( half closed discs)

8.: Gemili ( twisted strands)

9.: Fusion ( Experiment with different shapes / pastas from different regions)

 

The Sauce

0.: None (Pasta tastes delicious with no sauce at all. A dash of olive oil / lemon juice / melted butter or a sprinkling of dried herbs and parmesan cheese powder is all you need to devour a pile of pasta !)

1.: Garlic butter

2.: Readymade soups/ stock ( Quick and simple, any soup / stock can double as a pasta sauce)

3.: Soup Powder ( So convenient to store and use, these can be turned into quick pasta sauces)

5.: Pesto ( A no cook, blended sauce)

6.: Tomato sauce 

7.: Roasted Eggplant 

8.: Marinara Sauce

9.: Fusion (Most salad dressings can double as pasta sauces. Also try using sauces from other cuisines– pasta goes well with almost anything !)

 

Additives

0.: None ( No additives are needed – pasta with just a drizzle of olive oil makes a great dish !)

1.: Salad ( Fresh vegetables mixed with pasta makes a great full meal)

2.: Cheese  ( A variety of grated hard cheeses can be used)

3.: Cold cuts ( Any ready to eat meat can be used)

4.: Vegetables ( Stir fried vegetables are a great addition to pasta)

5.:. Meats ( A variety of cooked, boneless meat can be used)

6.: Seafood  ( All seafood cooks quickly and makes a tasty addition to pasta)

7.: Eggs (Though the recipe calls for scrambled eggs, you can use fried / poached / hardboiled eggs)

8.: Legumes ( Boiled legumes make a good meat substitute)

9.: Fusion (Feel free to experiment with local meats and vegetables – pasta is so versatile, it fits into any cuisine. In fact many cuisines have their own versions of pasta)