August 21, 2009
A warm welcome to the 9th edition of Pastastic! This month's foodie-freak offering is all about shaping up (with fresh pasta) and shouting out (by having your say). Hope you like it!
New subscriber? Hello and welcome to the carb-chugging club.
Inside this month's issue:
Flex your creative muscles by turning succulent fresh pasta into garganelli (AKA homemade penne) and farfalle 'bowtie' pasta. My new vids explain how.
Now it's easier than ever to chip in with your recipe suggestions and pasta kit thoughts.
New dribble-inducing pasta dishes for you to try.
Two highly entertaining articles you really must check out - featuring a gluttonous yet sadly-departed opera singer and celebrity pasta treats.
My stupidly simple carbonara sauce recipe goes down a storm.
Yankee Doodle naming nonsense.
When it comes to luxury Italian tableware, it doesn't get better than this friendly site's offerings. Glorious stuff.
Don't take any cheek with these 3 polite insults.
Enjoy and buon appetito!
Matt - matt@pasta-recipes-made-easy.com
"Good pasta is simple. I don't understand why Americans insist on making it so complicated" - Luciano Pavarotti
Shape up
A large part of my website is devoted to helping newbie cooks get a handle on making succulent fresh pasta. So my next mission is to help you get creative with the shapes you make...
I start you off this month with 2 simple lessons:
1. Garganelli (or homemade penne)
This chunky little short pasta looks homemade, gaining you serious guest kudos, and just requires a little beaten egg for the sticking.
2. Farfalle(or bowtie pasta)
To make farfalle I recommend using a ravioli cutter (for those impressively frilly edges), but if not a knife will do. Then just chop, squeeze and cook!
Shout out
Thanks to the new comment forms I've started adding to Pasta Recipes Made Easy (there will be more as time goes on), it's now easier than ever to share your favorite pasta recipes and discuss the pasta kit you prefer.
To Have Your Say about the reader recipes I've received or to submit your own, hit this Reader Recipes page, scroll down and add your thoughts for all to see.
Or if you've tried Imperia's classic SP150 pasta rolling machine or one of its competitors, tell us all what you thought on this page.
It's simple - just type and click Submit.
New Additions
Recipe for potato soup with macaroni
This recipe’s combination of potato chunks, small macaroni or tiny tubetti pasta, and crunchy bacon bits creates a sumptuous, hearty dish that everyone should try at least once – even if it means taking a sneaky day off your Atkins diet.
Cooking leftovers Italian style
If you're anything like me, you end up with leftover ingredients pretty regularly. This page shows you how to whip these into a scrummy pasta dish or two, whether you have bread, veggie bits, pasta or chicken spare.
Pasta Collections
This new page pulls together all the mini recipe collections on my site - which means you can find all my ravioli recipes grouped together here, penne recipes, fusilli recipes, cream sauce recipes and soon even more.
Real tasty reading
1. New it ain't, but I just found this 1988 NY Times interview with a seemingly famished Luciano Pavarotti and it's highly entertaining. That man certainly loved his tucker!
2. This is excellent too... the UK's Guardian newspaper has published 100 quick n' easy recipes.
All of these were submitted by professional/famous chefs, and there are several great pasta dishes to try.
Read it here (I like the look of recipes 2, 43 and 62).
Pastamonial
Dear Matt,
Wow, I was looking on the net for a quick and easy pasta sauce to make with the ingredients I had in my fridge.
I made the Easy Carbonara Sauce and enjoyed restaurant quality pasta in a few minutes.
Everything tasted how it was supposed to, great website!
Karen - Liverpool, UK
Have you tried any of my recipes? Drop me a mail with your feedback good or bad here.
Pastafact #9
According to the fine folks at TheNibble.com, in 18th century England macaroni was a synonym for perfection and excellence. Which is why the feather in Yankee Doodle's cap was called "macaroni".
(Whether they thought the feather or the man was excellent I'm not too sure! - Matt)
Site of the Month
Born out of a passion for Italian ceramics, ThatsArte.com was created by two friends to share authentic Italian artisan pieces - such as pasta bowls, plate sets and even tables - with international customers. The products are gorgeous and judging by the comments from the firm's customers the duo's company seems to be doing a fine job.
Learning La Lingua
Being served by Italy's most useless waiter? Maybe some idiot in a shop (negozio) tried to rip you off? Then, darn it, you need insults!
Here are 3 that will do the job without getting you beaten up or arrested:
1. Stupido! (You can guess the English translation, right?)
2. Pazzo! (Pronounced 'pat-tso' this means crazy)
3. Cretino! (literally, cretin!)
Quick recommendation:
If you would like to learn Italian, I very much recommend the Michel Thomas 8-CD audio course.
I've used this a lot and I've found it easier and quicker to learn from than any other language materials (and I've tried a few!). You just grab a coffee, press Play, and then speak when Michel asks you to. It's excellent.
You can find it here on Amazon US
Most Popular Pages: July
Pasta sauce recipes - Sumptuous pasta coverings to suit every taste.
Vintage food posters - Impressively old-school posters that will make your mouth water.
Carbonara sauce - Simple, delicious, and an increasingly popular click.
ESSENTIAL LINKS
Missed your FREE pasta recipe e-book? Right-click here to save it to your PC.
Like the idea of earning genuine online income at home? I recommend this free ebook.
Get updates when new pasta pages appear: here.
Get in touch with recipes, questions and more. Whatever your query, just let me know.
That's it for this month, ciao ciao!