Everyone loves pasta. Most people I know — including myself — claim they can eat it every single day because there are so many varied ways to make it.
When I was younger (Italians reading this, please don’t be offended), I used to dollop a whole load of butter on freshly drained bow-shaped pasta and add a whole load of grated Red Leicester cheese. It is still a comfort food of mine, but it’s usually reserved for a day during that certain time of the month.
My eating habit of having pasta and cheese continued into secondary school. Even though good old Pasta King offered a range of watery tomato sauces, I would happily eat a plate of soggy pasta and cheese.
Secondary school lunches were pretty decent, and it was where I was introduced to pasta bake. Every Monday, the dinner ladies would serve up a block of tomatoey pasta, crisped in the oven with a huge amount of cheddar cheese on top, potato wedges, salad and garlic bread. All of that, including a little bottle of orange juice and cake for dessert, was £2.50. My friend and I would race down the corridor to get to the lunch queue first.
This was also the time were my tastebuds and spice tolerance were developing. At home, we’d usually have a Gujarati-fied version of pasta full of coriander, cumin, chilli powder and turmeric. It’s pretty good, but probably not great for heartburn.
At university, I discovered basil pesto. I was intrigued to see my flatmates collect little jars of green sauce. My mind was blown the first time I tried it; I couldn’t believe how amazing this magic green paste was. As a university student, I would alternate between green pesto pasta and curry and rice every single day. It was a staple.
Now that I am officially an adult, I have forced myself to mature my cooking skills. Luckily, I enjoy cooking and trying new things, otherwise this would have been a struggle.
Pasta is one of the easiest ways to get your 5-a-day in. It’s so easy to throw some olive oil, garlic, chili flakes, salt pepper and the veggies of your choice, along with some boiled pasta and reserved pasta water. You could step it up a notch by adding lemon juice and a source of protein.
As a treat, I warm up a gigantic amount of butter in a pan with some garlic to sauté mushrooms. I don’t think there’s anything better than garlicky, buttery pasta.
Making homemade fresh tomato sauce has also been a go-to. I recently saw Chrissy from Bon Appétit make pasta with sun gold tomatoes and was amazed by how beautiful a simple dish looked. I’ve lately been doing the same with red cherry tomatoes, adding basil, parsley, chilli flakes and oregano. I made it this week and got many compliments from my family, which inspired this post.
The beauty of pasta is that it can be as simple or as complicated as you wish. Creating any dish makes you feel like a pro chef in the kitchen, and it’s a great way to learn about what spices and herbs work well together.
I have a few very simple sauces I add pasta to that make me look like a star. Great ramble.