Pasta Flavour..................

Most of us love pasta and use it regularly - it is a stable quick meal.
I am going to put down some of my fav pasta recipes here and the type of pasta it tends to work best with - all quick and very easy.

Bacon & Mushroom Pasta
Ingredients
400g/14oz Penne - or other tube pasta
250g chestnut or baby button mushrooms
8 rashers streaky bacon
4 tbsp fresh pesto (from chiller if possible)
200ml cartom creme fraiche (use 50% fat one if concerned about fat content)
handful fresh basil leaves

Cook pasta according to intructions on packet - drain when cooked.
Slice mushrooms and bacon into bite-size pieces.
Fry bacon and mushroom till golden - high heat so the mushrooms fry in bacon fat rather than sweat.
Add pasta to pan and stir over heat for approx 1 min.
Remove from heat - stir in pesto and creme fraiche and most of the basil leaves - keep a couple back for decoration.

Swap the basil pesto for red pesto or sun-dried tomato pesto for a different twist.




Tuna & tomato pasta
Ingrdients
500g packet pasta bows
2 tbsp olive oil
2 garlic cloves - finely chopped
400g can chopped toms - with herbs
1/2 tsp chilli powder
1 tsp sugar
100g can tuna - drained
handful basil leaves


Cook pasta according to instructions - drain when cooked.
Meanwhile - heat oil - cook onion for a couple mins.
Stir in garlic, tomatoes, chilli and sugar.
Season and bring to boil. Stir, reduce heat and simmer for 5 mins.
Flake tuna into sauce and heat through.
Add to drained pasta and the basil leaves - season with pepper - serve.



Spaghetti with prawns, chilli and rocket.
Ingredients
400g/14oz spaghetti
2 long red chillies
100ml/3 1/2 fl oz olive oil (extra-virgin if possible)
200g cooked peeled prawns
100g wild rocket

Cook spaghetti according to pack instructions - drain - toss with drizzle of olive oil - set aside
Meanwhile - split the chillies - de-seed - slice and dice very small - you can add the seeds if you like it HOT!
Heat oil in a pan - add prawns - cook for a few seconds - add chillies - season - add spaghetti.
Remove from heat - fold rocket through - serve.

This recipe also works well with crabmeat - fold it through the the spaghetti after drained and as mixing with olive oil.


Roasted Vegetable Pasta
Ingredients
350g/12oz pappardelle or spaghetti
1 aubergine - chopped into 4-5 cm chunks
2 large fennel bulbs - cut into 8 segments
2 tbsp olive oil
good dash tobasco
2 garlic cloves - crushed
140g/50z soft goats cheese
6 tomatoes - chopped
handful basil leaves - roughly chopped
parmesan - grated - to serve

Heat oven to 200C/400F Gas 6 - reduce for fan ovens
Toss aubergine, fennel, oil and tabasco in a roasting tray - season - roast for approx. 20 mins
Add tomatoes and garlic - oast for a further 10 mins.
Cook pasta according to instructions - drain - return to pan - add roasted veg and juices.
Toss the goats cheese and basil through.
Serve with parmesan.