Irish Pasta

It’s called Irish pasta because it has it has pasta (white) carrots (orange) and broccoli (green). OK, I suppose it’s actually a Pasta Premavera. 

A Premavera is made with crisp spring veg- like broccoli, carrots, mange tout- but the trick is the sauce. It’s a mix of melted parmesan cheese, juices and the starchy water from the pasta. It’s a very light sauce, and you have to mix it ‘as it happens’ in the pan with the pasta, cheese and sauce.  

 You can add a chicken breast if you like. I think this is one of my favourite pasta dishes a the mo. It feels quite healthy but, well, probably isn’t, with the cheese, butter and bacon hoofed in.

Deird and Poppy love this recipe too.

250g fuselli Pasta
2 carrots (medium)- cut into thin carrot strips
2 handfuls broccoli
4 slices smoked bacon
clove of garlic
glug dry sherry or white wine
1 mozzarella ball
large knob of butter
2x4cm parmesan cheese
toasted pine nuts
Boil pasta, in the last two minutes add broccoli and carrots. drain and butter.
dice and fry bacon and garlic, and deglaze with sherry/wine.
add bacon and parmesan to pasta, carrot & broccoli
stir till parmesan melts, and makes a light sauce (add back some pasta water if too dry)
chop the mozzarella and add it, along with the pine nuts, stir and serve

Pasta Salsa

The is a really quick pasta sauce that I discovered. A friend of mine makes a sauce for chicken like this- roasting the ingredients with the chicken in a hot oven. Anywho… frying it all up for a pan is quicker, and well, works a treat. It takes longer to cook the pasta than it does to prep and cook the sauce. the ingredients are a bit salsa-y, thus the name.

It works best if the cherry tomatoes are sweet and ripe. If they’re a bit sharp or hard, add a little extra sugar to compensate. You can make this with bigger tomatoes, but, well, it just ain’t the same. It also works quite well with a few olives thrown in for good measure.

Pasta- fuselli or similar
2 mugs cherry tomatoes
1/2 a chilli
1/2 clove garlic
1/2 tsp sugar
Pinch salt
Balsamic vinegar

Fry the chilli & garlic
Add 1/4-ed tomatoes + sugar
Put on lid & fry for 2 mins
Add vinegar
Fry & reduce (really hot heat, 2 mins tops)
Salt & black pepper to taste