All About Pasta!

Pasta is a dish that lends itself to endless variations. Homemade or store bought, they can be made with just a handful of ingredients. Sauces are what brings the dish to life and the most basic sauces are made with seasonal herbs and vegetables. Some sauces require constant stirring and hours of slow-cooking to really bring out the flavour. There are two basic sauces- The red and the white sauce. Red pasta sauce’s base ingredients include fresh, ripened tomatoes or canned tomatoes and flour, milk and cheese for the white sauce. You can add anything to the pasta, be it chopped vegetables, chicken, sausages, meat, etc.

• The well-known Pesto sauce contains pine nuts, basil, olive oil and grated Parmesan cheese. Adding a small cup of reserved cooking water or vegetable stalk to this enhances its flavour.
• Alfredo Sauce is a butter and cream, calorie-laden sauce made with sticks of butter, cheese, black pepper corns and a pinch of nutmeg. 
• One of the most basic sauce is garlic cloves sautéed in oil along with crushed pepper, pecorino cheese and sliced parsley.

These sauces when made fresh and in large quantities can be canned and refrigerated for future use. 

Let’s begin with the different shapes of pasta. There are plenty of varieties like middle-school children in gym shorts waiting for try-outs. Here is a perfect guide to pasta shapes-

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lqb7quv_P0o&w=560&h=315]

Now that you know the different types, let’s actually try making them. No, stop! Drop that grocery bag and seat your indolent rear back on the chair! Going for store-bought pasta? How embarrassing. SHAME ON YOU! Okay now that you’ve agreed to watch the video, here it is.

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mV7_-_D26vY&w=560&h=315]

You’ve now successfully got your homemade pasta boiling away in a utensil without hurting a soul, here are recipe videos for two classic sauces. Authentic Italian Red Pasta Sauce-

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i6_EY1q-uWA&w=420&h=315]

Allow the award winning Chef Gordon Ramsay to show you how it’s done.

White Sauce- [youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VlMtbX-0ABA&w=560&h=315]

You’re nearly close to becoming a pasta expert. Learn which sauce goes well with what type of pasta with the help of Australian Celebrity Chef Curtis Stone!

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e1Betp3Jlpk&w=560&h=315]

You’ve successfully reached the end of this post! Now that you have all the details at your fingertips, cook up a storm and win the hearts of your beloved ones!