Even if you’re starting your pasta adventures with some easy pasta dishes, it never hurts to learn or brush up on the basics. Even if you think you know everything about healthy cooking and the various pasta dishes and sauces, you could learn something new that will make your meals even better. You might try exploring the “How to Cook Pasta” page at http://allrecipes.com/Info/How-To/Grains-and-Pasta/How-to-Cook-Pasta/Main.aspx. It goes into many details, from the basic pasta types to making and cooking your own fresh pasta.
It isn’t that tough to get hold of easy pasta dishes once you know where to look and how you can filter the recipe websites. Often the fast and easy dishes are the ones which feature the smallest number of or most quickly cooked ingredients, or which rely on tasty herb combinations to help add spice and interest. You can create some tasty dishes without needing to get overly elaborate, and pasta is one of the best ways to do it.
Some websites try to accommodate people who need to begin with easy pasta dishes, while others do less of this. The website www.epicurious.com assumes a little more expertise from its readers; at least, it doesn’t bring up many pasta recipes in its “Beginner Cooking” section. The site http://en.chatelaine.com/english/food/article.jsp?content=20070823_122330_6760, on the other hand, brings up twenty one recipes in the “easy pasta” category. It divides these into Meat, Seafood, and Vegetarian recipes, so there is something there for everyone. In the Vegetarian category, there’s a dish as light as their Tomato and Spinach Pasta Toss, but even the Hot Italian Turkey Sausage and Pasta Toss, in the meat section, has only a few ingredients, and is easily prepared.
Some of the easiest pasta dishes are salads, because you can improvise with ingredients already on hand. Some people suggest a formula for these, so you’ll know the combinations that work best. The first item, of course, is a package of cooked, mid-sized pasta. Add raw or briefly sauted chopped vegetables, in bright colors, like carrots, broccoli, peppers, onions and tomatoes. You can add optional protein like diced ham or chicken strips, flaked seafood or crumbled cheese. Then add a light dressing, either creamy or oil-and-vinegar based. And there you have a quick and easy salad and healthy pasta dish!
You may decide just to make a quick angel hair pasta meal, tossed with a bit of olive oil and basil, sprinkled with Parmesan cheese. Or you could make a quick pasta salad. Once you get the hang of it, easy pasta dishes do indeed come easy. When you’ve got the underlying knowledge of how pasta itself is cooked properly, and how different sizes and types of pasta relate to different sauces, you’ve already made a good start. Then you just follow the recipes, and the delicious end result is your reward.
For the ultimate in pasta dishes, you can’t beat the taste and texture of fresh homemade pasta. If you’re ready to take your love of pasta to the next level, click here to learn about the advantages of a pasta rolling machine, and what to look for when you’re shopping for one.