Pasta Recipe: Vegetarian
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Pasta should always be cooked just before serving. The dry pasta should be added to a large pan of boiling water, salted to taste. Allow 2 pints of water per 4 oz pasta, or 1 litre of water per 100 g pasta.
Different thicknesses and shapes of pasta require slightly different cooking times, so check the manufacturers' instructions and test the pasta two minutes and one minute before the cooking time is up. It should be firm to the bite, but not hard. If overcooked it will become a soft and sticky mass.
Drain the pasta and then return to the pan. Toss the cooked pasta with a little olive oil, enough to separate the strands, then toss it again with the chosen sauce and serve immediately. The long, thin, round pasta such as spaghetti and vermicelli are traditionally served with a thin, olive oil based sauce. The long flat pasta such as tagliatelle are served with thicker and richer sauces, and the short tubular pasta need a thinner sauce that will flow into the tubes.
Remember to use low-fat sauces, and don't overdo the quantity! It's a lot of pasta with a little sauce. Sauces can be served with pasta, or used as dips with crudites or served on bread or as a filling for sandwiches.
Copyright Peter Thomson 2012-May-20
What is a healthy balanced diet?
Starchy foods - the basis of the diet
Plenty of fresh fruit and vegetables
Health is also dependent on exercise
Food Supplements pros and cons
Vitamins, Minerals and Trace Elements
Eat whole grain cereals, not highly refined flour
Further tips for a healthy lifestyle
How preserving affects nutrients
Getting Started - Changing your diet
Equipment for pressure cooking
Food mixers, food processors, grain mill
Ready meals, takeaways and cook/chill
Entertaining and special occasions
Picnics and children's party ideas
Diets for life stages - Pregnancy
Feeding Baby- breast or bottle
The main starch grains: rice, millet and sorghum
Other starchy grains and flours: amaranth, buckwheat, quinnoa, teff, wild rice
Starchy roots and tubers: potato, sweet potato, jerusalem-artichoke, yam
Sesame, pumpkin, sunflower seeds
Starchy fruit: breadfruit, banana-plantain, water chestnut
Oils and fats: butter, olives, olive oil
Rice with a hot vegetable sauce
Stuffed vine or cabbage leaves
Chestnuts with brussels sprouts
Low-fat yogurt sauces and dips
Spicy broad bean and pine kernel salad