and for that, i've already decided to spend my time experimenting on different menus. about a year ago i decided to put an end to those kiddie spaghettis that was always present during cook fests at home. so i told mom that the kids have already grown up and they have no immediate plans to produce their own kids so we have to come up with more "grown-up" pasta dishes.
and that started my long-standing romance with pasta. the most basic thing i did was to ditch the spaghetti and alternately used spirals, linguine, fetuccine, angel hair, penne and bow ties. i love using linguine and fetuccine in carbonarra, alfredo and the pasta ala pobre which kuya art taught me. i used spirals for the dish i cooked up during the staff dorm open house which marco named as tomato pesto pasta.
at first i strictly followed what's on the recipe, then i started to incorporate some ingredients to give it a twist. the basic ingredients i use are butter, garlic, my basil and the ever-reliable mccormick series of pasta sauce spices and mixes. i've also ditched the standard del monte spaghetti sauce and opted for the gourmet line of hunts and clara ole. my favorites include clara ole's three cheese, hunts' parmesan cheese and mushroom. these are all available in your local grocery stores. in fact, i discovered these pasta sauces in rural science city of munoz.
oh, and may i add that i am also concerned with the budget so i try to come up with affordable dishes. my principle is that a good pasta need not be expensive, and so far i've shelled out not more than 300 bucks for my pasta dishes. the thing is, we have a basil plant at home. its so easy to grow and it has been the standard herb i use on my pasta dishes. rosemary is hard to grow in our area, same with thyme and the others. these dried herbs are so expensive when you buy them at the grocery. i also plan to grow lemons on pots this holiday break so i wont have to buy those at the supermarket. :) olive oil is also so so expensive so i use canola oil instead. :)
am planning to add these to our Christmas lunch menu:
apples with cinnamons
1. cut the apples into bite-size wedges
2. sprinkle with cinnamon powder
**it is best when you chill the apples first, then pour some lemon/calamansi juice to prevent it from getting a brownish color after you have sliced them. this is a good side dish to your barbequed dishes.
pasta a la pobre
500 g fettucine/penne/linguine pasta, depending on your choice
1 big can mackerel (pwede na yung Saba brand)
2 250grams Clara Ole three cheese sauce, or Hunt's Parmesan spaghetti sauce
1 head garlic, diced
1 onion, diced
2-3 long eggplant, cut into strips
half of Eden's chedar cheese, grated or shaved (mahal ang parmesan, and besides, if you use Hunt's its good enogh na din)
small-sized block of butter (pwede na yung dairy creme, actually its margarine.mahal yung anchor eh. )
salt and pepper to taste
1. cook the pasta al dente, which means 5-6mins in boiling water. set aside.
2. heat the butter in a non-stick pan, add a little oil so it wont get burned. put the garlic and pag mejo brown na, toss in the onions. pour the "mashed" mackerel, strips of eggplant and the sauce from the canned mackerel. bring to a boil.
4. pour in the sauce mix, halo-halo ng konti. please use a wooden panghalo.hehe.add the grated cheese.
5. pag mejo lamog na yung eggplant, toss in the pasta. add some herb if you have and the salt and pepper. depende sa panlasa niyo. the idea here is you cook the pasta with the sauce for about two minutes.
6. am thinking of adding lemon zest into this one, lets see what happens. :)
6. that's it. :)
an alternative pasta dish is this:
1 500 g spirals pasta, cooked al dente
2 250 g Clara Ole three cheese or Hunt's parmesa spaghetti sauce
2 sachets McCormick Herb and Garlic pasta sauce mix
half of Eden's cheddar cheese, grated or shaved (again, mahal ang parmesan cheese mga kapatid)
butter
1 head garlic, minced
1 big can button mushrooms, sliced
salt and pepper to taste
1. heat butter in a sauce pan, toss in the garlic until golden brown
2. ilagay ang button mushrooms. add a quarter of your grated cheese, cooke until you think the mushrooms are okay na
3. pour in the spaghetti sauce and herb and garlic sauce mix, halo-halo
4. add the remaining cheese, again haluin para hindi masunog
5. toss in the spirals
6. add salt and pepper, halo-halo for 2mins.
7. put out the fire
this is best served with buttered toast and iced tea with a small dash of cinnamon and lemon.
dalandan salad (i got this from yummy magazine)
toss together dalandan wedges, diced onions and salt and pepper to taste.add fresh herbs if available :)
or this:
ripe mangoes, cut into cubes
ripe tomatoes, diced
onions, diced
zest and juice of 1 lemon
chilli powder
ground pepper
patis
**toss together and you will have a mango-tomato salsa :)
so help me god.
