When I was in 7th grade, I started helping my mother with simple chores in the kitchen. Despite being a full-time staff in a hospital and working in different shift, she always provided home cooked meals for us. One of the staples served on our dining table would definitely be pasta. I would watch in fascination how she works her magic so well and transforms some simple ingredients to mouth-watering pasta in a jiffy.

It wasn’t just my mother’s dinner menu that instilled this love of pasta in me ~ the place where I grew up also shapes my love for the dish. Growing up in Griffith, NSW Australia with its Italian heritage, I have been exposed to various types of Italian food. When we talk about Italian food, one thinks immediately of pasta. Back in the days when I was really young (6, 7 years old maybe), I always see my neighbour (who are of Italian descents) cooking a huge pot of pasta sauce happily in the kitchen. For them, pasta formed such an integral part of the food culture that any celebration wouldn’t be the same without its comforting flavors.

Why I love Pasta?

2 simple reasons:
1) unintimidating preparation method (I am not saying this because I am a chef)
2) it’s a palatable well-balanced meal!

Although it is a fairly simple meal to cook, there may be a series of questions that bothers those who just started to try their hands on preparing a pasta meal. Common questions I hear a lot outside the kitchen are “how long should I cook pasta for” or “which type of pasta should I buy” or “should I add oil to the water when boiling the pasta” and this FAQ list goes on.

Finding the right stuff

My preferred way for cooking pasta would be to return to simplicity. After all, this humble mixture of flour, eggs and water was a poor man’s food to begin with! But having said that, being simple doesn’t mean being boring (mind you – it’s not quite the same thing). And there is definitely more to pasta-life than Carbonara, Alio Olio or Bolognese!

Most of the times, I don’t really have one particular pasta dish in mind when I’m fixing one for myself. Of course, if I have the luxury of time and effort to go to the wet market or supermarket for the ingredients, the recipe may not be so impromptu. At the market, I will look at what are the ingredients that are fresh and then plan the recipe in my head.

For instance, if I see some pleasingly green broccoli I would think of making a plate of Orecchiette con Cime di Rape (ear shaped pasta with Broccoli, chilli and anchovies). Plump and vibrantly red tomato is another one of the most old-school yet versatile ingredients, and it alone can be worked on for a wide array of pasta dishes.

One of my all-time favourites would be pasta with Puttanesca sauce (rich tomato based with olives, garlic, chilli and capers). I was once told that the literal translation for Puttanesca (Italian) is a “whore’s pasta”- that this pasta are made by them when they needed a quick and easy fix to fill their stomachs in the old days, erm, well, before getting back to work and entertaining their customers.

Undoubtedly, the sauce for a pasta can be a deciding factor for the taste of the dish. Ingredients for the sauce can be anything from vegetables, seafood, meat (almost any fresh ingredient that is edible), preserved food, and we can go on and on about these ingredients. One should not be bound by any hard and fast rules, instead one must try to be imaginative and dare to toss any ingredients into the saucepan.

Doing it Right

Like cooking any other dish, you can never be too careful on the preparation method and do not skip the crucial step of tasting. On the side of the pasta packaging, it usually suggests you cook pasta for 12 minutes or so. But I think that you should just use this as a guideline. Everyone has their own preference of how cooked the pasta should be; I like it cooked “al dente” for there is still a bite to the pasta while others may like it really soft and well-cooked.

Usually not mentioned in the cooking instructions; adding oil in the water when boil may be an old housewife’s tale for many but my mother still believes it stops the pasta from sticking when strained and I think she is right.

To start preparing pasta, I advocate that the best thing to do is:- to explore your fridge’s content. There are some rules of thumb of which pasta should be complemented with what sauce. Thin and delicate pastas such as angel hair should be matched with light, thin sauces while thicker pasta like fettuccine can be prepared with heavier sauces. However, if you are being practical and not too fastidious about the end-product, you can be bold and create a match however you like it.

Types of Pasta

Stuffed pasta

Ravioli / Tortelloni/ Agnolotti / Tortellini / Strozzapreti / Mezzelune
Recommended sauce: tomato base, cream or butter sauce (Burro e salvia). Traditional tortellini from Reggio Emilia are prepared and cooked in broth.

Fresh egg base pasta

Taglietelle / Pappardelle/ Straccetti / Fettucine / Tagliolini
Recommended sauce: meat base sauce, ragu, bolognese, al sugo di lepre (game), genovese (Ossobuco sauce)

Short Pasta

Penne / maccheroni / rigatoni / fusilli / farfalle / orecchiette / conchiglie
Recommended sauce: great pasta for baking & salads also sauce can include basil tomato, peperonata

Long pasta

Spaghetti / Linguinie / Capelli d’ angelo / Bucatini
Recommended sauce: alle Vongole, aglio olio, siciliana (quick stir fried pasta dishes), Bucatini all’ Amatriciana (classic)

Pastine (small pasta)

Alphabet Pasta etc..
Recommended sauce: mainly for soups

Large pasta

Lasagna /cannelloni / conchiglioni (big shell)
Recommended sauce: pre-cooked and al forno (baked)

Telling tales of pasta

Pasta is truly a dish that can be dressed up or dressed down. In London, there is the season for truffles at a certain time of the year. One of the dishes commonly on my menu then, would be hand rolled tagliatelle with shaved white truffle. The price of this delicate dish would cost around £40 or more, as a kilogram (Kg) of white truffles may cost up to £2,000. The ingredients for this dish would be pasta, butter, garlic, sage and white truffle. The smell of that truffle shaved over the pasta in front of a customer would linger in the entire restaurant; the taste and smell absolutely tantalizing. My point here is, with the right ingredients, the refinery and sophistication of the pasta can be created in a breeze. Also, one of the greatest satisfactions as a chef is to make the pasta itself, from scratch. All the kneading and rolling prior to a busy service; there is no greater buzz.

Icing on the Cake

Lastly, the one turn-on for the dish must be its cost! The price of a packet of pasta (for 4-5 adults) cost about RM 6-8 and I guess the sauce with some tomatoes, mushroom and some minced beef may cost about RM 10. In the dark hours of economy downturn like now, pasta can be a contending dish for everyone in the family. Like meal of all sorts, one should always experiment creatively and learn from each experience to better their skill. If you are just starting to learn cooking, pasta is a simple yet delectable dish to start with.

Fresh Pasta Recipe

Difficulty: Beginner
Servings: 2 -3

200gm Plain four
2 eggs
½ tsp salt
1tsp Olive oil

Method:

1. Make a well in the middle of the flour then add all ingredients in the center. Next, start to mix the edge of flour with the eggs until incorporated. This can get a bit messy. If you don’t fancy the traditional way, place all ingredients in a bowl and mix until dough forms.

   

2. Next knead pasta dough for around 2 minutes until dough looks smooth.

   

3. Place cover with cling film and rest the dough for 15 minutes. Then you are ready to start rolling.

   

4. Cut the pasta in half and flatten it out with your hands and a bit of flour. Then start rolling it in a pasta machine from the larger setting to the smaller one until the pasta sheet looks smooth.

   

5. Make sure you dust the sheet with flour to prevent any sticking. Once this is done, again rest the sheet for around 10 minutes then roll through the cutter side to finish off.

   

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