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What do you put on pasta?

You're home alone and you're hungry. There's not much in the fridge, but you're pantry is well stocked. You make some pasta.

What do you put on it that's laying around the house?

87 Comments:

fresh garlic and crushed red pepper flakes infused olive oil and fresh grated parmigiano-reggiano cheese.

Papa Johns has this little seasoning packet that you can get with your pizza, or order extra for .10 a pack, it's really good sprinkled over pasta with some olive oil.

Olive oil, garlic, anchovies, black olives, Spam. Fried egg.

Hm. That's a great dinner idea!

Olive oil, garlic and basil. If I am in a cheesy mood, I may sprinkle some pecorino or asiago on top, but I don't have to.

Now, if it's stuffed pasta we're talking about, I'll definitely want some Alfredo sauce to go with it.

I just adore pasta with butter, parm cheese and black pepper.

Boring I know but I also crave plain, white rice with salt and butter.

These are all classics, and I'm a huge fan of the olive oil/garlic/parmesan combo with loads of black pepper.

If I have bacon and eggs--which I usually do--carbonara is a nice treat. Black pepper is a must here.

If it's idiosyncratic creations you seek, I used to dress my fettuccine with butter, Dijon mustard, parmesan cheese, and maybe a splash of balsamic. Plus loads of black pepper.

Fat and black pepper, basically.

olive oil, anchovies, garlic, crushed red pepper flakes, splash of white wine, toss in the cooked pasta (angel hair or vermicelli works well here), add a little of the pasta cooking water if necessary. Addictive.

lil bit of butter or olive oil, salt, black pepper, and whatever cheese we happen to have atm.

Depending on the pasta, browned butter and sage is good. Or, if there are fresh tomatoes about, then olive oil, tomato and fresh basit. In the dead of winter, when there's nothing fresh, I've always got some sort ot tomatoes frozen or canned, so it's that with garlic, onion, oregano at minimum.

Whatever kind of fat I may have, but fat is the only mandatory ingredient for me: butter, olive oil, schmaltz, duck fat, bacon fat, pancetta fat. I have used them all in combination or by themselves. (Yes, sometimes I might have duck fat but no butter, or olive oil. It happens.)

I usually keep a can of double concentrated tomato paste on hand. Canned San Marzano or other plum tomatoes with basil too. I am not ashamed to admit I have enjoyed ketchup on pasta. An egg yolk is good with ground black and white pepper, especially if you have a little cheese to shave or crumble over it. Parm, cheddar, mimolette, goat, gorgonzola are what I might have on hand and are great with just a fat. My favorite all time is butter, tomato paste and parm.

Toasting up some shallots and/or garlic gently in some fat and red pepper flakes is also great. I toss in some fresh herbs if I have them. Again, combination of or solo: basil, marjoram, sage, tarragon, thyme, rosemary, parsley, lemongrass, ginger...

If I have some some shrimp shells in the freezer, a little lemon juice, some vinegar or better yet a splash of white wine, I simmer them for a few minutes with salt, a dash of old bay and some smoked paprika. Strain, reduce, whisk in the cold butter over low heat until it thickens and gets silky. A dollop of tomato concentrate at the beginning is the deluxe version. Mini bisque sauce, very tasty, quick, easy and cheap.

The beauty with pasta is it can equally delicious when extravagant, refined, luxurious, with lots of rich ingredients and elaborate long simmered sauces, as it is when it's completely bare bones. It's the best of peasant food. I have thoroughly enjoyed pasta with just butter and salt.

Garlic, canned tuna, broccoli (soft) and olive oil.
Green pepper, mushroom, parsely, olive oil.

A quick tomato sauce w/olive oil, garlic, onions, red pepper flakes, oregano, a little red wine and canned tomato (whole, diced, crushed - whatever I have on hand). Additions could be artichoke hearts, mushrooms, leftover meat. Sprinkle with basil & parm cheese.

I also usually have the elements for scampi - so quick and easy and delicious enough to serve to guests. Same goes for carbonara.

Alfredo sauces are also easy, but I don't always have the ingredients, so I guess that one wouldn't count?

One of my family's favorites is "crummy noodles". Crush half a bag of saltines. Add to melted butter so they are moist, not wet. Add to cooked egg noodles and grind some black pepper. Divine! Only cook what you can eat. Doesn't reheat well..

My latest lightning quick fix is:

Boil Spaghetti for one.
Crack 1 Egg in a small mixing bowl. Beat the egg well.
Grate in some Reggiano, mix well.
Sprinkle some S&P into the mixture.

Strain the spaghetti and ASAP, dump the pasta into the mixing bowl, mixing furiously until the spaghetti has a creamy cheesy coating on it, about a minute and a half.

Depends on how tired I might be but sometimes I eat it right out of the mixing bowl.

I have a large jar of marinated artichoke hearts in the fridge which get chopped and tossed with pasta and a bit of the marinade for pasta emergencies. Fresh ground pepper and freshly grated Pam makes this even better.

i make a sauce with peanut butter rice wine vinegar, soy, toasted sesame oil, and some dried jalepeno toss it with the pasta and a little of the water to thin it out. its good hot and cold.

Garlic, slivered kalamata olives, olive oil, crushed red pepper, chopped parsley, a splash of lemon juice. So very good.

Aw man, I think this will be my dinner tonight.

I've recently discovered how tasty pasta can be with lemon - love it with clams or shrimp with some fresh lemon juice squeezed over it, then tossed. Who knew that could be so good?

My new favorite is whole wheat penne tossed with infused olive oil, sundried tomatoes, caramelized onions, mushrooms, spinach, feta and pine nuts.

I'm with all of the above ideas but a haunting memory from my childhood will send shivers up anybody's spine: pasta with butter and ketchup. I still crave it every now and then. Please don't hate me.

@bess ~ Do you self medicate?

@bess ~ as a guest I was forced to consume mushy mushy mushy (did I mention it was WAY overcooked and mushy?) spaghetti with condensed tomato soup as sauce & ketchup on the table. That family ooooed and awwwwed. It was all I could do to keep from gagging. Maybe the butter makes all the difference. ;-X ;-D

will I get sent to the pokey if I say that i would rather starve than eat pasta?

I know...I know!

No Chelley. I feel that way about rice.

Tomato sauce, fresh mozzarella cubes, spinach, garlic, chicken, heavy cream.

I don't like pasta either. One of the nice things about being a grown up is not having to eat it.

@ Heart: one of my favorite things about being a grown up is that I can use as much bubble bath as I want. I'm no longer limited to a capful.

Re: pasta
If I'm hung over, I can often be found eating my noodles with butter, salt, and cold cottage cheese.

i only put kona coffee on my pasta.

just kidding! garlic poached in butter and freshly grated parmesan on barilla spaghetti is my favorite food in the universe.


@cyber ~ Good one!!!!!!!

Oh, BTW, I'm not putting the bubble bath on my pasta. That would be gross. It's strictly for salads.

jarred sundried tomatoes heated up with a bit of the oil and tossed with pasta and parm. so good.

Olive oil, chick peas, garlic.

Butter, salt, and pepper. Alternately, shred some cheddar over the top of that and have a bare-bones cheese-topped pasta.

My all-time worst pasta nightmare: when my mom used to go on business trips, my dad was ever so proud of his "Eggs 'n' Noodles", scrambled eggs mixed with egg noodles and as much ketchup as he could squeeze on there.
And my stepdad once put ketchup in my leftover spaghetti sauce to stretch it for the family. I could taste it. It was nasty. I almost cried.

Avocado, garlic and sun dried tomatoes!

Pasta is my very favorite food -- any size and shape. And an entire volume could be written about how to sauce it. But what kills me, is when I spend hours making a delicious tomato sauce from the best ingredients, and my grandchildren come over and say "Savta, I just want it with ketchup." Obviously they didn't inherit my foodie gene.

@Heart ~ once used a little itsy bitsy teeny weeny tiny bottle of hotel shampoo in the jacuzzi in our hotel room and the bubbles made it to the ceiling and the door. Romance flies out the window when you're laughing that hard. Actually, "I" didn't put it in and we bought bubbles the next day. Great memory!

I can't imagine not liking pasta. Guessing you had a bad experience? Overcooked is horrid. I'm so lucky my mother and grandmother were such great cooks. Anyway, this thread has inspired me to make a quick pasta dish for dinner. I have a can of red salmon and plan to incorporate it. Not sure yet what else I have in the fridge besides artichoke hearts, but I'm getting hungry and it will be good - I can nearly taste the garlic.

@ Real Chiffonade - way to go on the carbonara for one!

I always have oil-cured black olives, capers, roasted red peppers, pignoli and crushed tomatoes in my pantry for just such a pasta emergency - eccola, a quick, vegetarian version of puttanesca.

Yeah, Perky, I'm sorry but pasta doesn't do anything for me--sorry. And I have had really good pasta, at very fine restaurants. Heck, I live near where the "Sopranos" was shot--plenty of good Italian food to be eatin'. I'm just more of a bread, potato, muffin, and cookie type person. I don't like bubble baths either, I prefer showers. I'm weird, I know.

I usually heat up leftovers and add cooked pasta to it. When I'm in the mood for something simple then it's angel hair with butter, salt and pepper. Mmm.... I like this with rice too!

Good ol' garlic and onion Prego. With Sarvecchio Parmesan grated on top. YUM!

Sauteed broccoli rabe, olive oil, garlic, hot pepper flakes.

Oh, and romano cheese!

Finely grated Dill Havarti, tuna, and preferably Uncle Dan's Original Southern Style Dressing, though regular (good) ranch will work in a pinch - heated until melty.

Or sauteed mushrooms, sour cream, a splash of sherry, and a dusting of fresh cracked black pepper. My vegetarian stroganoff, I guess.

@LaDivina, I was hoping someone would rep us veg-heads in here! A little white wine, some cashew butter thinned out with water and fresh garlic, along with some decent olive oil, oil cured olives, shallots, sea salt and a healthy pinch of nutritional yeast to give it that cheesey flavor (a vegan staple, trust me) and whatever kind of leafy green I happen to have in the 'fridge, quickly pan seared in a smoking hot cast iron skillet.

Folks at my restaurant like when do penne with a west african theme a la sauteed red 'chard cooked in palm oil, plenty garlic and fresh ginger, some crushed tomato and black olives tossed in for good measure.

I like to make pesto, but I use the Knorr powder blend. The store is always out of the regular pesto, so I use the creamy pesto mix and omit the milk. I usually doctor it up with some Mrs. Dash spices and plenty of black pepper. After reading everyone's responses, I am craving Belgian hangover pasta - a dish I had at Resto in Manhattan. Does anyone know where I can get Vermont country ham? I have Wegmans and Shop-Rite at my disposal.

I had one of these nights not too long ago. I made pasta with a mix of vegetables, garlic, and italian dressing. It was horrible. So bad that I took a few bites and couldnt eat it anymore. I think I'll stick to the good old garlic and oil.

@HeartofGlass I'm with you on the bath thing! I never feel clean or refreshed coming out of a bath. But pasta is one of my great joys in life. In fact, I'm making Penne Arrabiata tonight based on the recipe on Allrecipes.

try sauteeing some diced tomatoes with garlic, then add clam juice and after a few minutes, add the chopped or minced clams. before serving, add some chopped cilantro. exceptional!

Since the refrigerator is nearly empty, spaghetti with smothered onions sauce ala Marcella Hazen. I always have onions and parmigiano reggiano and some reasonably good tasting white wine on hand. Flat leaf parsley helps but it's good enough without it. Delicious.

Other option besides oglio e aglio as mentioned a few times above, just some butter and a can of roma tomatoes, cooked to thicken.

We usually make pasta with meat sauce or take a jar of pasta sauce and add fresh tomatoes, mushrooms, basil or whatever sounds good to put in it!

Hillary
Chew on That

Bacon. Duh - I put it on everything.

EVO, garlic and Chavrie goat cheese....hmmmmm! OOh and some red pepper flakes for a kick!

When I'm sick, nothing's better than pasta with butter, salt, and pepper. When I'm not, we love cooking sliced onions in a roasting pan in the oven with a little olive oil, then adding peeled whole tomatoes (cut in halves) and roasting some more. Best with many cloves of roasted garlic!

Olive oil, sauteed onions, and whatever sort of fresh vegetable I've got (usually in season). Last weekend I threw some sauteed squash, garlic, and crushed red pepper.

Yum

fresh tomatoes marinated in olive oil, garlic, salt and pepper... thsy marinate while you make the pasta. I recently tried it tossing watercress too and it was heavenly...

Madelyn
KarmaFreeCooking

Put me in the olive oil, garlic, and anchovy camp. Lotsa pepper. If I'm slightly less lazy, bacon, canned tomato, and onion. Maybe some balsamic or capers.

Lots of ways but a recent favorite is arugula, halved cherry tomatoes, halved bonconcini with olive oil, salt, and garlic powder (sauteed fresh garlic if I'm ambitious). I can eat enormous bowls of this!

The classic quickie will involve anchovies, tomatoes, canned tuna, olive oil and some spiciness from whatever I have at hand.

- canned tomatoes with salsa and italian seasoning for a marinara
- campbells cream of mushroom/chicken with garlic and spinach for cream sauce
- just some evoo w/ butter, garlic, greek dressing and herbs for a light coating

There are endless possibilites though!

butter and freshly grated Parmagianno-Reg cheese.

garlic, olive oil, black and red pepper, and tuna in oil. last night i happened to have one of those little "live" bags of watercress in the refrigerator (this is a rarity, believe me) and threw that in, which was a treat.

Olive oil, cheese, black pepper, and garlic. As long as I have garlic, it's all good. Oh and whatever vegetable I happen to have.

When I have pasta and don't have the makings for cream sauces, I sautee some thin-sliced onions & garlic in olive oil until soft, toss in two handfuls of fresh spinach, cover and let the spinach wilt, and then toss it over the pasta with a little more olive oil, black pepper and whatever pasta-friendly cheese I have on hand. Yum!

XO sauce! Loosened with a little olive oil, and some of the pasta's cooking water.

Definitely thrown together with chili and sour cream, topped withe cheddar, and baked or broiled depending on how hungry we are...

That would be sundried tomatoes in olive oil, olives, anchovies, chillies.

Oh my! I forgot what I eat for dinner at least once a week - Chopped brocolli, garlic, olive oil, crushed red pepper, feta cheese, S&P. OMG, it's so good and so easy and really healthy if you don't overdo the cheese. I just throw the brocolli in with the pasta for the last 5 minutes of cooking, and warm the olive oil and crushed garlic in the microwave in the serving bowl, so it's a one pot one dish meal.

@cybercita LOL that's funny. Coffee + Pasta? haaha

All these comments and no one has mentioned my favorite thing in the world: pasta, fake butter (mm salty Country Crock) and a bunch of shredded Cheddar on top. Or Colby Jack if I have it.

Bonus: Once you've eaten all the cheese, sprinkle on some Kraft Macaroni & Cheese powder, which you can get in a can in some stores. Now that's good ten-year-old cuisine!

I actually love that cheese powder stuff on popcorn!

My favorite is lemon, garlic and olive oil

I eat variations of this about once a week- olive oil, garlic, onion, garbanzo beans, artichoke hearts, roasted red peppers or sun dried tomatoes, plus whatever cheese is in the fridge (Parmesan, chevre, fontina, feta, mozzarella). I'll usually throw in another veggie like broccoli or spinach but in a pinch, it's good without too. You've got all your food groups!

Chickpeas, garlic and herbs.
Avjar (roasted pepper spread).
Pesto from the freezer, or tapenade.
Peanut sauce.
Greens and an egg.
Canned veggie chili.

I was craving comfort food tonight. So I put on some water to boil. I threw in some egg noodles, cooked them, and drained most of the water. Then I mixed in some sea salt, black pepper, and some shredded colby jack cheese. It hit the spot like almost nothing else. I absolutely love pasta.

It depends how ravenous I am on a scale from 1-10 (peckish-coyote hungry).
If a 1, then I'll warm up some artichoke hearts, semi-dried cherry tomatoes and toasted pine nuts & romano cheese flakes. If a 10, a little bit o' butter and KC Masterpiece BBQ sauce. KC's hard to find here in Denmark, so I ration my usage of it for those "special moments".

I chop up an onion or a shallot, saute in a bit of butter, add some breadcrumbs and toast that for a few minutes, then I add some frozen peas, cook another minute or two, throw in some parmesan and throw that on some buttered pasta with a bit more cheese and hot peppers.

Yum

Usually I use traditional Mediterranean ingredients: San Marzano tomatoes or sauce, jarred artichokes, sun-dried tomatoes, olives, chickpeas, olive oil, garlic, Parmesan, Feta...

I also love to brown some butter, stir in some balsamic vinger and allow to reduce, add sage, Parmesan, and toasted nuts (walnuts, pecans or pine nuts usually), and coat my pasta with that. So easy, and so SO good.

If it is comfort food (AKA a "don't-talk-to-me-don't-even-look-at-me" day), I boil it up al dente and toss it with liberal amounts of crisply fried bacon or ham if it's available, whatever cheese is available and a dose of cream or whole milk and a dash or two of pepper sauce. If I am fixing supper, I love to make a tetrazzini or mushroom and cream sauce with plenty of freshly ground black pepper.

1. garlic, parsley, parmesan cheese, infused oil (i have truffle and baby cherry pepper)

2. anchovies, crushed red pepper, onions

3. sauteed tomatoes, garlic, parsley/basil

Cut broccolini (aspiration) into 1-1/2 inch pieces. Saute broccolini in olive oil and lots of garlic until crisp-tender, with some red pepper flakes to taste. Add some pasta water if you want more of a sauce. Pour over penne (regular or whole wheat). Sprinkle with parmesan. Lots of texture and plenty of flavor.

Another quickie: place a can of Italian tuna packed in olive oil, oil and all, into a pan. Add several anchovy filets (to taste), 1 TBS capers, fresh black pepper. Warm through until anchovies are dissolved. Finish with a TBS of butter. Best with capellini or linguini. Green salad...perfection.

bacon, sauteed onions, parmesan cheese. mushrooms if i have them and it's just for me.

This is nice and spicy. You can hold back on the chipotles if you're frightened by spicy food.

Spaghetti Inferno

5 slices peppered slab bacon, cut into 1/2-inch wedges
1 medium yellow onion, diced
1 seven-ounce can chipotle chilies in adobo sauce
1/2 cup marsala wine, or dry white vermouth
2 tablespoons tomato paste, or ketchup
2 tablespoons pine nuts, toasted
1 pound spaghetti
Lots of freshly grated Pecorino Romano cheese

Bring a large pot of salted water to a rolling boil and cook the spaghetti until al dente, about 11 minutes.

Meanwhile, in a large skillet over medium-high heat, sauté the bacon wedges until they render some fat, then add the diced onion and sauté, stirring frequently, until the bacon is browned and the onion is translucent.

And meanwhile, in a mini-processor, pulse the chipotles and their sauce with the wine and tomato paste until fairly smooth, but not completely pureed. Deglaze the skillet with a little wine or water, add the chipotle mixture and the pine nuts to the skillet, and reduce the heat to medium-low. Cook the mixture until heated through, about 10 minutes.

Drain the spaghetti and toss with the sauce. Serve with plenty of grated Pecorino Romano cheese.

Yield: 4 servings

Oh, can't even imagine not liking past... It is No.1 in our house. I like it any way you serve it but the BF prefers it with a red sauce.... sigh, boring....

Meatballs! Or onions or mushrooms or red pepper flakes...

@southern_bella:

First comment rings true. I'd like to second that-

olive oil, parsley, garlic, red pepper flakes and plenty of parmigiano regiano. YUM!

My hubby lived in Italy for a while, and if it were up to him we would make this 4 to 5 nights a week. It's caled "Ailo oilo peperonicco" (garlic, oil and pepper!)

I use either garlic and oil with the pasta cooked in chicken broth (an adaptation of the Silver Palate version which we adore) OR roasted tomatoes with olive oil and garlic. I also love anchovies and garlic in the oil. Sometimes I infuse it, sometimes not. I also love butter and parmesan.

It must be served with some homemade garlic bread too. A must.

Garlic, extra virgin, chili flakes, olive oil, and toasted breadcrumbs. Sometimes I also sprinkle some parmigiano on top.

Nattou... Nattou spaghetti is an amazing way to use nattou in a cooked dish as much of it's usage is just a topping for rice or alone.
I recommend some red chilis, butter and shoyu. You can even dot it with parsley at the end and cook it with some onion or shallots.

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