Serious Eats - seriouseats.com

"the only way to eat well in England is to have breakfast three times a day."
Somerset Maugham

http://www.flickr.com/groups/fullenglish/

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.

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.

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

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

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.

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.

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

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.

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!

I actually love that cheese powder stuff on popcorn!

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