Italian dishes....yummy....D.I.Y.

Tagliatelle pasta.....from durum wheat

Pasta bolognese.... lasagna... .pizza..... all are yummy Italian dishes. The majority of Italian pastas have similar ingredient, taste, texture and colour. The main ingredient of pasta is the durum wheat. There are hundreds of different shapes of pasta with at least locally recognised names; spaghetti (thin strings), maccheroni (tubes or cylinders), tagliatelle (flat noodle), fusilli (swirls), and lasagne (sheets). The main component of Italian dishes that makes each dish different is the sauce accompanied them. How to prepare your own tastalicious tomato based pasta sauce? Here I share a simple recipe for the pasta sauce either by itself or can be added with meat i.e. chicken or beef.  Try this if you want to impress your spouse or friends.

Diced Holland onions

Italian spice.......a mixture of dried basil, majoram, oregano, sage

You required the following ingredients: two large Holland onions (yellow onion, coarsely diced), five to ten pieces of garlic (coarsely chopped), 1 tablespoon of Italian spice mix (dried basil, marjoram, oregano, sage; just buy the commercially available product, this is cheaper than mixing yourself), chopped tomato (2 cans or from 4 deseeded and deskinned large red tomatoes; drain the fluid), canned plum tomato (drained the fluid), double concentration tomato paste, sugar (2 tablespoons for each can of chopped tomato or 1 table spoon for each large red tomato, olive oil (or natural taste cooking oil), salt and black pepper.

Chopped tomatoes.....drained

Whole plum tomatoes in can

Tomato puree or paste......double concentration

Heat 4 table spoons of the cooking oil in a sauce pot. Then fry lightly the chopped onion until transparent or clear, then add in the chopped garlic. Fry for another 2 minutes, do not brown them…..you are not cooking rendang or curry!!!!. If preferred, now you may add in the meat (250 grams) and just seal the meat juice in. Throw in all the chopped tomatoes, plum tomato as it is (do not chop), two tablespoons of tomato paste, sugar and the Italian spice. Simmer for 10 minutes or until the meat cooked. Add in salt and black pepper to taste. To add more interest to the sauce, final touch the sauce with fresh basil leaves. For better taste pasta, throw in the pasta in the sauce and lightly cook them in the sauce for two minutes. Enjoyyyy!!! J