The Puttanesca sugo goes with all kinds of pasta. I had freshly made Tagliatelle at home so I tried this combination. I always make a classic Puttanesca sugo with anchovies, capers, olives and tomato sauce. A simple but delightful pasta dish. People are often afraid of using anchovies in cooking, but in this dish they fit perfectly.

Preparation time: 20 minutes

difficulty: easy

Preparation:

Bring pasta water to boil. Add some salt and boil the pasta until al dente.Time this process in a way that the pasta is ready when the sugo is.

Peel and dice the onion and fry it gently in some olive oil until it takes on some colour.

Remove the stones form half of the olives and chop them up. Also chop up the capers.
Add the anchovies to the onions. They will dissolve after stirring them a bit. Now add the garlic and fry for a minute.

Cut the Pelati tomatoes into pieces and add them to the pan. Also add the vinegar. When it is season for fresh tomatoes take those instead, when they are out of season don’t bother.

Add the capers, the Oregano and the remaining olives. Season with chilli and salt and let the Sugo cook for 10 minutes. Season to taste and serve with the pasta and some parmesan cheese.

Spaghetti Carbonara is, besides the Aglio e Olio recipe, probably the most simple and easy to do pasta recipe. The only requirements are fresh, organic free range eggs and speck. Make sure you don’t use regular bacon but speck which has less fat and more taste.

Preparation time: 20 minutes

difficulty: easy

Preparation:

Bring water to boil, salt lightly and cook pasta al dente.

Dice the onions and fry them in a pan with some olive oil. Once the onions take on some color you can add the cubed speck. let it simmer for a couple of minutes then add the chopped garlic. Fry for a minute then remove from the heat.

Scramble the eggs in a bowl, adding a fair amount of fresh ground pepper and the grated cheese.

Put the drained pasta into the pan. Mix well with the bacon and pour the egg sauce over the pasta. Mix the pasta until you get a creamy sauce and let it sit for a minute. Season to taste with salt and pepper and mix again. Then serve immediately.

My neighbor in Hydra, Ms. Roula loves to cook. She prepared a lot of classic Greek food but also surprises me with the one or the other easy to do Pasta dish.
I am usually not a big fan of Pasta with cream sauces, but this one was light enough. I also was surprised by how fast the dish was prepared.

Preparation time: 5 minutes

Cooking time: 15 minutes

difficulty: easy

Preparation:

Bring salted water to boil. Ass the pasta and cook it.

Meanwhile dice the onions and fry them in a pan with butter. While they turn golden drain the mushrooms from the can.

Dice garlic and add it to the pan. Fry a little then add the Champignon mushroom and the thyme. Fry a bit, then add the evaporated milk. Let the liquid reduce, salt and pepper.

Finally a glimps out of Ms. Roulas living room window.

Ragù alla bologneseis certainly one of my favorites. It can be seasoned in many different ways. You can add dried mushrooms, bacon but also clove or nutmeg can be added.

The essential thing with a good Ragù alla bolognese is that is cooked slow and long. The longer the better.

Preparation time: 10 minutes

cooking time: 5 hours

difficulty: easy

Preparation:

Peel and dice the onion, garlic, celery and carrots.

Put the onions into a pot and fry them with some oil and butter for about 3 minutes. Then add the carrots and the celery. After a few minutes add the garlic and right after that the meat.
Fry for several minutes until the meat changes color.

Now add the canned tomatoes and the juice form the can. cut them up a bit. Add the tomato paste, the bay leaf and all other herbs you use for seasoning, stir well and let it simmer on very low heat for several hours.

The longer it cooks the better. Ideally you let it sit over night.

Season with salt and pepper and serve with freshly cooked pasta.

The season is calling for recipes with squash. Also the apple fits the season well. Apple and squash are a great combination when it comes to sauces for Gnocchi. I am only describing the sauce here as you can find basic Gnocchi reicpes at offallytasty, at dailyvideorecipes and at wondertime.

Preparation time: 10 minutes

cooking time: 15 minutes – the sauce only

difficluty: easy

Preparation:

Grind the squash and the apple.

Dice the onion and fry it in a pan with some butter until golden. Then add the squash and let it fry for a couple of minutes. Toss occasionally, then add the apple. Fry only very shortly, then add the stock and let it simmer for a while. Let the liquid evaporate. This should take about 10 minutes. Then add the finely chopped dill and the boiled gnocchi. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

Gnocchi with ginger, cucumber and poppy seeds is a simple and refreshing dish. I made the “rapid gnocchi” that are mentioned in my posts several times. The sauce is even faster to prepare than the gnocchi. In just a few minutes the food is on the table. In this post I will only describe the sauce.

Preparation time: 10 minutes

cooking time: 5 minutes – the sauce only

Difficulty easy

Preparation:

Dice the peeled ginger finely. Peel the cucumber and remove the seeds from the middle with a spoon. Then dice the cucumber. The pieces can be much bigger than the ginger ones.

Melt butter in a pan. Add the ginger and fry it for a few minutes. Now add the cucumber. The cucumber should only get warm.

Now you can add the readily boiled gnocchi. Toss them in the pan and mix all ingredients well. Season with salt and pepper. Put on a plate and drizzle some poppy seeds over it.

A nice pasta sauce if you like feta cheese. The leek and bacon fit the cheese very well, I am sure one can leave the bacon away to have a lighter dish. Easy to prepare and full of taste.

Preparation time: 5 minutes

cooking time: 15 minutes

difficulty: easy

Preparation:

Bring lightly salted water to boil. Boil the pasta until al dente. Drain the pasta.

Meanwhile cut the bacon in cubes. Dice the onion and cut the leek into stripes.

Heat some olive oil in a large pan. Fry the onions and the bacon for a couple of minutes, the onions should get a bit brown. Then add the leek and fry it a bit. Pour the soup into the pan and drizzle the Feta cheese into it. The cheese will dissolve in the liquid. Stir the creamy sauce and reduce the liquid until you have a thick consistency. Now add the pasta, toss and let it sit for a minute before you serve. Season with a little salt and pepper.

A classic Italian dish. Gnocchi with sage butter are easy and fast to make. I am using a little trick to reduce the work even more. The Gnocchi I make are made from scratch though I use potato flakes instead of fresh potatoes. This really reduces the production time and the Gnocchi taste great.

Preparation time: 15 minutes

cooking time: 5 minutes

difficulty: easy

Preparation:

Bring water to boil for the Gnocchi.

Mix together all the dry ingredients for the Gnocchi. Then add the water and the egg slowly. Mix well with a kitchen aid or by hand. The dough should not get too humid. In case it is too sticky, add some flour.

Melt some butter in a pan and add the chopped sage. Let it fry on low heat.

Take a fist size piece of the dough and form a long roll of it. Do so on a cleaned and floured surface. The roll should be as thick as your index finger. Now cut the roll into pieces. Each piece just smaller than half an inch.

Put the Gnocchi into the boiling water. Let them simmer on low heat. Once they rise up, let them in the water for another 2 minutes. Now drain them and put them into the pan. Fry on low heat for a few minutes.

Portion on plates and sprinkle some grated cheese over them.

I am not a big fan of excessive use of cream with my pasta sauce. A little cream is okay though. Also vegetables in combination with cheese are one of my favorites. With the use of vegetables in this sauce you can be creative. I used what ever I had at home.

preparation time: 20 minutes

difficulty: easy

Preparation:

Bring salted water to boil. Cook the Tagliatelle until al dente.

Cut the carrot, zucchini and paprika into stripes. Cube the onion, cut the spring onion and the leek.

Add oil to a deep frying pan and fry the onion and the carrot for about 5 minutes. Then add the other vegetables and fry those for a few minutes.

Add the white wine and let it boil a bit. Then add the cream. Reduce the liquid a bit then add the cheese. This should result in a thick creamy sauce.

Season with chopped dill, parsley, salt and pepper. Serve with the Tagliatelle.

On the search for a tasty summer salad that could be beaten on a boat picnic I came up with this one. The figs always go great with bacon and the feta cheese gives the salad a Mediterranean touch. The salad makes a crunchy noise when eaten. This is due to the fig seeds.

Preparation time: 25 minutes

difficulty: easy

Preparation:

Bring lightly salted water to boil in a pot. Boil the Fusilli until al dente.

Cut the bacon in stripes and fry with some oil until crispy.

Cut the feta cheese into small cubes. Peel and cube the figs.

Add the lemon juice, mustard, the crushed garlic, salt and pepper to a bowl and mix well. Add the oil and mix again.

Drain the pasta and add to a large bowl. Put the bacon, cheese and the figs on top. Pour the sauce over it and mix well.