Peas and Pasta

I made the peas and pasta dish last night and my first husband loved it. Here is how I made it. This recipe serves two with a light lunch for one left over. (but it never made it to lunch because I sneaked it later)

PEAS AND PASTA
1 onion chopped into small pieces
olive oil 2 tablespoons to 1/4 cup
chopped up parsley. a handful. not too much.
1 box frozen peas
2 teaspoons sugar
cooked pasta (I made it with fusilli, but I think a flat linguini would be better. (1/3 to 1/2 of a box)

Saute the onion until translucent.
add the parsley for a minute or two.
Add the peas and sugar then cook for about 5 minutes or more depending on how soft you like them.
add the cooked pasta
Add some pasta water to make sure you have a sauce-y consistency.
salt and fresh pepper finish it off.

Besides Pasta, What is There?

Pasta is so versatile that entire cookbooks have been written on the various ways to cook it. For instance, you can put the following on pasta for incredible eating experiences: (these are not recipes, but if you ask, I will provide. Most of these can be improvised if you have any cooking experience at all.)
1. Olive oil and garlic
2. Frozen peas and onion sauteed with a tiny bit of sugar
3. Basil and parsley pesto
4. Sauteed mushrooms with parsley
5. Sauteed Zucchini with onion and purchased pasta sauce (A&P Masters Choice of course)
6. Swiss chard and mushrooms

Now that you have some idea of the many things you can put ON pasta, know that another grain can be used, maybe without the satisfying quality of pasta, but good tasting in its own way: Polenta.

Polenta is simply cornmeal, but purchasing the box of Italian polenta is better because it tends to be sold as an "instant". The word, "instant" is a bit of a misnomer because it still takes 5 minutes of continuous stirring. Read the directions on the box carefully because Polenta can overcook and become hard in a flash. It can be cooked so that it is the consistency of mashed potatoes or using a TINY BIT more water, the consistency of cream of wheat. I prefer the consistency of mashed potatoes. That way, any of the juices from the veggies loosen up the polenta and it is really good.

I would not, under any circumstances, ever purchase the cooked polenta sold in the shape of a sausage preserved forever in a plastic casing sitting on the grocery shelf. I bought one once and threw it out at first taste.

ZUCCHINI AND ONION WITH A&P MARINARA SAUCE
olive oil-you can use from as little as 1 tablespoon to 1/4 cup (4 tablespoons) if you use less, make sure the heat is low to give the moisture from the vegetables time seep out.
garlic 3 or 4 cloves smashed
1 onion sliced thin
4 fresh zucchini sliced into thin rounds
1 jar of marinara sauce
bay leaf

Heat a deep frying pan and put in the oil and the garlic. Heat for a bit, but do not let the garlic brown.
Add the onions and cook until wilted.
Add the zucchini and cook for about 5 minutes.
Add the marinara sauce with a bay leaf and cook for about 15 minutes until zucchini is completely wilted and translucent. The sauce will also be a little thicker.
Put over pasta or polenta or even brown rice.

Twenty Minute Tomato Sauce and Deceitfulness

Before I get into the tomato sauce I make, I want to warn people of an insidious and treacherously deceitful practice that I uncovered last weekend. You must be on the lookout for this whenever you shop.

Many pasta boxes are no longer 16 ounces! They are the same size box, but the label says 13.75 oz. DO NOT BUY THEM. Look for the DeCecco boxes instead. All of DeCecco brand pastas were 16 oz. at the supermarket, whereas other brands had a smattering of 13 oz boxes among the 16 oz boxes. TRICKERY!!!!!!.
(DeCecco is really one of the best brands out there. In fact, you should only buy DeCecco whole wheat pastas.)
We must be vigilant and insist that DeCecco not change their sizes as well. So copy the following letter and send it to DeCecco.
Send this to
customerservice@dececco.it

Dear De Cecco,
Many pasta manufacturers are downsizing their boxes of pasta. Please do not follow their lead. Please keep your pasta in boxes of 16 oz. or 453 grams.
Yours truly,

Avoid also Stop and Shop food stores. Their prices are outrageous and that is where I found most of the downsized pasta. Stop n Shop is owned by some huge international conglomerate. Don't shop there.

20 minute tomato sauce
1/4 cup olive oil
3 or 4 garlic cloves crushed or put through a press
1 medium onion finely chopped
1 can (28 oz.) of whole plum shaped tomatoes _put in a bowl first and chop coarsley
1 teaspoon of dried basil
2 teaspoons sugar
salt & pepper

Heat the olive oil in a frying pan
add the garlic DO NOT LET IT BROWN
Add the onion and let it wilt.
Then, add the tomatoes and all the juice
Add the sugar
Add the dried basil
Let it cook for about 20 minutes
season with salt and pepper.

Pour this over pasta or polenta. Polenta is so easy to make. Buy instant polenta in the supermarket and it cooks in 5 minutes. So good too. Do not forget to make some green thing like broccoli or spinach or kale or swiss chard. Corn does not have the protein of wheat so you have to get some more nutrients into your body.