Pasta Archives - Poor Man's Gourmet Kitchen

Basil Pesto Pasta with Sausage

Large dish with green Basil Pesto Radiatore Pasta cooked with breakfast sausage.

The Best Pesto Pasta

If you’ve never had Pesto or you did and didn’t think you liked it, doesn’t mean you wouldn’t like it prepared differently. Pesto is an Italian sauce/paste that is 5 basic ingredients that can be improved or lessoned upon, depending on your desired tastes. Thos ingredients are Basil, Garlic, Pine or Almond nuts, Garlic, Olive oil, Parmesan cheese and a pinch of salt and pepper. Depending on how much you add of each can change the desired outcome of the pesto, completely. That’s why, today, I’m going to offer you 2 different recipes for this pasta.

1 lb of Cooked Jimmy Dean Sausage in a large pan on the stove.

Protein for your Pesto Pasta

Whether you realize this or not, most Italian sauce recipes require a specific pasta. Pesto, for example needs a pasta that has texture and grip. That’s why it’s good to use pastas like Penne, Fusilli, Cavatappi or Radiatore pasta, just like I use in this recipe. These noodles hold the sauce in there grooves and it’s just as important to choose which protein, best fits your dish.

In this recipe, I’ve chosen a simple breakfast sausage but Pesto is very versatile. You can use Veil, Lamb, Shrimp & Scallops or something simple, like chicken. Just be sure to cook the meat, all the way through before adding all of the other ingredients.

How to cook Basil Pesto Pasta with Sausage video tutorial by PoorMansGourmet.

Basil Pesto Pasta with Sausage Ingredients:

12 oz Pasta, Radiatore, Penne or Shells
1 lb Ground Breakfast Sausage, cooked
4 tbsp Butter
1/2 cup Whipping Cream
3/4 cup Pesto

Salt and Pepper to taste.

Basil Pesto Recipe

2 oz Basil, no stems
2 Garlic cloves, ground
1/4 cup whole Almonds, ground
1 cup Parmesan, grated
1 cup Olive Oil, extra virgin
1/2 tsp Pink Salt, Himalayan or Kosher

Here is the recipe for the alternate Pesto Sauce. Be sure to watch the short video tutorial and I’ll show you exactly how to make this Basil Pesto Pasta with Sausage.

Bolognese Sauce with Pappardelle Pasta

Large red pot on the stove top, 3/4 full of homemade Bolognese Sauce.

The Best Bolognese Sauce

Bolognese is a sauce made by sautéing Sofrito, chopped onion, carrot and celery, which is then cooked with minced meat and slowly boiled with diced tomatoes, sauce, tomato paste and red wine. It’s cooked and stewed for several hours, on low heat, to allow the meat to soften and tenderize as the flavor concentrates through the power of reduction. The very best Bolognese Sauce will melt in your mouth with your favorite pasta and will comfort you like any stew or hot chili on a cold winter’s day.

Sofrito: Chopped Celery, Carrot and White Onion.

3 lbs of minced meat; 1 lbs ground Beef, 1 lbs ground Lamb and 1 lbs of ground Italian Sausage.

The origins of the Bolognese Sauce

Bologna Italy is normally considered to be the birth place of this amazing dish known as Bolognese Sauce but, the truth is, it originated just outside of town in a place called Imola in the late 17th century. “It was then that Alberto Alvisi, the chef of the Cardial of Imola, cooked the first real tomato-based meat sauce, which was served with a plate of macaroni pasta.”

1 lbs bag of Pappardelle pasta nests and another 1 lbs bag of Tagliatelle pasta nests.

Bolognese Pasta

Most Americans know about spaghetti, a thin noodle with some type of Ragu or Marinara over the top, sometimes served with hamburger or Italian sausage and a sprinkle of Parmesan cheese. What many don’t know much about is other pasta’s and the do’s and don’ts with other sauce recipes.

Spaghetti, for example, is not suppose to be served with Bolognese Sauce. Though folks all over the world prepare it this way, there isn’t considered to be enough surface room to hold the sauce. Wider noodles, like Tagliatelle or Pappardelle are preferred. Shorter noodles like Rigatoni and Penne Regatta are also acceptable because they’re able to hold more sauce.

2 nests of Pasta: Pappardelle on the left and Tagliatelle on the right.

Plate of Pappardelle pasta with Bollognese Sauce and fresh grated Parmesan cheese.

How to make Bolognese Sauce video tutorial by PoorMansGourmet.

Bolognese Sauce Ingredients:

1/4 cup Olive Oil
1 Onion, chopped
1 Large Carrot, diced
3 Celery Sticks, chopped
1 lbs Ground Beef
1 lbs Italian Sausage
1 lbs Ground Lamb
1 Cup Red Wine (half Vegie cook other half meat cook)
29 oz Can Tomato Sauce
5 oz Tomato Paste
14.5 oz Can Diced Tomato
1 cup milk, add last

Salt and Pepper to taste

Chopped Onion, Carrot and Celery should be approximately the same amounts.
Cook for 3 to 4 hours and add 1cup of water every hour or so and let it reduce to
soften and thicken the minced meat.

Preferred pasta: Tagliatelle Pasta, Pappardelle Noodles(really wide), Penne, Rigatoni pasta. NEVER use Spaghetti and top off each serving with fresh grated Parmesan.

Chow Mei Fun Singapore Noodles

The Best Singapore Noodles

If you’re thinking that this recipe title is actually 3 different recipes, you’d be right. I combined Chow fun, Mei fun and Singapore noodles because there virtually isn’t much difference. Mei Fun is a thin rice noodle and Chow Fun, is the thicker flat Vermicelli rice noodle, similar to fettuccini. Singapore noodles, however, can be made with either noodle with the addition of curry powder added to the sauce ingredients but, everything else between these 3 dishes are practically the same and that’s why I’ve turned them into one recipe.

Some recipes vary on the ingredients but I’ve put together a simple vegetable version I think everyone will love. You can add any other protein you like, if you want the addition of meat. Beef, pork, shrimp or chicken are among the most common; pre-seasoned, marinated and usually cooked beforehand, then added to the noodles and vegetables before the dish gets the sauce.

How to make Chow Mei Fun Singapore Noodles by PoorMansGourmet.

Chow Mei Fun Singapore Noodles Ingredients: Serves 4

10 oz Vermicelli Rice Stick Noodles, cook 5 oz at a time
4 Eggs, use 2 eggs per 5 oz of noodles
2 Nappa Cabbage Leave, chopped
1/2 Carrot stick, chopped
1/4 Large Onion, sliced
1 Celery stick, chopped
2 Green Onions, chopped
1/2 cup Bean Sprouts

Sauce
1 Garlic Clove, chopped
1 tsp Fresh Ginger, chopped
1 tsp Oyster Sauce
1 tsp Soy Sauce
2 tsp Fish Sauce
1 tsp Sesame oil
1 tbsp Rice Wine
1 tsp sugar, optional but recommended
1/2 tsp Salt, optional but recommended
1/2 tsp MSG, optional but HIGHLY recommended
1/4 tsp White Pepper
1 tsp Curry Powder, optional but makes Mei Fun a Singapore Noodle

Salt and Pepper this dish to taste
1/4 cup Oil for cooking, add 2 tbsp at a time.

If you like your food spicy, add Sriracha or Garlic Chili Paste in small amounts.
Proteins (beef, pork, shrimp or chicken) should be seasoned, marinated and
cooked first but added to the wok or frying pan last, before adding the sauce.
For example, I cook one slice boneless chicken thigh per 5 oz of noodles,
which easily serves 2 people. I season with Kosher salt and pepper, 1/2 tsp
of curry powder and 1 tbsp of potato starch. Once this is mixed together, I
fry the meat in the oil I use for this dish first, then remove from the wok, leaving
the oil, then start the eggs, add the vegetables, noodles and sauce, just like I
show you how to do in the video tutorial.