Pasquale's Mussels and Spaghetti with Mussels

Not my recipe this time, but rejigged and reblogged from Ιστομαγειρέματα. Thanks to postbabylon for this.

How to clean and prepare live mussels
Take the mussels and pull gently but firmly the little 'beard' they have. When you do this, the mussel closes.
DISCARD the ones that haven't closed after a few minutes. Give them a good wash, cleaning them of barnacles and whatever dirt they may have. Ready to cook.

For Pasquale's Mussels (serves -in our case 2 +2 next day)
1 kilo of mussels
1 large onion or 2 small ones, chopped
2-3 cloves of garlic, chopped
1 can of tomato + 1 carton of passata (if you have nice and over-ripe tomatoes it's clearly better)
2 whole dried chili peppers (or chilli flakes)
Salt & pepper
The original said sugar, but I didn't put because I used...
...1/3 of a bottle of medium white wine
Fresh parsley if you have it, chopped

In a large saucepan sauté onions, garlic and chili peppers in some olive oil. Add the tomatoes with a drop of water (if you're using passata) and allow to simmer for about 10 minutes, or until it's reduced. Add the mussels, wine and salt & pepper, and allow to cook for about 15 minutes (they say 5 for mussels but I'm not taking any chances). All mussels should have opened by now. DISCARD any that haven't opened-getting food poisoning isn't worth it :-)

Serve with some rice and sprinkle your freshly chopped parsley on top.

Spaghetti with mussels (or mussel sauce)
You will have either a fair quantity of mussels left, or maybe just the sauce.

Re-heat the mussels. In another saucepan boil some spaghetti. Drain the spaghetti and return to the saucepan. Using a soup ladle, take the mussel sauce and mix it with the spaghetti, until you're happy it's enough. Serve the spaghetti with the mussels on top. Italians in general don't go for grated cheese with seafood, but Mrs M. grated some parmesan none the less.

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Pasta with courgettes and fetta cheese

From Pasta with courgettes and fetta

Στα κυπριακά δαμαί

Ingredients (for 4 hungry ones)
500 gr of pasta of your choice
3-4 small courgettes
1 onion
2 cloves of garlic
200gr of fetta cheese
lots and lots of dried mint
salt

Execution
Chop the garlic very finely and dice the onion. Cut the courgettes and have your mint and cheese on stand by. Lightly fry the garlic and onion in some olive oil on a low fire for a few minutes. Add the courgettes and stir them lightly until they are nicely coated with the oil. You don't need much olive oil at all, just enough to be able to saute the onions in. I sometimes peel the courgettes, as their skin might be bitter if they're not very fresh. Crush the mint in the courgettes. Add some water to the frying pan, just enough to half-cover the courgettes, and then cover the pan with a lid, allowing it to lightly simmer for about 20 minutes. This way your courgettes become steamed rather than fried, which makes the dish nice and light. Stir it a couple of times and when the courgettes are nice and soft, add the fetta, all crumbled, and stir for 1-2 minutes. Turn off and set aside. You'll notice I didn't add salt to the sauce-the fetta more than compensates for it.

For the pasta, just bring some salted water to the boil, add your pasta and cook for the designated time. Drain it and then add the sauce, giving it a good stir. You'll notice I didn't add salt to the sauce-the fetta more than compensates for it.




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Spaghetti with Asparagus, Peas and Mushrooms

Simple recipe this one, but so tasty...

Ingredients (serves 4)

1-2 bunches of asparagus (the thinner the better)

a few mushrooms (chopped)

some peas

2-3 spring onions, chopped

chilli flakes

olive oil

butter

white wine

salt

500gr spaghetti

Wash the asparagus and cut off the harder part of the stem if it feels too hard to cook. Alternatively you can slice the harder part right through the middle. Cut the asparagus in pieces of roughly 2cm each (that's less than an inch you imperials).

In a frying pan, heat some olive oil and toss in the asparagus. Add butter, peas, spring onions and chilli flakes. Cook for 4-5 minutes, drizzle some white wine, add the mushrooms and salt. Turn the heat down and cover, allowing it to cook gently for another 5 minutes or so. In the meantime...

In a saucepan add water, salt and bring to the boil. Add your spaghetti and cook for as long as you like-preferably the time advised on the pack.

Drain the pasta, return it to the saucepan and tip your asparagus sauce in. Mix gently and serve with some nice parmesan cheese. I use mature anari, a Cypriot cheese. Drink the rest of the wine with it :-)

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Rigatoni with roasted peppers and fetta

I found these lovely peppers at the vegetable stall the other day and thought of a nice recipe (after talking about it with Billy).

Ingredients (serves 4)

500 gr rigatoni pasta (or whichever type you like)

3-4 long, red peppers

1 pack of fetta cheese

1/2 onion, diced

2 cloves of garlic, finely chopped

chopped fresh parsley

some mushrooms, chopped

Chilli flakes

Olive oil

Grill the peppers in your grill for about 25 minutes, turning them once halfway through, so that both sides are almost charred (but not). In a frying pan lightly fry the garlic in olive oil and add the chopped onion and chilli flakes. When the onion is nice and translucent, add the mushrooms and stir them gently until they're cooked. Turn it off and set it aside.

Boil the pasta in salted water for as long as your pack suggests (or until you're happy with it). While that is boiling, take out the peppers from the grill, take them gently and put them on a flat surface (a plate is good). Gently pull out the stem and grab the skin and peel them slowly. You'll find that the skin comes off very easily. Cut up the peeled peppers and keep them in the plate with their juices.

Drain the pasta and return it to the saucepan or a large bowl. Add the mushroom/onion mix with all its juices. Add the peppers with their juices, the chopped parsley and, finally, crumble the fetta in as well and give it a good stir so that the fetta pretty much melts in the pasta. As the fetta may be salty, taste it before adding any more salt. Lovely.

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Pasta salad with tomatoes and mozzarella

This is another very simple but very tasty recipe, given to me by my friend Antonis. You can serve this as a main course or a side if you want.

Ingredients (feeds 3-4)
500gr pasta, usually penne or farfalle. I also like to use, larger, tubular pasta, like rigatoni.
2 pieces of mozzarella (they usually come in 150gr pieces), drained, cut into pieces.
Fresh basil leaves
Fresh ripe tomatoes (the redder the better), chopped (keep the juices)
Olive oil
Salt & pepper

Execution
Cook the pasta for the time suggested on the package. Drain it and put into a large bowl. Mix in the chopped tomatoes with their juice. Add the basil leaves and mozzarella and sprinkle with olive oil and season. Enjoy!

Pasta with cherry tomatoes and garlic

This is a simple and quick recipe.

Ingredients (for 2-3) people
For the sauce
1/2 kilo (1 pound) of cherry tomatoes, halved (keep the juices)
Olive oil
1-2 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
Salt & pepper
Dried basil (optional)
Chilli flakes (optional)
Grated parmesan cheese

Use whatever pasta type you like. I prefer small pasta, like penne or maccaroni for this one, but any would do. I find that about 500gr feeds two very hungry adults, if not more.

Execution
Pasta:
Bring to the boil some water (with some salt) and add the pasta. Add the pasta and cook for the time the packet recommends. Drain it and put to the side, in the same pot you cooked it in, or in a bowl. In the meantime...

Add the olive oil in a medium-sized frying pan (just enough to cover the surface), heat it and add the garlic. Turn the fire way down and let the garlic fry slowly for 2-3 minutes, but don't let it turn brown. Throw in the tomatoes and cook for another 5 minutes, or until the tomatoes are nice and soft but not completely melted. Add salt, pepper and some basil if you have. You may add dried basil and/or chilli flakes (not much) if you want. When the tomatoes are half-cooked, throw everything into the pasta and mix it well. Serve quickly and top it with grated parmesan. Enjoy with a light Pinot Grigio or any medium white wine. Or red if you prefer, up to you really...