Pasta
Despite its worldwide popularity, pasta is not the main focus on Italian or Spanish dishes. More often than not, pasta is served for the first course and is then followed by the main course which contains meat, fish or egg dishes. Have you ever commented when enjoying a menu de dais that the first course is the same size as the main? Well the reason behind that is the first course is suppose to fill you up and the main is to treat the taste buds. In rural areas where meat was not so plentiful, pasta played a more central role with tasty sauces and locally grown vegetables giving some of the recipes we eat today. Have you ever tried to make your own pasta? It is actually quiet easy and tastes so much better. It doesn’t matter if you don’t have a pasta machine as a rolling pin and cutters can be just as good.

Traditional Pasta
375g plain flour
Salt
4 eggs
1 tbsp olive oil
Sift flour and a pinch of salt into a bowl. Make a well. Add eggs and 1 tablespoon of oil. Beat liquid, gradually mixing in the flour to form dough. Knead the dough on a floured surface for 10 minutes until smooth and elastic. Cover with a tea towel and leave to stand while making the filling. Roll out thinly and cut into squares or triangles and place a little filling before folding and sealing. Allow to stand and then cook in lightly salted boiling water for 6-8 minutes.

Traditional Sauce
450g tomatoes
1 small onion
1 clove garlic
2 tbsp sun-dried tomato paste
1 tbsp green pesto sauce
Make a cross in the tomato stems and place in a bowl. Pour boiling water over and stand for 30 seconds. Refresh under cold water and peel off skins and chop. Peel and chop onion and crush garlic. Heat oil in pan and fry onions and garlic for 5 minutes. Stir in tomatoes, paste and pesto then cook gently or 20 minutes.

Fillings
Parmesan and Pine nut
50g parmesan cheese
225g ricotta cheese or similar
6 tbsp green pesto sauce
50g pine nuts
Just take all ingredients and mix together

Pork and Parma Ham
2tbsp olive oil
225g minced pork
1 tbsp fresh breadcrumbs
70g Parma ham
2 tbsp chicken or vegetable stock
Pinch of nutmeg
Heat oil and gently cook the pork. Grate cheese into a mixing bowl and stir in breadcrumbs. Chop ham and add stock and pork. Season with salt and pepper and nutmeg.

Beef and Mozzarella
2 spring onions
2 sticks celery
2 tbsp olive oil
250g minced beef
4 tomatoes
150g mozzarella cheese
Fresh sage
Chop onions and celery and heat in oil. Add mince and fry until brown. Skin tomatoes as before and add chopped tomatoes to the pan. Grate mozzarella and chopped sage to the pan. Season to taste.

Salmon
325g salmon fillets
100g soft cheese
½ lemon
Put the salmon into a pan with a little water and gently cook for 10 minutes. Drain and discard skin and bones and then flake into a bowl. Leave to cool. Grate the rind of the lemon and squeeze the juice into the bowl and add the soft cheese. Mix and season to taste.

Beun Appitito