Easy Pasta Meta Recipe

I'm not an expert cook, but here is a meta-recipe for tasty pasta (for when

simple marinara sauce is not enough).

Start by sautéing olive oil (or butter), onion, and garlic. Add a little red

pepper flakes if you like a little heat.

You can optionally deglaze this with white wine, dry vermouth, or even Vodka.

You can add any Italian herbs like basil, oregano, thyme, etc. that you have on

hand. Rosemary seems like it might be too perfumey - I think it is supposed to

be used with red-meats and grilling.

You can add any Mediterranean ingrediants pretty much - green/black olives,

artichoke hearts, sun-dried tomatoes, diced tomatoes, chicken, suasage, capers, pine-nuts, anchoives, etc. You probably want to cook the meats first and then add them unless they are really small pieces (and even then).

I almost forgot about other vegetables. Sweet peas and snap-peas seem to go well with creamy Italian pasta. I'd probably stay away from green/red peppers and most leafy greens (except perhaps spinach). You can always pair the pasta with a nice fresh salad in which case green and red peppers and all of the leafy greens can be put to good use.

You can also add near the end cheese (Parmesan, goat cheese and possbily just

cream cheese). I'm not skilled enough to make a good alfredo sauce and all the

ones I've tried in from a jar have not be very pleasant tasting.

And of course finish with salt and pepper (always freshly ground) to taste and

then put over pasta (which you can throw right into the pan if you want).