Quick And Easy Italian Meals
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Open a peeled tomatoes can, rinse them and chop.
Heat olive oil, sautè the tomatoes, add salted capers and oregan, reduce the fire and leave simmering as you cook pasta.
When pasta is done sauce is done too.
If you don't mind calories some diced white cheese like mozzarella or feta can be added, or canned tuna.
Heat olive oil, sautè the tomatoes, add salted capers and oregan, reduce the fire and leave simmering as you cook pasta.
When pasta is done sauce is done too.
If you don't mind calories some diced white cheese like mozzarella or feta can be added, or canned tuna.
Any type of pasta meal should be easy to make if it's just the basics. Spaghetti or lasagna are pretty easy to fix as well and you can add different flavors or dishes to it. Chicken Fettuccine is my favorite but I like to take my time with it.
So pasta pairs really well with practically any tomato based sauce, so you basically saute some garlic, onions, crushed tomatoes, season it and you should be good to go. OR, if you're super lazy like me then you can try a mix of store bought sauce, some salsa and some taco seasoning for a Mexican fusion type dish.
OR, if you're REALLY lazy, then just saute some onions and garlic in olive oil, maybe butter if you like, add chili flakes and you've got yourself some pasta with garlic and oil (I forgot the Italian name, but it does sound fancy)
OR, if you're REALLY lazy, then just saute some onions and garlic in olive oil, maybe butter if you like, add chili flakes and you've got yourself some pasta with garlic and oil (I forgot the Italian name, but it does sound fancy)
Pasta is a type of dish that can be cooked real fast.
In fact, many Italians prepare preserves, when it's "basil season", they prepare their own pesto, which later on (during the next few months) they will simply 'splash' it on their freshly boiled pasta
I've had home made pesto for the first time just last year, it's extremely good, much better than the one you buy! And all that was needed to prepare the meal was waiting for the pasta to boil.
Other quick meals: preparing a panini or a bruschetta. These 2 are perfect for a fast dinner
It's so easy to make those! Well, a panini is just a sandwich, you can use any bread to make it, except sliced. You simply stuff a piece of ciabatta or baquette with some sliced tomatoes, prosciutto and mozzarella and you're done! Or, you know, you can use whatever you want to make it
As for the bruschetta, you simply toast some bread, rub it with garlic and add the "topping" of your choice: olive oil, tomatoes, prosciutto... whatever you want. It's such a fast dish to prepare!
In fact, many Italians prepare preserves, when it's "basil season", they prepare their own pesto, which later on (during the next few months) they will simply 'splash' it on their freshly boiled pasta
I've had home made pesto for the first time just last year, it's extremely good, much better than the one you buy! And all that was needed to prepare the meal was waiting for the pasta to boil. Other quick meals: preparing a panini or a bruschetta. These 2 are perfect for a fast dinner
It's so easy to make those! Well, a panini is just a sandwich, you can use any bread to make it, except sliced. You simply stuff a piece of ciabatta or baquette with some sliced tomatoes, prosciutto and mozzarella and you're done! Or, you know, you can use whatever you want to make it
As for the bruschetta, you simply toast some bread, rub it with garlic and add the "topping" of your choice: olive oil, tomatoes, prosciutto... whatever you want. It's such a fast dish to prepare!
I don't mind calories at all, actually! I've actually been underweight and struggling to put on mass and pasta is my current go-to meal. Recently, I have gained 8 kgs though! When I make a tomato sauce it usually comes out kind of sour tasting. I think it may be because I used canned tomatoes that are already chopped. I imagine that it tastes better with whole tomatoes. I'll definitely try it!
Pasta is a type of dish that can be cooked real fast.
In fact, many Italians prepare preserves, when it's "basil season", they prepare their own pesto, which later on (during the next few months) they will simply 'splash' it on their freshly boiled pasta
Other quick meals: preparing a panini or a bruschetta. These 2 are perfect for a fast dinner
It's so easy to make those! Well, a panini is just a sandwich, you can use any bread to make it, except sliced. You simply stuff a piece of ciabatta or baquette with some sliced tomatoes, prosciutto and mozzarella and you're done! Or, you know, you can use whatever you want to make it
As for the bruschetta, you simply toast some bread, rub it with garlic and add the "topping" of your choice: olive oil, tomatoes, prosciutto... whatever you want. It's such a fast dish to prepare!
Definitely ate a lot of bruschetta whilst I was in Rome! As for ciabatta, isn't it supposed to be warm? I guess I'll try to find some decent bread, but I bet it'll be quite hard. Pesto is quite hard to make here. I live in northern Europe so basil isn't always available or the leaves are really bland and tasteless. In Italy it was so easy to find sun-ripened tomatoes and all kinds of good stuff. Curse this climate!
Most of the sour taste comes from the preserving addictives in the tomato paste. Wash carefully your whole peeled tomatoes and it should get better.
A cheat dish is to use a can of cream of mushroom soup and then add that to pasta, toss in a few vegetables and you have a great dish. I often keep a can of cream of mushroom soup with garlic or a packet to use, and you can use half and save the rest as soup! It's also ideal for a lasagna, just add cheese to make ot creamier. Some people use a cream of chicken soup too, so if you are in a hurry try it. The condensed soups are good for sauces, especially if you don't have all the ingredients to hand.
Although one thing to keep in mind is the sodium content in canned soup. It's A LOT. I wouldn't suggest using it to make sauces regularly.
Well of course fresh is best, but if you are in a hurry and you don't have all the ingredients then it's quicker. As I never add salt to any of my food, I'm okay.
It's the same as using a jar of sauce, it contains salt and sugar, maybe more than you would use and there is not much difference except soup has a dual purpose.
Pasta dishes are delicious and they are really fast too cook. To go along with pasta we can go for the simple tomato sauce or we can add meat, shrimps, tuna or anything else and it's super fast.
Yeah, easy to say. Hard to do. My tomato sauce game is weak. There's a Italian shop that makes their own fresh sauce that we sometimes pick up. It's sooooooo good. They put prosciutto in their tomato sauce which is incredible! I can never get mine to taste the same :/
Pasta is generally the fastest type of meal. I would usually put on some jar pasta sauce to slowly heat up and boil pasta at the same time, and chop up some chicken breast and cook it in a pan. When the pasta is done, I drain it and put that and the sauce into the pan I cooked the chicken in, sprinkle cheese over the top, cover with a lid and let it steam itself for a few minutes, and then bam. Chees-y pasta and chicken goodness!
And I mainly use jar pasta because I'm not good at making it fresh, haha.
And I mainly use jar pasta because I'm not good at making it fresh, haha.
Is both butter and cream necessary? I do a similar thing but I add bacon or pancetta. Super high kcal but super delicious.
If you think about it, pretty much any pasta dish you would see on a menu at an Italian restaurant can easily be prepared in well under an hour - they're designed to be prepared in just a few minutes. Even if some require a little prep work, you can still have a completed dish in well under an hour in most cases.
Chicken Marsala, or a Chicken Picatta - though technically not pasta dishes on their own, can be served over top of pasta, and both come together very quickly. You just prep the ingredients, which takes about 10 minutes, then it takes about 5-7 minutes for it to all cook. You can speed things up further by pounding your chicken flat so it cooks even faster. In fact, prepping is crucial to both of these dishes, since they come together so quickly you won't have time to chop and prepare the ingredients as you go.
An Alfredo sauce, though not technically Italian at all, is also super simple to make from scratch. All you need to do is bring some butter and cream to a bubble in a pan, then shut the heat off and add the Parmesan cheese (and maybe a hit of black pepper) and let the residual heat melt the cheese. Give it a gentle stir and throw in some freshly cooked pasta and coat it. That's it.
Chicken Marsala, or a Chicken Picatta - though technically not pasta dishes on their own, can be served over top of pasta, and both come together very quickly. You just prep the ingredients, which takes about 10 minutes, then it takes about 5-7 minutes for it to all cook. You can speed things up further by pounding your chicken flat so it cooks even faster. In fact, prepping is crucial to both of these dishes, since they come together so quickly you won't have time to chop and prepare the ingredients as you go.
An Alfredo sauce, though not technically Italian at all, is also super simple to make from scratch. All you need to do is bring some butter and cream to a bubble in a pan, then shut the heat off and add the Parmesan cheese (and maybe a hit of black pepper) and let the residual heat melt the cheese. Give it a gentle stir and throw in some freshly cooked pasta and coat it. That's it.
There are many simple recipes online for a simple tomato sauce (marinara sauce). It's very simple but incredibly tasty. Garnish it with some basil and you're good to go!
Well, "spaghetti with ragù" is a really good coice for me (8 minutes for cook the whole thing). Of course the "ragù", which is a meat sauce, you'll have either buy it or do it on your own.