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Serving linguini. What do you use?

avole said:
Canned tomatoes? You need fresh, well ripened tomatoes above all else. They should be peeled, seeds removed, and chopped. Get that right, and you won’t need to add sugar or acid to correct the failings. Ideally use the long Italian tomatoes, as they contain less seeds.
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Canned San Marzano roma tomatoes can make a better sauce than most grocery store fresh tomatoes, unless you've got access to an exceptional garden or farmers market. And canned is the only choice when tomatoes aren't in season.
 
Sorry, lost my original post - was on the ferry to phu quoc - which specified ripe, not supermarket ripe tomatoes. In fact, certainly in the UK and Australia, if you leave the supermarket ones on a shelf in the sunlight for a week, they will improve dramatically. It isn’t a problem here in France. If you buy the nice looking ripe tomatoes that originate in the Netherlands, then use them for decoration but not for cooking.

Can’t comment about the US, but isn’t a country known for the quality of its fresh vegetables, so your comment about home grown is probably merited. Personally, tomato sauce goes off the menu when I get back, though I’ll continue with others that use it as a base, using canned Italian tomatoes.
 
Another alternative is tomato "passata" that you buy in bottles (I believe it is sold everywhere). It is much quicker than peeled tomatoes in tin, which take at least 45 minutes simmering before they break down into a homogeneous paste/liquid.

Peeled tomatoes in the tin are the industrial version of what people used to do: towards the end of the tomato season tons of them would be put in boiling water, then peeled, then put into bottles or jars to get through the winter. I saw it done once and it was very much "Hubble bubble, toil and trouble," with the whole family taking part.
 
avole said:
Canned tomatoes? You need fresh, well ripened tomatoes above all else. They should be peeled, seeds removed, and chopped. Get that right, and you won’t need to add sugar or acid to correct the failings. Ideally use the long Italian tomatoes, as they contain less seeds.
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Ha ha ha, what a load of nonsense
 
It does make me chuckle.

Yes, it's nice to read how the Italians cook Italian food in Italy, but for us folk in stormy Britain who try to copy/Anglicise said food, please don't treat us like heathens for not producing exact copies.

I'm never going to grow Italian tomatoes at home, and even if I did, I bet somebody would slate me for growing the wrong ones.

The dish I referred to in my original post is a quick and easy meal that we just happen to like. It's hassle free, uses just two pots, and brings a smile to my face. I've no doubt a prostitute in Milan could knock up a tastier version between clients, but I doubt she's all snobby about it.

:)
 
Another quick-and-easy one is to cook the pasta, put it in the serving bowl, lubricate it liberally with olive oil, then put a raw egg yolk in and mix it all up, and grate some Parmesan on it. Basically a carbonara without the bacon. Mind you, with something this simple each ingredient must be top quality.

I like the idea of the Milan prostitute between clients. Direct experience, I presume.
 
As a child of the 60s and 70s I hated pasta dishes however they were presented. Then, I do not know why, I cooked some Spaghetti at home, drizzled it with olive oil and grated some fresh Parmesan on top. Now I understood what Pasta was about!

Then I bought some fresh pasta from a supermarket and was even more impressed. These days i understand that you do not need fresh to make a good job. My kids love some of the 'fake' or quick Carbonara type things I create from whatever I find in the fridge.


These middle-age spread days I eat rather less Pasta than I used to.
 
At school in London around 1960 we would often get Heinz tinned spaghetti or Heinz tinned ravioli. Sweetish and horribly gooey, I loved them. One day I came home from school and told my Italian mother that I liked the Heinz spaghetti better than what she painstakingly made herself at home. I'm surprised she didn't drown me there and then!
 
Tony Lockhart said:
It does make me chuckle.

Yes, it's nice to read how the Italians cook Italian food in Italy, but for us folk in stormy Britain who try to copy/Anglicise said food, please don't treat us like heathens for not producing exact copies.

I'm never going to grow Italian tomatoes at home, and even if I did, I bet somebody would slate me for growing the wrong ones.

The dish I referred to in my original post is a quick and easy meal that we just happen to like. It's hassle free, uses just two pots, and brings a smile to my face. I've no doubt a prostitute in Milan could knock up a tastier version between clients, but I doubt she's all snobby about it.

:)
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But we are heathens! How else can you explain classic British cooking? Only the Americans are worse.
 
avole said:
You clearly have no idea how to cook. Stick to boiling water - or is that a step too far?
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You really are arrogant and a nasty person. I wouldn't lower myself to respond in any detail, but having Michelin starred chefs amongst my close friends and having cooked for them at dinner parties will let you know what I know about cooking.
 
avole said:
But we are heathens! How else can you explain classic British cooking? Only the Americans are worse.
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It seems unlikely that your knowledge of American cooking extends beyond encounters with corporate chain roadside restaurants.
 
By far the yummiest pasta I've eaten was when visiting the Americas.
Produced in a kitchen 100% staffed by professionals originating from South Asia too.
 
I know that this is a further digression of this thread, but it seems the French are hopeless at wine tasting..... they managed a measly 11th out of 24 countries, behind those wine powerhouses of Poland, China and Finland! And if you were wondering the UK came 2nd and Sweden first.......:D

and to bring the link tenuously back to pasta...Unfortunately, the Italians (of whom 99%) will know that to cook a simple and perfect tomato sauce to accompany pasta one uses canned tomatoes, came a very poor last...
 
Yank said:
It seems unlikely that your knowledge of American cooking extends beyond encounters with corporate chain roadside restaurants.
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Some of the best food I've tasted was in the US, american home cooking is fantastic and a great combination of styles.

I could happily eat myself to death in Texas or New Orleans :)

gintonic said:
I know that this is a further digression of this thread, but it seems the French are hopeless at wine tasting..... they managed a measly 11th out of 24 countries, behind those wine powerhouses of Poland, China and Finland!
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French wine is shite, watery, insipid tasteless crap, I much prefer spanish or italian reds.

They claim to know about coffee as well but french roast to me is a mug of muddy water.
 
I cooked linguine with prawns tonight.

The sauce was fresh tomatoes skinned, cored and chopped fried with a load of garlic and a sprinkle of dried chillies. The cores were pressed through a sieve to add their juice. Chopped parsley was added and a glass of white wine. This was Allowed to reduce then the prawns added and cooked until pink. I added 20 turns of a black pepper grinder.
The linguine was added to the sauce and stirred to mix.

It was served using a pasta server spoon and eaten with hunks of whole meal bread.

Everyone enjoyed it.
 
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