I admire the Chinese for inventing their unique way of recycling leftovers by turning them into fried rice. Just as I admire the Italians for inventing the pasta which, to me, is second to the Chinese style fried rice in the art of extending small amounts of ingredients to come up with such savory and filling dishes.
Too bad for people who think that carbohydrates are unhealthy. Perhaps, it will help if they put down the fashionable diet books for a while and remember the go, grow and glow foods all of which create the necessary balance in our diet.
In my family, as with most Filipino families, rice is a staple. Noodles, whether Italian style pasta or oriental noodles, are a close second. And we enjoy our pasta in so many ways — with seafood, with sausages, with bacon, with tomatoes, with cream or even with just plain olive oil and lots of garlic.
One of the easiest pasta dishes that one can whip up in under half an hour is pasta with bacon. Dice the bacon, brown in equal amounts of butter and olive oil, add vegetables and spices, pour in the meat stock and simmer for about 20 minutes while the pasta cooks in another pot. The pasta dish that you see in the photo above, taken a few weeks ago, has bacon, lots of diced tomatoes, sweet peas, onions and yellow bell peppers.
Another favorite pasta sauce has a combination of sausages — Hungarian sausage, Italian sausage, garlic sausage, bratwurst, chorizo de Bilbao… With a tomato-based sauce or with cream, they are just as good (below). Other family favorites include bacon and mushrooms, ham and sausages, tuna with diced eggplants, carrots and bell peppers, bottled sardines, and, a recent favorite — pasta with bottled tuyo.
One thing about Filipinos and pasta is that most require that the sauce be a bright red. This visual requirement has been perfected by fast food chains where pasta sauces with their microscopic bits of meat (if they are really meat) are artificially colored. Most people also equate good pasta sauce with a thick mixture. I know someone who thickens her pasta sauce with flour just to “conform” with expectations.
The truth is, pasta sauce thickens naturally when allowed to simmer and reduce for hours AND only if there are enough chopped vegetables thrown in. It is the chopped vegetables that make the sauce thick as they get mushy and turn into a semi liquid state. Adding flour is a travesty.
For best results when making pasta sauce, use good meat stock, especially if you’re using nothing but processed meat. In lieu of meat stock, throw in chunks of beef bones into the pot. That’s equivalent to creating the stock while the pasta sauce simmers. Just remember to remove the bones before serving the sauce with the cooked pasta.
Finally, never underestimate the value of herbs. Basil, rosemary, tarragon… use one or combine two or more and the flavor improves many times over.
Just like rice, pasta is so versatile. If you can create a hundred different sauces, you’ll have a hundred different pasta dishes. Even if you ate pasta everyday, you won’t eat the same dish twice until after more than three months. Imagine that. 
hi ate connie, while i cant wait to try this latest recipe entry, i cant help but notice the toasted bread on the side. do you have a recipe for this?thanks!
It’s garlic bread. Add finely chopped garlic (parsley is optional) to softened butter, spread on bread and toast under a grill.
Now I know what I’ll be eating for dinner tonight! Looks delicious!
Hmmm… slight correction. The Italians did get pasta and noodles from the Chinese. Thanks to Marco Polo. What the Italians came up with were the various dressings.
So you really really gotta admire them ancient Chinese.
I have no comment. I would like to ask if you know the Maki Soup.
I know you can find it in a chinese restaurant.
Thanks
From: Annie Baylon
I tried your pasta with spanish-style sardines last weekend, Connie. My kids were at first hesitant to try because it does not look red. But when they tasted it, they really had their fill. Thanks a lot!
Hi Connie,
You use a lot of tomatoes for this pasta?I wander if I can use the diced tomatoes in the can if I do not have available fresh ones.I will try the one with bacon,Can I use spaghetti noodles?I noticed in the picture you use
different noodles.Thank you again.
hi connie,
When i went to the grocery yesterday, i saw some dried herbs in a small containers.and since im a neophyte cook its only recently that i discovered the value of those herbs in cooking especially when i became a fan of your food blog. As much as i want to use the fresh ones, its not practical coz im not really a regular cook and here in dubai u can only buy them in tons so most of them will just go to waste.
So my questions is, what is the difference of the dried herbs to the fresh ones…will i be getting the same taste? and the nutrients?
Thanks much!
oh, by the way which herbs pala ang madalas gamitin? coz im planning to buy just four of them…
Thanks Connie!
Jon, there’s an article in Wikipedia (with some very impressive sources) that says the Marco Polo legend about bringing noodles from China to Italy is indeed JUST LEGEND. “Noodles” are attributed to the Arabs living in Italy but pasta itself (in the forms of gnocchi and the old-fashioned lasagna) are said to be endemic to Italy.
Sorry, Annie. Haven’t heard of that one.
That’s great, amymd! O di ba, kids can be trained not to expect artificially colored pasta?
Luz, yes, you can. In fact, when fresh tomatoes are bad (especially during rainy months), I use canned. Try to get the whole peeled tomatoes though. They make a thicker sauce.
cheri, in terms of lost nutrients, i have no idea. in terms of usage, use only half as much dried herbs. So, if a recipe says 1 tbsp. of fresh rosemary, the equivalent would ne 1/2 tbsp. of dried rosemary.
Which ones are most commonly used… well, that depends on what kind of dishes you often cook. Personally, basil is a must. Then, tarragon, parsley, coriander (hard to find though) and mint.
Very “kewl” bloggings here. I am new blogger and based in Toronto, Canada.
Here’s my two “sense-ts”
1) As far as herbs are concerned the reason that you half the recipe for dried ones is because it is more concentrated.
2) Try using whole canned tomatoes in your pasta dishes as they are far far more juicy than the regular sauce or diced tomatoes, etc. These whole tomaoes were also canned perfectly riped – thus the “juiciness”. Do mash em up later when done.
3) Once you have made your basic tomatoe sauce. Off of the heat, then add some bottled sundried tomato pesto. Perfectly yummy.
4) Really don’t care who invented the pasta or noodles. Secret is knowing on how to cook the pasta – al dente. Otherwise, it will be mushy and gooey – no good.
5) In lieu of bacon – which sometimes are packed with chemicals, try the Italian prosciutto (if I spelled this correctly)as they have less chemicals if none at all.
6) For garlic bread, instead of butter, use EVO (extra virgin olive oil) for a healthier recipe. Don’t forget to sprinkle some ground salt on top for flavor. Basil adds more flavour to your garlic bread – but really, garlic is enough. You can spread some Basil Pesto then toast em – if you feel like not making the garlic at all.
That’s all folks. Hope I added more flavour if not intrigue to this blog site.
JP =)>
Trained Chef in Toronto
i made pasta with bacon and veggies last night for dinner and my husband who is a picky eater loved it! i’m still amazed! my father-in-law loved it too and even had second servings. simut sarap, nalinis yung kawali! i didn’t make too much dahil kala ko walang kakain (usually i end up eating all the left overs). i’m definitely trying pasta with different sausages (that is if i can find them here). anyways, thanks for this recipe!
Connie,
Wow, thanks for that. There goes another, ummm, legend
I read somewhere that generally you use a teaspoon of dried herbs for a tablespoon of fresh, but I could be wrong. Fresh herbs are great, but there are some dishes where dried herbs are better (this could be a Bourdain thing, I could have sworn I saw him say a similar thing in one of his books…).
how about the taste of fresh compared to dried herbs…same din ba?
Thank you!
Dear Connie:
Do you have recipe for IGADO?? my husbands really loves this, but i don’t know how to do it and also, i’ll do it on beef as we don’t have pork here in middle east.
appreciate your response..
tnks a lot
nice recipes connie! did you ever get to eat at Pasta Connection or is Bread Connection….anyway…they had this simple Garlic & Tomato sauce which had me coming back again and again. I tried replicating it, and while my version didn’t turn out bad…their version is a lot lot better. Btw, did you receive the email i sent you?
Rose, that will give you a 1:3 ratio. I go by the 1:2 ratio.
Cheri, you know, I’m biased because I like fresh herbs.
myna, yes, in the archives. such search for “igado” using the search box below.
Peterb, og my gosh, I didn’t know there was a restaurant called Pasta Connection. LOL Bread Connection, yes, but only tried the sandwiches.
Re e-mail. I actually got two sets. One in the houseonahill account and another (system generated) in the gmail account. They use different email accounts for registration.
Pasta with bottled tuyo is something I always do here in Florida, not anchovies which is also good for pinakbet
I don’t use canned or bottled sauces, I will just saute it with a lot of tomatoes in olive oil….. add some shrimps and herbs.