Pasta

Today I'm going to share a pair of crowd-pleasers for casual entertaining. Both are pasta dishes made with fish and seafood. Both are extra easy on the host or hostess because the entire dish is made in one big pot, involving a minimum of dishes and cleanup. If the pot can do double duty as a serving dish on the table, so much the better. Of course, you have to have a great big pot! Good choices would be a large non-stick electric cook pot like the Oster Superpot. Other possibilities are: a heavy heat-retaining range-to-table deep casserole or lidded chicken fryer, or a great big old-fashioned iron stock pot or soup kettle that can be kept on an electric warming tray.

A variety of no-cook sauces can be stirred into cooked pasta. For a pound of noodles (six servings), sauces might include the following: In a blender or processor, combine and chop 4 cups packed basil leaves, 4 crushed garlic cloves, 1 cup pine nuts and 1 to 11/2 cups freshly grated Parmigiano Reggiano or Pecorino cheese. In a slow stream, whip in 11/4 to 11/2 cups extra-virgin olive oil. Season with salt and pepper. Dice 4 ripe tomatoes, 4 to 6 ounces mozzarella cheese, and 1/2 cup fresh basil.

Q. Our family is eating a lot more pasta now and I'm wondering how to tell which is the best. Some labels say, "Made with 100 percent Semolina," or something to that effect; others say "Semolina with Farina," or simply "enriched flour. " Which is best? Wallie Romig Watsonville, Calif. A. One hundred percent semolina means a more nutritious, firmer and tastier pasta. Although there are about 30,000 varieties of wheat, they can basically be lumped into three categories - very hard, hard and soft.

The nation's honeymoon with pasta is, tragically, coming to an end. The romance between ourselves and the noodle, to paraphrase Cole Porter, was too hot not to cool down. Recent studies suggest that too much pasta can make you fat, especially those who are "insulin-resistant" - another word for those who tend to be chubby. The study said pasta makes your body over-produce insulin, a hormone used to digest starches and sugary treats. The more insulin your body produces, the more likely it is to be eventually converted into famine insurance on hips, potbellies and thighs.

Meatless pasta dishes don't have to be high in fat and calories. Traditionally, they get their protein from eggs and cheese instead of meat - baked macaroni and cheese, for example. A heavy combination of high-fat hard cheeses with lots of eggs and milk (or cream) can add up to a double dose of excess calories and cholesterol. So we go beyond "macaroni and cheese" with light ideas for main-course pasta dishes without added meat, poultry or fish. This dish can be made with a no- cholesterol egg substitute if you prefer: BAKED MACARONI WITH CHEDDAR AND RICOTTA 8 ounces uncooked elbow macaroni 5 eggs (or equivalent egg substitute, thawed)

For a saucy topping for pasta, consider squash. While zucchini and summer squash are traditionally favored as side dishes for pasta, they're even more versatile as an ingredient in the sauce. Instead of slicing and steaming squash as a side dish, shred it into spaghetti-size strands and toss it with linguini, tagliatelli or noodles. Or mix green and yellow squash shredded into skinny strands with the thin spaghetti, known as "vermicelli" for its worm- size diameter. Or try mixing yellow squash strands with green spinach pasta.

Paesani eat pasta daily, meal after meal, simmered in soup, cut into ribbons and wrapped into rings. From tortes to tortellini, it appears everywhere in every conceivable form, but for the most part, pasta is a simple affair - boiled, drained and tossed with sauce. One would expect the great pasta pot of inspiration to soon boil dry, but it never does. Ever. There is always something new to prepare with pasta, and most of the tried-and-true methods are so good that a repeat performance is never tiring.

Moonstruck's tortelloni are as exquisite as ever. Any dish that's just as popular now as it was 22 years ago when it led the menu at Moonstruck's predecessor, Ristorante DiLullo, has earned the title "specialty of the house. " The handmade ravioli, filled with three cheeses and chard, are served in summer in an uncooked tomato salsa cruda. In winter, the same pasta comes bathed in creamy tomato sauce. As chef at DiLullo's from its opening in 1979 through 1985, I learned to make these tortelloni from Italian culinary authority Marcella Hazan.

Q. I recently took the instructor course for the American Red Cross' "Better Eating for Better Health. " The teacher said that salt heats up the water. When cooking pasta, it says right on the package to add salt at the beginning of cooking time. I had always thought that adding salt was to prevent boiling over. What's the real purpose? - Colette Abell APO, N.Y. A. The purpose of adding salt to pasta water is to enhance the taste of the pasta, which is rather bland without it. Although salt will not prevent boiling over, it is a heat conductor and will shorten the length of time it takes to bring water to a boil.

Spaghetti sells. Spaghetti, appealingly priced, caringly prepared and served up in a spectacular setting, sells even better. Knowing that, the Texas-based Spaghetti Warehouse chain puts pizazz aplenty in its restaurants and then watches as the customers and cash roll in. Philadelphia's Spaghetti Warehouse - recently installed at 1026 Spring Garden St. in a structure built in the 1800s as a farmers' market - shows how it's done. The place is almost a block long, with ceilings tall enough to please a circus high-wire artist.

1/2 pound farfalle or other bite-size pasta 1 teaspoon salt, divided 1/2 pound tomatoes, cored, halved, and seeded 1/4 cup sun-dried tomatoes, cut into thin strips 1 tablespoon chopped garlic 1/2 cup chopped red onion 1/4 pound sharp provolone, cut into ¼-inch cubes 1 1/2 tablespoons red wine vinegar 2 ounces olive oil 1/2 cup basil leaves, loosely packed 1/4 cup toasted pine nuts (optional)...

1 head cauliflower, cut into small florets 3-4 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil 3 cloves of garlic, cut in half 1 or 2 peperoncini (small, dried hot peppers) 6-8 anchovy fillets, chopped Salt and freshly ground black pepper 1 pound penne rigate or orecchiette pasta 1 cup grated pecorino cheese   1. Blanch cauliflower for 5 minutes, drain, set aside. 2. Heat olive oil in a large skillet over low to moderate heat. Add garlic and peperoncini to the hot oil; turn until garlic is golden, then remove garlic and peperoncini.

DUE TO THE TIME and place of my upbringing — white-bread suburb, 1970s and 1980s, WASPish family — I spent the first 19 years of my life believing that pasta must come from blue boxes and be boiled into a mushy mound, topped with "spaghetti" sauce that came from a jar, and "Parmesan" cheese sprinkled from a green can. It was while living as an exchange student in a village near Cremona, Italy, that I realized I was living a pasta lie. Anna,...

Always add a couple of teaspoons of salt to the water after it starts to boil. But never add oil to the boiling water (uncooked fresh pasta is porous and will get oily in the water). People always talk about al dente pasta, but almost everyone overcooks pasta. So don't overcook it! "You want pasta to be toothy," said Pete Severino. "You have to taste it as you cook. " While a rule of thumb is that fresh pasta cooks much faster than dried pasta, there's no general rule for cooking times.

HERE ARE a couple of recipes using Severino pastas. First is a traditional variation on ragu that replaces the meat with tuna. Be sure to use imported tuna packed in olive oil. You'll use the oil in the cooking. In the second recipe, the baby peas, mint and green peppercorns add a brightness that just feels like spring.   Pappardelle & Tuna Ragu 8-ounce imported tuna packed in olive oil 2 cloves smashed garlic Red pepper flakes (optional) 28-ounce can San Marzano tomatoes Fresh basil, chopped Fresh parsley, chopped Pinch salt Pinch pepper 1 pound fresh pappardelle Bring six quarts of salted water to a boil.

The trouble with so-called "ancient grains" is that though they have tickled the fancy of restaurant chefs, most of them remain way under the home cook's radar. It's an experience thing. Or lack of. Most of us aren't even sure how to cook amaranth, quinoa and spelt, never mind know how to serve them. Which is too bad. They can be delicious, creative, and usually inexpensive ways of working whole grains into your cooking. So let me help you over that first hurdle by introducing you to farro, what I consider the easiest to cook and most versatile of the ancient grains.

The salesman told me a snowblower would change my life, but so far it hasn't. What a snow job. Because it only snowed once thus far, for two whole inches. I'm not complaining, but that snowfall cost me $300 an inch. I didn't even use the damn thing, because I'm still not walking after bunion surgery, so I had to pay someone to shovel, and he didn't think there was enough snow to use the snowblower. Make that $350 an inch. You may recall, I thought about buying a snowblower after six impossible winters, then finally broke down and bought one a few months ago, and have evidently saved all of us from another impossible winter.

STATE COLLEGE, Pa. - People always wondered how Joe Paterno could persuade high school recruits of all races and socioeconomic backgrounds to travel through isolated pockets of Pennsylvania and come to the center of the state to play football and get an education. The vast majority of players who turned out for Thursday's memorial service for Paterno, who died last Sunday at the age of 85, could easily tell you why he was so successful over 45-plus years. "Joe didn't recruit us - he recruited our moms," former wide receiver Jimmy Cefalo said in addressing the crowd, amid nods of recognition everywhere in the Bryce Jordan Center, from people such as Mike Zordich, Devon Still, Daryll Clark, and Rich Mauti.

I love this classic version of pasta and peas. The prosciutto adds not only protein, but also a salty savor that rounds out the dish.   Pasta and Peas Makes 6 first course or 4 main course servings 4 tablespoons butter One 4-ounce slice prosciutto (1/4-inch thick) cut into 1/4-inch dice 1 small onion, chopped One 10-ounce package frozen peas (or 10 ounces fresh baby peas) 1 bunch parsley, finely chopped Pepper 1 pound dried pasta, such as spaghetti or linguine (or 1 1/2 pounds fresh)

Here is an excerpt from Craig LaBan's online chat: Craig LaBan: We had an awesome block party Saturday with a long table of great pot-luck eats. My contribution was aglio-olio with zucchini laces, toasted garlic chips, and ricotta salata. And because the produce was so darn irresistible at the Rittenhouse farm market, I followed a day later with my favorite quick tomato sauce: cook a pint (or two) of halved yellow and red cherry tomatoes down fast and hard in EVOO and golden garlic, for about as long as it takes to boil the pasta.