I’m
sure my youngest would eat pasta every day, three times a day, if I’d let
her. She loves her noodles. I, on the other hand, find that pasta once a
week is more than enough and my oldest daughter pretty much agrees with me.
The
same old spaghetti or elbow macaroni can become mundane in short order so I like
to keep things interesting with different sauces and meats. But the best tip I have for making your pasta
dishes special has to be using different types of pastas.
I don’t
make my own pasta and I don’t have any desire too. I love the convenience in purchasing already
made dry pasta and I really appreciate the many varieties my stores have to
offer. Plus they go on sale – a lot! I find sales for 10 packages for $10 quite
often and then I stock up.
Whenever
pasta goes on sale I stock up on the special pastas aside from the regular
elbow and spaghetti noodles. These are
the types I am always on the lookout for:
·
Penne
·
Bowtie
or Farfalle
·
Wagon
wheels
·
Rotini
and Tri-color Rotini
·
Shells
– in all sizes
·
Rigatoni
– in all sizes
·
Lasagna
·
Fettucine
& Linguine
·
Whole
wheat pastas – in any variety
I
especially love to use wagon wheel pasta in place of elbow in macaroni &
cheese. Shells are great in baked pasta
dishes, pasta salads and soups. Linguine
is a nice change to regular spaghetti noodles.
I love to use fettucine instead of egg noodles whenever I make creamy
chicken and noodles, just break them in half.
Another
thrifty tip is to purchase the small packages of pasta in the Hispanic foods
aisle. They usually run 3/$1 at regular
price and there is more pasta in those packages than you might think. One package of fideo makes an entire 2 quart
casserole of sopa seca. The little
shells are the perfect amount to add to minestrone soup. Melon seed pasta is perfect to use in place
of orzo at a fraction of the price.
Consider giving them a try.
I’d
love to hear some of your tips regarding pasta!
I also use fettuccine instead of egg noodles. I think they hold up better.
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