Not Your Same Old Pasta Sauces

For many of us pasta was one of the first things we learned to make. As a result just about everyone I know can make a decent red sauce, whether it's a quick marinara, a Bolognese or a long simmering Sunday gravy. Mixing things up with the occasional plate of oil and garlic or cacio e pepe isn't much of a stretch for the home cook, nor is making your own vodka sauce. Where else can a pasta lover look for inspiration? Here are three dishes from Italy, Greece and the Middle East that can add some variety to your pasta repertoire. They're all quick sauces that can be made in under half an hour, but they reward the relatively small effort in preparation with big flavor and exoticism.

Bow Tie Pasta with Asparagus Sauce

I first had this in Italy while on a Spring tour with folksinger Rod MacDonald. We'd played a gig in a town right near the Slovenian border, then gathered for a lavish meal at a local restaurant with a group of locals. The pasta was amazing, and I asked the chef (who looked like he could easily work security for a major label act) what it was. His English was good enough to explain the dish to me; the sauce was mostly white asparagus and the liquid in which both the asparagus and pasta had been cooked. I figured I'd try making it sometime in my own kitchen if I was lucky enough to find a good source for white asparagus.

Unfortunately white asparagus is exotic here (even in NYC), commanding a price I'm unwilling to pay on the rare occasions I can find it at all. If I were going to make this dish it would have to be with the much more common (and affordable) green asparagus. I did a little research and found out that green asparagus gives a good result with the addition of lemon zest to balance out its more assertive flavor. I prefer Romano cheese for this dish, since it plays well against the assertiveness. This ends up not being exactly the dish I remember from tour, but it's excellent, in addition to being quick and easy.

This recipe will sauce half a pound of pasta, which is enough to feed two hungry people as a main course or four people as part of a more elaborate meal. Wide pasta works well for this dish; I usually use bow ties.

One bunch asparagus, thick ends cut off
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
1/3 cup grated Romano cheese (more if you prefer a richer sauce)
zest of 1/3 lemon, finely chopped
salt and pepper to taste
1/2 lb wide pasta

Boil asparagus in a large pot of salted water until bright green (about 2-3 minutes). Remove asparagus from water and let cool. Cook pasta in the same water. While pasta cooks place asparagus and olive oil in food processor and blend to a smooth paste, adding a tiny bit of the cooking liquid if necessary. When pasta is still a few minutes from being done reserve a cup and a half of cooking liquid. Drain pasta and return to cooking pot with asparagus, lemon zest and cheese. Bring back to heat adding the reserved cooking liquid to make the sauce. Finish cooking the pasta in the sauce, stirring constantly for 2-3 minutes as the sauce thickens. Taste and decide how much salt and pepper you want to add, if any. Serve immediately.


Red Sauce With Beef and Sweet Spices

Here's a simple twist you can put on your red sauce to completely change its character: replace whatever aromatic herbs you'd normally use (basil, thyme, oregano) with a blend of allspice, nutmeg and a pinch of clove. This moves your sauce in a Greek direction, instead of Italian. Cinnamon also works in this dish, but for some it might bring back unpleasant memories of a 3-Way in Cincinnati. (Consider yourself lucky if you don't get that reference). Sweet spices are good in long simmering sauces using stewing beef, but here's an equally good quick sauce version with ground beef. This recipe will sauce half a pound of pasta, and can be made in the time it takes to cook the pasta.

scant 1/2 lb lean ground beef
small onion, chopped
4-6 cloves garlic
15 oz can whole tomatoes, broken by hand
spice blend (1/2 tsp allspice, 1/4 tsp nutmeg, pinch cloves and/or cinnamon, to taste)
salt and pepper, to taste
small bunch parsley, finely chopped

Brown meat in frying pan. Drain some (not all) of the fat off. Add onions with a pinch of salt and fry until nearly translucent. Add garlic, spice blend and black pepper and fry for another minute or two. If it starts to stick at any point add a little olive oil. Add tomatoes and let simmer until some of the juice has evaporated. Add parsley, stir, and you're ready to sauce the pasta. This sauce is just a little on the thin side; if you prefer a thicker sauce you can add a little tomato sauce.


Middle Eastern Yogurt Sauce

Yogurt on pasta - apparently it's big in the Middle East. I didn't know this until I wandered into the Idle Time bookstore in D.C. while appropriately killing time before a gig at the 930 Club. There I found a secondhand copy of The Arabian Delights by Anne Marie Weiss-Armush. That's where I got the idea for this recipe. Of course I'm never one to stick to recipes, and over the years my version has diverged from that of Ms Weiss-Armush. Her book is still a source of inspiration, and I recommend it to anyone interested in Middle Eastern food.

Again, this is enough to sauce half a pound of pasta. When I say serve immediately I really mean it in this case. The hot pasta quickly soaks the moisture out of the yogurt, overly thickening the dish as it cools. It's so good it won't be difficult to polish off quickly.

1/3 lb lean ground beef
4 cloves garlic, chopped
salt and pepper, to taste
1/2 tsp allspice
ground nutmeg, to taste
1 1/2 cups yogurt (I prefer whole milk yogurt)
small bunch parsley, finely chopped
toasted pine nuts or almonds, to garnish

Brown ground beef in frying pan. Drain off some (not all) of the fat. Add pinch salt, generous amount of black pepper, garlic and spices. Continue frying for another two minutes, adding a little oil if necessary to keep from sticking. Add yogurt and parsley, stir and remove from heat. Pour over cooked, drained al dente pasta, and top with toasted nuts. Serve immediately.