Yield: 1 Servings
| Measure | Ingredient |
|---|---|
| Dried pasta shells | |
| 1 | Shallot chopped fine |
| 2 | Cloves garlic chopped |
| 3 | Hot fresh peppers (I used 1 habanero, 2 red Thai) seeded and chopped fine or sliced |
| 1 tablespoon | Olive oil |
| 1 teaspoon | Unsalted butter |
| 1 cup | Leftover peas and stewed tomato |
| ¼ cup | Tomato sauce |
| ¼ cup | Vodka |
| 1 tablespoon | Honey (up to 2) |
| 1 teaspoon | Butter |
| 1 teaspoon | Soy sauce |
| 1 teaspoon | Chinese oyster sauce |
| Grated cheese (probably dont need it) | |
| Chopped flat leaf parsley or cilantro |
Many times we make pasta at home from leftover items in the refrigerator.
Be creative and experiment with leftover vegetables, stews and cheeses. Few nights ago I found some leftover peas and stewed tomatoes and a bag of fresh hot peppers that we haven’t made much use of. The combination was good, but I think I used too many peppers.
This dish highly improvised, and you can do the same with your pasta cooking. If you don’t have left over green peas, take out some frozen peas and rinse under hot tap water to thaw out. You may want to add fewer peppers than I did unless you have a high tolerance to heat. You can also skip the vodka and the oriental flavors if you want. The honey in the dish tames the heat a bit and you really don’t taste an overpowering sweetness.
If you don’t have honey, you can use brown sugar, plain sugar or even maple syrup.
Put pasta water in large pot (at least 4½ qt pot for 2) on heat and bring up to boil. Add pasta to boiling water and keep stirring. Sauce cooks in the time it takes for the pasta to be done. Start to taste pasta after 6 minutes and strain when down.
Heat a saute pan and then add olive oil, shallots and peppers. Add 1 tbs of the honey. Stir and then add vodka and flame if you like. Alcohol is optional and you can make this dish without it.
Add peas to pan after flame dies down (seems that the honey makes for a bigger flame). You don’t have to flame if you don’t want, most of the alcohol will burn out after a few seconds.
Add tomato sauce and some of the pasta cooking water. Taste. If too hot add more honey. Add soy and oyster sauce if using. When pasta is done, drain and add to the sauce. Add some butter if using and cheese. Add parsley for garnish and then serve in bowls. Serves 2 for main course or 3-4 as appetizer.
Posted to CHILE-HEADS DIGEST V4 #190 by ChefChile@... on Nov 9, 1997