Because I'm in a dorm I cook in a shared kitchen. This can be fun, because I get to meet and talk to a lot of people I wouldn't otherwise. This can be not so much fun because the kitchen is super tiny. No. Really. I'll get a picture later and show you. It's ridiculous.
And people have commented on how my food looks/smells delicious so I decided it might be fun to share some of the things I cook with y'all. First up is Skillet Pasta!
What you'll need:
Utensil Type Things:
- Skillet (or some kind of frying pan)
- A lid for the skillet (it doesn't have to fit perfectly - mine doesn't - it just has to cover a decent portion of the skillet)
- A wooden spoon (or a metal one, I suppose - I just prefer wooden spoons)
- A cutting board and knife
- A bowl/plate of some sort
- An oven - and a working burner
- Spatula (optional)
- Oil
- Spices (I use: rosemary, oregano, garlic salt, and sometimes basil)
- an onion (if you absolutely hate onions you don't have to use onions)
- pasta (I use angel hair or fettuccine, but any kind should work)
- pasta sauce (any kind, really - I'm using red sauce here, but you could also use vodka sauce or other things probably)
- cheese (I uses goat cheese and a bag of mixed cheese)
First: put your skillet/frying pan onto a burner and put some oil and spices inside. Turn the burner on low. This, I find, helps your skillet/frying pan to have a more consistent heat once you start throwing stuff into it.
Second: cut up some onion (however much depends on how much onion you want - usually I use two slices) and throw onions into skillet/frying pan. Only. Not literally. Throwing food around can get messy. If you have really good aim, hey, go for it. If not: just slide the onions in gently.
Let the onions cook for a little bit. It depends on how not-crunchy you want them to be. The longer you let them cook, the less crunchy they will be.
Third: pour some sauce into the skillet/frying pan. If you aren't good at eyeballing pour in a half a cup or a cup of sauce, depending on your portion size, and see how that looks.
Fourth: time for the pasta! If using angel hair/fettuccine I find it easier to break it up. Break it in half, and then break each half into half. This makes it easier to cook.
Fifth: add in enough water so that the pasta is fully covered. Then cover with the lid and set the timer for about ten minutes.
Sixth: when the pasta has cooked for about five minutes it's time to add the cheese! The image on the right will show you about how much goat cheese I use. For the mixed cheese I put in one or two handfuls (about half a cup?).
This is about how it will look when it's done cooking.
Eighth: wash your skillet/frying pan and wooden spoon and spatula (if you used one) and lid. Now, if you're in your own house/apartment, this is none of my business and whatever. Wash your dishes when you want to. This step is for college students. If you are sharing a kitchen with anyone, if the kitchen is not your private space, then wash your dishes. This is respectful to people (*cough* like me *cough cough*) who need to use the kitchen space and don't want to have to clean up your mess. Be an adult. Be a respectful person.
Ahem.
Ninth: Eat your food! I won't go into details, because I'm pretty sure all of you (or at least most) know how to feed yourselves. If not, ask someone else for help. I can't help you with that.
I add fresh basil to most of my dishes because I have an awesome basil plant that hasn't died yet. |
What's nice about this kind of pasta is you can make all different kinds of skillet pasta. Just change up the cheese or vegetable or sauce. I will probably be sharing variances in the future.
Do you have any simple college-easy food recipes? Please share!