Sun dried tomato and mushroom pasta in a garlic and basil sauce

I found this recipe here but copied it into metric because it was too hard to follow in American measurements. 

Serves 4

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2 tablespoons olive oil
200g mushrooms, sliced
3 garlic cloves, minced
100g sun-dried tomatoes, diced
2 chicken stock cubes (use vegetable for vegetarian version)
2 cups boiling water
1/2 cup half and half (may need to add another 1/2 cup)
1/2 cup heavy cream
1/2 cup shredded Parmesan cheese
1 tablespoon dried basil (or up to 2 tablespoons chopped fresh basil)
fettuccine for 4

NOTE:
WHAT IS HALF AND HALF? Half and half is the US milk product that combines half milk half cream to form a lighter cream (unlike heavy cream). To make 1 cup of half and half, combine 1/2 cup milk and 1/2 cup regular cream (heavy, or whipping cream).


Do This -

1. Heat olive oil on medium-high heat, add sliced mushrooms and garlic and cook for about 3 minutes. Add diced sun-dried tomatoes. Reduce heat.
2. Dissolve 2 chicken stock cubes in 2 cups of boiling water. Add the broth to the pan and cook on medium heat until the mushrooms and sun-dried tomatoes absorb some of the broth and the broth reduces somewhat. Add half and half, heavy cream and bring to boil just for a short moment. Add Parmesan cheese and cook the sauce, stirring, for a couple of minutes, on low-medium heat until the cheese melts. Add the basil.
3. If your sauce is too thick at this point - add another 1/2 cup half and half. If your sauce looks thin to you - do not continue simmering the sauce to thicken it as you will be adding pasta shortly (in the next step) - and pasta will absorb some of the sauce liquid. Even if the sauce looks thin now, it will not be so thin once you add pasta.
4. Cook fettuccine according to the package instruction. Drain and rinse in cold water (this will stop the cooking). Add the fettuccine into the sauce and continue cooking the sauce with the pasta in it, on medium heat, for a couple of minutes (or more - to achieve the desired thickness) stirring constantly to coat well.

Note: Do not add salt to the creamy sauce because it should already be salty enough from the chicken cubes. Check at the end when the sauce is done to see if some salt is needed.

Curly Fettuccini & Meatballs

Serves 4

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500g mince

1 onion, diced

2 cloves of garlic, crushed

1 egg

1 cup of breadcrumbs

3/4 cup grated parmesan cheese

5-6 basil leaves, roughly chopped

1/2 bunch Italian parsley, chopped
2 bay leaves

2 tablespoons tomato paste

2 tins diced tomatoes
1 teaspoon brown sugar

olive oil, for cooking

curly fettuccini (or regular fettuccini or spaghetti)

grated parmesan to sprinkle

Do This -

1. In a large bowl add 1/2 of the chopped parsley, 1 garlic clove, mince, breadcrumbs, egg, parmesan cheese and a generous pinch of black pepper & salt. Mix with hands until well combined.
2. Heat some olive oil in a large pot to a medium heat and add onion & and remaining garlic clove. Fry till translucent and fragrant.
3. Roll the meatballs then brown them in the pot with the onions & garlic.
4. Add the tomato paste, canned tomatoes, the remaining chopped parsley, basil & bay leaves, sugar, salt & pepper.
5. Turn to low and simmer for 20 minutes. Or longer for more flavour. If the sauce seems a little dry add 1/2 cup of water.
6. Serve with curly fettucinni and sprinkle with parmesan and basil.

Fettuccine with Asparagus, Parmesan, and Prosciutto

Serves 4

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1 teaspoon olive oil
100g thinly sliced prosciutto, cut into strips (or 4 finely chopped bacon rashers)
1 garlic clove, crushed
1 cup pure cream
2 tablespoons lemon juice
Salt and pepper
500g fettuccine
2 bunches of asparagus trimmed and cut into pieces
1 cup grated parmesan
¾ cup chopped fresh basil

Do This -

1. Cook fettuccine as per instructions on the pack.
2. Heat oil in large nonstick pan over medium heat until just smoking.  Cook prosciutto until lightly browned and crisp, about 5 minutes.  Transfer to paper towel-lined plate.
3. Add garlic to pan and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds.  Stir in cream and lemon juice and simmer until slightly thickened, 3 to 5 minutes.
4. Add asparagus to the pot of pasta with 4 minutes left of cooking time.  Reserve 1 cup cooking water, drain pasta and asparagus, and return to pot.
5. Add sauce, ½ cup reserved cooking water, parmesan, and basil to pot and toss to combine, adding remaining cooking water as needed.  Season with salt and pepper.  Sprinkle portions with crispy prosciutto.  Serve.

Fettuccine Marinara

I'm very proud to say I made this up...and it is gooooood!

For 2 serves...

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1 tablespoon olive oil

1 small onion, chopped

2 cloves garlic, crushed

1 tablespoon tomato paste

1 shake dried thyme

1 can tomatoes

1 splash white wine vinegar

1 splosh sweet chilli sauce

300g marinara mix, fresh or frozen

fettuccine

salt & pepper

Do This -

1. Heat oil in large fry pan. Saute onion and garlic until onion is transparent.
2. Add tomato paste and dried herbs and stir until fragrant.
3. Add vinegar, sweet chilli sauce, can tomatoes and seasoning and simmer for 30 minutes.
4. After 20 mins cook enough fettuccine for two following instructions on the packet.
5. After sauce has simmered for 30 mins, add marinara mix and simmer a further 5 minutes, or until seafood is cooked through.
6. Serve over pasta in bowls.
7. Enjoy!