Pasta beyond meat sauce

Simple pasta dishes are perfect weeknight fare, but that doesn’t mean you have to use jarred sauce and ground beef.

Avoid this trap by leaning on fresh herbs and vegetables and minimal proteins to create tasty, affordable pasta dishes everyone will love.

Baton Rouge’s very own Fresina’s Pasta Company has begun to sell their handmade dried pasta in local grocery stores, in addition to their Drusilla Lane storefront. Pick some up and combine with the bounty of local produce emerging from Louisiana growers to create dishes like these:

Sausage and peppers. Sounds heavy, but it isn’t. Heat a little olive oil in a cast iron skillet and sauté a few links of fresh Italian sausage. Turn sausages to brown on each side. When halfway cooked through, add strips of red and yellow bell pepper. Sauté until soft and the sausage has finished cooking. Toss peppers and sausage slices with cooked pasta, drizzles of olive oil and a little pasta water. Top with grated Parmesan and chopped basil or parsley.

Shrimp, asparagus and peas. Peel and devein shrimp or buy them cleaned. Wash asparagus, and break into one-to-two-inch pieces. Set aside. Steam frozen peas slightly in a little boiling water and remove from heat. In a large sauté pan, heat olive oil to medium high, and add asparagus. After a minute or two, add a little hot water to pan, cover and steam for about 8 minutes until firm, but nearly done. Remove lid, and add shrimp and peas. Sauté for two minutes or until shrimp are cooked through. Season with salt and pepper. Combine immediately with cooked penne, a little pasta water, generous grated parmesan or Asiago, and fresh basil.

Raw tomato sauce. Sauté two cloves of chopped garlic in a few tablespoons of olive oil until garlic is just mellow. Remove from heat. Rough chop a few fresh, ripe tomatoes, or a carton of grape tomatoes, and place in a bowl. Pour garlic and olive oil into raw tomatoes and combine gently. Toss tomato mixture with fresh angel hair pasta and top with fresh basil.