Your best pasta sauce recipes that *don't* involve tomatoes

[emkana]

please!?!?!

Peppers, mushrooms, garlic and onions, with chopped sausage and bacon, all jumbled up.

Creme Fraiche, pesto, nutmeg and butterbeans -couldn't be easier or quicker. Add some grated parmesan on top after.

This might have some people going yuck - it all depends on your perspective on chicken livers.

But it's an Elizabeth David recipe and dh cooked it for me both times when I came hom from hospital after 10 days each of NHS food and nine months of pregnancy...

Chopped chicken livers, bacon, sauteed together in butter and olive oil, when almost cooked add grated lemon zest and two cloves of crushed garlic.

Pasta (she says spag but linguine works well with this - doesn't suit fancy shaped pasta because the sauce is coarse) should be cooking during this.

When pasta is cooked, tip the whole lot in one pan and add three beaten eggs and plenty of black pepper & grated pecorino. As soon as eggs are lightly set, serve & enjoy.

With good livers and bacon this is a wonderful dish!

sliced courgettes sauteed slowly in butter with garlic
mix with pasta, add loads of parmesan.

-spinach wilted in garlic & olive oil, with crispy bacon
-garlic & chilli cooked in olive oil, rocket & toasted pine nuts

pretty much any veg tossed in olive oil & garlic tastes good. My favourite (and kids too) is broccoli. In fact I just ate it for dinner! Need to use lots of olive oil though to coat pasta well

Just chop up a whole/part (depending on how many it's for) Boursin and let it melt on the hot pasta. Yum. Damn, suddenly I'm hungry all over again .

Creamy bacon pasts for two.

Grill/fry bacon, cut with scissors into little strips lke lardon. If wanted, then cook some nice mushrooms field, dried whatever in same pan but in butter. Add mushrooms and bacon bits together. Meanwhile Cook tagliatelle. Drain, return to pan, add small carton of double cream and very generous dose of parmesan, depending onhow cheesey you like things, even the dried store cupboard stuff works well. Toss in bacon and mushroom mixture. Mix well and serve with green salad for after.

Delic, super speedy and takes no more than ten minutes. Seems really posh if you use dried porcini or similar!

Christ my typos are appaling (sic)...creamy bacon PASTA for crying out loud [GRIN]

Heat tuna in olive oil and butter, add handful of chopped flatleaf parsley, black pepper, add cooked pasta (penne or sim.), mix well and squeeze lemon over.

Also black olive paste - called tapenade (I think?)

Another one is dolcelatte melted with some butter, add baby spinach leaves, black pepper. Mix with cooked pasta and serve. It's very rich btw so a salad with it is good

As teeavee's but with addition of lemon,chillies and crumbled fetta to finish off.

Gorgonzola,walnuts and spinach

soft cheese and smoked Salmon.

Marina - had a lovely pasta with chicken livers dish in Switzerland last year. Sounds fab.

Er...that was two different recipes...

bacon (optional) veg - peppers, onions, carrots, chopped in to either fried bacon and onions or just a saucepan, add tub of philadelphia, some milk and salt n pepper, bring to boil, simmer for a few minutes, serve - scrummy yummy!!! and takes less time to cook than the pasta!

garlic, mushrooms and creme fraiche.

Green pesto and mozzarella

A huge dollop of pesto is good for a very quick option.

I sometimes chop a small onion fry it gently in a little olive oil, add some chopped streaky bacon rashers/pancetta if you have it, then add one clove of crushed garlic, cook for a bit, add some black pepper. Then finally a small carton of double cream.

(Proper) macaroni cheese