Tali - Great, I'll start putting together a few ideas for you to try
Let's try a few simple pasta sauces - I'm going to start with those that can be cooked quickly and simply without long cooking processes.....before the slow cooking brigade pipes up, I'll come back to those soon.
To get things rolling, here are two recipes for one of the simplest sauces - Carbonara. The first recipe is the more traditional, the second uses cream which is how most Australians are used to eating it. I'm starting with this, because it's actually quicker to make this fresh than it is to reheat a jar of sauce.
Traditional Recipe
For 4 people you will need:-
120g of Pancetta or bacon cut into small pieces
2 cloves of garlic - minced or cut into small pieces
Extra Virgin Olive Oil
Salt - preferably Sea Salt
2 Fresh Eggs
1/3 cup of freshly grated Parmesan or Pecorino cheese...don't even think about using the pre-grated stuff
1/4 cup of finely chopped flat leaf parsley (scrunch it up into a ball so that it is easier to chop finely)
500g of Spaghetti
1. Put a large pot of water on to boil - use the biggest pan you have and add plenty of salt to the water. The bigger the pan, the less likely the pasta is to stick together.
2. While it is coming to the boil, place 3 tablespoons of olive oil and pancetta in a saucepan on a very low heat for 5 minutes...then add the garlic. Keep giving it an occasional stir so that everything gets evenly coated with the hot oil and nothing burns.
3. The pancetta should brown very slowly for another 5 minutes, keep stirring occasionally until the pancetta is crisp.
4. While the pancetta is cooking, beat the eggs together with the parsley and cheese in a mixing bowl. The add the spaghetti to the boiling water and cook according to the directions on the packet - when it is getting close to done start testing the pasta by fishing strands out and biting into them - you want the pasta to have a little bit of bite left into it, don't overcook it until it is mushy.
5. Turn off the heat under both pans, drain the pasta quickly and put it back into the warm saucepan, pour in the pancetta, garlic and oil from the other pan, then add the egg/cheese/parsley mixture and toss it thoroughly through the pasta quickly.
The idea is that the heat from the pasta is used to cook the egg mixture, as the egg cooks it will stick to the pasta - so everything should now be coated in the sauce.
Serve immediately with a fresh black pepper
Another recipe using cream for completeness....but try the traditional way first
For 4 people
500g spaghetti, cooked according to the directions on the packet
2 tablespoon olive oil
250g bacon, diced
1cup sliced mushrooms, optional
1 clove garlic, thinly sliced
250ml thickened cream
4 eggs, lightly beaten
2 tablespoons chopped chives
1/2 cup grated parmesan
Heat the oil in a deep pan, add the bacon and fry until the bacon becomes brown and slightly crispy.
Add the mushrooms and cook until softened. Add the garlic and saut? for another 30 seconds.
Add the cream and bring to the boil.
Add the pasta and mix thoroughly. Season with salt and pepper.
Remove from the heat and stir in the beaten eggs and chopped chives.
Serve immediately topped with parmesan cheese.

