pasta | Zikoko!

There’s a 70% chance a Nigerian woman will order alfredo pasta at a restaurant (source: trust me, I know). Does alfredo give us some extraordinary superpower, or the plenty money they say we have in our Piggyvest? I don’t know. Either way, in honour of World Pasta Day, I recommend these other pasta meals for Nigerian women to look out for in restaurant menus or try at home.

Seafood mac and cheese

Image source: Stay snatched

If you’re craving cheesy seafood pasta, leave the alfredo and eat seafood mac and cheese. Mac and cheese is the ultimate comfort food to be eaten at home while watching horrible sitcoms. It’s ten times better if there are a lot of shrimps and other seafood mede made.

Fettuccine alla carbonara

Image source: Guides-Brit+Co

Thin pasta with a creamy sauce consisting of egg, bacon & cheese. All these ingredients combine to make this pasta the mouth-dripping meal it is. I’d gladly sell my firstborn for it. I’m joking (I’m not joking). The bacon is the star of the show here.

Seafood spaghetti marinara

Image source: Tesco Real Food

Seafood spaghetti marinara is all your favourite seafood mixed in a sauce made from tomatoes, onions, garlic, oregano, basil, etc. Some restaurants put calamari prawns, mussels and co. inside. Eat it, and you may have an orgasm.

ALSO READ: Make Bougie Creamy Pasta With Less Than ₦10k

Spaghetti and meatballs

Image source: Delish

I don’t see many people eat spaghetti and meatball often, and I don’t know why. You can have this meal with the meatball sauce separate from the pasta or mixed together with the pasta. Either way, still delicious.

Pasta pomodoro

Image source: Simply Home Cooked

If you want a taste of Italy, you should try this dish. It looks like pasta made from tomato sauce. But with pomodoro, the sauce is made from finely diced or crushed tomatoes to give it a very thick texture. What makes it special is the butter, olive oil and parmesan cheese.

ALSO READ: 9 Cooking Hacks You Need to Know Before 30

Green pasta

Image source: Legally Healthy Blonde

Green is my favourite colour, so I’m biased towards this meal. If you want to deceive yourself about healthy eating, this pasta is a good way to eat your vegetables. The sauce is made from spinach, but it can be very creamy and cheesy if you want. Try it first before you judge.

Asun pasta

Image source: The Yellow Plate

I would like to sell my father’s land and give all the money to the person who thought of mixing asun and pasta together. There’s a way the pepper sauce from the asun mixes with the other typical pasta ingredients. Such a spicy and delicious blessing. If you want to go the extra mile, try asun alfredo.

Coconut pasta

Image source: Vegan Cocotte

If you’re a fan of coconut rice, you’ll love coconut pasta. There’s the tomato coconut pasta and the plain one with coconut milk. They’re both creamy and incredibly delicious.

Tuna pasta

Image source: The Dinner Bite

I understand tuna is expensive in this economy. That doesn’t mean you should deprive yourself of the enjoyment that is tuna pasta. And just like every other pasta, there’s the tomato and creamy options. You can even bake it. Tuna tastes great, so it’ll go amazingly well mixed with any pasta sauce.

ALSO READ: Nigerian Women Need to Leave Pasta Alone and Try Out These 8 Other Meals

Dammy Eneli

October 25, 2022

Chopist

Food, pasta
Ask a Lagos woman what she wants to eat and her first answer is “I don’t know” Her next answer is, “… pasta.” I need us to take a break for a bit and try out other meals. Beginning with meals from our beloved Nigeria, I’ve listed eight foods from different tribes across the country below. Try them and your life will never be the same.

Ekpang Nkukwo

Ekpang Nkukwo is cocoyam porridge, and it’s one of the traditional meals of the Akwa Ibom and Cross River State people. It’s made with freshly grated cocoyams wrapped in tender cocoyam or ugu leaves. It’s a meal that can be very stressful and time-consuming to make yourself. So take advantage of your next lunch/dinner and order ekpang, instead of ordering pasta for the third night in a row.

Gbanunu soup

Gbanunu soup is a traditional soup from Ondo state. There are no words to describe how delicious this soup is. As I’m thinking about it, I’m looking for where I can order a plate today. Eat gbanunu with pounded yam or pupuru (cassava flour) which tastes just as good as any other swallow out there.

Ji mmiri oku

You’re ordering pasta when there’s hot, sweet yam pepper soup? Ji Mmiri Oku is a traditional meal of the Igbo people, and it tastes amazing — Yam pepper soup that’ll take you to a different realm entirely. Eat it on a rainy, cold day and experience it hit you differently.

An interesting fact: in Igbo land, this is usually the first dish given to a woman immediately after childbirth. It’s mostly prepared by her mother, who comes to take care of her for the first few months after childbirth (Omugwo).

RELATED: We Ranked Nigerian Pepper Soups From Worst to Best

Abanga

Abanga is unripe plantain pottage. A traditional dish of the people of Brass and Nembe in Bayelsa state. Eat it with palm oil and pepper soup with an assortment of seafood inside, if you want maximum enjoyment.

Miyan taushe soup

Food from northern Nigeria is not as appreciated as it should be, and we need to change that because they taste great. Miyan Taushe (pumpkin soup) is one I wish I could eat as often as possible. There’s just something about the flavours in the soup that makes it taste as great as it does. It may have something to do with the combination of pumpkin and groundnut. The soup can be eaten with tuwo (rice fufu) or any other type of swallow.

Ukang ukom

Another plantain porridge meal, but Efik edition. If you ever go to a Calabar wedding, you’d find this meal being served there. It’s how Lagos people see Amala; a ceremony isn’t complete without Ukang Ukom on the menu. This shows you how special this food is and why more people need to eat it. I encourage (read as: order) you to enter a Calabar restaurant today and order this. Stop looking at the creamy pasta on that restaurant’s menu that will most likely only come with only two tiny pieces of chicken.

ALSO READ: These Are the Easiest Nigerian Soups to Make, According to Ifeoluwa

Afia efere soup

My first experience with afia efere (white soup) was when I visited a friend’s house and found her eating it. It’s a soup popular with the Efik people. Since that day, I haven’t looked back. Eat afia efere today and neither will you.

Ofe Onugbu

This is a very popular Igbo soup made from bitter leaf and cocoyam paste. It’s so interesting how something so delicious comes from something so bitter. I recommend this soup to anyone and everyone. To enjoy it well, eat it with very hot eba.

Now that Pasta has been dealt with, let’s look at 7 Meals You Can Eat on Sunday Instead of Rice

Dammy Eneli

August 3, 2022

Chopist

Chopist, Food, Nigerian Food, Nigerian women, pasta
These days, going out to eat at a restaurant costs an arm and a leg. Small pasta and drinks with your friends, and you’re already hearing ₦30k. Let’s help you save money with this super tasty creamy pasta recipe.

Ingredients you need for 3 – 4 servings:
- 1 pack of pasta
- 2 sachets of tomato paste
- Blended peppers
- 2 bulbs of onion: 1 to be blended with the pepper and the other to be sliced
- Chicken breast
- Sausages (optional)
- Unsalted butter
- Liquid milk
- 2-3 tablespoons of chilli pepper
- 2-3 tablespoons of Cameroon pepper
- 2-3 tablespoons of vegetable oil
- 1 tablespoon of curry powder
- 1 tablespoon of dried thyme
- 1 tablespoon of garlic powder
- 1 tablespoon of ginger powder
- Salt and seasoning cubes
- A small handful of chopped basil leaves (totally optional)
Preparation:
- First things first, parboil your spaghetti for 10 minutes and set it aside. Try not to eat raw strands of spaghetti while you’re at it.
- Boil your chicken breast with spices — salt, seasoning cubes, curry, garlic, ginger, thyme and peppers. Make sure it’s well seasoned so the taste can get inside the bits of chicken.
- Steam your blended peppers and onions till the water in it is drier than those Instagram comedians’ skits.
- While your pepper steams, make the cream. First, melt the butter in a saucepan and add your liquid milk. Mix in a food processor or blender until the cream gets thick and frothy. Set it aside.
- Now that your peppers are steamed, add oil and fry with onions and tomato paste.
- After a few minutes, add your sausages and chicken breasts to cook with the mix.
- By now, you should’ve noticed the thickness of the sauce, but it’s about to be thicker, like cold akamu. Add the chicken stock and taste.
- If you like what you taste, add your cream and stir. Taste and spice as the ancestors lead you.
- After a few minutes, add your parboiled spaghetti and allow to cook. Body go tell you when e don done.
(source: recipe rebel)

Now, think twice before you go and spend thousands of naira in a restaurant without parking space because there’s creamy pasta at home.

Since we’re talking pasta, here’s another spaghetti recipe.
Mariam Sule

July 16, 2022

Chopist

pasta, spaghetti