Feb 2001 Volume 82 Number 2 "serving the protectors"
Many Cops' Favourite Italian
By Jason Squire

Freshness and simplicity form the basis of good Italian food. I hate paying swags of money for Italian cuisine, because few dishes require complicated stocks or labour-intensive chef work. Fasta Pasta has long been a favourite of many police officers. It is relatively cheap and offers a good size, value-for-money meal.

Fasta Pasta Gilles Plains is operated on the chain’s successful formula of quick, efficient service and popular basic Italian fare. The menu doesn’t wholly rely on pasta, but does have its fair share. Carne e pesce and other main dishes available are steak Dianne, pepper steak and steak Diavolo, which is enticingly described as a tender steak cooked with capsicums, onions, Worcestershire sauce, red wine, tomato, chilli, fresh mushrooms and a touch of garlic. If you’re not in a steak mood, there are parmigiana dishes in a number of varieties, as well as deep-fried crumbed calamari, prawns, scallops and battered snapper.

Not surprisingly the menu does have pasta. My favourite is fettuccine puttanesca. For this dish, fettuccine pasta (thin flat strips) is tossed with a sauce of capers, olives, anchovies, chilli and tomato. This certainly filled the gap. Other sauces which caught my eye were veneziana, which consists of pine nuts tossed in cream, slices of baby veal, spinach, white wine and tomato, and all’ Italiana, described as “unusual and tasty” with a mix of sun-dried tomatoes, marinated zucchini, pickled eggplant, Virginian ham, sun-dried capsicums and tomato sauce. All of the 24 sauces on offer can be mixed with what ever pasta you choose.

Fasta Pasta has pizza available in small and main sizes. The toppings continue the very simple method of flavour fusion. From first-hand experience, the pizzas in Italy are very simple and rely on the nuances of individual flavours and not the eclectic mash, which is customary in Oz.

A classic example of this principle is “Napoli” which has tomato, anchovies, olives and fresh mozzarella: simple, full of flavour and available at Fasta Pasta. But in true Aussie style there is “Rimini”, described as topped with succulent ham, juicy pineapple and fresh mozzarella – when in Rome.

Further aspects of the menu see the “Bimbi” (children) looked after with ravioli, spaghetti and fish and chicken with chips. A number of vegetarian dishes are available, as are side orders such Caesar salad, potato wedges, chips, and warm chicken salad.

If you want somewhere for a quick, inexpensive and simple meal, get to your nearest Fasta Pasta. The men and women of SAPOL have patronised Fasta Pasta well. I expect that will continue.

Where:	Fasta Pasta, North EastRd, Gilles Plains. Ph: 8369 1333.
Entrée:	$2.70 - $7.60.
Main course:	$7.60 - $12.
Bottled wine:	$11.90 - $29.90.

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