Spaghetti Carbanara

Rib-Stickin Spaghetti Carbanara. This stuff is so good and delicate if you handle it right. We just had a great Carbanara out at Otto in Manhattan and I thought I would give it a shot.

I started by browning some pancetta in a nonstick skillet.

While the pancetta was going I shredded Parm Reg into a bowl and added 3 eggs and a couple of splashes of milk.

After I boiled the pasta, I removed it with a good amount of the pasta water on it and added it to a bowl with the egg mixture then added the pancetta to mix. I then added a lot of crushed black pepper and served. 

Orecchiette with Walnut Pesto

I think that this took about 20 minutes to make...but it was really satisfying. Orecchiette roughly translates to 'small ear' in Italian and comes from Southern Italy. I decided to serve it with a walnut + basil pesto. To make the pesto, I added basil, parm reg, basil and walnuts to my food processor. Then, slowly drizzled in olive oil until it became emulsified. I then drained the pasta and added the pesto to the pan and tossed it until it was completely covered.

Lasagna, Garfield Style

Last Saturday I decided that I was going to make a serious Lasagna so I set off to Whole Foods early in the morning for ingredients and started on my sauce around 11ish. I used Muir Glen fire roasted tomatoes in the sauce, which were crushed. I added them to garlic and onion which I had sweated, along with a pinch of sugar and a touch of san marzano tomato paste. I then let it reduce all afternoon. I also sauteed up sausage and added it to the sauce in whole links.

I boiled the noodles and decided that I wanted eggplant in the lasagna, so I started sauteing up thin slices that I cut lengthwise to mimic the lasagna noodles.

To assemble, I splashed some sauce on the bottom of the pan and added my noodles. I topped the noodles with sauce, then a layer of fresh mozzarella and finally some eggplant. I repeated that three times and then shredded parmigiano reggiano on top along with additional mozzarella.  I baked it in the oven for about 45 minutes while we went on a family walk. After letting it sit for 20 minutes we finally dug into what turned out to be the best Lasagna I have made in years, if not ever.

Six Hour Simmer

On Sundays I really like making something that needs to cook most of the day. This past Sunday I simmered a spaghetti sauce for 6+ hours. I'm still amazed at how easy it is to make a good sauce and how people still eat the pre-bottled stuff from the grocery store. I start by sweating an onion and carrots with three whole cloves of garlic. I  added 2 lbs of fresh sweet Italian sausage - I prefer the sweet because of the fennel seeds that are added too it and I always add my own red pepper for heat. and let it cook but not brown. I wanted it to be tender while reducing all day and find if it is too browned then you get little chunks throughout the sauce. After removing the fat I add a little zinfandel to deglaze the pan and then add two large cans of whole San Marzano tomatoes. It's really worth it to buy good canned tomatoes. I also like Muir Glen a lot, but you can't beat the original.

I'm picky about basil so I added a little of it chiffonaded to the side of the plate. As you can see, after 6 hours of simmering the sauce was steaming hot. Of course, it's topped with Parm Reg to complete the dish.

Now that's some HOT SAUCE!

Last Night's Dinner: Spaghetti w/Chicken Sausage & Squash Blossoms

I kept it pretty simple without much use of Olive Oil so you could really focus on the fresh ingredients rather than have an oily mess. Sauteed Fresh Chicken Sausage from WF with button mushrooms and onion, then added the squash blossoms just before serving. Topped with Parm and basil.