Pasta with Carne Macchinato and Mushrooms.

So yesterday was St. Francesco's feast day and seeing as he is the patron Saint of the town where I live I was awakened at 5am with the market setting up for the day's festivities. Argh! Then at 6am the fireworks started so therefore I decided it was time to get up and start another day.....Anyhoo last night hubby decided he wanted a typical dish that is eaten on this feast day, Pasta with mince and mushrooms. I was happy as it's easy to make and most of all quick seeing as I didn't get home until 9pm. Long day, so here's the recipe for 4 people. There was some left over so this quick and easy plate is also on the menu for lunch today!
You can also prepare more sauce and freeze it for an even quicker midweek dinner!

• extra virgin olive oil
•  2 cloves of garlic
• 100g ground beef
• 50g of ground veal
• 50g ground pork
• 1 can of beer, I use a good quality lager
• 500ml of tomato passata
• 100g porcini mushrooms, cut into chunks
• 1 chilli pepper, salt and pepper to season

Preparation

1. sauté the garlic in oil,
2. add the meat and brown
3. add the beer and allow to evaporate
4. add the tomato passata and cook for 30 minutes on a low flame, season and cover
5. boil the water for the pasta and cook (100g pasta per person cooked in 1 litre of water per 100g of pasta)
6. add the mushrooms, cover and simmer until the pasta is cooked
7. serve while piping hot

Fresh homemade Minestrone

So have a household of illness, flu, sore throats and manflu so needs be for some Minestrone. I hate manflu. He gets manflu and with a temperature of 37°C he is literally dying, and even though he doesn't realise it, he raises his voice, which means that if  I'm ill, as I am, I'd rather be in the kitchen cooking so that I don't have to listen to him. lol. 

This is a basic recipe for the traditional minestrone. Other soup recipes will be forthcoming seeing as I live of soup for most of the year.

If you don't have "short pasta", you can break up some spaghetti into 2 cm pieces and use that. I would advise against using pasta if you are bulk making for freezing as the pasta will absorb all the liquid, just add the pasta when reheating after unfreezing. This makes 4 servings.  

•      120 grams of “short” pasta or rice
•      300 grams of cannellini beans
•      50 g pancetta
•      1 stick of celery
•      1 courgette
•      1 carrot
•      1 potato
•      1 clove garlic
•      1 onion
•      2 tomatoes or 1 tablespoon of sauce
•      1 stockcube
•      butter
•      Salt
•      Pepper
•      parsley

preparation:

1. Wash the vegetables under cold running water for a few minutes, and then cut into cubes, smaller cubes for the carrot and potato and bigger cubes for the fleshy veg.
2. Heat up a saucepan and then add a lttle butter with a litte extra virgin olive oil and brown the pancetta, garlic, onion and parsley.
3. Add the vegetables, chopped tomatoes (or a tablespoon of sauce), the stockcube and 1 and a half liters of water.
4. Put the lid on the pot, reduce the heat and simmer for about 20 minutes.
5. At the end of this time, add the pasta, or rice of your choice and simmer for another 5 minutes.
6. Turn off the flame, remove the lid and add a pinch of pepper and salt, stir and let stand in the soup pot for 2-3 minutes.
7. Serve immediately, drizzling a little olive oil on top.

facebook

we have a facebook! Yay! now if only I can figure out how to get the "follow me on facebook" widget working....ARGH!

http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100002979801888

Vanilla Extract, homemade.

Ingredients
2 vanilla pods
a quarter of a litre of vodka
Directions
Split the vanilla pods in half, scrape the seeds from the pod using a knife, and place both the seeds and the pods in a glass jar with a lid. Warm the vodka to 48°C. Pour the warmed vodka over the beans and allow to cool to room temperature. Once cooled, seal the jar. Store at room temperature for 1 week, shaking the jar every other day. Strain the mixture, then store in a sealed container. This will keep for a year and makes 48 one teaspoon servings.

Pasta with Pumpkin

So this is a favourite in our house all year round great in winter as a quick hot dish, or in summer as a cold soup like dish. This is for 2 people so adjust quantities as you need them! Enjoy!

• 200 g pumpkin
• 150 grams of mixed pasta (in Italy you can buy this in packs, if you can't find it just save the little bits of pasta that you don't use, break up some spaghetti, some quills etc and use this.)
• • 1 large onion
• • 1 clove of garlic
• • 1 vegetable stock cube
• • salt and pepper
• • extra virgin olive oil
• • grated parmesan cheese
• • parsley

1. Heat up a large frying pan and put in a little oil, fry of the onions and garlic.
2. Cut the flesh of the pumpkin into cubes and add to the pan.
3. Add the stock cube and a glass of water.
4. Allow to cook until the pumpkin becomes soft and creamy, if it drys add some of the water from the pasta.
5. Cook the pasta and drain.
6. Add to the pumpkin and sauté for a few minutes.
7. Serve in a dish with a sprinkling of Parmesan cheese and chopped fresh parsley.

Oysters on Creamed Leeks with Guinness Hollandaise

Ingredients:

• 24 oysters, shucked, with juice retained
• 2 Tablespoons butter
• 2 Tablespoons water
• 2 leeks, white and pale green parts only, washed and sliced
• 160g cream
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper
  Guinness Hollandaise:
• 170g butter
• half a can of Guinness
• 3 egg yolks
• Juice of 1/2 lemon
  

Preparation:

Over a small bowl, shuck oysters, strain and reserve the liquid and the shells.

Combine the butter and water and cook over medium heat until butter has melted. Add the leeks and cook until slightly tender, about 4 minutes. Add the cream and reduce until it thickens slightly, stirring continuously, 4 minutes. Season with salt and pepper and keep warm in a bowl over hot water.

In a small saucepan over low heat, melt the butter. In another saucepan over medium heat, combine the reserved oyster liquid and Guinness and bring to a boil. Cook until reduced to about 2 tablespoons. Transfer the mixture to a food processor or blender. While whizzing, add the egg yolks and lemon juice, then slowly drizzle in the melted butter and mix until thickened.

Preheat the oven grill. Place the reserved oyster shells on a baking sheet. Divide the creamed leeks evenly into the shells and top with an oyster. Spoon the Guinness hollandaise sauce over each and place under the grill until the sauce is browned and bubbling. Serve 4 oysters per person.

Wild Boar Pasta Sauce

So 2 Sundays ago hubby and father in law went out hunting. They got a wild boar. Lovely! So after preparing it, hanging it and than dividing it I decided that today I'd make a wild boar sauce for the pasta. And, even if I do say so myself it turned out great!!! Thankfully I made enough for tomorrow too! I served pappardelle pasta, a thick spaghetti which is great for this type of sauce. 


Pappardelle Pasta 

• 600g Tipo ‘00’ flour (plain flour works just as well)
• 6 large eggs

Place the flour on a large wooden board. I got one made for me which is 2metres by 2 metres so I can mix, knead and roll with no problems. Make a well in the centre and crack the eggs into it. Beat the eggs with a fork until smooth. Using the fork take little of the flour at a time from the sides, incorporating a little at a time, until everything is combined. Knead well.
At this point I usually put it in a bowl, cover it, and let it rest in the fridge for half an hour.
There are two ways to roll your dough. With a pasta machine, which I refuse to have in the house, or with your rolling pin, a tried and trusted method. Dust your board, or surface with a little flour, cut a quarter of the dough and start to roll. Roll until it is ribbon thin then Dust with flour and loosely roll it into a cylinder. Using a sharp knife, cut into 3/4-inch-wide slices.You can do this with more sheets of dough at a time if you wish. Then gently toss to seperate.

At this point some people hang it to dry it but I just lightly dust it with semolina flour and leave it on a shallow baking tin, covered with a teacloth until I'm ready to cook it.

Sauce. 

• 1 kg. wild boar meat ( I use a bit of mince and some nice cubes of loin and steak)
• extra virgin olive oil
•  1 large white onion 
• 1 stick of celery 
• a small bunch of parsley, 
• 1 large carrot 
• two bay leaves 
• peppercorns, juniper berries 
• 1 litre  (3 cans) of chopped tomatoes 
• A bottle of Chianti or a good quality red wine

 
preparation:

1. Chop up the onion, celery and carrot into small pieces and put them into a container along with the wild boar meat, add the bay leaves, peppercorns and juniper berries, then cover with the chianti, stir and let stand for about 12 hours in the fridge or a cool place
2. Separate the meat and vegetables from the marinade, making sure to remove the bay leaves. In a large saucepan (I use a cast iron one because I think the flavours come out better) heat up the olive oil and add the chopped vegetables, let them cook for 5 minutes then add the meat and seal for 5 minutes, then add the wine from the marinade, cook for about 30 minutes or until all the wine has evaporated, add the pureed tomatoes, season and cover and cook for at least three hours over low heat, stirring often. 
3. Bring some water to the boil (1 litre for 100g of pasta), salt and add the pasta. The fresh pasta will need no more that 5 minutes to cook. Drain.
4. Put the pasta back into the saucepan and add some sauce, put over a low flame stirring for 3 minutes until the sauce is absorbed by the pasta, serve and add a little more sauce once plated. 
5. Serve with a good quality red wine and enjoy!

Roast Pork Loin

• small bunch sage, shredded
• 2 tsp fennel seeds
• 2 shallots, finely chopped
• 50g butter
• 2kg boned pork loin, ask your butcher to score the skin really well and cut a long cavity for the stuffing
• 2 large onions, cut into thick discs
  

Roast Potatoes

• 2kg potatoes , peeled and halved
• 4 tbsp goose fat
• 2 sprigs rosemary
• sea salt

Gravy

• 1½ tsp plain flour
• glass white wine
• 250ml chicken stock

1. Heat the oven to 180C. Mix the sage, fennel seeds, shallots and butter and season well. Stuff into the pork then close and tie with string along the length of the joint.
2. Rub the skin all over with a little oil and sprinkle with sea salt. Put the onions on the bottom of a roasting tray, sit the pork on top, skin side up, and roast for 1 and a half hours.
3. After 1 hour 15 minutes, put the goose fat, or the fat from the pork, into a shallow roasting tin and put it in the oven to heat up. Put the potatoes into boiling water and cook for 6 minutes. Drain well and put in the roasting tin, make sure the potatoes are coated with the grease and put back into the oven.
4. After the pork has cooked for 1 and a half hours turn up the oven to 220C and allow the pork and potatoes to cook for 30 minutes then take out the pork and rest.
5. Turn the potatoes, then press down gently on each with the back of a large spoon until it cracks slightly. Toss in the salt and rosemary. Roast for a further 20 minutes until crisp and golden .
6. Meanwhile, put the pork roasting tray over the heat and add the flour. Stir and cook for about 5 minutes until it darkens a little. Gradually add the wine and stock until you have a smooth gravy. Strain into a pan, simmer for another 10 minutes and season.

Limoncello

So this is Mother In Laws recipe for Limoncello. For those of you who don't know Limoncello  is an Italian lemon liqueur. Limoncello is traditionally served chilled as an after-dinner digestivo. It is usually served in small  chilled glasses. This is strong so drink it as a shot!

To produce 1 liter and half of Limoncello, get these ingredients:
- 10 medium sized lemons untreated
- 1 liter of alcohol at 90 °,
- 400 g sugar
- Half a liter of water

First, carefully wash the lemons and cut the rind thinly, being careful not to cut the white part. Place the peel on a cutting board and cut it into strips.

Gather the strips of lemon in a sealed glass jar, pour the liter of alcohol, quit and leave to infuse for at least 15 days.

After 15 days, prepare the syrup of sugar and water. In a saucepan pour sugar and water together, then heat over a low heat until the sugar has dissolved. Turn off and let cool to room temperature.

Unite the alcohol-infusion to the syrup and mix well. Take a second container and filter through a funnel lined with cheesecloth or filter paper. Repeat a second time, squeezing the lemon peel well.

Finally, again using filter funnel, fill the bottles, close them and put them to rest in a dry pantry.

Update

So now I am really back. Summers over so things have slowed down thankfully! My summers are spent bottling, pickling, freezing and making alcohol....I know...typical Irish lol. This year the harvest was better than ever so I now have enough Tomato sauce for the whole year. This is a basic list of what was made and bottled

Bottled:
Tomatoes (for pasta and pizza)
Filetto di pomodoro (tomato "fillets" which is great as a pasta sauce or pizza sauce)
peppers in oil
mushrooms in oil
mushrooms "pizziola" (with tomaotes and garlic)
cherries in alcohol
peaches in wine
aubergines in oil
Strawberry jam
marmalade
lemon curd
apricot jam
mint sauce
Ketchup (which is alot better than the shop bought even if I do say so myself!)



Freezer. My freezer is now full (and I mean full!!) with the goodness of summer! Here's some of the things I froze this summer....
Aubergines
Zucchini
Zucchini flowers
Runner and French beans
peas
peppers
tomatoes
spinach
parsnips (I brought the seeds over from Ireland as parsnips can't be found for love nor money here!)
corn
mushrooms
leeks
all my herbs so Basil, parsley, mint, sage etc

Alcohol
So here is the best bit....the alcohol! I made

Limoncello
Strawberry liquor
cherry liquor
coffee cream
mint liquor
basil liquor
Fennel Liquor

Unfortunately I haven't figured out how to freeze lettuce yet so I couldn't freeze that.......

I'm back.......

So I've been gone for a few months, too much happening in my real life so I took a break.....but now I'm back with loads of recipes, summer treats and new ideas. So I'll start tonight, I've also made a few videos that I need to get the courage to put up......nothing "saucy" just some tricks and secrets in making pasta, pastry and cakes....I just need to get over my shyness!

So happy cooking and buon appetito!

Zuppa di Pesce (Fish Soup)

So God love the Mother in law! She knew that today was a really busy day with NO chance of doing anything other than sit in a corner and cry with the stress and the uncontrollable desire to pull my hair out at every possible opportunity, she went to the port this morning and got me fresh fish knowing how much I love it and how yesterday I missed out on my weekly feed of fish with my Sunday lunch....so arrive home this evening starving. I swear I was starving! I've been up from 6 am and have been surviving on espressos since then.....and VOILA the other half produced my vice. FISH! So I decided to go for a zuppa di pesce so that I can take some to work tomorrow for lunch! I LOVE it cold too! So here we are lads and lassies. Mother in laws Fish Soup!

Ingredients for 4 people:
1 kg of mixed fish: redfish, gurnard, john dory, king prawns, tender squid and cuttlefish, shrimp
500 g of mussels
500 g clams
3 cloves garlic
500 g of tomato pulp
1 bunch of parsley
Black pepper
salt and extra virgin olive oil to taste. 

Preparation:

1. Clean and scale all fish, cutting the fins off, eliminating the innards. Open them and separate them from the head and bones. In a little water cook the heads and bones for the fish broth and keep warm to add to the rest of the soup.
2. Clean the mussels and clams and cook in a pan with a little oil and a whole clove of garlic until they are opened, remove the garlic.
3. Clean and cut the cuttlefish and squid, prawns and wash well.
4. In a large pot brown the garlic in oil, then add the tomatoes and crush with a fork, finely chop the parsley and add most of it, keeping a little to season at the end, and season with salt and pepper. Stir and cook for 5 minutes, now add the cuttlefish and squid and cook for a few minutes before adding the rest of the fish.
5. Sieve the fish broth and add to the soup.
6. Stir carefully so you don't break fish up and cook for about 15 minutes. Add the mussels and clams to the sauce.
7. Meanwhile, prepare some sliced bread and toast in the oven, if you like it you can rub a clove of garlic over one side of the toasted bread.
8. Add 2 slices of bread at the bottom of each plate, then divide the fish and place it in the plates on top of the bread, and pour the hot broth. Otherwise serve the bread on the side (like I do)
9. Sprinkle with a little parsley and serve  

 
 

Pasta con le lenticchie

You either love or hate lentils. I used to hate them and turned my nose up at them when I lived in Ireland. Called them "foreign food" then I came to Italy and ate this dish! This is a staple in my home and all of us love it! I always make a big pot, enough to feed an army I think to myself, but after dinner time the pot is clean. I think the Other Half may actually lick it but I'm not sure.......anyway...this is a soup/pasta dish that I make at least once a week and it never grows old and boring because its one of the best pasta dishes there is!  Remember to soak the lentils overnight. And serve with crunchy fresh bread! Enjoy!

INGREDIENTS

2-3 sprigs parsley
1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
1 onion
2 garlic cloves
1 liter of vegetable broth
200 g chopped tomatoes or tinned tomatoes
100 g dried red lentils
salt
100 g of pasta tubes or mixed pasta. I use broken spaghetti
pepper

1. Wash the parsley, select the leaves and chop finely with the crescent on a cutting board.
2. Put oil in a pan, along with the peeled and finely chopped onion and garlic cloves, do not crush the cloves. Bring on the heat and allow to brown over medium heat. Combine a few tablespoons of broth and cook for 4-5 minutes. Add salt.
3. Add the tomatoes, stir, then add the lentils, a spoonful of chopped parsley, stir and bring to the boil.
4. Add the hot broth, a pinch of salt, reduce heat and simmer for an hour covered, stirring occasionally.
5. After the cooking time the lentils should be nice and soft.
6. At this point, raise the heat, add the pasta and cook for the time indicated on the package.
7. Drizzle with a little olive oil, grated pepper and serve.

Pasta Twists with Prawns and Zucchini

So between meetings, interviews, work and running errands for everyone except myself, I arrived home tonight so hungry I could eat a horse and go back for another one. So I needed something quick, easy and without fuss tonight for dinner so I went with what I had in the freezer. Zucchini, zucchini flowers, basil and parsley from this summers harvest and prawns (already shelled). And There is nothing on earth that I could do with all those ingredients........... I then realised I needed to go and do the bleeding shopping too. ARGH! And what to make for dinner....pasta, prawns and zucchini.....

So here we go. For 4 people.

360g of Fusilli pasta, or Pasta Twists (remember 90g a person is more than enough)
400g small, shelled prawns 
2 zucchini sliced
salt and pepper to taste
half a glass of white wine
a handful of fresh parsley
1 clove of garlic
cream (optional) 

1. Heat 2 tablespoons of olive oil and the garlic in a pan. 
2. Add the prawns and continue to cook for about 10 minutes, letting all the flavours infuse. Add the white wine, and let the liquid evaporate.
3. Add the zucchini.and allow to cook.
4. Put the pasta into salted boiling water (remember 1 litre of water for 100g of pasta)
5. When the pasta is cooked al dente, drain and throw in on top of the prawns and zucchini. 
6. Add the salt and pepper and the cream if you decide to use it (just enough to bind the pasta and prawns together) and sautee for 2 minutes

Serve and enjoy! I usually add some chilli flakes as well and remember that no parmesan cheese is needed as cheese and fish are never eaten together in Italy.Eat with a nice cool white wine and enjoy!

Bruschetta

So I'm just in from work and starving!! I need something quick! So Bruschetta it is! Quick, easy and filling! This makes 4 bruschetta

500g cherry tomatoes
200g extra virgin olive oil
Fresh basil leaves
1 tablespoon white wine vinegar
a pinch of salt
Fresh black pepper
Italian bread

1. Wash and cut the cherry tomatoes into quarters, deseeding as you go along
2. Put the tomatoes into a bowl and cover with oil, vinegar, salt, pepper and basil
3. Stir with a wooden spoon, cover and place into the the fridge for at least 30 minutes. 
4. Slice the Italian bread and toast it on both sides
5. Take the garlic clove and gently rub it over the warm toasted bread
6. Use a slotted spoon to add the tomatoes to the bread and then add one tablespoon of the oil on top of the bread and tomatoes. 

You may also like to add a slice of mozzarella to the bread before the tomatoes, as I do! 

Pizza for dinner anyone?

 So brother in law called and is coming for dinner. With the wife and kids in tow. So it's pizza time! Easy, everyone likes pizza. Don't they? Hope you like this one, as always from mammy in laws cookbook 

Ingredients for 4 30cm pizzas  

600 ml Water  

1kg Plain flour  

50g Brewer's yeast   

6 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil  

20g Salt  

1 teaspoon Sugar
Preheat oven to 200°C

1. To begin to prepare the pizza dough put the flour on a pastry board (or in a large bowl) and make a hole in the center. In a separate bowl, pour a glass of warm water, sugar, and then crumble in the two cubes of fresh yeast (or dried yeast) and stir to melt thoroughly. 
2. Pour the liquid into the center of the flour, then, dissolve 20 grams of salt in another glass of warm water and add to the flour, add the oil, then start kneading. 
3. Keep more flour close to hand in case you need it and some warm water, and add a little at a time while kneading the dough until it reaches the desired consistency, which should be soft and elastic (depending on the flour used, you may need a bit more or less water). 
4.  Continue to knead until dough is smooth and soft but substantial, form a ball and place it in a large bowl (remember that the dough will double in volume), well dusted with flour on the bottom. 
5. Cover the bowl with a clean cloth and store in a warm place, away from drafts, and allow to rise Wait until the dough has doubled in size (it will take 1 hour - 1 hour and 1 / 2) and then divide the dough into 4 smaller balls.
6. Start to work the base by pulling it out gently into circles. Try to not tear the base and work on a well floured surface. 
7. When you have the bases made add the tomato passata as the base and then add what ever toppings float your boat. I add a little bacon and chilli flakes. 
8. Drizzle a little oil on the pizza and place in the oven for 15 minutes. 
9. Add the finely sliced mozzarella slices only in the last 5 minutes of cooking so that it doesn't dry too much. Add the basil with the mozzarella.

.Enjoy!

Zeppoli di San Giuseppe or doughnuts without a hole

So yesterday was St. Joseph’s day and Father’s day here in Italy. Seeing as I had a belated St Patrick’s day dinner, today is effectively St Joseph’s day in the madhouse that is my home. This is always mother in laws recipe (passed down through the generations etc etc) and I love these little calorie filled desserts!!This makes enough zeppoli per about 8 people.

Amarena Jam or Cherry Jam (optional) and sugar to coat
Vegetable oil to fry

For the Zeppoli:
6 eggs
300g plain flour
50g butter
1/2 litre of water
a pinch of salt

for the cream:
50cl of milk
2 eggs
100g sugar
80g plain flour
1 lemon

prepare dough:
1 – Pour the water into a saucepan with butter and salt, turn heat to medium when water is just about to boil, pour the sifted flour and stir vigorously for 10 minutes with a whisk until the mixture thickens.
2 – Turn off the heat and add 6 eggs, one at a time, always stirring vigorously  (better with an electric mixer) until the mixture is well blended. Let stand for 20-25 minutes.

Prepare the cream:
1 – In a bowl work the sugar in with the 2 egg yolks until mixture is white and fluffy. Add the sifted  flour, milk and two pieces of lemon peel.
2 – place the saucepan over a medium heat and thicken the cream without boiling, stirring constantly with a wooden spoon. Remove the lemon zest and cool.

 frying the zeppoli:
1 – fill a high sided frying pan with the oil, the donuts must be completely immersed in oil. Put the pan on a medium heat.
2 – Form the zeppoli, I make them as doughnuts without holes so I make them into a round form.
3 – Place the zeppoli one at a time into the hot oil and cook until they swell. Raise the heat slightly to brown them, remove and place on a paper towel.
4 – when the zeppoli have cooled, I use a syringe to fill them with the cream and then sprinkle with sugar, if you used the cherry jam or sour cherries in syrup put a little on top of the zeppoli (about a teaspoon per zeppoli)  and serve.

Sunday Ragù

So it’s Sunday once more and a Sunday favourite in my house is my Sunday Ragù. It’s like “Bolognese” sauce only different, if that makes any sense. This is a meat and tomato sauce using meat pieces instead of mince and 2 or 3 different types of meat. This sauce needs to “bubble” that’s the secret as it were. I normally bring it to the boil, cover the saucepan, turn the gas down to the minimum and allow it to bubble for up to 3 hours, the more it cooks, the better it is my mother in law always says! Here you go! Buona Domenica!
700g of veal, cut into chunks (if you don’t like veal a nice rump steak will do the trick)
200g of pork ribs
4 pork chops
4 Italian sausage  (I use one per person. If you can’t get Italian sausage a good quality beef sausage is fine)
2 onions
1.5 litres of Tomato passata (if you can’t find passata some good quality tinned tomatoes passed through the processer)
200g Extra virgin olive oil
1/4 of a litre of red wine
basil
salt and pepper

1. Heat a deep saucepan (one with a lid) on the hob
2. Add the oil and add the onion (chop it finely with a mezzaluna) and the meat to the saucepan
3. Let them cook for a few minutes just to colour the meat
4. Add the wine and allow it to “evaporate”. This takes about 5 minutes.
5. Add the passata and season with salt.
6. Bring to the boil and cover
7. Turn the heat down to the minimum and allow to “bubble” for 2 and a half to 3 hours. This is called “pippiare”
8. Stir the sauce often when it is bubbling on the hob, remember that sauce is stirred only with a wooden spoon and NEVER with a metal one!
9. Add the basil at the last minute to the sauce!
10. When it’s cooked I allow it to cool for about an hour before cooking the pasta, Penne rigate would be the best, or even better pennettone (big penne pasta)
11. When the pasta is cooked, drain and add to the saucepan again, add a little knob of butter and some sauce, put on a low heat and mix often so that the pasta absorbs the sauce.
12. Serve the pasta and turn on the heat back on under the sauce.
13. The meat is served as a main dish (secondo piatto) with some sauce and bread to “zuppare” (dip) into the sauce.

Enjoy!

Spaghetti Carbonara. The REAL one.

So this is my mother in law’s recipe for spaghetti carbonara. No chicken. No cream. No mushrooms. Just simple homecooking and a real Italian recipe. I often make this for my friends when I return home a few times a year and they love it. Italian cuisine is so easy, no faffing about! It’s also very good for you, it’s not for nothing that the Mediterranean Diet is one of the best and the healthiest in the world, you just need fresh, good quality ingredients and the best quality Extra Virgin Olive Oil, I think it’s worth paying that little bit more for the “first press” which is a nice green colour.
This recipe is for 4 people
360g spaghetti
200g guanciale (pancetta) or bacon
1 clove of garlic, crushed
2 whole eggs and 1 yolk
80g grated Parmigiano or Pecorino
extra vergin olive oil
salt
pepper

1. Bring about 4 litres of water to the boil (the general rule is 1 litre of water every 100g of pasta). When the water is boiling add a nice handful of course salt.
2. Add the spaghetti to the boiling salted water helping it “fold” down with a slotted spoon or a “spaghetti fork”
3. Stir the pasta often so it doesn’t stick together!!!!
4. While the pasta is cooking, in a frying pan fry of the pancetta and garlic for a few minutes.
5. Taste the pasta a few minutes before it reaches the cooking time indicated on the packet, I like my pasta “al dente” but different strokes for different folks! Don’t throw the spaghetti against the wall to see if it sticks! Drain the pasta and throw it in the pan together with the pancetta on a low heat, add a little glug of olive oil if you like.
6. While the spaghetti is in the pan, prepare a large serving bowl and lightly whisk two full eggs and one yolk with a pinch of salt and the grated cheese.
7. Throw the pasta and pancetta into the bowl on top of the egg mixture and give it a good mix before serving. Don’t thrown the egg into the pan as it will become scrambled!
8. Season to taste with freshly ground black pepper.

I sometimes add some fresh chopped parsley and a little chopped chilli to the spaghetti just to change it up! Remember in Italy pasta is considered a starter and the 90g of spaghetti a person here is a big enough portion!!

Wheaten Bread

So this is the first post on the new blog and we’ll start of with wheaten bread, or brown soda, depending where you’re from in Ireland. This is my favourite bread, warm from the oven with butter and strawberry jam (recipe to follow sometime soon) or as a quick lunch to eat at my desk with some cheese, preferably cheedar, and ham. It doesn’t matter when or where you eat it as long as you have a nice big mug of warm Irish tea to wash it down! Enjoy!
350g wholemeal flour
100g strong white flour
300ml buttermilk
1 heaped teaspoon bicarbonate of soda (not baking powder)
1 teaspoon salt to taste
50g porridge oats

1. Pre-heat the oven to 220 degrees C.
2. Sift flours, salt, sugar, bicarbonate of soda and oats together in a bowl.
3. Add buttermilk and mix into a dough.
4. Form into a ball.
5. Place onto a greased baking tray (or into a loaf tin)
6. Cut half way through the loaf with a sharp knife then again the other way to form a cross.
7. Cook for 30 mins
8. Bread is done when it sounds hollow when tapped on the bottom

If you don’t have buttermilk, it’s impossible to find here in Southern Italy, add the juice of half a lemon to normal milk or use milk which is one or two days out of date!