Fennel and Zucchini Pasta | You've Got Meal!

Lately, I’ve been browsing different foodies on Instagram, trying to see what is exactly trending in other people’s food posts. The thing is, except the consecrated restaurants or the users who have the possibility to access a large variety of (exotic) food, the biggest thing seems to be #vegan or #vegetarian.

 Honestly, just take a picture of a nice apple and strap some of those tags on it and the likes will start popping. I definitely support veggie lovers worldwide, but this is a bit ridiculous. So, instead of just taking pictures of chopped fruits in a bowl and call that dinner, I decided to make something of a vegetarian pasta recipe, using two of my best friends: fennel and zucchini.

Spicy Chicory (Endive), Bacon and Egg Pasta

And many other things! Seriously, I’m proud of this recipe for a simple reason: it is our 1^st original (I hope, the internet is big and I’m too lazy to search it all) pasta recipe, and we love pasta. So let me get cracking. 

For our home made spaghetti (3 portions), we used 

2 chicories, 

250 grams of smoked bacon, 

2 eggs, 

4-5 medium hot chillies, 

3 garlic cloves, 

3-4 peaches, 

parsley, 

salt & pepper, 

olive oil, 

parmesan.

This needs a couple of things to be done at the same time, but you can always cook those ingredients in advance (like 30 minutes or an hour, not the day before). So, start of by frying the bacon cut into cubes for 5 minutes, then add the chicories (slice them however you want, but remove the middle, I, at least, found it too bitter for my liking) and sliced garlic. Cook for another 4 minutes.

. Remember when I said that you can have things cooked in advance? Well, for the chillies, you need to roast them and you can do that in advance. After you remove their burned skin, remove the seeds if they are too hot and cut the roasted chilies into strips. Also, the peaches need to be grilles, so cut them in halves and then into 3 each half and grill them on an ultra hot grill for 2 minutes on each side. The fruits will get some very nice grill marks and, because of their sweetness and delicate flavor, will balance with the bitter taste of the chicory. Make sure the fruits aren’t all that mushy, keep them firm.

So, mix the bacon, chicory, garlic, chili, peaches, salt, pepper on the fire for another minute. Add the pasta, cooked al dente, about 50 ml of the pasta cooking water. Meanwhile, poach the eggs and have them ready to be placed on top of the plated pasta, after you’ve sprinkled some parmesan, olive oil and parsley on them. The idea behind this is that the soft yolk will also serve as a sauce that binds the spaghetti together.

So, there you have it, my 1^st try at a recipe and, I have to say, it couldn’t have been anything else except pasta. The result was an interesting dish, with flavors that combined pretty nicely. I guess you can add or remove things from this, but, overall, we were happy with the outcome.

Have a great day,

100TH POST* Spaghetti al Pomodoro e Basilico (Tomato & Basil Pasta) *100TH POST

Tomato time again!!!You didn’t think I was done that easy with those beautiful fruits? Yeah, that’s right, tomatoes are actually fruits, big shocker, I know. Hey, you can even say I cooked a dessert.  This, combined with some Italian style basil-power, leads to very nice, fresh and absolutely delicious pasta recipe.

For the pasta, you already know how we do it and the fact that we prefer homemade over bought (when we have the time to make them). So for about 3 generous portions, we made some spaghetti out of 200 grams of white flour and 2 eggs. Besides this, we used 500 grams of tomatoes, about 1 big handful of basil leaves, olive oil, salt and pepper.

Honestly, this recipe is incredibly easy and is something that anyone that wants to start cooking can make, with great results. 

The secrets for this recipe are: 1. The basil – use very fresh, whole basil leaves and be careful when you wash and pat them dry, don’t bruise them.

2. The tomatoes – use only ripe, bursting of flavor tomatoes, and if you’re using whole ones, make sure they are not bruised, or damaged.

For the tomatoes we activated “cute mode” in our kitchen. I mean, take a look at those tomatoes, what’s not to love about them. 

The incredible intense taste, the adorable colors, it’s summer in your plate. So, 500 grams of that yellow and red combo, the smaller ones I’ve left whole, the bigger ones I halved or quartered. Start up by heating some olive oil, add in you tomatoes and cook them on high heat for 5-7 minutes.

My idea was not to turn this into some kind of stew, make sure they keep their form (some of the already cut tomatoes will crumble, it’s OK), after which add the whole basil leaves, salt, pepper, cook for another minute, then add the pasta that you boiled meanwhile, turn off the heat and stir things in. 

  

Plate your delicious pasta, sprinkle with some freshly grated parmesan and have yourself to a wonderful, aromatic summer dish.

Enjoy,

Mr. G.

Spaghetti Indiavolati Recipe

If you are into the simple kind of pasta dishes, like aglio e olio, you should try this.

It is a less known type of Pasta, using not a sauce, but in which the spaghetti is cooked in the water that has been infused and that creates the taste.

Spaghetti is what you usually use for this recipe, but I tried a new setting of my pasta machine to obtain a smaller width and this is what I got. I think you can say they are Bavettine or Spaghetti alla Chitarra. Both versions sound cool anyway. :)

The recipe for homemade pasta is the same, 1 egg at every 100 g of flour, as mentioned here.


You will need:

 water

2 very hot peppers

4-5 cloves of garlic

some parmesan for grating

parsley or  fresh basil

salt

olive oil

In a blender grind the garlic + hot peppers + 500 ml water. This is the magic infusion.
In a large saucepan bring water to a boil, then add the mixture. Let it simmer for 10-15 minutes.

Transfer the water in a pasta pan, discarding the chillies and garlic. Cook the pasta in the infused water according to the directions.

After the pasta is al dente dress it with olive oil and parmesan. Add chopped fresh herbs for some colour and additional flavour. I added basil, because I love it, I had it and I wouldn't refuse basil on pasta ever.

This is the final dish, with parmesan and basil on top!

RO: Daca de obicei va plac felurile de mancare cu paste foarte simple, cum e aglio e olio, ar trebui sa incercati reteta asta. E un fel mai putin cunoscut pentru ca nu se foloseste un sos, ci spaghetti se fierb direct in apa care a fost infuzata si acest proces creeaza gustul. In mod traditional, se folosesc Spaghetti, dar noi am incercat o alta setare la maisna de facut paste si am obtinut o latime foarte mica, dar nu sunt rotunde evident. Cred ca putem spune ca sunt Bavettine sau Spaghetti ala Chitarra, amandoua suna super oricum! :) reteta pentru paste de casa e aceeasi, mentionata in postul acesta. Mai departe avem nevoie de apa + 2 ardei foarte iuti + 4-5 catei usturoi + parmezan + sare + ulei masline. Intr-un blender mixam usturoiul, ardeii si 500 ml apa. Asta este infuzia magica. Intr-o cratita mare, aduceti niste apa la punctul de fierbere, apoi adaugati apa iute, lasati-o sa fiarba incet fara clocot 10-15 minute apoi transferati apa in oala in care veti fierbe pastele, strecurand ardeiul si usturoiul. Fierbeti pastele al dente conform instructiunilor de pe pachet apoi aranjati-le cu niste ulei de masline si parmezan. Putina verdeata deasupra, pentru culoare si aroma suplimentara. Noi am avut busuioc, daca am busuioc proaspat, il folosesc la orice ora pe paste.

Buon appetito!

Carbonara- Traditional Recipe

This is what we did with the homemade pasta shown in the previous post.
This authentic recipe is like a drug, you will never want the ham and cream version you usually have. It's not my recipe, it's ...uhmmm....well...Italian.

It's honestly the best pasta EVER for me and being a huge pasta lover it is a big deal!

You use pancetta ( i replaced it with copa di parma, could not find pancetta), garlic, you add the all dente pasta, you mix the eggs with some parmesan and salt, lower the heat to a minimum and add the eggs (do not cook them), remove from the heat, add some more cheese and be amazed. Not too heavy, you will not get sick as it happened to me after eating a really creamy carbonara in restaurants.

The second photo is one with added parmesan. If you're really greedy. 

Carbonara- Reteta traditionala

Mai jos este ce am facut cu pastele facute in casa, aratate in postul precedent.

Aceasta reteta autentica este ca un drog, nu o sa mai vreti niciodata varianta grea si satioasa cu sunca si smantana, pe care o gasim in restaurante sau la catering. Nu este reteta mea, evident, este a italienilor. 

Sincer, este de departe reteta mea preferata, si fiind un mare fan al retetelor cu paste, este un lucru mare!  Se foloseste pancetta (am inlocuit-o cu copa di parma, nu am gasit pancetta, copa di parma se gaseste cam mereu in Auchan), apoi usturoi, adaugi pastele fierte al dente. Separat, intr-un bol, se amesteca ouale cu parmezan si sare, se lasa focul mai mic si se adauga in tigaie si ouale, cu grija sa nu se faca omleta,  apoi se ia de pe foc  si se mai adauga parmezan. 

Nu e grea, nu ti se face rau cum mi se mai intampla mie de la carbonara smantanoasa pe care o pot comanda de obicei.

Please do try it!

Homemade Pasta- 1st attempt

I received a pasta machine as a gift in Jnauary and this weekend was the first time we used it. It's really rewarding eating something  like pasta made by you from scratch.

I used  Jamie Oliver's Recipe beacuse it made more sense and the whole proccess was well-explained. I did not use 6 eggs, but 3 and 300 g flour. 

Making the dough is the hardest, using the machine is pretty fun, though kind of messy. Also, it requires a pretty big working space.

Would you consider these tagliatelle?

Paste facute in casa- prima incercare

Am primit in ianuarie cadou o masina de facut paste/ taitei, iar in acest weekend a fost pentru prima data cand am folosit-o. Este foarte satisfacator sa mananci ceva cu care esti obisnuit sa fie cumparat gata facut in mod regulat, cum sunt pastele, dar facute de tine cap-coada. 

Am folosit reteta lui Jamie Oliver pentru ca ne-a atras imediat, iar procesul a fost foarte bine explicat. Am redus cantitatea, am folosit 3 oua, nu 6, si, in consecinta, 300g faina. 

Sa faci coca este cel mai greu, apoi sa folosesti amsina e chiar destul de distractiv, desi se face foarte repede faina peste tot si ai nevoie de un spatiu de lucru destul de mare.

Ce ziceti de aceste tagliatelle?

See you next time!

Spaghetti with Pesto Sauce

This is the lazy, short version.

Spaghetti al dente + pesto + roasted pine nuts + olive oil + parmesan on top.
The roasted pine nuts make this meal  delicious and the olive oil just brings all of the ingredients together.

You can make your own pesto or buy it from a store. There are many brands that don't add nasty stuff to it.

I also tried it reheated and it tasted also very good .

XO

I could have pasta everyday

But today I'll have it with mussels and a simple tomato/ garlic sauce.

Enjoy your meal!