Robs Spaghetti Carbonara with a spicy twist
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This simple tasty recipe is my twist on a traditional carbonara dish. It came about when I was cleaning out the fridge and found myself with a "mystery box" which looked a lot like the foundation for a tasty carbonara so I started to cook . Twenty minutes later after taking inspiration from my favorite veal recipe I came up with the following and it is fast becoming one of my favourite pasta dishes . I hope you enjoy it as much as I do.
This recipe is also great served with Fresh Fettucini which is well worth the effort if you have the time to spare.
Preparation time:
Cooking time:
Yield: 4 Serves
Ingredients
- Thin Spaghetti.
- 2 medium onions diced.
- 200g mild salami diced.
- 2 teaspoons of chili flakes.
- 1/2 cup of Tomato passata.
- 1 tablespoon of crushed garlic.
- 1 cup grated parmesan cheese.
- 2 fresh free range eggs.
- Salt & cracked pepper to season.
- 2 tablespoons of butter.
- 300 ml of sour cream.
- Chopped Parsley to garnish (optional).
Method
- Cook the spaghetti in salted boiling water and set aside to drain.
- Fry the onions in butter with the crushed garlic until the onion is translucent but not browned..
- Add the salami and chili flakes , fry for a 2 - 3 minutes .
- Meanwhile mix the sour cream, parmesan, and eggs in a bowl with a fork.
- Add the sour cream mix to the onion and salami mixture, along with the tomatoe passata and heat gently stirring until thickened.
- Add the cooked spaghetti to the sauce along with a couple of tablespoons of the pasta water and stir until the pasta is thoroughly coated
- Serve straight away sprinked with fresh parmesan and garnished with chopped parsley if desired.
Baked Macaroni Cheese Recipe
As comfort foods go Mac & Cheese is right up there and is great served by itself or as a side dish with a tender steak. This Baked Macaroni cheese casserole recipe has been refined over many attempts and I'm pretty happy with it.
Preparation time:
Cooking time:
Yield: 8 Serves
Ingredients
- 2 cups of macaroni , you can substitute Penne or another favorite pasta if you like.
- 1 onion diced.
- 3 rashers of bacon.
- 1 tablespoon of crushed garlic.
- 6 tablespoons of butter.
- 1 free range egg
- 1 cup of cream
- 1 cup of milk
- 300g grated cheddar.
- 2 cups of Panko breadcrumbs.
Method
- Heat Oven to 350°F (180°C )
- Cook the macaroni in salted boiling water until it is almost al dente.
- Heat 3 tablespons of butter in a large saucepan.
- Cook the diced bacon, onion, and garlic until the onion is translucent but not browned.
- Add 1 cup of plain flour and mix into the onion mixture until the flour is a golden color.
- Add 1 cup of milk and stir until smooth.
- Add 1 cup of thick cream and 200g of cheese and stir until thickened
- Drain the pasta and combine it into the cheese sauce.
- Place pasta mix into a medium casserole dish.
- Melt remaining butter in a medium pan and combine with the breadcrumbs and remaining cheese.
- Spread the breadcrumb mix over the pasta and bake in the pre-heated oven until golden brown.
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Fresh Fettuccini
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Let's get this out ... I love eating pasta and for me there is nothing much that beats freshly made fettuccini lightly coated with a delicious fresh made sauce. Making the dough is a simple process and although rolling pasta can be a little tricky it is well worth the effort once you have learned how.
Preparation time:
Cooking time:
Yield: 12 serves
Ingredients
- 600g (4 cups) bakers 00 flour, sifted
- 6 eggs
Method
- Place flour in a bowl and make a well in the middle.
- Crack the eggs into the well and combine with the flour using your fingers.
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Dont be shy when you are kneading your pasta dough it will take some work. You will probably get to a point where the dough is crumbly and looks like it needs another egg; be assured it doesn't, keep kneading for just a little while longer and it will pull together nicely and become silky smooth.
- Wrap the dough in cling wrap and let it rest in the fridge for at least 1/2 an hour before rolling.
- Remove the dough from the fridge, remove the cling wrap, and divide it into four equal portions.
- If you are really keen you can roll the dough out using a long rolling pin on a bench floured with 00 flour and cutting it into strips about 5mm wide. Having said (and done) this I would recommend investing in a good pasta machine to make your life easier.
- If you are using a pasta machine dust the rollers in flour and set it to its maximum thickness then pass one piece of dough through it. repeat this process until the dough is nice and thin.
- Change the attachment on the pasta machine to the fettuccini cutter and pass the pasta sheets through it to make thin strips. Make sure you prevent the fettuccini from clumping by using a loose grip to toss it gently in flour.
- Repeat this process with the remaining pieces of dough until you have the desired quantity of pasta. Any unused dough can be wrapped in cling wrap and returned to the fridge.
- To cook the fettuccini add it to salted boiling water and cook for around 5 minutes until al dente.
