Zucchini Carbonara

Before making this dish I was unsure what Carbonara actually was.  I have had it before but was completely unsure about what was in the recipe.  With a little research I found that Carbonara is a pasta dish that focuses on the use of eggs, Parmesan or pecorino romano, black pepper and bacon.  Yes that’s right a pasta dish with bacon, this has to be good.  In Italy Guanciale is used as this is the traditional unsmoked bacon coming from the cheek or jowl region of the pig.  In America pancetta is much easier to find and will be used in finer restaurants but in our case classic bacon will treat us just fine.   Carbonara is also known as coal miner’s spaghetti due to its dark appearance after being profusely peppered.  It is not known if this was a hearty meal for coal miners or that it was first cooked over charcoal or even had squid’s ink added but all are rumors of its beginnings. The first recorded recipe for Carbonara was in a 1927 Italian cookbook.  It is thought to have been invented up when the Americans supplied eggs and bacon during World War II.

I saw this particular dish featured on Jamie Oliver’s Jamie at Home, a great show about using fresh ingredients and many things from your own garden, and had to try it.  Once you make this dish you will find that making a Carbonara is a technique and you will be able to “Carbonara” just about any kind of pasta dish as long as you stick to the four base ingredients.  It’s important when learning to cook that you pick up techniques and not just blindly follow a recipe.  When you start to see how ingredients compliment one another you can start to create your own dishes and make whole meals without looking at a recipe.  Here is what you’ll need for the Carbonara (if making 3-4 servings);

Ingredients:

• 6 Slices of Center cut Bacon
• 2 egg yolks (let them come to room temperature)
• ½ – ¾ cup Parmesan cheese finely grated
• Black Pepper
• 1/8 cup fresh basil and oregano
• 2 cups of your favorite Pasta
• 2 small yellow squash
• 2 small zucchini
• 1 cup mushrooms

Directions:

Start by giving the bacon a rough chop until you get about ½ inch by ½ inch little squares.  In a large pan start to brown your bacon until it starts to become crispy, medium to medium high heat.  Start to boil your pasta.  While pasta and bacon is cooking slice zucchini into quarter inch coins leaving on the skins.  Quarter your squash lengthwise and cut out the middle seeds.  You then want to cut your squash at an angle making little penne pasta looking shapes. Slice your mushrooms and grate the parmesan.

When the bacon has started to crisp add your veggies, basil and oregano and turn up the heat to medium high and cook the veggies down.  You’re looking to soften them up a bit but leaving a little crunch to them when there done.  We don’t want soggy mush so higher heat, stirring frequently, uncovered until they reach your desired liking.  While the veggies are cooking down add the Parmesan to 2 egg yolks and gently whisk until thoroughly mixed.  If there is too much cheese the sauce will clump up and be almost impossible to whisk.  If this happens add a little heavy cream or water to the mixture until it comes to a mayonnaise consistency.  Drain the pasta while reserving about a cup of the pasta water (to be used at the end).  Toss all the pasta in with the veggies and remove from heat.  Pour the egg/cheese mixture over the pasta and veggies and toss.  Add ¼ to ½ cup of the pasta water while stirring or tossing until the sauce becomes silky and coats everything evenly (be careful not to add too much water as you don’t want soupy pasta).  Add copious amounts of freshly ground black pepper.  You’ve now made your first Carbonara and it couldn’t have been easier or tasted better.  This is such a great meal that has the potential to wow your guest or just be a great comfort food dinner.  Now that you know how to “Carbonara”, you can substitute any of the veggies for you favorites or add steak, chicken or fish.  Enjoy.

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Day 18 – Spaghetti Sauce

I made my first pizza sauce from whole tomatoes today.  I decided to use San Marzano tomatoes.  Traditionally these considered to be the best sauce tomatoes in the world.  San Marzanos originated near Naples, Italy and are grown in very rich volcanic soils near Mount Vesuvius.  These tomatoes produce less seeds and have a less acidic and richer, sweeter flavor than Roma tomatoes.  You can find these tomatoes canned whole in a bit of their own puree at most local grocery stores.  Until I start to grow these, this will be the only way to get these great flavorful tomatoes.  Now onto the cooking.

This is what you will need:

3 can of whole San Marzano tomatoes
Olive oil
Sugar
Red pepper flakes
Salt and pepper
Oregano – fresh bunch
Basil – fresh bunch
Parsley- fresh bunch
Garlic
Green pepper
White  onion
Hot Italian sausage (2)
Sweet Italian sausage (2)

I will use a variation of my sauce recipe found here. Instead of using sauce, puree and crushed tomatoes I take 2 cans of the whole peeled San Marzano tomatoes and place them into a food processor.  Run of high for 15-20 seconds until you get a nice consistency, a bit more chunky than a puree.  Now I take a third can of tomatoes and run them in the food processor for 5-10 seconds, you just want to break these up and still have a lot of nice tomato pieces.  Add all of your tomatoes to a nice size stock pot that has a lid and set heat to low, medium-low.

Next you need to add your herbs and veggies.  I bought some fresh basil, parsley and oregano along with a green pepper and a small white onion.  You want to chop your herbs, which should yield about 1-1 ½ cups each. Dice your onion and chop your pepper and add to your tomatoes.  It will look like a lot of spices and veggie but it will cook down and add tremendous flavor to your sauce.  It should look a little something like this.

Now you want to add a swirl of olive oil (about a tbs) and 2-3 cloves of garlic.  Add some salt and pepper, a few pinches of sugar and about a teaspoon of red pepper flakes (it doesn’t take much).  Stir all of it in and cook until you can see some bubbling starting to happen.  Cover and reduce heat to simmer and cook for at least 3 hours.  It should start to look like this.

Now that the sauce is almost done you can start the sausage.  I like to cook on a cast iron to get a nice browning on the sausage.  Place your sausages on a hot cast iron skillet set on medium heat.  Keep turning the sausage at 1 minute intervals until browned.  Lower heat to low and continue to cook until the sausage is cooked through completely.  I like to cut into slices and return to the cast iron and get nice bite size chunks.

Place sausage in pot with sauce.  Simmer the sauce with the sausage for about a half hour while you’re cooking your favorite type of pasta. I have been eyeballing the pasta maker attachment for the KitchenAid mixer and will have to add that to the kitchen soon.  For this meal we use fresh Parmesan cheese and grate it right before use.  The flavor is stronger because it hasn’t been exposed to air like the containers of grated cheese you get at the grocery store.  Don’t pay extra for a machine to grate and fluff up your cheese. You won’t be disappointed getting buying a nice block of Parmesan.  Enjoy.

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Day 16 – Squash

Today’s spotlight…Spaghetti Squash. About once a week we start getting an appetite for pasta. A great alternative to spaghetti is the suitably named spaghetti squash. This squash is easy to make and goes great with a red sauce or Alfredo. On another note all squash seeds can be roasted just like pumpkin seeds, a great snack. Here’s how to cook your spaghetti squash:

Find a squash that is nice and yellow without soft spots. The squash can sit at room temperature for about a month. To prep cut the squash in half and remove the seeds. Place the squash rind facing up in a casserole dish with 2 cups of water. Bake for 30-40 minutes at 400 F. Let sit for 10 minutes. Pull a fork lengthwise through the squash to make long strands like spaghetti. Serve with your favorite sauce. Enjoy.

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