Hay and Straw Fettuccine

Lets keep going with the Authentic Italian recipes. Cooking them is actually fun, and surprisingly I am not tired of eating pasta almost every day.

So here it is, Hay and Straw Fettuccine
Adapted from  http://www.mangiabenepasta.com/favorite7.html

My personal note: I would increase the amount of pasta at least twice, or decrease the rest of the ingredients by a half accordingly. Below is the original recipe. I did not change anything.

1.     4 tbsp unsalted butter
        1 cup heavy cream
        1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
        3 egg yolks
        1/4 tsp pepper

2.    6-8 button mushrooms, sliced
       1 tbsp butter
       1/4 cup chopped onion
       4 oz prosciutto
       1 garlic glove, minced
       1/3 cup frozen peas, thawed

3.   8 oz egg and spinach fettuccine (I used egg fettuccine)
      1 tbsp chopped parsley

1. Melt the butter in a small saucepan, add 2/3 cup of heavy cream and Parmesan cheese, bring to a simmer.
In a bowl whisk together 1/3 cup of cream and the yolks. Slowly pour the hot cream (from the saucepan) into the bowl with yolks to temper it. Add pepper. Whisk to combine.

2. In a skillet saute the mushrooms with 1 tbs of butter, 2-3 minutes.
Add the onion, prosciutto and garlic. Saute until prosciutto is slightly crisp and the onion is golden, 3-4 minutes. Turn off the heat.

3.In the meantime, cook the fettuccine al dente. Add peas to the cooking pasta, just to heat it through. Drain the pasta, add the egg-Parmesan mixture along with  mushrooms and prosciutto. Gently mix all together. Sprinkle with parsley.

Have you tried Pasta Carbonara, the authentic one?

Not being an expert in Italian cuisine (yet), I always thought that pasta Carbonara  goes with a cream in it. Mistake! 

My  food passion and curiosity lead me to a few websites with authentic Italian recipes.

I am so happy and excited to explore, learn and cook from it! And of course share my acquired knowledge, mistakes and achievements here! If you want to share your authentic recipes, go ahead, I would love to know which ones are you favorite and why.

This recipe is quick (15 minutes maximum), easy and very delicious.

I must confess, the eggs for some reason sat up a little while cooking, which definitely didn't make me happy, yet this pasta was soooo tasty, I almost licked my plate.

Worth trying! 

Here is the source I used: Please see the recipe here

My only substitution- whole wheat spaghetti. 

Bolognese sauce

I always crave for Italian food. I even have this dream to find an authentic Italian (and Mexican, Mediterranean,  German, etc) restaurant, where some italian grandma will cook italian dishes exactly as they cook back in Italy. It wouldn't be anything fancy, rather I imagine it would be small and cozy, home-style restaurant.

Aaaaanyway, my first attempt to make a bolognese sauce ended up great! I got a rich, flavorful, delicious sauce with mid-thick (does this word exist in the dictionary?) texture. I froze half of it, so it will save me a lot of cooking hours next time I to serve it.

What is interesting, is that I found out that the bolognese sauce should be never served with spaghetti! The pasta you use for this sauce must be thick or tubular, so it holds meat pieces properly.
It would be great if you have a heavy bottom pan, as simmering this sauce in it for 3-4 hours will be much easier.

I adapted the recipe from this website http://www.mangiabenepasta.com/ragu_bolognese.html, it seems to be one of the most authentic ones. The only thing I omitted were chicken hearts, other than that I kept all the ingredients and proportions as it is mentioned in original source. Here is another website without chicken hearts http://culinariaitalia.wordpress.com/2008/06/29/ragu-alla-bolognese-authentic-recipe/, well, those two recipes are pretty similar.

Thus there is no need to rewrite exactly the same recipe (click any of the provided link above). But I will be happy to show few pictures which I got during the cooking process. It was fun!

Enjoy!

Pasta Salad

Recently I have decided to cook a few authentic Italian dishes, using the original recipe's sources or at least the closest one to the original.

It is pretty fun, as cooking with a purpose is much more interesting.
So here, I will post few Italian recipes which have nothing to do with the healthy eating or any substitutions.
I do not want to mess up with "real" home cooking, so I use whatever the recipe asks for, even if it is a butter or lard or whatever.

The only substitution I will probably make is the whole wheat pasta, which i might use if possible, if not, then whatever pasta is needed. I will try to find and cook with the freshest and organic products, so the taste is real.
I will mark all related posts as "Authentic Italian", so you know it's not a clean eating etc.
But I promise you, IT IS worth it!!! To have a real pasta dish, with creamy butter and bacon (well, my first thought: butter->coconut oil, bacon->prosciutto)  is a treat which you can afford once in awhile, simply because you deserved it ;-)

My first shot, Pasta Salad:
source http://www.mangiabenepasta.com/salads_pasta.html

12 ounces (1 package) tri-colored bow tie pasta (cooked al-dente)
½ cup sliced scallions
2 roasted medium peppers, diced.
1.5 cup feta cheese, crumbled
few fresh basil leaves, chopped
1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
½ cup chicken broth
3 tbsp lemon juice
1 tsp dried oregano

Mix pasta with scallions, feta, pepper and basil. In a small bowl whisk together olive oil, chicken broth, lemon juice and oregano.
Pour sauce over the pasta. Stir gently. Serve immediately. Enjoy with a glass of wine on a summer porch!