Thursday, June 16, 2011

Penne al Tonno

Pasta with Tuna Sauce

Ingredients for 4 people:

500g Penne
1/2 cup olive oil
1 brown onion
1 clove garlic, lightly crushed
3 anchovy fillets
salt & black pepper
500g plain Tomato Sauce (or 2 x 400g cans chopped or peeled Italian tomatoes)
300g Tuna in oil (Sirena, or any Italian brand)
fresh parsley

Prep/cook time: Sauce: 30 minutes, pasta: 20 minutes, (make sure sauce is ready before pasta)

Sauce:
Finely chop onion, lightly crush garlic. Sauté in the olive oil on low heat until onion is translucent
Add the anchovy fillets and gently stir until they disappear into the mix
Add the tomato sauce and cook for 10 minutes on medium heat
Add the tuna and simmer for 10 minutes (leave the tuna chunky, it will tend to fall apart on its own)
Remove the garlic

Pasta:
Cook the penne in boiling salted water.
Drain the penne while slightly undercooked, stir into the sauce and cook for a further 2 minutes.

Serve sprinkled with fresh parsley.

Variation:
Not supposed to, I know, but grated Parmigiano or Grana Padano goes a gem with this dish.

Complimentary wines:
- White: Any, Red: Any Medium bodied wine, say Chianti

Sunday, June 12, 2011

Pasta alla Carbonara

This dish is smooth, creamy, full of flavour  **NO CREAM**!

Ingredients for 4 people, or 2 people plus 2nds, 3rds, (don't kid yourself, you will want more)

- 500g spaghetti, or penne, or rigatoni
- Olive oil
- 120g pancetta
- 50ml dry white wine (from a bottle)
- 4 free range 70g eggs
- Pecorino cheese (Good quality stuff) (or Parmigiano Reggiano, or Grana Padano)
- Salt, black pepper, nutmeg (optional)

Now to the fun part:
- Boil pasta in salted water until "al dente" then drain, save some liquid when draining.
  * Add the salt to the water before the pasta. Why? Just do it! *

While waiting for the pasta:

- Using a knife, cut pancetta into pieces the size of a matchstick.
- On low heat, cook pancetta in a large pan with a dash of olive oil.
   Add wine, let simmer until wine evaporates. Remove from heat.
- Break eggs individually, put 4 yokes and 2 whites in a bowl, beat lightly

When pasta is ready:
- In the pan with pancetta, mix the drained pasta, egg mixture, grated cheese.
  Fold with a wooden or plastic ladle/spoon.
   If mixture is  too WET, heat it slightly, if it's too DRY, add some liquid the from cooked pasta.
 - Season with black pepper, nutmeg (optional)

Tasting/smelling note:
Pecorino smells, alot, really, it does. Make sure people eating this recipe are already in the house before grating the cheese. Better still, ask one of them to grate it for you, preferably outdoors.

Variations:
- For a tinge of garlic, lightly crush 1 garlic clove, add to pancetta when frying.
   Remove garlic just before adding white wine.
- If you want to add cream, my advice is to go and cook someting else!

Complimentary wines:
- the rest of the white wine not used in the recipe!
- Any other wine of your choice, really, any will do as long as you like it!

This is what its supposed to look like:


Buon Appetitio!