3 AM pasta

Une création originale de Carl et Claire basée sur le contenu du frigo de nos chers hôtes Caro et Guillaume. Est-ce que c'était si bon à cause de l'heure tardive ou parce qu'on avait déjà bien fêté??

Dans tous les cas, c'était une chouette fête :-)

500 g de pâtes Garfallo 

Un paquet de bacon

Du whisky

de la bière ambrée

3-4 CS de sucre roux

2 CS de miso blanc

150 mL de crème 

80 g de Fromage frais Philadephia

2 cc de piment d'Espelette

du poivre frais

Quelques feuille de basilic et persil frais

[1] Cuire les pâtes al dente dans un grand volume d'eau salée.

[2] Pendant ce temps, griller le bacon dans une grande poêle, et ajouter du sucre roux et des petites rasades de whisky et bière en cours de cuisson. Une fois cuit, déchirer en petits morceaux et réserver.

[3] Faire chauffer la crème dans une petite casserole et y faire fondre le Philadelphia et le miso. Rincer le pot de crème avec 200 mL d'eau et ajouter à la casserole. Assaisonner avec le piment et le poivre. Ajouter le bacon à la sauce, saler si nécessaire.

[4] Mélanger sauce et pâtes, garnir de persil et basilic et servir aux affamés.

68 hours in Italy

I had several customer meetings with my Italian colleagues last week, which always mean nice people, great places and... the best food in the world! Lucky girl! This time I got to visit Napoli, Ticino and Milano, Roma is planned in 3 weeks, yay!
Follow the guide..

First stop: Napoli
The city is always busy, there are many people in the streets, even on a Sunday evening. The bus left me at the harbour, in front of the imposing Castel Nuovo built in the 13th century.

I wandered through the streets and chanced upon the Galleria Umberto I, which reminded me very much of the Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II in Milano. A quick wikipedia search confirmed that the Napolitan Galleria was indeed inspired from the Milan one. A shopping mall, place to have a coffee or an ice and apartments all in one. I would fancy a flat in there, in the buzzing heart of the city.

Walking along Via Toledo, the pedestrian shopping mile of Napoli, I found a museum advertising one of the ultimate artworks of Caravaggio, The martyrdom of Saint Ursula. An impressive restauration work was done on the painting, removing centuries of dirt and old paint. I could sit down for hours looking at his paintings. Il Caravaggio could bring such emotion and realism in his art. Definitely my favorite Renaissance painter.

The eyes full, it was time to fill my stomach. However, finding a restaurant open on a Sunday evening was not as easy as I thought. All the best rated restaurants on TripAdvisor were closed, so I ended up in the Soldino pizzeria on Via Carlo de Cesare.

 

The antipasto della casa was made of a tomato bruschetta, mozzarella di bufala wrapped in parma ham, an eggplant dumpling, insalata di polpo, some ham bites, green olives and salumi slices. These paired perfectly with the Aglianico house wine.

Of course, being in Napoli I had to have a pizza, which was one of the best in my life. A simple margarita and rucola pizza but made with mozzarella di bufala and baked in a brick oven. The dough was so soft and chewy, perfetta!

The oven.

The next day, I flew to Milano, not without eating a last Mozzarella di Bufala Campana DOP
 at the Obika mozzarella bar in Napoli Airport. This is a perfect example of the greatness of cucina italiana: use few ingredients but only the best. Trust me, this insalata caprese did not need any seasoning.

I spent the night in a hotel north of Milano. The hotel restaurant served half a salumi as welcome appetizer to all guests, soooo good! Again, perfect pairing with the Montepulciano wine. The saying is true, what grows together matches.

The main was risotto alla parmigiana and insalata di seppie with crunchy vegetables.

The next day we drove to Lugano with my colleagues. Ticino is beautiful!

Gnocchi ripieni alla toma piemontese.

Back in Milano, we stayed at the Country Hotel Borromeo, on the North East side of the city. The hotel restaurant was surprisingly good. Of course, this is Italy ;)
We started with a selection of Italian salumi.

For the main I had paccheri with a pesto of dried tomatoes. Paccheri are cylindric rolls of pasta but not filled. They pair well with a chunky sauce, such as aubergines, large tomato chunks or a thick seafood sauce.

And as dessert, semifreddo di torrone casalingo. A marvel!
Note to self: empty the freezer to be able to make semifreddo at home. It's actually very easy, you mix eggs whites, whipped cream and flavored egg yolk, transfer to individual containers and leave them in the freezer for a few hours. I plan to make a semifreddo of cantucine biscuits, to be served with a vin santo custard.

Of course, un caffe with grappa or sambuca is the best way to finish the meal.

Overweight cupboard #1: seafood pasta

I started my cupboard fight with an easy lunch meal packed with flavour: pasta al nero di seppia in a shrimp, anchovy and tomato sauce. It's done in 10 minutes and really tasty. Enjoy it with a glass of San Giovese or Montepulciano.

Leftovers used
- half a pack of tagiatelle al nero di seppia from Cinqueterre, Italy
- chili parsley pasta spice mix from Cataña, Sicily, Italy
- a handful of frozen shrimps
- leftover home-made tomato sauce

Tagliatelle al nero di seppia in tomato seafood sauce - serves 2
400g tagliatelle al nero di seppia
1-2 TB olive oil
5 anchovy fillets
1 TB capers, rinsed
1 tsp chili parsley garlic pasta spice mix (try dried chopped chili)
half a cup tomato sauce
a handful frozen shrimps
shredded basil and grated Parmesan, to serve

[1] Cook the pasta al dente in large pan of salted boiling water.
[2] Heat the oil in a small pan, add the anchovy, capers and chili spice mix. Cook for 3 minutes. Add the tomato sauce, warm through and add the shrimp.
[3] Drain the pasta and add to the pan with the tomato seafood sauce. Mix gently to coat the pasta. Top with basil and Parmesan before serving.

Courgette carbonara

Des courgettes, encooore des cooourgettes!! Love this twist on the classic carbonara, inspired by Jamie Oliver. The trick is to make a really thin julienne with the courgettes, i.e. cut the flesh and skin in very long and thin stripes, almost like spaghetti themselves. Enough talking, grab your mandoline and get started!

Courgette carbonara - serves 4
2 fresh eggs
125 ml cream
a handful grated parmesan
half a pack bacon, chopped
1/2 finely chopped shallot
one medium-large courgette
1/2 lemon, zest grated and juice reserved
salt&pepper
olive oil
450g pasta / spaghetti or linguine is best
more parmesan to serve
--
[0] Before attacking the courgette slicing, serve yourself a nice glass of wine, this can take some time if you don't have the right accessories..
[1] Cut the courgette in half lengthwise, spoon off the seeds and discard them. Using a sharp knife or a mandoline, julienne the courgette in long thin stripes. Reserve.
[2] In a bowl, beat the eggs with the cream, parmesan, salt and pepper.
[3] Cook the pasta al dente according to the pack instructions.
[4] In a very large pan on medium-high heat, fry the bacon until crisp. Add the shallot and fry a further 2 minutes. Add the courgettes to the bacon and shallot and allow to wilt.
[5] When the pasta is cooked, drain it, and add to the pan, tossing to combine with the courgettes. Remove from the heat and add the egg mixture. Gently combine, allowing the sauce to thicken. Season to taste.
[6] Serve immediately, scattered with the lemon zest, a small squeeze of lemon juice and the remaining parmesan.

PS: For a vegetarian version, you could try replacing the bacon with pimenton and olive oil to still have a smoky flavor.

Backed pasta

Backed ravioli used to be a favorite of mine back in Lausanne - almost no cooking involved and really yummy! you can even used frozen fresh pasta directly from the freezer.

Backed ravioli - serves 2
400g fresh pasta - ravioli, tortellini etc with your favorite filling
1dl cream
seasoning - I use salt and pepper, garlic powder, paprika and nutmeg powder
a small handful grated cheese
optional: some chopped vegetables, here I added one chopped tomato and a couple diced dried tomatoes, zucchini or fennel could also be nice
--
[1] Preheat the oven to 200 degrees celsius.
[2] Put the uncooked pasta in a oven-proof dish. Mix in the chopped vegetables, if you have any. Season to taste. Add the cheese on top on the pasta and pour the cream homogeneously over the whole dish, you want it to soak up the spicy flavour and distribute it.
[3] Bake in the oven for about 10minutes or until golden.
[4] Serve with a salad or green beans.