today i have two pasta dishes for you. the first one is simple and not too time consuming, the second one is simple but slower. they both are incredible- just depends on how much time you have. this is great date food BTW. invite your lady friend or boy over for dinner, serve this with some wine. . . WHO KNOWS WHAT COULD HAPPEN!?! they will think you're like, a master chef. i think being a master chef is pretty hot.
our first dish is spaghetti carbonara. this is a classic, easy dish that tastes snazzy.
* 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
* 2 large garlic cloves, lightly crushed
* 6 ounces pancetta, sliced 1/3 inch thick and cut into 1-inch matchsticks (i just used bacon, which is an adequate substitute. my ghetto ass grocer did not have pancetta, which i think would be even tastier)
* 3/4 cup heavy cream
* 3 large egg yolks
* 1/3 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese, plus more for serving
* Salt
* 3/4 pound spaghetti
* Freshly ground pepper
* pinch of nutmeg
1. Bring a large pot of water to a boil. In a large, deep skillet, heat the oil. Add the garlic and cook over moderate heat until golden, about 3 minutes. Discard the garlic. Add the pancetta to the skillet and cook over moderately high heat, stirring occasionally, until golden and crisp and the fat has been rendered, about 5 minutes. Using a slotted spoon, transfer the pancetta to a bowl.
2. Pour off all but 2 tablespoons of the fat from the skillet. Add the cream and scrape up any browned bits from the bottom of the skillet, then pour into a medium bowl. Whisk in the egg yolks and 1/3 cup of the Parmesan cheese.
3. Add salt to the pot of boiling water. Add the spaghetti to the boiling water and cook until al dente; drain. Return the pasta to the pot and add the cream mixture, and pancetta. Season with salt, pepper, and nutmeg and toss until the sauce coats the spaghetti. Transfer to bowls and serve immediately with the remaining Parmesan.
No photo for you unfortunately. just my fancy mug in cooking action.
but trust me. . .it's the shit.
The next dish I made (last nite) was Grant Achatz's mac and cheese. Grant Achatz is a fancy schmancy chef who is totally better than all of us combined. he was recently profiled in
food and wine magazine, with a bunch of his recipes that are all VERY traditional stuff like mac n cheese, meatloaf, chili, pierogies- but with a more modern twist.
* 1 tbsp butter
* 6 slices of bacon (cut into 1/2 inch dice)- see, you can use half of the bacon for the first recipe, and half for the second
* 1 medium onion, minced
* 2 bay leaves
* 1 tbsp paprika
* 1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
* 1/3 cup all purpose flour
* 6 cups whole milk
* 1 lb elbow macaroni
* 1 lb extra sharp cheese, shredded
* salt
1. preheat the oven to 350 degrees. butter a 9 x 13 baking dish. in large saucepan, melt the butter, add the bacon and cook it over a medium heat until crisp (about 7 min). with a slotted spoon, transfer the bacon to a plate.
2. add the onion and bay leaves to the saucepan and cook over medium heat, until the onion is softened (like 4-5 min). add paprika and cayenne pepper and cook until you can really smell the fragrance coming from the saucepan- i love those bay leaves. i love paprika! stir in the flour. use a whisk at this point- add in the milk, and keep whisking so it stays smooth. bring this mixture to a boil and keep it cooking on high until it has a thicker consistency. reduce to low and simmer for 30 minutes, whisking often. pull out the bay leaves and toss them.
3. while all this biznaz is going on, boil your macaroni until it is pliable but still undercooked- not even al dente. drain the macaroni, put it back in the pot.
4. stir 4 cups of cheddar into the hot sauce, add the bacon, and season with salt. at this point, you can turn off the heat. add the sauce to the macaroni and mix well. then spread the cheesy heavenly concoction into the baking dish, and put the remaining cheese on top. bake this for about 1/2 hour- and i recommend letting it sit a while, like maybe a 1/2 hour.
me, susan, and vic tore into it like 5 minutes after pulling it out of the oven, but as the evening progressed and we went back for more, the flavors were even more rich and delicious.
**a handy tip is that you can assemble this entire masterpiece the night before, or a couple of hours before. you can throw some foil over it and stick it in the fridge- just bring it to room temperature before you put it in the oven. how fuckin convenient is that!! whoo!! i assembled mine about 5 hours before we ate it. its nice to get stuff done when you have the time and not have to rush to throw together a fantastic meal. you can just chill, and work on making cookies that taste disgusting and look shitty-
unfortunately, i discovered i am not much of a baker. FUCK YOU, COOKIES!!
