Monday, February 24, 2014

Spaghetti carbonara

I made spaghetti carbonara for the first time ever and everybody loved it, even my toddler twins, despite me using whole wheat pasta and adding some peas to make it healthy. I make pasta once a week, and this will be making a regular appearance at our dinner table from now on!

Spaghetti carbonara
(recipe adapted from Tyler's Ultimate)

1 pound whole wheat spaghetti
8 bacon slices, cut into thin strips
1 onion, minced
4 eggs
6 Tbsp heavy cream
1/2 cup grated fresh Parmesan cheese
1/2 cup frozen peas
salt and cracked black pepper to taste
2 Tbsp chopped fresh parsley
2 Tbsp olive oil for frying

Boil a large pot of salted water for the spaghetti. Cook it according to package directions, about 12 minutes. While it's cooking, reserve a 1/4 cup of the pasta water and set it aside for adding to the sauce later.

Bring a small saucepan of water to a boil for the peas. Add the frozen peas and cook them for three minutes until they are bright green, plump and tender. Drain the peas and set aside.

Heat the olive oil in a large frying pan and saute the bacon and onion for seven to eight minutes, until the onion is soft and the bacon crunchy. 

Crack the eggs into a large bowl and whisk them together with the cream and cheese. Add the onion and bacon mixture, including the pan drippings, to the bowl. Add the reserved pasta water. Then drain the spaghetti and add it too. 

Toss everything well and then invert a plate on top of the bowl. Let everything rest for five minutes. Remove the plate and mix in the peas, salt, pepper and parsley. You are ready to eat!

Wednesday, February 19, 2014

Lemony chicken, orzo and dill soup

This is a great take on chicken noodle soup from Bon Appétit. The leek, lemon and dill are really refreshing and I love the use of orzo because it makes the recipe very baby-friendly. It inspired me to add some of these flavours to my own chicken noodle soup recipe.

I'll blog about that later, but in brief I saute a mirepoix (a mixture of chopped onion, celery and carrot), sear some chicken thighs, simmer them in stock with bay leaves and parmesan rind, and add cooked orzo, fresh dill, lemon juice and chopped celery leaves at the end.

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