Tagliatelle with pancetta, gorgonzola and leeks

Here's another tasty recipe by Simply Italian. Pasta del Papa. Who knew that just a few ingredients — tagliatelle, pancetta, leeks, gorgonzola cheese — could taste so delicious together. And this recipe's really quick!

The recipe's published on the Chiappa sisters' website.

But what really inspired me to try it was watching them make it on YouTube (Jamie Oliver's Food Tube channel). 

Farfalle with tomatoes, olives and spinach

I recently discovered a cooking show called Simply Italian starring the Chiappa sisters, who are based in Wales. I have to say that I love their recipes. I've only tried two so far, but they've tasted fantastic and it's so convenient that they're only a few ingredients each. That makes shopping for them very easy. Here's the first I want to share with you:

Farfalle with tomatoes, olives and spinach. 

The base for the sauce is the Chiappa family's tomato sauce, which is lovely and easy to make. This recipe's oozy and gooey because of the addition of mozzarella cheese. The olives give it a nice, salty kick, and the spinach makes it super healthy.

Please click here to find the recipe on Channel 4's website.

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!

Spaghetti with meat sauce

Spaghetti with meat sauce

If this recipe wasn't so delicious, I'd stop making it because it makes me feel old. It's the first substantial dish I learned to cook on my own and it has been a trusty standby for years. Well ... ahem ... decades. Of course it's evolved since I made it almost every week as an undergrad. Now I use whole wheat noodles and add some kale, making this a much healthier version than the one I cooked as a student. If I cut up the spaghetti then the babies like it too, which is always a bonus nowadays. How things have changed.

Spaghetti with meat sauce

1 box (454 g) whole wheat spaghetti
1 Tbsp olive oil
1 onion, diced
2 carrots, diced
2 celery stalks, diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 Tbsp herbes de Provence
a pinch of red pepper flakes
1 small zucchini, diced
1/2 cup kale, chopped and stems removed
1 package (~454 g) lean ground beef
1 tsp each of salt and pepper
1 jar (24 oz) pasta sauce
1 rind of parmesan
2 bay leaves
1/2 cup chicken stock or water (optional)
1 Tbsp Worcestershire sauce
1 cup grated parmesan cheese

Put a large stock pot of salted water on the boil for the spaghetti. Cook it according to package directions, about 12 minutes. Drain the spaghetti and put it back into the stock pot. Set the stock pot aside off the heat. 

In a Dutch oven or a large high-sided frying pan, heat up the olive oil. Add the onions, carrots and celery and saute five to seven minutes until glassy and soft. Add the garlic, herbes de Provence and red pepper flakes, and saute two minutes. Season with salt and pepper. Add the zucchini and kale and cook another three to five minutes until the zucchini has softened. Scrape the vegetable mixture onto a plate and set aside. 

Return the pan to the hot element and add the ground beef, breaking it up with a spoon. Cook it, stirring often, until mostly done. Season with a pinch of salt and pepper. Add back the vegetable mixture and fold it into the ground beef. 

Add the pasta sauce, bay leaves and parmesan rind. Add half a cup of chicken stock or water if you need more liquid to cover all of the ingredients. Mostly cover the pan (leave an edge open for the steam to escape) and simmer the spaghetti sauce for about 20 minutes. Add the Worcestershire sauce and stir.

Add a cup of the pasta sauce to the pasta noodles in the stock pot and stir to loosen them up. Slide the cooked pasta into serving bowls and top with another ladle of sauce and a sprinkling of  grated parmesan cheese. Serve with salad or garlic bread.

Gourmet macaroni and cheese

This is my favourite way to cook mac-and-cheese. I love to top it with buttered breadcrumbs for a crispy golden crust. It's rather gourmet because of the addition of zucchini and sundried tomatoes, great ideas courtesy of Dana McCauley's mac-and-cheese recipe in Pantry Raid.

Gourmet macaroni and cheese
(serves six)

4 cups macaroni
1 Tbsp olive oil
1 onion, diced
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 zucchini, halved and sliced
3 Tbsp sundried tomatoes, minced
2 sprigs fresh thyme, minced
1 1/2 cups cheese sauce
2/3 cups breadcrumbs (I use Panko)
1 Tbsp butter
1/4 cup fresh parsley, minced
salt and pepper to taste

Preheat the oven to 375.

Put a large stock pot of salted water on the boil for the macaroni. Cook it according to package directions, about 10 minutes. Reserve half a cup of pasta water before you drain the macaroni. Drain the macaroni and put it back into the now-empty stock pot. Take off the heat and set aside. 

Warm the cheese sauce in a saucepan or make it from scratch. 

In a large frying pan, heat up a glug of olive oil. Add the onions and saute five minutes until glassy and soft. Add the garlic and saute two minutes. Add the zucchini and thyme, and saute five minutes or until the zucchini is soft. Add the sundried tomatoes and stir for a couple of minutes. Season with salt and pepper. Take off the heat and set aside. 

Heat the butter in a separate saucepan until melted. Add the breadcrumbs and parsley and stir until moistened. Take off the heat and set aside. 

Add the zucchini mixture to the stock pot full of macaroni. Stir in the cheese sauce. Scrape the macaroni mixture into a large casserole dish. Top with the buttered breadcrumbs. 

Cook for 30 minutes or until golden. 

Spinach and cheese ravioli in rose sauce

I love this pasta because it's quick, delicious and only five ingredients! I saw this on a Giada de Laurentiis show. It's good lazy-day food that looks gorgeous when served up family-style on a big platter. I just use frozen spinach-and-cheese ravioli because it's my favourite, but you could also use tortellini or gnocchi. Now's a good time to make this recipe because of all the fresh summer-sweet basil that's available.

Spinach and cheese ravioli in rose sauce

one package frozen spinach-and-cheese ravioli
half a tall jar of marinara sauce
one cup ricotta cheese
a handful of fresh basil leaves, torn
half a cup of grated parmesan cheese

Boil the pasta in a big pot according to package directions, taking care not to overcook because you will be combining the pasta with the hot sauce, which will cook it a bit more. Drain and set aside.

Pour the marinara sauce into a big, high-sided frying pan and heat. Once it's warmed through, add the ricotta cheese and stir to blend until smooth, about a couple of minutes. Just before serving, add half of the torn basil to the sauce and mix together until the leaves are wilted.

Slide the cooked pasta into a serving platter and top with sauce, grated parmesan cheese and remaining fresh basil leaves for garnish. Serve right away with garlic bread.

Pasta primavera with roasted vegetables

I made a big batch of this on a Sunday afternoon, and we ate it for lunch all week long. It's a nice treat after a morning at work, plus you save so much money not buying lunches every day. The trouble is you have to resist eating it the night you make it! This recipe is adapted from one by Giada de Laurentiis in her cookbook Everyday Italian, long a source of pasta inspiration for me.

Pasta primavera with roasted vegetables
serves six to eight

one acorn squash
one red pepper
one yellow pepper
two carrots
two zucchini
one onion, sliced
1/4 cup olive oil
1 Tbsp herbes de Provence
pinch of chili flakes
2 tsp each salt and pepper
1 lb penne pasta
20 grape tomatoes, halved
1 cup grated parmesan cheese

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.

Cut the first five vegetables into a large two-inch dice. Toss the vegetables and the sliced onions with the olive oil, herbes de Provence, chili flakes, and salt and pepper in a large, high-sided baking dish.

Transfer half of the veggies into a second baking dish.

Bake both trays of vegetables for about 25 minutes, stirring after the first 10.

Meanwhile, cook the penne according to package directions in a large pot of salted water. Reserve a cup of pasta water for adding to the final dish.

In a big glass bowl, toss the pasta with the roasted vegetables and enough of the pasta water to moisten. Season with more salt and pepper, and stir in the grape tomatoes and grated Parmesan.

Cover the bowl with cling wrap and put in the fridge for lunches all week long :)

Orzo with fennel and pancetta

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I was recently introduced to orzo, a wee member of the pasta family. Anything delicious wins me over, but anything delicious and cute has a definite monopoly. This is a nice lunch to take to work :)

Orzo with fennel and pancetta
Serves two

1 cup orzo
¼ cup cubed pancetta or bacon
2 finely minced shallots
½ cup thawed frozen peas
1/2 cup finely chopped fennel bulb
1 cup chicken broth (or a combo of broth and water)
2 Tbsp white wine
favourite fresh herb for garnish, torn
salt and pepper

Cook the orzo according to the directions on the package. Reserve half a cup of pasta water in case you need to add some liquid to the final dish.

Cube the pancetta and fry it with minced shallots in olive oil in a frying pan on medium high heat for five minutes or so. Then add the thawed peas and finely chopped fennel, stirring to coat them in the oil. Add chicken broth or water and then stir occasionally, uncovered, until the liquid had reduced by half. Add the wine to deglaze the bottom bits, and cooked it for a minute. Finally, add the precooked orzo and season with salt and pepper. Garnish with your favourite chopped fresh herb.

Linguine with clams

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I'm still on a seafood kick, so we made some linguine with clams the other day. It was yummy. Those winey, clammy juices really tasted like the sea. The whole meal reminded me of summer and made me happy that winter is ending.

It seems there are two golden rules when it comes to cooking with clams: Before cooking, throw any out that are open, and after cooking, throw any out that are closed.

We kept our clams in a metal bowl in the fridge, but S's father, an expert cook when it comes to seafood, told us of a better way to store clams. He recommended we put them in salted water, a solution of 3.2 per cent (for example, 32 grams salt per litre of water). Keep them on the counter at room temperature. These conditions mimic their natural environment and they will even put out their little feet and do their thing happily. I will have to try this next time.


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Linguine with clams
Printable version

serves two
prep and cooking time: 30-45 minutes

linguine
1 Tbsp olive oil
1 Tbsp butter
30 clams (15 per person)
one small onion, finely diced)
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 tsp dried red chilli pepper
1/2 cup white wine
1/3 cup pasta cooking water
handful of fresh parsley, chopped
zest of one lemon
salt and pepper
additional lemon wedges for garnish

substitutions/variations: spaghetti for linguine, olive oil for butter or vice versa, onions and red chillis are optional (but really make it better!), I have also seen this recipe with cherry tomatoes and bacon added

Bring a large pot of salted water to the boil. Cook some linguine until al dente.

While the pasta water comes to a boil, rinse the clams in cold water in the sink. Discard any that have opened.

Wait until you've added the linguine to the pot before cooking the clams because the sauce doesn't take long. While it's cooking, reserve about 1/3 cup of the cooking water.

In your largest, high-sided frying pan, heat the olive oil. Add the diced onions and chilli pepper and saute for two minutes, until the onions are starting to soften. Add the minced garlic and cook for a couple of minutes, taking care not to burn.

Add the clams, half of the chopped parsley and all of the white wine and cover the frying pan until the clams have opened, which will take between two to six minutes. Discard any clams that have stayed shut.

Add the cooked linguine to the clams and the butter and some of the pasta water. Mix gently into the clam mixture until the butter has slicked over the noodles.

Sprinkle over with grated lemon zest and the rest of the chopped parsley. Serve with additional lemon wedges.

A Roman feast

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My friends Peanut Butter and Jelly went to Rome for two weeks over Christmas. They had many delicious food adventures and came back with mouthwatering stories.

They kindly invited me for dinner on New Year's Eve and this is what they cooked for me, above. An insalata caprese to start, followed by spaghetti carbonara and tartuffo for dessert. The other two photos are from their trip to Rome and show the Septimus Arch forum and a never-ending row of scooters! (Crossing the street as a pedestrian in Rome is a leap of faith, they say, you just got to take a deep breath and go for it!)

PB and J have also generously offered to write a guest post on beFOODled about their adventures. Stay tuned because the next two posts on beFOODled will be all about their Roman holiday!

Read part one: General Roman food observations
Read part two: Roman restaurant reviews

Pea and chorizo rotini

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Two nights ago when I made rösti again, it really didn't turn out. The outer part was crispy but the inside was uncooked, and after frying it for a long time I finally gave up and I ended up eating chocolate for dinner instead. The next day, to boost my ego, I made this tasty old standby that I haven't yet messed up.

Pea and chorizo rotini
serves two

1 chorizo sausage, casing removed
1/2 cup frozen peas
1 clove minced garlic
1 tsp favourite dried herb
pinch hot pepper flakes
1/2 cup ricotta cheese
1/2 cup pasta water
parmesan cheese (optional)
1.5 cups rotini

Boil salted water for the rotini and cook until al dente.

In a big frying pan, drop in little chunks of the sausage meat and break it up while cooking. When the sausage has almost cooked, add the garlic, hot pepper flakes and herbs and cook a few more minutes. Add in the frozen peas and warm through for a minute while stirring.

Drain the pasta but reserve some of the cooking water. Add the drained rotini to the sauce and mix well. Add the ricotta cheese and half a cup of the reserved pasta water and stir until the ricotta has combined with the water to make a cheesy sauce. Top with grated parmesan and serve.

Fettuccine's on Elgin St.

Fettuccine with tomato vodka sauce for two on Flickr by beFOODled.

On Friday night, I rented three movies and take-out from Fettuccine's for S and I. Fettuccine's is our neighbourhood's fresh pasta joint. (When I lived in Parkdale, I used to go to Parma Ravioli).

For unknown reasons, I always assumed that in Italy people ate fresh pasta and that dried pasta was an inferior, but non-perishable, alternative. I think it was an episode of Jamie's Great Italian Escape where Jamie Oliver said that both fresh and dried pastas are valued equally in Italy. They use dried when they want the "al dente" texture that fresh pasta can never achieve or when they want a firm texture that can stand up to hearty sauces, like a meaty bolognese. In contrast, they use fresh pasta with light sauces, for example, made with tomatoes and cream.

At Fettuccine's, I usually get fettuccine for two (plain or spinach), two tubs of tomato vodka sauce and two garlic breads. It's a great deal for only $18. The garlic bread is the best in the city — I told this to Squeaky who later investigated on her own and now concurs.

I usually cook the pasta for about eight minutes and heat up one of the tubs of vodka sauce for the two of us (the other I save for later in the week). I toss the pasta in half of the sauce, and save the other half to ladle on top. Then I add cracked black pepper and grate some fresh parmesan over top. The garlic bread is an eight-inch piece of fresh baguette with a garlicky butter spread inside. I open them up and cook them for a few minutes at 350 F and then broil them for a couple of minutes until they are golden and the edges almost charred. I am generally not good at timing but I have made this so many times everything is now ready at the same time. Booya!

The other dish I am partial to at Fettuccine's is the sun-dried tomato cappelleti. This is an antipasti salad of cheese cappelleti (looks like a hat-shaped tortellini), sun-dried tomatoes, garlic, fresh parsley, olive oil and mozzarella. It is unbelievably tasty either hot or cold and very very garlicky.

Fettuccine's
280C Elgin St.
Ottawa, ON K2P 1M2
Tel │ 613.230.4723


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Wild Mushroom and Spicy Sausage Pasta

Mushroom and sausage pasta, originally uploaded by beFOODled.

In my twenties, my pasta repertoire consisted of one dish, spaghetti bolognese, which I mastered well enough to make in bulk to last the whole week. Now I have a whole bunch of favourite pasta dishes, but this is the one I make most often, always with a big, crusty rip of garlic bread on the side.

It's a Jamie Oliver recipe from one of his early websites, way back in 2005, and long before Jamie's Italy or Jamie at Home. I love this pasta because it has big, woodsy flavours, like wild mushrooms and thyme, and the spiciest sausage ever made — chorizo!

Wild Mushroom and Spicy Sausage Pasta
Adapted from a recipe in Jamie Oliver's The Naked Chef Takes Off
Serves three (two dinners and one lunch)

half an onion, diced
1 clove of garlic, minced
olive oil
2 chorizo sausages, meat removed from the casings
a shaking of chilli flakes
400 grams of mixed wild mushrooms, such as oyster and shiitake, torn into pieces
short pasta, such as penne or rigatoni
as many sprigs of fresh thyme as you want, leaves picked
a couple of pats of butter
fresh parsley, chopped
fresh parmesan cheese, grated
salt and pepper

Cook the pasta until al dente. Reserve about half a cup of cooking water before draining it.

At the same time, start the pasta sauce. Slit open the sausage casings and take out the meat. Pinch off little knobs of sausage meat with your fingers straight into a frying pan with some olive oil on medium heat. Saute until cooked and set aside.

Pour off most of the sausage fat from the pan but leave behind a half a teaspoon or so for flavour. In the same pan, add more olive oil and fry the onion for a few minutes. Add garlic and fry another couple of minutes. Add the thyme, chilli flakes and the torn mushrooms, and saute until the mushrooms have given up their water and become small. Remove the pan from the heat and season. Loosen the sauce with the butter and a bit of the pasta water when you are ready to combine it with the pasta. Add half of the sauce to the pasta and mix well. Leave the other half for topping.

Ladel the pasta into bowls, top with more sauce, and add the fresh chopped parsley and grated parmesan cheese. Serve with garlic bread.

Pasta Primavera

Pasta primavera, originally uploaded by beFOODled.

Spring has literally just sprung in O-town, so there's not a whole lot in season quite yet. But I can't wait until the outdoor markets bring forth the fresh, local produce. In my haste to cook with the seasons this year, I've already made this delicious pasta primavera, adapted from the Shrimp and Artichoke Pasta recipe on Simply Recipes, with nice frozen peas and beans about three times in the past six weeks! Yes, I'm jumping the gun a bit, but I see it as practice until peas and beans are finally in season, and I can make it all over again with the fresh stuff! It's all about building a repertoire, you know ;)

Pasta Primavera
adapted from Simply Recipes

I adapted the recipe in the following way: I added a cup of lima beans and used artichoke pieces from a jar. I also tossed in a couple of handfuls of baby salad leaves (mesclun, spinach and arugula).

Fusilli with Spinach, Tomatoes and Asiago Cheese

I'm starting a series of 5-ingredients-or-less recipes (not counting oil or seasonings like salt and pepper). This pasta goes into that category. It's another one by Giada de Laurentiis from her show Everyday Italian. It's meant to be a fast weekday dinner. The sauce literally takes five minutes, so you should start it after you've put the pasta on. The spinach and tomatoes make it very healthy as you can see in the photo. (Pay no attention to the iron in the background.)

Fusilli with Spinach, Tomatoes and Asiago Cheese

fusilli or another curly pasta of your choice, enough for two
1/4 C olive oil
1 clove garlic, minced
1/2 bag baby spinach, washed and roughly chopped
cherry tomatoes, cut in half
1 C grated asiago cheese (and/or grated Parmigiano Reggiano)

Cook the pasta according to package directions. As soon as you've put the pasta into boiling water, it's time to start the sauce.

Add the olive oil to a frying pan on low-medium heat. Add the garlic and fry until fragrant but not brown, about a minute or two. Wash the spinach, dry it in a tea towel or salad spinner, and roughly chop it. Add the spinach to the pan and stir for a minute or so or until wilted. Halve the cherry tomatoes and add to the sauce. Drain the pasta and add to the sauce in the frying pan. Toss to mix. Add one cup of grated asiago cheese. Toss again until the cheese has combined and becomes stringy.

Quattro in Vancouver

Oh my godfathers! In Vancouver, we went to one of the best Italian restaurants I have ever been to. It's called Quattro, and I have to thank S's friends BJ and WL for recommending it. You can see the pasta that I shared with my friend AG in the photo. Five different kinds! It was called Pasta Pazza a Pezzi and cost $20.95 per person, for a minimum of two people. It was a combination of five pastas: Spaghetti Primavera, Fettuccine Ghiottone, Fusilli Arrabiata, Linguine Pesto and Rotolo Farcito. Both S and DW had the Ravioli Piemontesi for $23.95. It's a ravioli filled with wild mushrooms, mascarpone cheese and tons of white truffle oil, in a light porcini cream. You only get seven raviolis, but they are very very rich.

Quattro seemed expensive when we first walked in because it is a very elegant place, but the bill came to about $40 each between the four of us, so that wasn't bad in the end. Anyways, it was worth it! I must give this restaurant a good review for service, too. I think the waiter knew that we weren't big spenders, and yet he still took the time to talk with us, tell us about the history of certain foods and drinks, and share a great sense of humour. I recommend Quattro to anyone who loves Italian and has the good fortune to visit Vancouver!

Quattro
2611 West Fourth Ave.
Vancouver, B.C.
604.734.4444

More Girl Food

Last weekend, I went to Toronto to visit with some friends and to go to an Oscar party. We went to this restaurant on Queen St. that sells roti takeout. I'd never had roti before but my friends just rave about it, so I was really excited to try this. It's basically a big flatbread bundled around your favourite curry. Both D and I got the mutter paneer and I decided to get medium instead of mild, a decision which turned out to be a big mistake! It was so hot, I had to follow every mouthful with water. S, who got a medium too, tried mine and agreed that it was indeed insanely hot. In the end D gave me some of her mild because I just couldn't finish it, what with the back of my throat being on fire. But once I could finally taste it, I had to admit that it was great!

And last night, my friend Ella hosted another girls-only dinner party. It started out as an afternoon at the spa, followed by a fantastic dinner that totally reminded me of springtime, and a raucous game of Cranium to end the night. Ella prepared this really tasty linguine with asparagus and red pepper that had a kind of alfredo sauce, and served it with goat's cheese on baguette slices. It kind of reminded me of a pasta primavera (which means "spring" in Italian), which is made with young spring vegetables. The salad was amazing too, and so so simple: spinach, tomato and tasted walnuts tossed with a sweet dressing of green pepper jelly (you could also use red), balsamic vinegar, olive oil and mustard. It was so tasty and a really big hit with my friends.

Hurray for girls' nights!