Bolognese alla Carbonara Bucatini

I’m not too sure what to call this recipe, for it is not a traditional bolognese, and it is certainly not a traditional carbonara.  On the other hand, it combines elements of both of these dishes into a hearty, satisfying pasta fitting for Sunday dinner.

I start with a base of good quality Italian Sausage, crumbled.  Into that goes diced pancetta, onions and garlic.  This is browned, and the richness of this sauce starts right at the beginning with the addition of cream to the meat as finishes browning.  Allow the meat to absorb the cream completely.  Follow this by adding red wine and allowing the sauce to simmer.

 Add coarsely chopped tomato once the sauce begins to simmer.  The key to this sauce is that it is not a tomato sauce.  It is a sauce with tomatoes in it.  This is an important distinction, so keep it in mind as you add the tomato.  Let the sauce simmer for up to two hours, adding cream as you go to maintain desired consistancy.

The carbonara portion of the recipe comes as you being to put together the dish for serving.  In a large bowl, whisk together eggs and cream.  Add cooked, hot pasta to the egg mixture and toss thoroughly to coat the pasta.  Then add the sauce to the same bowl, tossing to complete.

Serve topped with grated parmesan cheese and chopped basil.

Orechiette with Sausage, Beans, and Mascarpone

There are few episodes of “Everyday Italian” that I watch that do not inspire me to make something… immediately.  We affectionately call Giada the “Skinny Italian Chick” around these parts.  We watch her Food Network show, get really hungry, and refuse to believe that she eats more than the mere bite or two that she savors as she cooks for the cameras.

The other day I was certain that I had had my fill of pasta for a few days.  We had been binging on Italian-like foods, and I was a bit tired of it…  until I watched the Skinny Italian Chick make her Orechiette with Sausage, Beans and Mascarpone.  I did not make the recipe as she made it.  As is usual, I borrowed heavily from it and modified it to our tastes.

1 pound orechiette pasta
2 tablespoons olive oil
1/2 pound bulk Italian sausage
1 small onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, chopped
1 can cannellini beans, drained and rinsed
1 tablespoon Oregano
1/2 cup mascarpone cheese
1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil over high heat. Add the pasta and cook until tender but still firm to the bite, stirring occasionally, about 8 to 10 minutes. Drain pasta reserving 1 cup of the cooking liquid.

In a large, heavy skillet warm the olive oil over medium-high heat. Add the sausage, garlic and onions. Break up the sausage into bite-sized pieces as it browns.
Continue cooking until the sausage is golden and the onions are tender. Add the beans and oregano cook for 2 more minutes. Add the cup of pasta cooking liquid and stir, scrapping up any brown bits from the bottom of the pan. Add the mascarpone and parmesan cheese and stir until it dissolved into a light sauce. Add the salt, pepper, and hot pasta. Stir until coated and serve.

The other day I was browsing through the bulk foods section of Whole Foods and I came across Isreali Couscous. It is much bigger than your typical couscous. This is a good thing, because while I do like to cook with couscous, sometimes the texture is just not what I am looking for – it is sometimes too small, crumbly and dry. This looked like a great alternative.

Mediterranean-influenced flavors are some of my favorites. So I immediately had a plan for this couscous. I had all of the veggiess I needed, so I headed up to the Dane County Farmer’s Market and found some locally produced feta cheese to add to the dish.

I cooked the couscous then added some chopped garlic while it was still hot. This lightly cooks the garlic and takes away some of the bite. Then I set the couscous aside and let it cool before I added the following ingredients: chopped heirloom tomatoes, freshly torn basil leaves, diced cucumbers, chopped kalamata olives, chopped scallions and olive oil.

I crumbled the feta in right before serving so that it would retain its distinct flavor and texture.

A great summer side dish.

When we are looking for a quick and easy yet flavorful meal for dinner, we typically turn to a simple pasta dish – the simpler the better. It is a great way to clean out your refrigerator while preparing a satisfying meal in under 20 minutes.

This is particularly true when we are looking for ways to use up produce from our CSA box. Tonight was one of those nights. I had some Turkey Italian Meatballs from our local Italian deli, some remnants of a bag of orecchiette, and lots of produce on hand.

I didn’t realize how colorful the dish would be til I started to throw all of the ingredients together. Red peppers, yellow peppers, purple cauliflower, broccoli, red onion and really ripe red tomatoes all combined to make not only a great tasting pasta, but a meal bursting with end of summer color as well.

We don’t grocery shop like most people. We very seldom shop for more than one meal at a time. Because we have our CSA box, in the summer almost any produce we use we already have. If we need tomatoes or peppers we go out to the backyard and pick them. This usually leaves meat as the wildcard for dinner.

Tonight I wasn’t in the mood to stop at the butcher shop and pick up meat. So I headed off for home vowing to just make dinner based on whatever we had on hand. That turned into Pasta, Potatoes and Pesto with green beans and tomatoes.

Ingredients:
4 small red potatoes, cut into bite-sized pieces
6 oz pasta
1 cup green beans, broken into bite-sized pieces
3 tomatoes, diced
4 garlic cloves, chopped
2 Grilled Italian sausages, chopped
2 tablespoons pesto
Chicken stock
Basil leaves, torn
Pepper to taste

Add potatoes to pot of salted water. Boil 10 minutes. Add pasta. Boil 5 minutes. Add green beans. Boil 5 minutes. When all three are done, drain in pot.

Add tomatoes, garlic. sausage and pesto to pot. Stir well. Add chicken stock to mixture until desired consistency is reached. Pour into serving dish. Sprinkle with basil leaves. Pepper to taste.