Tag Archives: pasta

Cauliflower Ragu

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Sustainable Cauliflower Ragu

You read correctly. I used the word sustainable. Partly because it’s trendy, but also because this recipe for Cauliflower Ragu uses the WHOLE cauliflower! Leaves, stalk, core, flowers – you don’t throw away anything. And better yet, it tastes good.

Hunting vegetbles in La Morra

What you need for the Cauliflower Ragu

1 medium cauliflower
1⁄2 dl extra virgin olive oil
1 medium white onion, cut into dice
3 garlic cloves, chopped
Maldon or other flaky sea salt
1½ to 2 teaspoons hot red pepper flakes
6 tablespoons unsalted butter
2 dl freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano, plus extra for serving
1½ teaspoons minced fresh rosemary

What you do

  1. Halve the cauliflower. Cut off the leaves and reserve them. Cut out the core and reserve it. Chop the cauliflower into small bite-sized florets, reserving the stalks.
  2. Chop the core, stalks and leaves. (I put them in a food processor because I don’t like “lumps”) Combine the oil, onion, garlic, and cauliflower leaves, stalks, and core in a large pot, season with Maldon salt, and cook over medium heat, stirring frequently, until the leaves are just beginning to wilt, about 3 minutes. Reduce the heat to low and cook, stirring frequently, until the cauliflower leaves are just tender, 18 to 20 minutes.
  3. Add the cauliflower florets, red pepper flakes, and 2 dl water and bring to a simmer over medium-high heat, then reduce the heat to a gentle simmer, cover, and cook, stirring occasionally, until the cauliflower is very soft and almost falling apart, 22 to 25 minutes. Add the butter, stirring gently until it melts, then season well with Maldon salt and remove from the heat.

Get the Penne ready

  1. Bring water to a boil in a large pot and add 3 tablespoons kosher salt. Drop in the pasta and cook until just al dente. Drain the pasta, reserving about 1.5dl of the pasta water.
  2. Add the pasta and some of the reserved pasta water to the cauliflower ragu and stir and toss over medium heat until the pasta is well coated (add a splash or two more of the reserved pasta water if necessary to loosen the sauce). Stir in the cheese.
  3. Transfer the pasta to a serving bowl, sprinkle with the bread crumbs and rosemary, and serve, with additional grated cheese on the side.

    PS: The cauliflower ragu can be prepared up to 3 days ahead. Let cool, then cover and refrigerate; reheat in a large pot over medium-low heat before adding the pasta.)

This recipe is inspired by Batali, and I got my inspiration here. I decided not to use any breadcrumbs, and went extra heavy on the parmesan…

New spot in Serralunga: Osteria Tre Case

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Osteria Tre case id officially on the list of new places to eat!

Osteria tre Case

I always get teased because I usually go to the same restaurants and eat the same things. This summer, I tried a new restaurant in Serralunga! Osteria Tre Case, located in the center of Serralunga, is a relatively new restaurant. And let me tell you: you should definitely try it!

On the menu you will find tajarin, ravioli, panna cotta and cheese from Castelmagno (and many more things). The food was very good, great wine list and wonderful staff – what else can you ask for? Oh, and it’s always fun when you order a wine and then the winemaker shows up! Herzu is my favorite!

Check out the website here. And as always I encourage you to make reservation, not just show up. Besides, a restaurant this good will fill up quickly! If you go, tell Veronica I say hi!

Carbonara a la Piemontegirl

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Carbonara: not as easy as it looks

I tried making Carbonara for the first time ever, and although there are not that many ingredients in the dish, getting it perfect is actually quite hard. But, now I know how to make it even better next time. Because it did taste good! I had run out of guanciale so I used prosciutto instead. Any sort of salty, bacon like meat will work. Hope you enjoy!

Recipe Carbonara

Ingredients (4 servings):

  • 3 tbs extra-virgin olive oil
  • 8 ounces / 230 grams of guanciale (or bacon)
  • 1 pound / 450 grams spaghetti
  • 1 1/4 cups / 3 dl freshly grated parmigiano-reggiano
  • 4 large eggs, separated (keep both parts)
  • Pepper

Recipe Carbonara Prosciutto

Instructions:

  • Bring water to boil in a large pot and add some salt
  • Meanwhile, combine the olive oil and guanciale in a pan over medium heat, and cook until it’s crispy and golden. Remove the pan from heat and set aside (without draining the fat)
  • Cook the spaghetti in the boiling water until al dente. Take 1/4 cup / 0.6dl of the water and set aside. Drain the pasta.
  • Add the pasta water to the pan with the guanciale, toss in the pasta and heat, while shaking the pan, for 1 minute. Remove from heat, add most of Parmigiano, the egg whites and pepper, and toss until thoroughly mixed.
  • Divide the pasta among 4 plates, make a nest in the middle, and drop the egg yolk in. Sprinkle the remaining Parmigiano on top and voila!

Recipe Carbonara Plate

Gnocchi a la Piemontegirl

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Many years ago, I stood in the kitchen at Casa Vietti and watched Nonna make gnocchi. She told me the recipe, and showed me how to do it, but I never did. I recentky grew my own Sage plant and since I don’t really like sage, I decided that I would try to make Gnocchi for my dad, since he loves Gnocchi with butter and sage. Here’s how it went!

Recipe Gnocchi Ingredients

Ingredients:

  • 3 pounds(1360g) of potato
  • 2 cups (4.7dl) flour
  • 1 extra large egg
  • 1 pinch of salt

Recipe Gnocchi

Step #3

Directions:

  1. Boil potatoes. Peel them while they are still warm, and mash them (or put them through a vegetable mill, if you just happen to have one of those)
  2. Boil water in a pot (to boil the gnocchi)
  3. Make a well in the center of the mashed potatoes (like the picture above) and sprinkle all the flour over it. Place the egg and salt into the well, and start mixing it all together with a fork (similar to how you make pasta). Knead until dry
  4. Roll the dough into “sausages” and cut them into pieces, and roll them into balls (like the picture below)
  5. Once that is done, place it in the boiling water and let it boil for a few minutes (until they float). Take them out of the water (if you want, put them in an ice bath) and let them dry.

Recipe Gnocchi Piemontegirl

Step #4

Now, for the butter and sage: all you have to do is place a ton of butter and sage in a pan, melt the butter and stir in the sage. Place the gnocchi in the pan, mix it up and serve!

Recipe Gnocchi Burro e Salvie

The results were pretty good! There was some disagreement on how well they were cooked, but overall I would call my first attempt a success!! Let me know if you try it!

Recipe Gnocchi Butter and Sage

Piemontegirl makes (funny looking)Ravioli

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Ravioli – home made (clearly!)

A few weeks ago I posted a recipe on how to make pasta dough. Here is a recipe on how to use that dough to make Ravioli!

All you need is:

  • The dough
  • A pasta machine (or a rolling pin)
  • The filling you want

In this recipe I used 4 cheese filling using ricotta, parmesan, cream cheese and mozzarella. You just mix the 4 cheeses together in a bowl with an egg and voila you have the filling. Here is how to do it:

  1. Roll a piece of the dough through the pasta machine a few times on the largest setting. Between each time, fold the sheet once before you run it through again. Then, slowly, you reduce the opening when you put it through until you reach the lowest setting. Use flour as necessary so it doesn’t stick.
  2. Once it is as flat as possible, do the same to another piece of dough so you have 2 sheets of pasta dough.
  3. Use a brush to “paint” the sheets with egg (so that they will stick together).
  4. Put the filling in dots along the sheet of pasta dough with enough space in between so you can close them.
  5. Cover the sheet with the filling with the other sheet, press down around the filling to close it. Then you can use a knife or a ravioli cutter to cut out the ravioli.
  6. Boil them in water until they float.
  7. Optional: fry them quickly in a pan with butter and sage.

Mine don’t look very nice but they taste good! Another filling is ricotta and spinach (with an egg), also delicious!

My pasta machine is from Eataly and I LOVE it! Next step is to make tajarin or tagliatelle or something else cool. Stay tuned!

Bon apetit!

Weeds with Sausage Ragu

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IMG_0634

Ingredients:

  • 1 tbsp olive oil
  • 1 yellow onion
  • 4 sweet italian sausage links (or sausage of your choice)
  • 1/2 6 ounce can of tomato paste
  • 1/2 cup dry white wine
  • 1/2 cup whole milk
  • salt and pepper
  • Pasta — Strozzapreti or casarecce
  • Optional (recommended): thyme, preferably fresh

IMG_0642

Preparation:

  1. Soften onions in oil, about 6-8 minutes
  2. Add sausage, cook until brown, about 10 minutes
  3. Add paste, cook for about 5 minutes
  4. Add wine, boil down until absorbed
  5. Stir in milk, season with salt & pepper (and thyme)
  6. Reduce heat, cook for about 15 minutes
  7. Meanwhile, bring a pot of water to boil and cook the pasta

And voila, you got yourself some weeds with sausage, courtesy of Piemontegirl and Mario Batali.

Bon apetit!

IMG_0648

Salsiccia Ragu

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Piemontegirl will now teach you how to make a salsiccia ragu that’s similar to everyone’s favorite “bolognese” but is so much better that you will never eat Bolognese again. Just follow these easy steps. Of course ingredients are vital, but if you have those, you should be good to go! If Piemontegirl can do it, so can you!

IMG_0634

Ingredients:

  • 1 tbsp olive oil
  • 1 yellow onion
  • 4 sweet italian sausage links (or sausage of your choice)
  • 1/2 6 ounce can of tomato paste
  • 1/2 cup dry white wine
  • 1/2 cup whole milk
  • salt and pepper
  • Pasta — Strozzapreti or casarecce
  • Optional (recommended): thyme, preferably fresh

IMG_0642

Preparation:

  1. Soften onions in oil, about 6-8 minutes
  2. Add sausage, cook until brown, about 10 minutes
  3. Then, add paste, cook for about 5 minutes
  4. Add wine, boil down until absorbed
  5. Stir in milk, season with salt & pepper (and thyme)
  6. Reduce heat, cook for about 15 minutes
  7. Meanwhile, bring a pot of water to boil and cook the pasta

Bon apetit!

Piemontegirl

Orecchiette with Sausage & Rapini

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pasta

Ingredients:

1  broccoli head

1/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil, plus 4 tbsp

1/4 cup whole skinned almonds, toasted

5 cloves roasted garlic
Pinch of hot red pepper flakes

1/2 cup grated Parmigiano

3/4 pound fresh pork sausage

1 pound orecchiette

2 tbsp unsalted butter

Prepare an ice bath and set aside. Boil water in a  pot. Blanch the broccoli for 5 minutes . Remove broccoli from the boiling water and shock in the ice bath. When the broccoli  is cool, drain and pat dry with a paper towel and reserve.

In a medium pan, add two tablespoons olive oil and cook the broccoli until lightly browned. Meanwhile, place the almonds in the bowl of a food processor and pulse until coarsely chopped. Add the broccoli, garlic, hot red pepper flakes and half of the Parmigiano to the bowl of the food processor and season with salt and pepper. While the food processor is running, slowly drizzle in 1/3 cup olive oil until a smooth pesto has formed.

Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Meanwhile, in a large  pan, add two tbsp olive oil and heat until just short of smoking. Sear the sausage until golden brown on both sides. Then, using tongs, break the sausage into small pieces and lower the heat.

Place pasta in the boiling water and cook two minutes less than indicated by the package instructions. While the pasta is boiling, add 1/4 cup pasta water to pan with the sausage. Add the pesto and work into the sausage with tongs to form a sauce. When the pasta is al dente, add it directly to the sauce and toss vigorously. Add butter and the remaining Parmigiano, remove from heat, and toss to incorporate. Plate and serve immediately.

Recipe from Mario Batali