The Whole Wheat

The other day after a Monday at the office, Brad and I arrived home and remembered – we need to eat dinner! Actually I’d been starving all day so it took no recall for me to remember this event – all I was focused on was what do I have on hand, what will be relatively quick to make, and what sounds fun for this spring Monday?

In the refrigerator I found a package of guanciale – a most amazing piece of cured pork cheek that was in my recent Boccalone box. (More on my Boccalone boxes soon!) We were told when we picked up the meat at Incanto that guanciale was the traditional meat used for spaghetti alla carbonara. And with that promise, I agreed that I would make a batch of carbonara pasta for us – one day.

The fact I must confess is that I generally do not like creamy types of sauces. I’m much more of a fresh and light flavor eater. Plus quite frankly, most cream sauces in the U.S. do a disservice to the concept of Italian cuisine and generally should be avoided – in my opinion! I’ve had cream & egg based sauces in Italy and they certainly brokered none of the complaints I have about them in the states. BUT the point is, I come from a perspective of not really loving heavy, creamy types of pasta dishes and rarely – if ever – concede to create one at home.

Tonight became the chosen evening for a carbonara adventure. Carbonara dishes come together spectacularly easily and when you can use the freshest of local ingredients, you can’t complain about the health detriments (too much). The same day we picked up the guanciale, we picked up a fettuccine from our favorite store that appealed to us. On Saturday at the farmer’s market, I had picked up fresh eggs from my favorite egg supplier. And I had parmesan in the fridge. With those simple ingredients – carbonara was ready to be made!

One note about the guanciale – though I will post much more information about it shortly when I post about Boccalone. Though it would be wildly frowned upon by a purist I am sure, do feel free to use pancetta or bacon in lieu of the guanciale which may be impossible to locate where you live. If however you can secure guanciale – it is worth the effort! We were blown away by the flavors and depth of this simple cured meat.

With those notes, I present to you fettuccine alla carbonara. Enjoy and let me know what you think!

Ingredients (for 4 servings):

• 4 oz. of guanciale (or pancetta or bacon)
• 2 eggs, the fresher the better
• 1 c. grated parmesan cheese
• 3/4 – 1 lb. of spaghetti or fettuccine
• freshly ground pepper & salt to taste

1. Bring a large pot of water to a boil.
2. Mince or roughly chop the guanciale – the smaller the chop the smaller the flecks will be in the pasta.
3. Warm a saute pan to medium-high heat. Add the guanciale and saute until nicely browned and just a bit crispy.
4. Meanwhile cook the pasta as directed (usually 5-10 minutes) in the boiling water.
5. Lightly beat the eggs and combine with the cheese.
6. When the pasta has been fully cooked and drained, add the egg & cheese mixture and stir well. Add the cooked meat and combine. Put into serving dishes and pepper well. Add salt sparingly though.
7. Enjoy your authentic (as far as my research shows!) Italian carbonara dish!

I’ve spent a lot of time sorting through my magazines and recipes – trying to get organized! The fall cleaning I suppose. At any rate I stumbled on this recipe and realized I had about a pound of chanterelles in the fridge – perfect timing! This is a lovely light pasta sauce that is very quick and easy to make, but delicious! It would be ideal over freshly made pasta, but for a quick dinner, store bought whole wheat works for me.

Ingredients:

• 3/4 oz. dried porcini mushrooms (I used dried shitakes – but would not recommend that, they were chewy – so stick with porcinis)
• 1 1/2 c. boiling water
• 3 T butter (I use vegan margarine)
• 1 T olive oil
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 lb. chanterelles (or any wild mushrooms), cleaned and thickly sliced
• 3 T. parsley, chopped
• 1/2 package of whole wheat fettuccine
• 1/4 c. freshly grated parmesan

1. Place porcinis in a bowl and soak in the hot water for 30 minutes, or until soft. Drain but reserve the soaking liquid.
2. Meanwhile bring water to a boil and cook fettuccine according to directions.
3. In a large, deep skillet, melt butter with oil over medium heat. Add garlic and saute until it begins to brown. Add the fresh mushrooms; sprinkle with salt & pepper then cover. Cook until tender, about 6 minutes, stirring often.
4. When fresh mushrooms are tender, add the drained porcinis. Cover and cook 2 minutes. Uncover and saute about 2 minutes longer. Mix in parsley and season with salt & pepper.
5. Add drained noodles & cheese to the mushroom sauce in skillet. Toss over medium heat until the cheese melts and the pasta is well coated. Add reserved mushroom soaking liquid if sauce is too dry.

This pasta dish was delicious! It had a nice spread of flavors and a lot of health benefits in the beans and chard as well. The only time consuming (but not hard!) element in this recipe is preparing the beans. You can do that in advance or used canned (rinse well) if desired. Don’t let the bean prep stop you from enjoying this great dish! Note: there are carrots on the right side of this plate – Brad always loves to eat the boiled stock carrots – these are from the white beans. Read more »

I don’t often make baked pasta dishes but perhaps that will change now that I’ve tried this ooey-gooey-delicious mess. I based this recipe on one I found in Cooking Light for March 2007. Several substitutions and ratio changes later, and we have Baked Penne with Sausage, Kale, & Buttery Crumb Topping. I liked how this turned out in small indivdual serving dishes, plus I used less pasta than the Cooking Light version so it was creamier as a result. Serve with a salad and you have a perfect dinner – and left overs for lunch! Read more »