Cacio e Pepe

This is a dream quick dish for me. Cheese and pepper… two of my favorite ingredients. This classic Italian recipe was adapted from Bon Appetit.

I have made it on a few occasions using both Barilla bucatini and DeCecco linguine fine, par cooking the pasta for 5 minutes. It is wonderful served with a simple green salad or roasted vegetables. Love it.

Yield: Serves 2 to 3

• coarse salt
• 8 oz pasta (such as egg tagliolini, bucatini, linguine fini, or spaghetti)
• 3 T unsalted butter, cubed, divided
• 1 tsp freshly cracked black pepper
• 3/4 cup finely grated Grana Padano or Parmesan
• 1/3 cup finely grated Pecorino Romano

1. Bring 3 quarts water to a boil in a 5-qt. pot. Season with salt; add pasta and cook, stirring occasionally, until about 2 minutes before tender. Drain, reserving 3/4 cup pasta cooking water.
2. Meanwhile, melt 2 tablespoons of butter in a large heavy skillet over medium heat. Add pepper and cook, swirling pan, until toasted, about 1 minute.
3. Add 1/2 cup reserved pasta water to skillet and bring to a simmer. Add pasta and remaining butter.
4. Reduce heat to low and add Grana Padano, stirring and tossing with tongs until melted. Remove pan from heat; add Pecorino, stirring and tossing until cheese melts, sauce coats the pasta, and pasta is al dente. (Add more pasta water if sauce seems dry. I added all of the remaining pasta water.)
5. Transfer pasta to warm bowls and serve.

One Year Ago:

• Harissa Marinade

Two Years Ago:

• Stir-Fried Chicken & Bok Choy

Three Years Ago:

• Rigatoni & Cauliflower Al Forno

Four Years Ago:

• Escarole, Feta, & Shrimp Pasta

Five Years Ago:

• $4 Spaghetti That’s Almost as Good as $24 Spaghetti

Bucatini with Lemony Carbonara

My son said, “I may not be able to eat another type of pasta for the rest of my life.” If that wasn’t enough, he then added, “This is one of the best dinners I’ve ever eaten.” I’ll take that complement! 🙂

I must say that the bucatini noodles were wonderful. A perfect complement to this quick and luscious sauce. The added lemon zest and juice in this version of the classic dish balanced nicely with the richness. I also loved the hint of spice from the freshly cracked black pepper.

This recipe was adapted from Bon Appetit, contributed by Chris Morocco. I served it with roasted asparagus on the side. Absolutely fabulous!

Yield: 4 Servings

• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 6 to 8 ounces pancetta, cubed, or slab bacon, thinly sliced and cut crosswise into ½-inch pieces
• 2 large shallots, finely chopped
• 8 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
• 1 teaspoon freshly cracked black pepper
• 16 ounces bucatini or other long-strand pasta
• coarse salt
• 2 ounces Parmesan or Grana Padano Parmesan, grated, divided, plus more for serving
• 2 large egg yolks
• 1 teaspoon finely grated lemon zest, plus thinly sliced zest for serving (optional)
• 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

1. Heat oil in a large skillet over medium. Cook pancetta, tossing often, until browned and crisp, 5 to 7 minutes.
2. Add shallots and garlic and cook, stirring occasionally, until softened, about 5 minutes.
3. Add pepper and cook, stirring often, just until fragrant, about 1 minute.
4. Meanwhile, cook pasta in a large pot of boiling salted water, stirring occasionally, until al dente. Drain, reserving 1½ cups pasta cooking liquid.
5. Add pasta to skillet along with ½ cup pasta cooking liquid and 1 oz. Parmesan and toss to coat.
6. Remove skillet from heat and add egg yolks. Toss again, adding more pasta cooking liquid as needed, until a smooth glossy sauce coats pasta.
7. Add grated lemon zest, lemon juice, and another 1 oz. Parmesan. Toss to coat, adding more pasta cooking liquid if needed to loosen sauce. (I added a total of 1 cup pasta water.)
8. Divide pasta among bowls; top with sliced lemon zest and more Parmesan, as desired.

One Year Ago:

• Oaxacan Pork Picadillo Tacos

Two Years Ago:

• Slow Cooker Pork Tinga Tacos

Three Years Ago:

• Creamy Mushroom Pappardelle

Four Years Ago:

• Margherita Pizza with Tomato, Mozzarella, and Basil
• Perfect Pizza Sauce

Broken Pasta with Shredded Pork & Arugula

Arugula is my absolute favorite item in my CSA share. It is so peppery and fabulous. I loved that this cozy comfort food dish used it as a glorious and bright topping along with lemon juice and cheese.

This dish was adapted from chef Nick Anderer of restaurant Maialino in New York, via Smitten Kitchen. I used boneless pork shoulder ribs instead of a whole pork shoulder, increased the lemon juice and cheese, added a carrot and omitted the fennel. I also cooked the meat in a slow cooker instead of the oven.

I reserved half of the cooked meat, after step 9, to freeze to enjoy at a later date. Nice.

Yield: Serves 8 to 10

• 4 pounds boneless pork shoulder rib pieces (or 1 bone-in pork shoulder, about 4 pounds)
• coarse salt
• 4 T olive oil, divided
• 1 large white or yellow onion, peeled and cut into large pieces
• 2 large ribs celery, cut into large pieces
• 1 carrot or 1 small fennel bulb, trimmed and cut into large pieces
• 1 quart chicken stock, plus a splash or two more, if needed
• 3 sprigs fresh thyme
• freshly ground black pepper
• 4 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 20-ounces dry lasagna, broken into 3-inch shards
• 4 tablespoons fresh lemon juice, or more to taste
• 4 tablespoons (or more) grated or shaved parmesan or grand padano cheese
• 1 tablespoon chopped parsley, if desired
• Large handful or two of arugula leaves, cleaned

1. Prepare pork: Use a sharp knife to remove the thick skin from the pork, but not trimming off all the fat — leave a thin sheen. Season generously with salt and place in fridge until ready to use — overnight is ideal but a few hours will cut it as well.
2. Sear the pork: Heat a deep saucepan over medium-high and add 2 tablespoons of the olive oil. When it shimmers, gently cook the onion, celery and carrot (or fennel) until they begin to soften, about 10 minutes. Remove from pan and set aside.
3. Dry pork with a paper towel to remove some excess salt. Season with pepper. Add an additional 2 tablespoons of olive oil to the pan, then add the pork and cook until browned on all sides.
4. Add pork to a slow cooker. Add broth, vegetables, and thyme sprigs. Cover.
5. Cook on high for 3 hours. Remove pork from braising liquid. Allow to cool enough to be able to handle.
6. Using two forks, tear the meat into bite-size shreds. Place in a large bowl.
7. Strain the braising liquid, pouring enough of it over the pork to barely cover it and keep it from drying out. Place back in the slow cooker insert and set to warm.
8. Pour the rest of the braising liquid into the original saucepan and simmer it until it is reduced by half.
9. Add pork and cooking liquid that has covered it, and warm it back to a simmer. Taste and adjust seasonings, adding more salt and pepper if needed. (**At this point, I reserved half of the meat and braising liquid to freeze for use at another time.**)
10. Add the butter and stir to emulsify. (Because I removed half of the pork, I used 1/2 of the amount of ingredients listed above for the remainder of this dish, including the butter.)
11. Bring large pot of well-salted water to boil. Cook pasta until al dente, or usually a minute shy of package directions. (I used no-cook lasagna noodles and cooked them for about 8 minutes.)
12. Drain and add to the pork mixture, simmering for 1 minute.
13. Add the lemon juice, half the cheese and parsley, if using.
14. Ladle into wide pasta bowls with and top with arugula and remaining cheese.

Note: If saving some of the pork to use later, rewarm the defrosted pork and braising liquid to a simmer, add a splash or two of pasta cooking water if needed to loosen it, and then the butter. Add freshly cooked pasta, lemon juice and parmesan from here.

One Year Ago:

• Penne with Radicchio

Two Years Ago:

• Classic Mozzarella Grandma Pizza Pie

Three Years Ago:

• Pasta with Greens, Caramelized Onions & Garlicky Bread Crumbs
• Black Bean & Roasted Poblano Tacos
• Corn Tortillas

Four Years Ago:

• $4 Spaghetti That’s Almost as Good as $24 Spaghetti

Whole Wheat Potato-Spinach Gnocchi with Kale-Walnut Pesto

In the past, I have found making gnocchi to be a frustrating experience. I blame my previous difficulty on waterlogged potatoes… In this recipe, the potatoes are baked prior to ricing- no water involved- it worked perfectly!  The gnocchi were tender, soft, and pillowy. This dish was inspired by alamain.net. The recipe for gnocchi was adapted from Food and Wine, contributed by Grace Parisi. I modified it by adding spinach, using whole wheat flour, and dressing it with pesto. The pesto recipe was adapted from alamain.net. I used Tuscan Kale instead of Rainbow Kale, Grana Padano instead of Parmesan, and walnuts instead of pine nuts. I doubled the gnocchi recipe to freeze a batch for later. Green, healthy, and delicious!

Yield: Serves 6 to 8

For the Gnocchi:

• 4 pounds russet potatoes (about 6) (enough to make 5 cups riced potatoes)
• 5 large egg yolks
• coarse salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 1 1/4 to 1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour, or enough to achieve desired dough texture, plus more for dusting
• 6 oz baby spinach
• 1 T olive oil
• Kale-Walnut Pesto (recipe follows)
• Freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano or Grana Padano cheese

1. Preheat the oven to 400°. Pierce the potatoes all over with a fork. Alternatively, bake the potatoes in the oven for about 1 hour, until tender.
2. Meanwhile, sauté the baby spinach in olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Set aside to cool. Using the potato ricer, squeeze out excess moisture from the spinach. Finely chop the drained spinach in a food processor.
3. Halve the potatoes. Scoop the flesh into a ricer and rice the potatoes.  Transfer 5 slightly packed cups of riced potatoes to a bowl. Stir in the egg yolks, drained and chopped spinach, and 2 1/2 teaspoons of salt. Add the 1 to 1 1/2 cups of flour; stir until a stiff dough forms. Knead the dough gently until smooth but slightly sticky, adding more flour if necessary.
4. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and dust with flour. On a floured surface, cut the dough into 16 pieces, rolling each into a 3/4-inch-thick rope. Cut the ropes into 3/4-inch pieces.
5. With your thumb, roll each piece against the tines of a fork to make ridges (I dusted the gnocchi, fork, and my thumb with flour before rolling); transfer to the baking sheet.
6. In a large pot of simmering salted water, cook the gnocchi in batches until they rise to the surface, then simmer for 2 minutes longer. Repeat as necessary. (Do not overcrowd!)
7. Toss the gnocchi with pesto to cover, sprinkle with the cheese, and serve.

MAKE AHEAD: The uncooked gnocchi pieces can be frozen on the prepared baking sheet, transferred to a resealable plastic bag, and frozen for up to 1 month. Boil without defrosting. (I reserved half of the batch.)

For the Kale-Walnut Pesto

• 1 cup fresh basil
• 1 cup Tuscan kale
• 1/4 cup walnuts
• 4 T olive oil
• 1/4 cup grated Grana Padano
• 3 cloves garlic, peeled

1. Place all ingredients in a food processor and blend until paste consistency is reached. Store in an airtight container.

One Year Ago:

• Gnocchi with Bacon and Tomatoes

If you like this you may also like:

• Spinach Gnocchi with Shaved Ricotta Salata

Roasted Cabbage and Bacon Pasta

I love finding new uses for cabbage. I was so excited to read about roasting cabbage with bacon on Cottage Grove House. I had never roasted cabbage before. Genius!– and I had two types of CSA cabbage sitting in my refrigerator waiting for a plan! 🙂 The original recipe was for a side dish but I thought it would be fabulous over pasta as a main dish. This recipe was adapted from cottagegrovehouse.com. It was DELICIOUS!!

Yield: Serves 4 to 6

• 1/2 head green and/or red cabbage, sliced 1/4-inch thick
• 1/2 head savoy or napa cabbage, sliced 1/4-inch thick
• 6 slices of thick cut bacon, sliced 1/4-inch thick
• drizzling of avocado or olive oil
• coarse salt and freshly ground black pepper
• freshly grated Grana Padano or Parmesan, for serving
• 3/4 to 1 pound fresh pasta noodles, such as Trofie or dry pasta noodles, such as Strozzapreti

 

1. Preheat oven to 450 degrees (convection).
2. Place the cabbage, bacon, oil, salt, and pepper in a large bowl and toss until well coated. Spread evenly onto two large, rimmed baking sheets. 
3. Roast, turning regularly with a spatula, about 30 minutes, or until well roasted and bacon is crispy, yet still meaty.
4. Meanwhile, bring a large pot of water to a boil. Add salt. Cook the pasta according to package directions.
5. Combine cooked pasta with cabbage mixture. Top with grated cheese and serve.

Swiss Chard Pesto with Strozzapreti & Poached Eggs

My husband was reading a New York Times review of a Sag Harbor restaurant named The Cuddy and a dish they described struck his fancy. Swiss chard, basil pesto over fresh tagliatelle topped with a poached egg. It sounded so good that he suggested that we make our own version of this dish. So, this is it. It was great! I have been making a lot of pesto lately- but not Swiss chard pesto! 🙂 Thanks for a tasty idea, The Cuddy. We love Sag Harbor so we’ll be sure to visit. I may modify my version after eating the real thing…. The fresh tagliatelle makes it more restaurant worthy, no doubt.

I used strozzapreti pasta instead of tagliatelle, Grana Padano instead of goat cheese, and kept the poached egg. Eggs are great with greens. The chard pesto was very flavorful and nice.

• 2 cups rainbow chard, stemmed and sliced, about 2 large leaves
• 1/4 cup basil
• pinch of coarse salt
• 1 garlic clove
• 2 T chopped walnuts
• 1/2 cup Grana Padano or other hard cheese such as Parmesan or pecorino Romano, grated
• 1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
• 1 pound strozzapreti or tagliatelle
• 1 poached egg per serving

1. Combine the chard, basil, salt, garlic, nuts and oil in a food processor. Process until combined, scraping down the sides as necessary.
2. Stir in the cheese just before serving.
3. Cook the pasta in salted water according to package directions until al dente.
4. Meanwhile, bring a scant 1-inch of water to a boil in a deep skillet. Add 1 teaspoon coarse salt and 1 tablespoon white vinegar. Reduce heat to a low simmer (tiny bubbles around the edge of the pan).
5. One at a time, break eggs into a shallow bowl or coffee cup, slowly lower into the simmering water. Partially cover the pan and cook until the white is set and the yolk is filmed over, about 3-5 minutes.
6. Remove egg from the pan with a slotted spoon and drain excess water onto a paper towel lined plate. Season with additional salt and pepper, if desired.
7. Combine pesto with warm pasta. Top with poached egg. Serve immediately.

Bucatini with Asparagus Pesto

This is a super-easy, fresh, seasonal, and nut-free pesto. My husband and son complained about the amount of lemon juice in this dish- I thought that it added a lot of brightness. (Update: I reduced the amount when revisiting the dish.)

This recipe was adapted from the New York Times, contributed by Florence Fabricant. I doubled the recipe and added extra garlic, noted below.

Yield: 4 to 6 servings

• about 1 3/4 to 2 pound of trimmed asparagus, pencil size
• 8 cloves garlic, chopped
• 3/4 cup (12 T) extra-virgin olive oil
• 1 cup grated Grana Padano (about 4 ounces), plus more for serving
• juice and grated zest of 1 to 2 large lemon(s), divided (my crowd preferred one lemon)
• coarse salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 1 pound of pasta such as bucatini or linguine
• 2 to 3 T chopped fresh oregano leaves

1. Snap off and discard ends of asparagus. (I used about 1 3/4 pounds of trimmed asparagus.)
2. Cut off top two inches of spears and reserve.
3. Chop rest of spears and put in food processor with garlic, processing until very finely minced.
4. With the machine running, drizzle in olive oil.
5. Add 1 cup grated cheese and pulse. Transfer mixture to a bowl, fold in lemon zest, season with salt and pepper and set aside.
6. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil, add pasta and cook until not quite al dente. Add asparagus tips to the pot and cook another 1 to 2 minutes, until pasta is al dente. Drain, reserving 1 cup of pasta cooking water. Set the pot aside.
7. Spoon 1/4 cup pasta water back into the pasta pot. Add pasta and asparagus tips to the pot along with asparagus mixture and the lemon juice. Cook over low heat, stirring with tongs, 3 minutes or so, until ingredients are well blended.
8. Check seasonings and adjust as necessary. Transfer to a serving bowl, scatter with oregano and extra cheese.