Parsley Pesto & Egg Yolk Spaghetti

Well, to be honest it's not exactly a pesto. I took inspiration (as on so many other occasions) from Jamie Oliver and put together one of the most simple and delicious pasta dishes. In fact, I guess that with pasta, simplicity is the key: keep it simple, good ingreds, watch, learn, practice, eat right away!

INGREDIENTS:

• spaghetti pasta;
• 2 cloves garlic;
• a big handfull parsley leaves (extra for garnish);
• 2 tablespoons grated pamesan cheese per serving;
• 1 egg yolk per serving;
• 2-3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil per serving;
• salt, coarse ground black pepper;
• a few drops lemon juice (optional).

So, in a stone mortar crush 2 garlic cloves with salt (acts as an abrasive and draws moisture from the garlic making it pasty). Then pick the leaves from a good bunch of parsley (about how much you can squeeze into the mortar bowl). Crush well by hitting and with circular motions of the pestle. Poor in some olive oil, a few tablespoons. To make it more pesto like, you can add grated parmesan and pine nuts. I did not.

In stead I put the grated parmesan in a bowl and to that I added one egg yolk per serving. Stir well and add olive oil to taste. The same with coarse crushed black pepper. No fire so far!

Add the garlic parsley mush to the egg and parmesan. It must have reduced to a spoonfull by crushing it. 

Jamie adds some lemon juice. I added very little, just a few drops. It's true that it can bring a nice flavour to the dish but it can ruin it just the same. I personally like the olive oil flavour better.

Boil the pasta in salted water and when al dente just add it to the sauce bowl without straining it too much. Starchy pasta water is welcome to thin the sauce and give it a velvety consistency. Coat well the pasta and serve immediately with extra parsley leaves and grated parmesan.

It's a great pasta sauce idea which combines the velvet sauce of the carbonara with the freshness of the parsley and fruity olive oil.

It was so goo that I scooped up the remainder of the sauce from the plate with a loaf of bread. Enjoy!

Mushroom Soup

This is another adaptation recipe from Jamie Oliver's Cookbook Jamie's Dinners. In the soup chapter he gives us a mix mushrooms cream soup with at least three different kinds of mushrooms in it. It's a cream soup with some whole bits in it, too. The idea to make it came to me from the great loaf of bread that I just baked the other day. I could just imagine sinking a torn bit of bread in the mushroomy broth/cream and biting out of it!

INGREDIENTS:

• about 500 to 700 gr. mushrooms of as many types as you can find (wild ones are unbeatable in the taste dept. and porcini are the next best thing; I used two types of champignon - white and brown, and a third Chanterelle mushrooms);
• one large onion;
• few tablespoons olive oil;
• 2 cloves garlic;
• 1 inch cube butter;
• 1 liter water or chicken stock;
• salt, pepper, time, fresh parsley.

HOW TO MAKE:

Heat up some olive oil and the butter in a pan and add the onion (chopped fine). Add salt and then throw in the mushrooms cut into medium pieces (about 1 inch). Stir them around and add the finely chopped garlic cloves, salt and pepper. Stir and notice the mushrooms start to leak a lot of liquid. Add the time and cook on medium heat until the liquid has almost evaporated (about 10 minutes). Don't burn anything. Add water or stock to cover and boil another 20 minutes. 

At this point use a hand blender to cream at least half the soup. The other half or quarter of the mushrooms you put aside and add them back into the pot after blending the rest. The proportions are up to you. I personally like to feel the whole bits of meaty mushrooms in the bowl.

Bring to a last boil, taste and adjust for condiments, then turn off the heat. Now add the fresh parsley, chopped. You can serve it in heated bowls with a drizzle of good quality extra virgin olive oil over it, and maybe some sour cream. Jamie Oliver's recipe calls for two tablespoons of mascarpone cheese mixed into the soup. I thought it would make it to rich and fatty so I didn't use it.

Good bread is a must. A little toasted slice of country bread makes the perfect addition to the hot bowl of mushroom soup. Enjoy!

Pasta Peperonata

Pasta Peperonata is Italian for pasta with peppers. It's an honest tasty dish featured in Jamie Oliver's "Jamie's Dinners" cookbook that I got for my birthday from my lovely wife this year. It's only my 3rd Jamie cookbook!

I want to cook more seasonal and take advantage of my fathers organic vegetable garden. This year it yielded some amazing sweet red long peppers. So, pasta peperonata it is.

INGREDIENTS:

• short pasta like penne or tortiglioni;
• 1 and 1/2 or 2 big meaty peppers per person;
• 1 medium onion;
• 1 clove garlic;
• 3 to 5 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil;
• 3 to 5 tablespoons balsamic vinegar;
• Parmesan cheese, grated;
• optional, Mascarpone cheese or sweet cream;
• salt, pepper, oregano.

HOW TO MAKE:

Heat the oil in the pan and add the chopped garlic so as not to burn it. Cut the peppers into 1 or 2 inch bits and  fry them in the pan on low heat for 10 or 15 minutes. Cut the onion julien and add to the pan. Stir constantly and fry on low heat for another 15 to 20 minutes. Both peppers and onions should get tender and very sweet. Condiment with salt and pepper. Add some balsamic vinegar and stir some more. Taste and season again if needed.

Pasta should be starting to boil in the last 10 minutes of this preparation. Feel free to add a ladle of the starchy pasta water to the pan and create a soft sauce. Optionally you can thicken the sauce by adding a tablespoon of mascarpone cheese or 200 ml of cooking cream. Try it without first, as I did. It is more authentic Italian and less sophisticated this way. Closer to the "cucina povera" idea. Also you get to taste the sweetness of the pepper onion sauce better.

Throw the "al dente" pasta into the pan with the peppers and toss around. Let it cook for about 3 to 5 minutes in there. Taste and season. Add the grated parmesan cheese to taste. If the sauce is too thick add some more pasta water.

Serve hot, preferably in heated plates, with extra parmesan and a drizzle of good quality "extra vregine". Mama, che buono!