Spaghetti all'Cacio e Pepe / Spaghetti with Cheese and Black Pepper

Next up in my series, Great Roman Pasta recipes, Spaghetti all'Cacio e Pepe. A more simple Roman pasta dish would be hard to find. I made this for the first time and I was just blow a way, it's so so good. Anthony Bourdain in an episode of "No Reservations," is quoted saying "cacio e pepe could be the greatest thing in the history of the world." 

The key to this dish is properly incorporating the reserved hot pasta water, Pecorino Romano and Parmesan cheeses creating a sauce that coats all the noodles and with just the right amount of fresh black pepper.   

Ingredients:

3/4 pound Barila spaghetti

2 tablespoons salt for pasta water

1 tablespoon olive oil

1/4 cup fine grated Parmesan cheese

1/4 cup fine grated Romano cheese

Fresh ground sea salt

Fresh ground black pepper

Italian parsley

Preparation:

Take a large stock pot and fill with water. Add 2 tablespoons salt and bring to a boil. Cook the spaghetti according to directions, which is usually 9 - 10 minutes to al dente, firm to the bite. When done, drain the spaghetti reserving 2 cups pasta water.

Heat a 12" saute pan to medium and add the olive oil. When the olive oil is hot add the spaghetti and use a pair long tongs with rubber or plastic ends to mix the pasta. Here's the part you want to get right! Add 1 cup reserved pasta water and mix using your tongs. Sprinkle on 1/4 of the cheese on to the pasta and mix. Repeat the process 3 more times until all the cheese is mixed into the noddles. At this point, add a couple tablespoons of water and mix. Next, add some salt and a generous amount of fresh black pepper. Toss for 30 seconds until piping hot and you're done.

To serve, place a portion of pasta on a serving plate and grind on some additional pepper and garnish with chopped Italian parsley. 

Sauteed Green Beans with Water Chestnuts and Sliced Garlic

Here's a simple way to kick up those wonderful green beans. Water chestnuts don't have much flavor, but have a great crunch. Saute the water chestnuts with some olive oil, sliced garlic and salt and pepper and it a beautiful thing. 

Ingredients:

1 pound fresh green beans 

1 can sliced water chestnuts

6 sliced garlic cloves

1 tablespoon olive oil 

Salt and pepper to taste

Preparation:

Take the green beans and trim off the ends. Use the stove top steamer to cook the green beans  in about 10 minutes. When done rinse in cold water to stop the cooking process.

Heat a 10" saute pan to medium. Add the olive oil, water chestnuts, sliced garlic and some salt and pepper. Saute slowly for 5 minutes or so not burning the garlic. Add the green beans and heat to serving temperature. 

To serve, place the green beans on a serving plate and top with the water chestnuts and sliced garlic. 

Spaghetti all'Armatriciana / Spaghetti with Bacon, Cheese and Tomato

Second in my series, Great Roman Pasta Recipes is Spaghetti all'Armatricana. This is essentially the same recipe as Pasta all'Gricia I made last week, but with the addition of tomato's. All'Armatriciana originates from the town of Armatrice in the Sabine hills not far from Rome. It is said that the shepherds of Armitrice took the recipe to Rome when on their seasonal wanderings and the Romans adopted the dish as their official Cuisine of Rome. 

Ingredients:

1/2 pound Barila spaghetti

2 tablespoons salt

1/3 pound gaunciale, a cured meat made from pork jowls or cheeks. Gaunciale is not generally available in the US, so pacetta is the closest substitute. However, even pacetta can be hard to find so I'm using:
1/2 pound bacon. 

2 crushed garlic cloves
pinch red pepper flakes

1 - 14 ounce can chopped tomato's, strained

1/4 cup fine grated Parmesan or Romano Cheese

Italian parsley

Preparation:

Take a 12" saute pan and heat to medium high. Cut the bacon into 1/3 inch pieces and add to the saute pan. Cook the bacon until crisp, but not burnt. Add the garlic and red pepper flakes and cook 1 minute and turn off the heat. Remove all but 1 tablespoon of the bacon fat from the pan. Add the chopped tomato's to the pan. Set a side until the pasta is ready.

Take a large stock pot and fill with water. Add 2 tablespoons salt and bring to a boil. Cook the spaghetti according to directions, which is usually 9 - 10 minutes to al dente, firm to the bite. When done, drain the spaghetti reserving 1 cup pasta water.

When the pasta is done, heat the 12" saute pan to medium high and add the spaghetti and toss with the bacon, garlic, red pepper flakes and tomato's for a minute. Add the cup of reserved pasta water, toss for 30 seconds. Sprinkle the cheese on to the pasta and toss. Add some salt and pepper to taste and toss for 30 seconds until piping hot and you're done.

To serve, place a portion of pasta on a serving plate and garnish with Parmesan or Romano cheese and chopped Italian parsley. 

Pasta all'Gricia / Spaghetti with Bacon and Cheese

This month I'm going to do a series on the great Roman pasta recipes. I'll be making 4 dishes; Pasta all'Gricia, Carbonara, Cacio e Pepe and all'Amatriciana.

Tonight I'm making Pasta all'Gricia. Pasta all'Gricia is 1 of the 4 "Seriously Roman" pasta dishes you must try. The recipe comes from Grisciano, a small beautiful town in the mountains of the Lazio region, see map below. While least famous of the group, many will say that it's their favorite!

Ingredients:

1/2 pound Barila spaghetti

2 tablespoons salt

1/3 pound gaunciale, a cured meat made from pork jowls or cheeks. Gaunciale is not generally available in the US, so pacetta is the closest substitute. However, even pacetta can be hard to find so I'm using:
1/2 pound bacon.
2 crushed garlic cloves

1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes

1/4 cup fine grated Parmesan or Romano Cheese
Italian parsley

Preparation:

Take a 12" saute pan and heat to medium high. Cut the bacon into 1/3 inch pieces and add to the saute pan. Cook the bacon until crisp, but not burnt. When cooked add the garlic and red pepper flakes, toss and remove from the heat. Remove 1/3 of the amount of bacon from the pan and save for garnish. Remove all but 1 tablespoon of the bacon fat from the pan.

Take a large stock pot and fill with water. Add 2 tablespoons salt and bring to a boil. Cook the spaghetti according to directions, which is usually 9 - 10 minutes to al dente, firm to the bite. When done, drain the spaghetti reserving 1 cup pasta water.

When the pasta is done, heat the 12" saute pan to medium high and add the spaghetti to the bacon, garlic and red pepper flakes and toss for a minute. Add the cup of reserved pasta water, toss for 30 seconds. Sprinkle the cheese on the pasta and toss. Add and some salt and pepper and to taste and toss for 30 seconds until piping hot and you're done.

To serve, place a portion of pasta on a serving plate and garnish with crumbled bacon, Parmesan or Romano cheese and chopped Italian parsley. 

Coconut Rice with Red Beans

I saw this recipe for coconut rice which also incorporated red beans and I had all the ingredients on hand so I gave it a shot. What I really liked was that the recipe started with sauteed garlic and green onions added to the rice cooker before cooking. This gives the cooked rice a nice savory flavor and the flavor of the coconut milk is just so awesome. All I can say is that I made the exact same thing the next night, it was so good! All I needed was some coconut half's to serve the rice.

Ingredients:

1 cup white rice
1 teaspoon olive oil
2 minced garlic cloves
3 diced green onions
1 cup red beans or red kidney beans
1 cup coconut milk
1 cup water
Salt to taste, about 1/4 teaspoon

Preparation:

Heat a small saute pan to medium and add the olive oil, garlic and green onions. Cook for a couple of minutes until the garlic and green onion are softened and translucent.

Take a medium saute pan and add the all the ingredients; sauteed garlic and green onions, rice, beans, coconut milk, water and salt. Heat to boil and then simmer on very low heat for approximately 15 minutes. Remove from the heat just before all the moisture is absorbed, this will keep the rice from burning on the bottom of the sauce pan. Let the rice rest 10 minutes with the lid on and then fluff with a fork and you're ready to serve.  

Chicken Breast stuffed with Kale, Cranberries, Apple and Cheddar Cheese

I saw this dinner entree at Costco in the frozen section a couple weeks ago and thought I'd give it a try. The chicken breasts come frozen raw, so you'll need to defrost and then they easily bake at 350 degrees in about 25 minutes. I thought that the stuffed chicken breasts were exceptional. The meat was properly seasoned, moist and the stuffing of kale, cranberries apple and cheddar cheese really worked well. I went back to Costco to get another package and found out they're a seasonal item and sold out for the season :(  Look for these stuffed chicken breasts next year, you'll be happy you did!

Preparation:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Place the defrosted stuffed chicken breasts on a non stick baking pan. Bakes for approx 25 minutes. Make sure the chicken breasts are done to 165 degrees. Remove from the oven and cover with aluminum foil and let rest for 5 minutes. Serve the chicken breasts as is, or with your choice of starch and or vegetable. Kick it up a notch by making a simple chicken gravy. 

Ingredients:

1 cup water

2 packets Trader Joe's savory chicken broth 

2 tablespoon Wondra flour

Preparation:

To make the chicken gravy, combine the water, savory chicken broth mix and Wondra flour in a small bowl and mix well. Heat a small 8" saute pan to medium high and add the gravy mixture. Stir continuously and as the gravy heats up to a boil, it will also thicken because of the flour.