Veggie Carbonara - Un salto nel passato

Today's been one of those days when dinner menu was thought & schemed in less than 30 seconds: generated as a carrot came into my vision field. 

This is a pasta dish I learned from an old friend's mother; I don't think we're that friends anymore but there are things and memories that keep humans connected - even against our will - and food is one of those things. I find this brilliant. A past experience to still connect us in the present. Well, in this case, in my present. So, this being a recipe from my childhood, this post is aptly named 'un salto nel passato': a step back in time.

When memories and senses connect it always comes to mind the "petite madeleine" Proust described in his Recherche. In my case though, it was sight, rather than taste that jogged my memory and pushed me to recreate this recipe, but the effect was quite similar. And welcome.

Enough with the rambling, here's the recipe:

Serves 1

2/3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

1 medium/large carrot thinly sliced

1/2 onion chopped

250/350 ml vegetable stock made with...

...1/2 good quality vegetable stock cube (I go for yeast-free Just Bouillon)

1 egg

70 gr spaghetti (wholemeal work well here)

Put a pot of salty water on the cooker and bring to a boil.

Heat 2/3 tbs of oil in frying pan, add the onion and fry for 10 minutes. Add the sliced carrot and let it cook for a few minutes before adding the stock. 

Hopefully your water in the pot is now boiling, so you can drown your spaghetti to cook them.

Carrots and onions need to simmer for 15 minutes or until the carrots are cooked to your taste (ideally you want them al dente, like pasta) and the stock has dried leaving a nice sauce. Turn off the heat and remove the pan from the cooker.

Crack an egg in a plate and mix it, then add it to the carrot & onion mix. This should still be warm enough but not too hot as to cook the egg. You're not making frittata!

Drain your spaghetti and dress with the carrot & onion mix.  

Enjoy whilst reading "Du côté de chez Swann". Or not.

A Cooking Week-End

It always takes so long to get to that oh-so longed for week-end. And then there was none, gone so fast you don't even have time to mourn it. However, needless to say, if time goes by so fast that kind of means you are enjoying yourself, aren't you.

So,what have I been doing then?! I have four words for you: chocolate, beef mince, veggies. Not in this order, and definitely NOT together. These are the main component of a Sunday three course meal, one third healthy, two thirds naughty...

Let's get started with the veggies: a nice traditional selection of fresh vegetables for a feast in your big saucepan.

Minestrone Tradizionale

(serves 4)

All kind of vegetables will do, but I always go for the delicious traditional ones! 

courgettes (2 medium ones), 

carrots (2 big ones), 

cauliflower (half), 

tomatoes (canned chopped tomatoes will do just fine, 400gr), 

potatoes (4 medium ones), 

1 medium onion, 

celery (2 stalks), 

garlic, 

parsley, 

basil, 

salt & pepper, 

extra-virgin olive oil, 

cold water 

sun dried tomatoes (1 per person) - optional

pasta (small kind, optional)

Start by dicing and cutting all your veggies: two courgettes and one carrot sliced, potatoes diced, cauliflower follow the florets and cut accordingly. Finely chop the celery, the other carrot, 1 clove of garlic, the onion, and the sun dried tomatoes washed and peeled; put some olive oil in you pan and sautée this mix. Add all your veggies after 8-10 minutes (courgettes, the carrot, cauliflower, potatoes, and tomatoes and top with cold water. Make sure all your veggies are well covered in water...dancing in water! Then add salt and pepper to taste.

Let the ingredients cook for 40-50 minutes. Once you are happy with the veggies consistency (don't let the potatoes become mash!) switch off and add freshly chopped basil and parsley.

If you like pasta, you can cook the small kind (such as Ditalini Rigati or Farfalline, roughly 40 gr per person) of pasta on the side in salted boiling water and add to your minestrone for a more filling dish.

Polpettone Ripieno - Meatloaf

(with a cheese, ham, mushrooms filling)

Now, if you went for pasta in your minestrone you may not be at your best to tuck into the Polpettone, which I usually have on its own as a main dish. But worry not! I will provide the recipe nonetheless.

Meatloaf outer shell:

beef mince (or veal or pork or a mix - to your taste really - 500)

parsley

egg (1 whole)

parmesan (2 tbsp)

bread crumbs (2 tbsp - and some more to roll the finished meatloaf in)

white wine - or rosé if that's what you have in your fridge like me (2 tbsp)

Filling:

mozzarella (6-9 slices depending on how big they are)

crudo ham (4-5 slices)

extra virgin olive oil

garlic (to your taste either cut the clove in half and then remove or crush it)

white wine (2 tbsp)

mushrooms (300gr roughly sliced)

parsley

salt & pepper

Start by cooking the sliced mushroom in a pan after having sautée oil, garlic and some parsley. Cook on high heat then add the wine and let it simmer until reduced. Add salt and pepper to your taste and let it simmer until thoroughly cooked. Add the remaining parsley and set aside.

Go on to mixing the mince with the egg, parmesan, bread crumbs, white wine and parsley. Add salt and pepper then place the mix on to a big foil sheet (you might need to - you'll need these to wrap your meatloaf like a candy) and roll it out (like you would with tart pastry).

Once you have your meat sheet, place the mozzarella slices and ham on top of it spreading it out but making sure it doesn't come out of the edges. Top with your cooked mushrooms then roll it on itself. Rub with some breadcrumbs and then close it with your foil by twisting both extremities.

Place in an oven dish and place in the oven at 190° for 40 minutes. After that get rid of the foil and of necessary keep cooking for another 5 minutes to get rid of any juices you might still see in the dish.

Then, it's already time for dessert...

Enters Chiara's Chocolate Chip Cake!

Chocolate Chip Cake

butter (200gr)

plain Flour (250 gr)

potato Flour (100 gr - this can be substituted by 100gr of corn flour or plain flour)

sugar (200 gr)

milk (3-5 tbsp)

eggs (4 whole)

dark chocolate (200gr - either ready made chips or you can buy 2 bars and grate it)

baking powder (6 tsps)

pinch of salt

Mix well the butter until becomes creamy, then add sugar, eggs and salt. Fold into this mix the flours and the baking powder and the milk so the batter is not too crumbly. We don't want it to become too liquid though so be careful!

Add the chocolate chips and put the batter in a 24 cm round cake tin that you previously lined with oven paper (use some butter on the tin then cut the paper to measure - first the bottom, then the sides).

Put in the preheated oven at 190° for 30 minutes, then decrease heat to 180 and cook for another 10 minutes. Let it cool.