What can I say, this is delizioso! A ragu that can be served with fresh pappardelle or fettucccine. If we feel like having pici (a thick, long Tuscan pasta) and I don’t feel like making it, I substitute a dried pasta called Strangozzi made by De Cecco di Filippo, or good quality Chitarra pasta. Ah…how […]
Pasta, Gnocchi and Polenta
Cauliflower, Pancetta Whole-Wheat Linguine
When the first, sweet cauliflower of the season appears at our Farmer’s Market, I look forward to making this slightly spicy pasta. I really like whole-wheat pasta with vegetable sauces, especially with the crunchy breadcrumb topping. Very rustic and really yummy! Makes 4 Main Course Servings 1 cup coarse fresh bread crumbs (from 2 slices […]
Sweet Potato Gnocchi With Hazelnut Brown Butter Sauce
This was our first course for Thanksgiving dinner, followed by a roast of pork. Sensational. The gnocchi were very light and delicious. The addition of locally sourced hazelnuts found at Riley Park farmer’s market was the perfect finish to the gnocchi! For the Gnocchi: 1 ¼ lbs. russet (baking) potatoes 1 (3/4 lb.) sweet potato, […]
Turkey Ragu For Pasta
I really like using ground turkey to make a lighter style of ragu. Anyone who loves Italian pasta needs a really good tasting ragu recipe and I think this definitely fits the bill. Buon gusto! I’ll be making it tonight with chitarra pasta (a long, thick square shaped pasta). For the Ragu: 1 medium onion […]
Phyllis’ Tagliatelle With Butternut Squash And Duck Confit
I cobbled this dish together attempting to try and recreate a delicious pasta I enjoyed for lunch at a Vancouver restaurant. We used to make our own duck confit every November from Julia Child’s Mastering The Art cookbook. Absolutely divine! As we don’t make it any longer I find it at Oyama Sausage on Granville […]
Osteria Pazzo Spaghetti With Tomato Sauce
Here’s my version of the simple, yet totally delicious spaghetti with tomato sauce we had for lunch one day at Osteria dei’ Pazzi in Florence. If you are going to be in Florence, check this Osteria out, 2 – 3 First Course Servings 6 – 8 oz. dried spaghetti 3 – 4 Tbsp. EVO, a […]
Butternut Squash Gnocchi With Hazelnuts And Sage
The first time I made gnocchi, I was a little apprehensive but what I found was they were quite simple to make. I love being able to use local squash from the Farmer’s Markets in the fall. Just remember, the trick is not to work the dough too much and use as little flour as […]
Phyllis’ Paccheri With Turkey Sauce
When we were in Rome a couple of years ago, we noticed Romans ordering paccherei pasta, a 2” long, hollow pasta, larger than rigatoni. Recently it’s shown up at our favourite Italian grocery store. I wanted to came up with a pasta sauce to serve with the paccheri and based this on a Roman recipe […]
Spaghetti All’Matriciana
This is one of the most popular pasta dishes with Romans…the Romans and me! I had it for lunch one day at Ristorante Maccheroni in Rome where they used rigatoni but my preference is spaghetti. Romans use bucatini for their La Matriciana. You decide! The crucial element is the guanciale (cured pork jowl). You can […]
Bucatini alla Chiummenzana
Here’s something to make with all those cherry tomatoes in the garden! This slightly spicy tomato sauce hails from Capri and it’s terrific. I found some fresh artichokesat the Farmer’s Market this week, so I decided to make stuffed artichokes for the first course, followed by the bucatini. Wow! Nice glass of wine too! This […]