Calaramata with Fresh Tuna, Fennel & Tomatoes

We had something very similar in a Sicilian restaurant the other night.   Only the pasta used was pappardele.  As soon as I tried it, I was itching to recreate it at home.   As luck would have it, I chanced upon a promotion of fresh tuna at the supermarket.  With the taste still fresh in my memory, I hurried home to prepare the tuna pasta sauce.  I didn't have any pappardelle at home so my closest candidate was calamarata.  Originally from the Campana region of Italy (where Naples is), it is reminiscent of calamari rings and for that it got its name.   It goes well with tomato-based seafood sauce.  

I liked the version I did.   It's very similar to the one that we had at the restaurant but not exactly the same.   I can imagine the chef who cooked it at the restaurant saying, "Tsk!  Tsk!  Nice try, but you didn't get it, did you?"  What I think is that I put more fresh tuna than the restaurant & less tomato sauce when they did the contrary.  The fennel seeds were unmistakably there.   I tried to dissect the taste in my mouth and inconspicuously gave a visual analysis to understand the ingredients.  Now that just sounds exactly what someone would do with a scientific experiment.  The only thing missing is taking out a miscroscope. 

 

Whatever the result was, whether it's similar or totally different from what I originally tasted, the important thing is that my whole family loved their meal.  That is what cooking is all about anyway.   So I won't scratch this one out because I didn't reach my goal.   I'm adding it instead to the list of recipes because it is worth keeping and redoing.


Calaramata with Fresh Tuna, Fennel & Tomatoes

Ingredients:
Serves 4

• 400 g. fresh tuna, diced
• 1 teaspoon fennel seeds, crushed in a mortar & pestle
• 1/2 onion, chopped finely
• 400 g. cannned tomatoes
• bunch of parsley, chopped finely
• salt & pepper
• extra virgin olive oil

1. Boil water for the pasta.  When it boils, add salt.  Cook according to the number of minutes suggested in the package.
2. Meantime, saute' onions in a saucepan with extra virgin olive oil.    
3. Add tuna.   Cook for 5 minutes.  Season with salt & pepper.  Add the crushed fennel seeds.   Take away half of the tuna.  Set aside.   Crush the remaining tuna in the saucepan with a fork.   
4. Add the tomato sauce.   Cook for half an hour.   If the sauce is drying up, ladle some water from the pot you are boiling for the pasta.  
5. Add the other half of tuna.  Adjust salt & pepper.   Cook for another 5 minutes.  
6. Mix the cooked pasta with the sauce.  Add the parsley.   Cook together for a couple of minutes.  
7. Drizzle with extra virgin olive oil before serving.

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Chicken Corn Chowder

Suddenly it's cold..... in the middle of summer, when it's supposed to hit the highest in the thermometer.   It feels strange taking out the sweaters.   Just when I am starting to enjoy this cool summer weather, the heat is forecasted to return and reign again at the beginning of August.  Bahh! 

The cold summer days made me think of making some hot soup.  Chicken corn chowder is one of my favorites.  It is a dish that I can enjoy without being bothered by one ingredient I am not so fond of - milk.  Well, with all the fairly tasty ingredients around it, the milky taste is overtaken.   Yes, some people can be strange.   I get to substitute my calcium intake with parmigiano reggiano. 

I think it is North American in origin and is derived from clam chowder with the clams substituted with corn.  This is one of the first recipes I learned when I was still learning my way around the kitchen.   I learned the basics from a very simple cookbook that a friend gave me when I got married.  This cookbook has not left my kitchen from then on because it never failed me with its precision in quantities & taste.  As the years passed and as I repeatedly cooked this dish, I kept on modifying the method & ingredients until I came up with how it is now.  I saw a lot of versions at the internet, some making my recipe pale in comparison but this is the taste that I have learned to love so I am sticking to it. 

Chicken Corn Chowder

Ingredients:
Serves 4

• 1 liter water
• 200 g. chicken (I use white meat.)
• 250 ml. milk
• 150 g. pancetta affumicata, chopped
• salt & pepper
• parsley, chopped finely
• chives, chopped finely
• 3 spoons flour
• 1 boiled potato, diced
• 225 g. canned corn kernels or 2 ears of corn
• 1/2 onion, minced
• extra virgin olive oil

1. Put the chicken in a pot with cold water.  Bring to a boil.  Add some salt.  Reduce heat and simmer for 30 minutes.  Strain the chicken.  Chop or shred to small pieces.  Set aside.  Save the broth.  
2. Saute' onions in a cooking pot with extra virgin olive oil.  Add pancetta affumicata.  Toast.  Add chicken.  Toast for 5 minutes.  Add corn kernels, potato & flour.
3. Pour chicken stock.  Boil.  Add milk.  Season with salt & pepper.  Cook for another 10 minutes.  

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Bruschetta with Tomatoes & Basil (Bruschetta al Pomodoro)

Grilling in summer is best accompanied with the basic bruschetta al pomodoro.   Having this to start the meal can be dangerously good that you tend to eat too much and end up not having much space anymore for the rest of the courses.  

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Caramelized Rum Bananas with Amaretti Vanilla Yogurt

Summer calls for cold desserts.  There is always gelato to refresh us but sometimes, a simple dessert like this can end our meals well.  This dessert didn't take me more than 15 minutes to prepare.  The bananas didn't need too much cooking so it can be done even during the hottest days.  It's very refreshing when you eat it after it cools in the fridge.

When I was preparing this, I was regretting why I was making it in the first place.  I forgot that my husband evades amaretti & bananas as much as he can, whereas I am not a "hurray, it's yogurt person" because of its proximity to milk.   To top it all, the kids don't like their fruit cooked.  This is one dessert wasted.  Just the same, I continued.

After putting the last kid to bed, my husband and I sat down in the kitchen while we enwrapped ourselves with the silence after a very long day.  Sometimes, this is the best time of the day after spending a whole day with hyperactive kids.  And in silence comes the only chance to taste what we are eating.  Eating with two kids can be major chaotic.  One wants this, the other one wants that, then the shrieking starts and the other one takes on the cue.  Sometimes even our dog joins in the whining.  Whew!  Just writing it down sends me back to stressful meal land.  We are the restaurant-mates you would not want to sit close to.  Well, unless your idea of a romantic dinner is served with a background music of all the sounds that children are capable of emitting.  With all this mess, we adults, just shove our food in our mouths without even tasting what we are eating.  "Huh, what?  Didn't we have chicken for dinner?  No it was fish.  Even if you feed me watermelons for dinner, I wouldn't notice it anyhow." 

As I took out these bananas from the fridge, I already forewarned my husbands about the ingredients.  He was willing to try it.  Heck, I was going to try it too, yogurt or not.  We both finished our bowls up to the point of almost licking them clean.  They were delicious.  The blending of all the ingredients went very well that they came out as one surprisingly pleasant eating experience.  And yes, we did taste everything this time.

Caramelized Rum Bananas with Amaretti Vanilla Yogurt

Ingredients:
Serves 2

• 2 bananas (one for each person), round slices
• 8 small amaretti biscuits, crushed
• 2 small amaretti biscuits for decorating
• 150 ml. vanilla yogurt or plain
• vanilla essence (optional)
• dash of rum
• 2 spoons brown sugar

1. Put the sliced bananas in a non-stick saucepan.  Toast both sides for about 5 minutes.  
2. Add sugar.  When sugar melts, add the rum.  Cook for about 3 minutes or until the alcohol evaporates.   Set aside & let cool.
3. Wrap the amaretti biscuits in a kitchen paper towel.  Use a kitchen mallet or anything heavy to pound on the biscuits.  Make sure the paper towel doesn't tear.  
4. Transfer crushed biscuits to a bowl.  Set aside some for sprinkling on top.  Mix in vanilla yogurt.  If you only have plain yogurt and would like to flavor it, just add a few drops of vanilla essence and mix or just use the plain one.
5. Transfer yogurt mixture to individual bowls.  Add the bananas.  Sprinkle crushed amaretti on top and put one whole biscuit in the middle.  
6. Refrigerate.  Serve cold.

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Marinated Fresh Anchovies (Alici Marinate)

When fresh anchovies are marinated this way, I can eat my way throughout the bowl in no time.  If you are into raw fish cooked with the acidity of vinegar or lemon..... then get your own bowl because we might fight over this.  

When my mom came to visit us, my husband's mother asked her what food she would like to be prepared, she said alici marinate without skipping a beat.  The day after, my mother-in-law delivered a bowl that was reasonably big.  My mom & I finished the whole bowl together in an embarrassing speed.  I asked shyly for another batch and again, the following day, we were given a much bigger container.   We wiped the container clean immediately until our lips became swollen from too much acidity.   I was too embarrassed to ask for a third batch on the third day.  I mean, no one can possibly eat all those anchovies that fast.... except me & mom!  So I asked how to prepare it instead.  That way, no one would know how much anchovies we were eating in the afternoons. 

It's very easy to prepare.   The fresh anchovies are even available already cleaned & opened in all fish shops so there was no need to do the big work.  You just have to mix & wait.  What I like about this recipe is that you don't taste the unpleasant fishy taste.  I found out that she throws away the vinegar that cooked the fish.   That is fundamental because you want to taste the freshness of the fish with the acidity of the vinegar & lemon, without the fish residue dominating your taste buds.

Marinated Fresh Anchovies (Alici Marinate)

Ingredients:
Serves 4

• 400 g. fresh anchovies, cleaned, scaled & opened
• 1 lemon
• white wine vinegar
• salt & pepper
• extra virgin olive oil
• parsley, chopped finely
• 1 clove garlic, minced (optional)

1. Layer anchovies in a bowl with a flat bottom.  Marinate them in vinegar, salt & pepper mixture, making sure that the fish are completely submerged in the marinade.  Leave for a couple of hours or until the fish changes from transparent to whitish.
2. Drain the fish.  Discard the marinade.
3. In a new flat-bottomed bowl or a large serving plate, layer the fish.  Squeeze some lemon juice on every layer, sprinkle with salt, pepper, parsley & garlic (optional).
4. Pour extra virgin olive oil on the fish, making sure that they are completely covered.  Refrigerate before serving
5.  This dish is good only until the following day so don't keep it too long. 

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Thai Chicken with Basil

I always buy chicken fillet when I have no idea what to cook.  It's the easiest meat to blend flavors with, cooks fast and most importantly, it doesn't have so much fat.   I also keep a pack or two in the freezer for emergency meals, targeting those days when I don't have anything to cook and we're too lazy to go out & buy something.  I just toss the chicken in the griddle for grilling, chop some tomatoes or oranges & fresh herbs from the garden for a bowl of salad & voila!  We have a meal on the table.

This time, I was craving for something different.  As I surfed the net, I found the perfect recipe in the food blog Sweet & Saucy which led me to the original, the Thai Chicken with Basil of Food & Wine.   I quick check shows me that I have all the ingredients except for the chilies.  I have instead, an open bottle of grilled bell pepper that I had to finish.  So I substituted them with the chili peppers.   All my basil plants are exploding with leaves so that gives me one more reason to explore this dish. 

I stopped keeping Asian fish sauce at home after I discovered its Italian equivalent which is the colatura di alici di Cetara which are bought in small 100 ml. bottles.  The bottles of Asian fish sauce I get here are too big that I tend to throw them still half full, having stayed way too long opened.  When I found the colatura di alici, my problem was solved. 

The overpowering scent of basil mixed with sauteed chicken was absolutely wonderful.  I have never used so much basil in any of the dishes I prepared and I was reluctant to put so much.  But there was nothing to be worried about because the basil & chicken complemented each other so well.  Accompanied with plain white rice, I give a thumbs up to this delicious recipe!

Thai Chicken with Basil

Ingredients:
Serves 4

• 500 g. chicken fillet, cut to strips
• 2 tablespoons fish sauce (I used the Italian colatura di alici di Cetara which is the same as fish sauce.)
• 1 tablespoon water
• 1.5 tablespoons soy sauce
• 1.5 teaspoons sugar
• 1 1/2  cups basil leaves
• 1/2 onion, sliced thinly
• 2 cloves garlic, halved
• 1/4 cup grilled bell pepper, drained (I used store-bought bottled ones.) or 1 fresh bell pepper
• extra virgin olive oil
• salt (optional)

1. Combine chicken, fish sauce, soy sauce, sugar & water in a bowl.
2. In a non-stick pan, heat the extra virgin olive oil.  Add the onion & cook for a couple of minutes.  Add the garlic, cooking until they color.  Add the sliced grilled pepper.  Toss for a couple of minutes.
3. Add the chicken, leaving the marinade in the bowl.  Cook & toss until cooked through.  
4. Add the marinade, cooking about a minute more.  Season with salt if still needed.
5. Remove from heat & add 1 cup of basil.
6. Add 1/2 cup of basil on top before serving.

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Granita al Limone

Have you ever been asked what you have for breakfast when you meet people who think you are an interesting new specimen coming from a country other than theirs?  Italians are taken aback when I answer fried rice with something salty like dried fish or cured meat.  From an exclusively sweet-breakfast country, this is more than surprising.  But after 12 years in this country, I gave up all the thoughts of salty breakfast.  I have Italianized my breakfast too, aside from my other habits.  Yes, I am now a sweet-breakfast-eater like all the rest.

As I have turned over a new leaf, I have learned to become dependent on my daily espresso too.  I am one of those fastidious travelers who carry my own espresso maker in my luggage whenever we go abroad.  Believe it or not, it's hard to find genuine espressos outside Italy.  Once, after having to choose between a myriad of espresso types, double, triple or what-have-you, in an American coffee shop chain abroad, I finally yielded to the most normal one I could put my finger on.  After downing the slightly larger than normal cup, I ended up confined to my bed the rest of the day fearing a heart attack from the palpitations I got from one single cup.  What do they put in the coffee anyway?

To go back to breakfasts, granita al limone is the summer breakfast of champions in Sicily.  As a kid, my husband would have a glass of granita al limone with a Sicilian brioche on the side.  I say breakfast for champions because you need a heroic stomach to digest the extra-strong granita al limone in Sicily.  There is a variety of flavors, one being coffee, the most popular one in the island.

The recipe I found in a Sicilian site used an incredible amount of lemons with so little water that by just looking at the recipe, I was already wincing from its acidity.  I halved the amount of lemons & sugar.  The granita still came out hair-raisingly acidic.  So I am toning down the amount again in the recipe that I am writing in this blog.  If you want to have a sudden jolt from the intensity of the lemons, go for it and double the amount of lemons & sugar I wrote.

Granita al Limone

• 1 liter water
• 200 g. white sugar
• 3 large lemons, juice & rind

1. Combine water & sugar in a cooking pot until the sugar melts but do not let it boil.  Let it cool.
2. Add the lemon juice & rind to the syrup. 
3. Transfer a container and freeze in the freezer. You can also put it in an ice cream maker to break the crystals but do not churn it too long.
4. Mix the granita once in a while (preferably every 30 minutes) to avoid solidifying. 

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Aubergine Rolls with Ricotta & Speck

The strong smell of tomatoes mixed with aubergines, basil & ricotta was wafting throughout the house.  "The house smells incredibly good," my husband greeted me as he entered the house.  I knew he would say that because the combination of ingredients of the aubergine rolls is his favorite.   This was his dinner, while the kids and I would be having fish with aubergine salad.  Like me, both kids have a particular liking of aged cheese.  Fresh cheese never attracted me but I am giving myself a chance to try out this dish.  Maybe I can eat a roll or two as my hundredth approach to my initiation to eating ricotta.

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Tapioca & Mangoes with Almond Milk

I was meaning to mix my pot of tapioca with coconut milk but I realized that I bought the wrong can.  I had instead, a can of coconut pulp in water in my hands.   No, that won't work.  And it's even too late to go out now.  I hate it when this happens.  You are already halfway through when you realize that there's an ingredient missing that is utterly impossible to procure.   Not only does it impede the finalization stage but you are also stuck with a half-done dish in the kitchen. 

I rummaged through the pantry and the tall bottle of almond milk caught my eye.  I think that can work.  Since tapioca is actually tasteless, it can go well with practically anything.  Almond milk is very refreshing and nice and can possibly go with the fresh mangoes too.  A trial of little quantity was all I needed to confirm that I hit the spot.   It was a wonderful discovery of blending of tastes. 

I can say that I am familiar with tapioca because I grew up with sago pearls.  These two look and taste the same that they can be interchangeable.  Actually, I even thought that tapioca is the English translation of sago.  Instead they are different from each other.  They have different botanical origins but the results are the same.  Tapioca is a starch extracted from the roots of the cassava or manioca (manihot esculenta) while sago is a starch that is extracted from the pith of the stems of the sago palm (metroxylon sagu).   They actually don't taste of anything and don't smell of anything.  That doesn't sound so interesting, does it?  And you wonder, what is all the fuss about this colorless, insipid food?

They are gooey and sticky balls that become transparent when cooked.  If you are a kid, you would have fun eating them.  If you are an adult, it's a refreshing dessert when mixed with cold, fresh ingredients. 

Mangoes are another story.  I grew up with the scent of fragrant & sweet Philippine mangoes permeating the kitchen.  Everytime I travel and end up in a fruit stand, I always try the local mangoes.  Out of all the different kinds I have tasted, nothing can compare to the intense sweetness of the ones from the Philippines, especially when harvested in the summer months of April & May.   If you can get a hold of one, it's imperative that you try it.  I swear that it will be your best mango experience. 

Tapioca & Mangoes with Almond Milk

Ingredients:
Serves 4

• 100 g. tapioca pearls
• 2 ripe mangoes
• 1/4 cup almond milk concentrate
• 1 liter water
• 60 g. white sugar

1. Soak tapioca in water for an hour.  Drain and discard water.
2. Boil 1 liter water.  When water boils,  add tapioca & sugar.  Cook for about 10 minutes or until pearls become transparent.  If it becomes too thick, add more water.  Let cool.
3. Put the mangoes in the electric chopper for fine chopping, food processor for an almost liquefied consistency or chop them manually if you want them a bit bigger.  
4. Stir in almond milk.  Adjust the amount according to your taste.
5. Chill in the refrigerator.  Serve cold.

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Mustard & Honey Salmon with Fennel

 

Everyday, meat.   I am getting fed up and my body is shouting "fish"!  I went on a quick trip to the supermarket to get some codfish or perch fillet to make a simple dinner of pan baked fish, something that doesn't require much effort and time.   Of course, I got diverted when I saw the beautiful Norwegian salmon fillets.  The price was good too.   I quickly ditched the pan baked fish idea and got lost in my thoughts thinking of how I will cook the salmon.   Think, think, think.

While in the car, I recalled watching somewhere where the salmon fillet was prepared with mustard.  I had no time to check the internet for interesting recipes so I just went by instinct.  I had to beat my 1-year old from her hunger pangs.  That kid can become as noisy as a siren & as demanding as a policeman when she feels a little movement in her tummy.  She climbs her booster chair, buckles herself up, bangs her fork on her plate and shouts "mamma" & "gnam-gnam" (food, in her own baby language) alternately that cooking becomes a struggle to hold on to my sanity.  

After rubbing & seasoning the salmon with mustard, honey & chives, I chopped the fennel bulbs that were threatening to wilt if I didn't make use of them soon.  Dinner shoved in the oven, I beat my 1-year old from her hunger clamor.  She's nowhere to be found in the kitchen yet.  Twenty minutes later, dinner was on the table.  

Dinner, I have to say, was delicious.  Both my kids abandoned the emergency pasta I served them (just in case there are complaints about dinner) and practically ate more than we did.  

UPDATE (26 Nov. 2012):  The Traveling Vineyard has suggested wine pairings of Bailando 2010 Bonarda, Fomtina Valley, Argentina and Giovina 2010 Giovina Montepulciano d'Abruzzo for this recipe.  Please click on this link to go to the page.  

Mustard & Honey Salmon with Fennel

Ingredients:
Serves 4

• 1 kilo salmon fillet with skin on
• 3 - 4 fennel bulbs, sliced
• 1/4 cup Dijon mustard
• 2 tablespoons honey
• salt & pepper
• extra virgin olive oil
• chives

1. Rub the salmon on both sides with Dijon mustard.  Season with salt & pepper.  Drizzle with honey & extra virgin olive oil.  Let it sit for at least 10 minutes.
2. Distribute the sliced fennel around the salmon and season with salt, pepper & extra virgin olive oil.  
3. Roast in an pre-heated oven at 200 degrees Celcius for about 20 minutes.
4. Drizzle with extra virgin olive oil before serving.

 

UPDATE (26 Nov. 2012):  The Traveling Vineyard has suggested wine pairings of Bailando 2010 Bonarda, Fomtina Valley, Argentina and Giovina 2010 Giovina Montepulciano d'Abruzzo for this recipe.  Please click on this link to go to the page.  

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Involtini di Pesce Spada (Swordfish Rolls)

This is the one.  No, this is not the real one because the fish is different.  Let me start again before I get lost in my thoughts.  The only dish that makes my world stop is "sarde a beccafico", a Sicilian dish of sweet & sour sardine rolls filled with breadcrumbs, raisins & pine nuts and wrapped with bay leaves. It's explosive with tastes which is typical of the Sicilian cuisine.  Now what does it have to do with the swordfish rolls?  The recipe is exactly the same except that I used swordfish instead of the sardines.

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Polpettine al Sugo (Meatballs in Tomato Sauce)

Today, I veered towards a more familiar recipe for lunch.  Polpettine al sugo or meatballs in tomato sauce is a classic Italian main dish.  There are various ways to prepare it, like everything else anyway.  The one I am using comes from my mother-in-law who got it from her mom and probably got it from her mom too and the chain goes on.  So this recipe has been floating around the family's dinner table for decades.  Now that it's on my dinner table, it's a relief to see that both kids love it enough to have repeats for the next meal too.  That seals my hope that they will keep this recipe for the continuation of the chain.

I always accompany this with sauteed green peas, like how my husband's mother does.  It is a perfect partnership really.  Normally, I cook my green peas with some pancetta but when I use it as a side dish for the meatballs, I hold the pancetta because there is too much meat clashing. The protagonist has to be the meatballs.

I had always been curious about spaghetti with meatballs because I never encountered it here, the supposed origin of this popular pasta dish.   I asked my husband about it, his family, our friends and whoever was listening.  No one claimed its authenticity as Italian.  It was strange for such a nationalistic population so this prodded me to investigate a little bit more.  A little bit of googling led me to the answer I was looking for.  It was popularized by Walt Disney's cartoons from the 1950's, The Lady & The Trump.  The recipe was supposedly invented by some Italian immigrants in New York in the early 1920's.  For that it is very popular in the U.S. and rare in Italy. 

It was a sacrifice to cook this in the hot kitchen today.  I had a little craving for it and I wanted to surprise my five-year old.  I know that when he sees it, he would whoop for joy.  With the heat dragging us all down, this house is in dire need of a bit of enthusiasm.

There is an intense heat taking over the country.  The weather forecast said that today is the last day of the heat wave.  How I wish so.  I haven't been out of the house ever since it started.  And unlucky us, it started right on the day we arrived from the mountains.  So it was unbearable to breathe this hot and humid air permeating the house after the cool & dry air in the Dolomites.  For now, our most valuable possessions are the air conditioners.  When I had to get some sage leaves outside, I ran like crazy.  It was like an oven out there.  I'm glad the day is over. 

Polpettine al Sugo (Meatballs in Tomato Sauce)

Ingredients:
Serves 4

• 1/4 kilo ground pork
• 1/4 kilo ground veal or beef
• 1 1/2 onions, minced
• 1 can of 425 g. diced tomatoes (or any kind will do too)
• 1/2 cup milk
• 4 slices of regular bread
• 1/2 cup parmigiano reggiano
• 1/2 cup white wine
• 1 egg
• salt & pepper
• extra virgin olive oil
• flour
• sage
• 500 g. frozen green peas (or fresh)

1.  Cut off the sides of the bread.  Discard the sides.  Tear the white part of the bread and soak them in milk.  Leave for a few minutes.
2.  Mix the following in a mixing bowl with your hands:  ground pork, ground veal or beef, egg, soaked bread including the milk it was soaked in, parmigiano reggiano, minced half onion, salt & pepper.  Work with your hands until the mixture becomes compact.

   
3.   Make small balls and roll them on a plate of flour.  Shake off the excess flour.
4.  Warm up a saucepan with extra virgin olive oil.   Fry the meatballs until they become brownish.     Set them aside on a plate.
5.  With the next step, you have the option to use a new saucepan or use the same saucepan where you fried the meatballs.  I always use the same saucepan but I take away the excess oil & bits of burned meat.  You will just have to be extra careful because it is very hot.  I wipe the pan with kitchen paper towels.
6.  Pour new extra virgin olive oil in the pan.  Saute' the other half of the onion.  When it changes color, add the meatballs.  Cook for about 5 minutes then add the white wine.  Let it evaporate.  

7.  Add the canned tomato sauce.  Cook for at least half an hour.  Add the chopped sage about 10 minutes before turning off the fire.  Season with salt & pepper.
8.  While waiting for the meatballs to cook, cook the green peas.  Saute' half an onion in extra virgin olive oil.  When it changes color, add the green peas.  Cook for about 15 minutes.  Season with salt & pepper.

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Gemelli with Asparagus & Speck

After a long vacation, one job that makes me drag my feet heavily around the house is going back to normality.   That means sending the washing machine to endless cycles, ironing mountains of clothes, putting the things back in their original places, changing the sheets on all the beds and filling up the cupboards & refrigerator with food again.   So, after three days here I am in front of the TV, passively watching this sort of fish cartoons with my one-year old while I am reacquainting myself with the couch and writing this.  

Poor kids didn't have TV for three weeks in the mountains. There was a big TV staring at us in the sitting room but try as we might, we couldn't make it work.  My husband was convinced that it's better that way so that they will commune with nature.   I was disagreeable, near to panic.  Kids with no access to TV and a very limited amount of toys means disaster, havoc, whining, noise, you name it.  I was right.  After one week of no TV, we desperately hooked the laptop to the internet, searched You Tube and crossed our fingers that they will quiet down for at least an episode of the 70's Barbapapa, the only cartoons both can agree in watching.  Oh God, there was silence.  I couldn't believe it (and I think I even heard the sighs of relief of our poor neighbors).   Thank God for modern technology!

Speck is the cured ham from the Tyrol region of Italy & Austria, where the mountains of the Dolomites are.  And one of the souvenirs I took home from our trip there is this ham.  The mementos I take home from my trips are the edible kind.   I can spend hours in the food shops and I am known to give my husband the problem of figuring out how to make everything fit in the car. 

I love the combination of speck & asparagus.  The blended flavor is strong and delicious.  Less is sometimes better.  Just two ingredients and you can create this wonderful, simple pasta. 

Gemelli with Asparagus & Speck

Ingredients:
Serves 4

• 350 - 400 g. gemelli or any kind of pasta
• 400 g. asparagus
• 1 clove garlic, halved
• 150 g. speck, cubed
• parmigiano reggiano, grated
• extra virgin olive oil
• salt & pepper

1. Boil water in a pot for the pasta.  When it boils, add salt.  Cook the pasta according to the number of minutes suggested in the package.  Meantime, prepare the sauce.
2. Discard the tough ends of the asparagus spears.   Cut the tips and set aside.  Chop the remaining asparagus and put them in the food processor or electric food chopper to mince.  Set aside.
3. Saute' garlic in a saucepan with extra virgin olive oil.  When it turns golden, add the speck.  Toast.
4. Add the asparagus tips then after a few minutes, follow with the minced asparagus.  Cook between 15 - 20 minutes.   If the sauce dries up while cooking, ladle some hot water from the pot where you are cooking the pasta.  Season with salt & pepper.
5. Add cooked pasta with the sauce.  Mix.  Discard the garlic.
6. Drizzle with extra virgin olive oil & sprinkle with parmigiano reggiano before serving.

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