Spaghetti Carbonara

Spaghetti Carbonara

Spaghetti Carbonara is one of my all time favourite dishes - so why have I never made it from scratch before? I genuinely don't know the answer to this question, and now, having righted that particular wrong, I am even more confused, because - It Is So Flippin' Easy! Consider me well and truly re-educated (and cue us now eating this at least once a week - uh oh - can open, worms everywhere!) 

Having read a couple of different recipes for carbonara, and digesting the basic principle behind making the egg based sauce, this is my version of the classic, and it's pretty much authentic, save for the addition of mushrooms, which I adore, but could easily be omitted to save face in front of any discerning Italians. 

Ingredients (serves two hungry people)

200g dried spaghetti

50g unsalted butter

8 rashers unsmoked streaky bacon or pancetta, diced

2 cloves garlic, peeled and whole

100-150g closed cup mushrooms

50ml double cream

80g parmesan cheese, finely grated

3 large eggs

freshly ground black pepper

Method

• Put the spaghetti on to cook in boiling water as per the packet instructions, you want the pasta to be slightly firm when adding to the bacon later as it will continue to cook in the sauce, so keep checking it throughout
• Heat a large frying pan, then add the butter
• Once the butter has melted add the diced bacon. Press each of the garlic cloves under the side of knife to crush them slightly to allow the flavours to escape, but keeping them whole. Add the two cloves of garlic to the bacon.
• Cook the bacon and garlic for about 5 minutes until crisp, then remove and discard the garlic cloves, as they will have flavoured the bacon and butter mixture well by now
• Chop the mushrooms roughly the same size as the bacon pieces and add to the pan, cook for a further minute
• Using a pair of tongs, lift the cooked spaghetti from the water and add to the pan with the bacon. It doesn't matter if some of the water transfers over at the same time, and SAVE the rest of the pasta water as you will need it later
• Toss the spaghetti in the bacon mixture to coat well
• In a large jug, whisk together the cream, parmesan (saving a little to one side for serving) and eggs until well combined
• Take the pan off the heat. Pour the egg mixture over the spaghetti, and toss continually with the tongs. It is important to keep the spaghetti moving, and for the pan not to be over the heat at this point, so that the eggs don't scramble. The heat of the pasta will be enough to cook them properly
• Once the spaghetti is coated in the egg mixture, add a little of the pasta water to loosen the sauce. You are aiming for the sauce to be glossy, without being wet, so add a little at a time until you reach the required consistency
• Season with the black pepper to taste
• Serve in deep dishes with the remainder of the parmesan sprinkled over, and a little more black pepper

As this recipe has a healthy portion of garlic in, I am linking up to this month's Pasta Please challenge, run by Tinned Tomatoes and hosted this month by The Spicy Pear, where the theme is garlic.

I'm also linking into Cheese Please! hosted by Fromage Homage, as there is a huge chunk of parmesan in this sauce. This month's theme is Comfort Food and Winter Warmers, and for me, this is the ultimate comfort food (see above comment about favourite food) and I most definitely ate it piled high, and from the comfort of under my slanket!

Finally, because I haven't for a while, I am linking in to Made with Love Mondays, as this dish was made totally from scratch (and coincidentally also on a Monday). Hosted by Javelin Warrior.

Possibly the Best Broccoli Dish Ever...

Continuing my quest to find great tasting food that has high nutritional values, I decided to tackle a personal nemesis last night - broccoli. Whilst I don't dislike broccoli, it's hardly up there in my top ten ingredients either, and aside from smothering it in cheese sauce, I've never really found a way to cook it that makes it taste of ... well ... anything. 

That aside, as I have started my research into nutritious food types and broccoli sits firmly at the top of the list of so called superfoods, full of antioxidants, vitamin C, and dietary fibres. So when it came to fridge raiding to find an accompaniment for roast chicken and potatoes, the obvious choice was the large portion of broccoli in the veg compartment. I just couldn't face it steamed or boiled though, and through sheer desperation to inject some resemblance of flavour into its florets, I opened the laptop, and googled the cry for help "interesting things to do with broccoli"! 

What I discovered was the following recipe from US food author Ina Garten, aka the Barefoot Contessa. Several reviews and comments all appeared to be unanimous in hailing this recipe as the best broccoli dish ever, the version I came across was on the Food Network, I made a few tweaks due to the ingredients I had in the house, and it honestly lived up to the internet hype...

Parmesan Roasted Broccoli

Ingredients...

Approx 350 grams broccoli
2 teaspoons crushed garlic (or 2 cloves)
4 tablespoons olive oil
1 teaspoon dried basil
salt and pepper to taste

zest and a squeeze of juice from one small lemon
40 grams fresh parmesan, finely grated

To make...

• Pre-heat the oven to around 180 degrees.
• Cut the broccoli florets away from the main stem, and arrange flat on a baking tray. 
• Mix together the garlic, olive oil, basil, salt and pepper in a small bowl, and then drizzle evenly over the broccoli florets.
• Roast in the oven for around 20 minutes, turning over in the oil mixture halfway through.
• The broccoli is ready when the edges start to colour brown and crisp up. 
• Transfer the roasted broccoli to a large bowl, add the lemon zest and parmesan, squeeze over around a tablespoon of fresh lemon juice, and toss lightly to evenly coat all the florets. 
• Serve and enjoy! 

I found that the garlic and lemon flavours in particular worked really well with the broccoli, but the revelation for me was the taste and texture of the broccoli having been roasted rather than steamed or boiled. It retained much more crunch and firmness, plus none of those precious nutrients can escape in the water - I will definitely be roasting broccoli from now onwards!

I am entering this recipe into a few challenges this month, as it was so delicious I wanted to share it with as many people as possible!

Firstly, Credit Crunch Munch, run by Fab Food 4 All and Fuss Free Flavours, and hosted this month by Anneli at Delicieux. I am entering this because the dish was quick and easy and used just store cupboard ingredients and broccoli that needed using up. 

I am also entering into Made with Love Mondays hosted by Mark at Javelin Warrior, as it is completely made from scratch, with fresh ingredients.

I'm also going to take a punt, and enter this into Random Recipes run by Dom over at Belleau Kitchen. In the random recipe challenge, Dom ask participants to gather all their recipe books together and select a recipe at random. I don't really have a many books at all, and those I do are either for bread or cake decorating, however I'm hoping that the random google search that led me to this recipe will count? Plus, I really think that this dish fits the Healthy and Happy theme to a T! 

A (Short) Diary of a Foodie

Ask one hundred people what their idea of a perfect weekend is, and you will get one hundred different answers. This weekend is fast becoming one of my favourite, packed with celebrations, catch ups with old friends, girl time, cosy nights in, brilliant news from long-distance friends, and, underpinning all of the above, food.

Friday night started with a hen party for my lovely Auntie, who is tying the knot with the loveliest man, and making a lot of people very happy. The only slight glitch in the whole evening was that a whole collection of accidents on the M1 meant I had to drive direct to the venue, and therefore had to endure the very surreal experience of being the only person sober at a hen party... It was such a lovely evening, with dinner and dancing on a cruise boat on the River Trent in Nottingham, courtesy of Princess River Cruises. The crew on board were fantastic, and endlessly patient, the carvery was great, and a good time was had by all, (except maybe the young couple that obviously had not expected not one, but two raucous hen parties on their romantic boat trip!!!) If you are interested in knowing more, here is the link to their site http://www.princessrivercruises.co.uk/


Nottingham Trent Bridge at night from the water.

The upshot of not drinking Friday night, was being able to wake up Saturday morning clearheaded and embark on a mammoth baking session. I have trips planned for Sunday and Monday to see very special friends, and wanted to be able to take some treats (in true Stepford wife fashion - remind me to get some wicker baskets to complete the look!) I'm not ashamed to say I spent a solid 12 hours yesterday baking, decorating, experiment and cooking in my kitchen, and loved every minute. Evidence of these toils will be posted soon, but not until certain people have had their surprises!

Gary and I then settled in for a Saturday Night In, complete with bad 'entertainment' TV, snugly blankets, and good winter comfort food - Steak and Dauphinoise Potatoes. Dauphinoise Potatoes is one dish that I never ever cook from a recipe, preferring to utilise whatever is in the house, sometimes onions, sometimes garlic. Last night, I went for a simple option, and layered very thinly sliced potatoes with grated parmesan cheese, and double cream, more potatoes, more cheese, more cream, and so on. I then covered the dish with foil, and baked for two and a half hours on a medium heat (about 180 degrees). The parmesan slowly created a cheesy crust on the bake, and infused the cream and potatoes, and made possibly one of the best Dauphinoise I have made to date. If you do want a recipe however, I have always found this one from the BBC to be fairly foolproof http://www.bbc.co.uk/food/recipes/dauphinoisepotatoes_90205

So as the weekend rolls on, today I am making a 200 mile trip to meet a beautiful little boy that came into the world on Friday, before heading on to spend some quality girl time with a far away friend tonight, and the promise of a Sunday Roast. I have a car laden down with goodies, and an especially light heart knowing that my weekend doesnt finish until Tuesday night! Like I said - Best. Weekend. Ever!

V x