A pair of Italian classics

Hi there!

Hopefully by now you all know how I feel about home-smoked bacon. It's just something really special that few people would take the time to do, not like most people have that kind of time anyway! So, when I do take the time to make my own, I like to think of the best ways to use it. I've used it in chili, made a LOT of greasy breakfasts, and had a good whack of sandwiches. But after three different sessions of creating my own bacon, I've started to run out of ideas. Luckily, Mother Nature inspired me on a freakish April morning. When I started writing this post, it was April 23rd and we were getting snow. Yup, snow in late April, frak me.

But this kind of weather does kindle the spirit of creating hearty comfort food at least one last time. And there's something about Italian food in general and pasta in particular that makes it possibly THE most comforting kind of food in the world. So, when one thinks of pasta and bacon, naturally the thoughts gravitate to Carbonara. For those who don't know, Carbonara is a rich style of sauce using bacon, egg and dairy (milk/cream and/or cheese). It's preparation is simple enough: bacon is cooked in a pan, other ingredients, including cooked pasta, are thrown in the pan using some of the fat to bind the sauce with garlic, onion, dairy and other ingredients. Finally, egg is added and lightly cooked to add richness. It's quite tasty and hearty; perfect for an April blizzard.

Carbonara is most commonly used with spaghetti, but linguine, fettuccine and "stringy" pastas work as well. In this case, I only had linguine, so that's what I used!

Pasta Carbonara (mainly taken from this recipe at AllRecipes.com)

Serves 2 (4 if appetites are small)

Ingredients

- 250 g (1/2 pound) spaghetti, linguine or other pasta
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 4 slices of bacon (best possible!)
- 1 small red onion, diced
- 1-2 cloves garlic, minced
- a splash of white wine
- 1/2 cup 2 % milk (most recipes I've found use cream, but that's too damn rich for my blood)
- 2 large eggs
- 1/4-1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese (to taste)
- 2 tbsp fresh parsley, chopped

Directions
- Set pot of salted water to boil to cook pasta. Cook pasta to desired tenderness, strain and set aside in a bowl tossed with olive oil to keep pasta from sticking to itself.
- In a pan, fry bacon until crisp and set aside on paper towels. Reserve 1 tbsp of bacon fat in pan, drain the rest.
- Sauté onion and garlic in bacon fat until onions are well-cooked. Add wine and milk and reduce a little (cook for about 5 minutes).
- Add cooked bacon and pasta. Toss everything to coat well.
- Add eggs and cook while tossing constantly. You want to cook the eggs just a little so that they set, but you're not making an pasta omelette!
- Add cheese and toss everything well. Serve in a large pasta bowl/plate and top with parsley and extra cheese if desired.



OK, the plating isn't 4-star restaurant quality, but that's some tasty pasta!

 Now, since Carbonara isn't exactly health food and the amount of veggies used in it is kind of small, I figured a nice salad would be a good accompaniment.

Another Italian classic is Panzanella Salad, which is basically a bread salad. Traditionally, at least according to wikipedia, it's made using stale bread that's been soaked and then squeezed dry, tomatoes, oil and vinegar, with onions and basil added for good measure. Ironically enough, I made a salad similar to a Panzanella last Summer without actually knowing it had a name. I guess good recipes are somewhat universal...

Now, my version of the panzanella was basically the same thing as the traditional version with two notable exceptions. First, instead of using stale bread, I used toasted cornbread I'd made a few days earlier. Second, I omitted the raw onions (because who needs the heartburn?) and replaced them with sliced artichoke hearts and slices of bocconcini. So here's how to make it.

Panzanella Salad - Brennan-style

Serves 2

Ingredients

- 2 slices stale bread, toasted (focaccia works best - or use the equivalent amount of cornbread, toasted in the oven or toaster until crispy) and cubed
- 2 ripe tomatoes, diced
- 1-2 marinated artichoke hearts, sliced
- 2-3 bocconcini balls, sliced (or more if using the tiny version of bocconcini)
- 2 tbsp best-quality olive oil
- 2 tbsp balsamic vinegar
- juice of 1/8 lemon
- salt and pepper to taste
- pinch red chili flakes
- 1 tsp fresh basil, chopped

- In a bowl, combine bread, tomatoes, artichoke and bocconcini.
- In another bowl, whisk together olive oil, vinegar, lemon juice, salt, pepper and chili flakes
- Add dressing to salad and toss.
- Serve topped with fresh basil.


While it might not be traditional, it's damn tasty!

 And there it is! One last salute to wintry comfort food with a bit of Spring freshness on the side. I hope you enjoy it! I certainly did!

Till next time!

Step 2 - Off to the Supermarket

Previously on Battlestar Galac... never mind.

Right, last time we went over the first step in building your kitchen. Now, we're going to get into the first recipe.

Step 2 - Off to the Supermarket!

OK, you've just broken up with your significant other who was more than happy to take care of the nightly meals and just moved into that bachelor pad and you got Gabriel's on speed dial. Whoa there Tex, put that phone down!

With a few key ingredients, you can fix yourself dinner in minutes on the cheap. So, what does a person need in their fridge/pantry? Well, since today we're going to focus on "the easiest pasta meal ever", we're going to pick up those ingredients specifically.

Alright, the primary ingredient any fledgling cook must, MUST have in their kitchen is olive oil. Forget butter or margarine; you can, in most cases, use this tastier, healthier alternative. It's best to pick up that "extra virgin" stuff, but since pretty much EVERY brand says extra virgin, who the heck knows what's the super tasty awesomeness? And really, olive oil is olive oil, it generally doesn't matter what brand you get when you cook with it. It might matter for dressings and the like, but we'll address that issue at another time.

So, all that to say, pick up whatever the heck you want. There's usually some brand on sale at the local supermarket. Or, if you want to be sure, check out an Italian gourmet shop (e.g. Nicastro's in Ottawa), they usually have a high quality house brand that's sold inexpensively.

Alright, since man can't live by oil alone, what else are we picking up? OK, well, the other essential is garlic. Really, with just garlic and olive oil (and pasta of course), you can have a meal right then and there, but it's a bit boring. Soooooo, grab a bulb of garlic. Look at the bottom to make sure it's still good (it should be firm and if you see signs of discoloration or mould, leave it).

Now, pick up whatever veggies and meat you like. I usually like tomato, onion and red pepper. I'm a big fan of using (frozen) shrimp as it cooks fast and is fairly easy to prep as opposed to, say, chicken, which requires all that sanitizing and decontaminitation showers. Also good are frozen scallops, all you need to do is thaw them a little bit and you're good to go. Red meat usually is too heavy for this kind of dish, but what do I know? Slices of dry salami could also work well in this kind of recipe.

Anyhoo, the idea is that you're cooking for yourself (with the possible intention of cooking for others later on) so you want to use ingredients you actually like to eat.

Alright, obviously you need pasta. I usually go with linguine or spaghetti, both cook fast and reliably. I use dry pasta because it's dirt cheap, but if you want to get the fancy fresh stuff, be my guest Rockefeller! You can use whole wheat pasta if you're THAT health nutty, but I find it doesn't cook as nicely as "normal" pasta.

Extras:

- Parmesan cheese - get it pre-grated, just easier that way and the difference in taste is minimal

- Black Pepper - President's Choice sells black peppercorns in their own cheapie plastic grinder for about 4 bucks. It's the best invention ever, forget penicillin or the light bulb. Buy this.

- Basil and Oregano - a small dash of either or both of these herbs dry is a nice finishing touch to any pasta dish

- Salt - OK, salt is going to get it's whole own post at some point, but let me just get this out of the way. NEVER put more than a teaspoon of salt in any recipe, unless you're batch cooking (like chili or a pot of soup). We North Americans eat way too much salt (check the sodium content on a can of soup one of these days) and it really isn't much good when you have far more interesting flavours present (see above); also if you're using Parmesan cheese, there's more than enough salt already there

- Parsley - not my fave, but some people loves their garnishes

- Wine - a splash of red or white adds a wonderful flavour to the sauce

Alright, the next post, we give 'er!

Till next time!