Summer Squash Pasta “Carbonara”

By -

This was good. It wasn’t perfect, but I give it an 8 because it could really be improved to make it super awesome. It came from a recent issue of Fine Cooking magazine. First, mine was dry. I forgot to do the pasta water thing, so that was not cool. But, the flavor was good. I noted my changes in bold, and here is what I would do differently next time. Classic carbonara has egg in it, and the pasta needed it. It needed something to smooth out the texture. I would add 2-3 eggs to the pasta by mixing them up, adding the parmesan cheese to the egg mixture, throwing that on the hot pasta in the skillet and stirring it constantly for about 30 seconds until it was coated. Then I would add the other stuff. This would make it much better and would really put it into the excellent category, at least in my opinion. Or, just make classic carbonara and add squash. That would be awesome too.

DSC00866

Summer Squash Pasta “Carbonara”

by Domenica Marchetti from Fine Cooking
Issue 130

  • Kosher salt
  • 5 slices bacon, cut crosswise into 1/2-inch pieces
  • 3 Tbs. extra-virgin olive oil
  • 2 Tbs. finely chopped shallot I used normal onion
  • 1 lb. summer squash (about 3 medium), halved lengthwise and sliced into 1/4-inch-thick half-moons
  • 2 Tbs. thinly sliced fresh basil; more for serving
  • 8 oz. (1 cup) whole milk ricotta, at room temperature I used light ricotta, but I don’t think this made a difference
  • Freshly ground black pepper
  • 1 lb. linguine I used a bit less than this
  • 1 oz. Parmigiano-Reggiano, coarsely grated (1/2 cup); more for serving

Bring a large pot of well-salted water to a boil.

In a 12-inch nonstick skillet, cook the bacon over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until crisp, about 8 minutes. Leaving the bacon in the skillet, pour off all but 1 Tbs. of the fat. Add 2 Tbs. of the oil and the shallot and cook until it just begins to turn golden, about 1 minute. Add the squash and cook, stirring occasionally, until lightly browned and tender, about 7 minutes. Stir in the basil and 3/4 tsp. salt, and remove from the heat. Keep warm.

Mix the ricotta and the remaining 1 Tbs. oil in a medium bowl. Season well with pepper.

Boil the linguine according to package directions until al dente. Reserve 1 cup of the pasta water, drain the pasta, and add it to the squash mixture. Add the ricotta and Parmigiano and toss gently to combine, adding some of the cooking water to loosen the sauce, if necessary. Season to taste with salt and pepper, and serve garnished with basil and cheese.

recipe retrieved 8/28/14 from http://www.finecooking.com/recipes/summer-squash-carbonara.aspx

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Sourdough, version 4, aka version Mel

By -
Image
This is my personal favorite.—it is a combination of the sourdough recipe from Nancy Beykirch with the Tartine method. It is sour but the texture is also great. Leaven: 1/2 cup sourdough starter 1/2 cup water 2/3 cups bread flour Combine ingredients and let sit 12 hours. Then, combine the leaven (mine was about 290 grams) 860 grams white flour 100 grams wheat flour 700 grams water 22 grams salt You mix this then let it sit for 40 minutes. Then, you put it in a big bowl and let it rise for 5 hours. For the first 2-3 hours, turn in every 30 minutes where you pull the dough to the opposite side, rotate the bowl by 4ths, do the same thing. Then, you put it on a floured surface. This dough is sticky, so you might need a good deal of flour. divide and shape into 2 loaves, then let sit 30 minutes. Then, kind of reshape them and put them in a pot. Let them rise for 3 hours. Then, score them. Bake at 425 for 20 minutes, then lid off the dutch oven for the final 20 minutes.
Read more

Grandma Goodsell's Whole Wheat Bread

By -
Image
  So, my Grandma Goodsell is the one who instilled a love of bread making in me. I owe a lot to her guidance when I was a kid. We finally tracked down her recipe after we thought it was lost all those years ago, and I made it yesterday. I give it a 9, but that’s probably a lot of nostalgia. Either way, it is a very, very solid bread recipe. I put my changes below in bold. Grandma Goodsell's Whole Wheat Bread Mix 2 ½ T yeast and 1 T sugar in 1 C water, and let set for 10 minutes. I used instant yeast, so I decreased this to 5 tsp. of yeast 3 C milk 2 C water ½ C honey ½ C shortening 2 T salt 2 T molasses 5 ½ C whole wheat flour 7 ½ C white flour I also added 2 heaping spoonfuls of wheat gluten Combine milk, honey, shortening, salt, and molasses in a saucepan and heat until shortening melts. Stir in 2 Cups cold water and combine with yeast mixture. Pour mixture into mixing bowl and add flours one cup at a time alternating between white and wheat (1 C white, 1 C wheat, 1 C white, ...
Read more

Instant Pot Spaghetti and Meatballs

By -
Image
Oh, how I love me a pressure cooker that cuts down on dishes and produces the exact same results. This is good because it's pasta and meatballs. I would have to really be coerced to make it any other way again because this is just SO easy. My one complaint is that it was very rich in tomato flavor because it calls for twice as much sauce as when I make it the traditional way. I think I might increase the water and use less sauce next time. Instant Pot Spaghetti and Meatballs 1 pound lean ground beef or ground turkey I just did my own meatballs already premade 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder (or 2 cloves garlic, finely minced) I just did my own meatballs already premade Salt and pepper 16 ounces uncooked spaghetti noodles (see note) I think our spaghetti is almost 18 oz 1 teaspoon dried basil I used fresh 40 ounces jarred spaghetti/marinara sauce (see note) I did 2 Trader Joe's vodka sauces that are 25 oz. each 3 1/2 cups water Freshly grated Parmesan and ...
Read more