Spaghetti Carbonara

My daughter really likes this, but can't remember how to do it on her own, so I'm posting it here for her.  I don't really follow a recipe when making this; I adapt it to what my family likes (a lot of bacon), what I like (a lot of garlic) and what they can eat (we sprinkle the paremesan on the individual plates).

I made this with about
3/4 lb of spaghetti
6-7 slices of bacon, cut up into little pieces
3 large cloves of garlic, pressed
1/4 cup red wine
1 egg, beaten
olive oil
salt to taste

Get your water boiling for the pasta while you fry your bacon pieces 'til crisp. Transfer them onto a paper-towel lined plate. Reserve 1 tbsp of the bacon fat. Press your garlic and sautee it in the bacon fat (don't let it burn). Let the garlic cool in a bowl, add the egg, red wine and a good drizzle of olive oil.
Boil your pasta, strain it and put it back in the pot, add the contents of your bowl. Stir. The heat of the pasta will cook the egg. Add the bacon bits. Serve. Sprinkle with grated Paremesan Cheese.

Meatless Monday: Penne with Stewed Tomatoes and Feta Cheese

So I took one of the containers of the stewed tomatoes I had put aside yesterday, and I added:

1 tablespoon of tomato paste
1/2 cup of water
about a dozen sliced olives (green or black or a combination)
1 tablespoon of capers.

I boiled 1/2 lb of penne, topped it off with some feta cheese and there you go — a perfect Meatless Monday meal.

Meatless Monday: Ricotta and Spinach Stuffed Manicotti

I don't like to post Italian recipes too often since I 'm no expert, but I decided to make manicotti and since it's been at least 15 years since I've made it, I thought it worth the while to post it.

For the sauce:
2 large cloves garlic, pressed
1 small onion, finely chopped
1 1/2 cups canned stewed tomatoes
2 tablespoons tomato paste
1 cup water
2 tablespoons Italian seasoning (a combination of dried oregano, rosemary, thyme, basil and savory)
salt
olive oil

Coat a skillet with olive oil and sautee your onions and garlic. Add the tomatoes, tomato paste, water and spices. Stir. Cover and simmer for 45 minutes.

The manicotti pasta:
8 oz manicotti
water
olive oil

Boil your manicotti in a pot of water with a splash of olive oil. Cook to al dente. Do not overcook or it will fall apart when stuffing. (It will soften later in the oven).  Strain and let cool.

For the filling:
1 small onion, chopped
10 oz canned spinach drained
olive oil
salt to taste

2 cups ricotta cheese
1 1/4 cups mozzarella cheese, grated
3/4 cup parmesan cheese, grated
1 egg

Sautee your onion in olive oil and add the spinach, cook until the liquid is absorbed, add salt to taste. Remove from heat and let cool.In a large bowl combine the spinach mixture, the three cheeses and the egg.

My top photo shows more spinach than I actually used. The written measurements are corect.

To stuff the manicotti:
Take a large ziplock bag and cut the corner (not to big, but not too small) pour half the cheese mixutre into the bag. Hold the manicotti with one had vertically and squeeze the mixture into the pasta halfway, then turn the manicotti and fill from the other end.

Coat a baking pan with olive oil and lay the stuffed manicotti side by side.

Pour your spaghetti sauce over the stuffed manicotti and place in a preheated 350 degree F oven for 30 minutes.

Penne Puttanesca with Salmon Polpette

I'm stepping out of the Cuban zone and going Italian. I tried this recipe before and liked it, so I decided to do it again and post it. I have copied this recipe from Rachel Ray's Puttanesca with Tuna Polpette. Substituting salmon for the tuna. I'm going to cut this recipe in half for me, but listed are Rachel's proportions and instructions.

1 pound penne
Salt
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil, plus more for tuna (salmon)
5 to 6 anchovies, in jars with red pepper, if plain anchovies add 1 teaspoon red pepper flakes
4 large cloves garlic, pressed or finely chopped
1 (28-ounce) can tomatoes
1 cup chicken or seafood stock
Freshly ground black pepper
A few tablespoons capers, drained
A handful pitted black olives, oil cured or kalamata, chopped
1 pound tuna steak (salmon fillets)
1 large egg
1/2 cup bread crumbs
A handful flat-leaf parsley, finely chopped
1/2 cup basil leaves, shredded

Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil over high heat. Add pasta and cook to al dente. Drain and keep warm.

Heat extra-virgin olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat, add anchovies and stir into oil until melted. Add the garlic, turn heat to low and saute for a couple of minutes. Stir in the tomatoes crushing them up, then stir in stock. Season with a little black pepper, add capers and olives and simmer a few minutes.

While sauce simmers, cut salmon into chunks and grind in food processor into coarse mixture. Pulse in the egg, bread crumbs and parsley and season with a little salt and black pepper. Remove tuna mixture from the processor to a bowl and add a drizzle of olive oil. Stir to combine. (Adding the oil will prevent mixture from sticking to your hands as you roll the balls.) Roll the tuna into small balls and drop into the sauce. Cover the pot and simmer the tuna balls in the sauce, about 4 to 5 minutes.

Place the pasta into a serving bowl. Add the tuna (salmon) and sauce, toss to coat and garnish with shredded basil.

Camarones al Ajillo: Garlic Shrimp

This didn't fit into my diet, so I'm not writing it as a diet post, but I did eat a little of it (2 shrimp and a little pasta). I mostly had salad.

1 lb shrimp deveined, tail on
3-4 cloves garlic, pressed or chopped
olive oil (enough to coat the bottom of your pan and then some)
1 tsp paprika
sprinking of cilantro
salt and pepper to taste


This is so simple, it's almost silly to post it. Heat your olive oil in a skillet with your pressed garlic until it becomes fragrant. Add your paprika and shrimp. Add your cilantro (I was going to originally use parsley which would have been the more "obvious" choice, but I only had cilantro and it was marvelous), salt and pepper. Toss back and forth. The shrimp cook rather quickly.


Serve on a layer of rice or as in my case fettucini. Accompany with a salad.

Crab Cakes Made With Angel Hair Pasta

So I was looking at a recipe for Salmon Patties at The Tiny Skillet, and I remembered this recipe for crab cakes.

Ingredients:

• 6-8 oz canned lump crab meat
• 1-2 tbsp parsley, chopped
• 1 egg
• 1 heaping tablespoon of mayo
• 1/4 lb cooked angel hair pasta
• salt and pepper
• a dash of hot sauce
• oil for frying
• fresh lime juice to taste
• Cocktail sauce for dipping

Boil your pasta. Angel hair pasta cooks very quickly so don't walk away. Drain and let cool.  Open your can of crabmeat and drain. Pour your crabmeat in a bowl and add your chopped parsley. Add your pasta and mix together. Add your egg and stir. Add your mayonnaise. Your pasta should not be long, so you can cut it up before you incorporate it into the bowl, or if you forget, as I did, cut it up already mixed in.

Heat oil in a heavy skillet. Separate a tablespoonful of your mixture and form into a small ball. Drop into the heated oil. Repeat this process browning your fritters on all slides with a slotted spoon. Makes 12.

Well, I guess my mind has been a little frazzled lately since I omitted sauteed onions which I had intended to add, but no one complained. I kept my mouth shut.

Spaghetti with Meatballs (Albondigas)

It don't come easy.
I was discussing with a friend the other day just how complicated Cuban cooking is. I don't mean to scare anyone away, but the fact is that Cubans take simple ingredients and complicate them. We can't just grill a steak. No... we have to marinate it first, and chop onions and parsley to sprinkle on top.  We look at an ear of corn, and we can't just steam it or boil it; no, we have to slice off the kernels and grind the kernels and transform it into tamales. Can we just roast a chicken in the oven? No, we need to prepare a mojo and let it marinade for 24 hours. The list goes on and on. I personally need to simplify my life.

Take something relatively simple to make such as spaghetti with meatballs. This is a typical recipe for Cuban Albondigas (Cuban Meatballs) that I copied/translated from La Cocina Cubana.

Ingredients:

1 lb ground beef

2 eggs, beaten

2 tbsp ground onion

2 tbsp ground pepper

½ cup milk

1 cup bread crumbs

1 tbsp salt

¼ tbsp black pepper

½ oil for frying

Instructions:

Mix all the ingredients except of the eggs and bread crumbs. Form your meatballs then pass them through the beaten eggs and next the bread crumbs. Heat the oil and fry the meatballs until they are golden. Remove from the oil.

That's just the meatballs, then you still have to make the sauce. My grandmother used to make them this way, and if you want to try them, they are very tasty. As far as I'm concerned it's too much trouble and way too fattening; after all, it's breaded and fried ground beef! Please, my cholesterol is already through the roof.

Here's how I make them for spaghetti
1 1/2 lbs ground beef
1 egg beaten
1 1/2 cups bread crumbs
seasoned salt

Fill a large pot with water and bring to a boil. (Yes, I boil my meatballs to eliminate the fat). Combine above ingredients and form into balls carefully dropping them in the boiling water as you go. Let the meatballs fully cook in the boiling water.

For the sauce.

1 can/jar spaghetti sauce, traditional flavor
4 cloves garlic, pressed
1 cup red wine
olive oil
a dash or oregano
a dash of basil
a dsh of rosemary
salt and pepper
1-2 cups water from the pot with the meatballs

Heat a little olive oil in a pot and drop in your pressed garlic. Cook on medium heat for just a minute or so and pour in your spaghetti sauce, add your herbs and spices. With a slotted spoon remove your meatballs from the water and drop into your sauce. Add one to two cups of the water from the pot of the boiled meatballs. Let simmer while your pasta cooks. You know how to cook pasta.

Sprinkle with parmesan cheese. P.S. It took me longer to prepare this post than to prepare the dish.

Quick Tuna/Pasta Salad

I'm always in a hurry to make lunch. This is quick and serves 4-6

6 oz. boiled pasta
2 cans of tuna (10 oz)
1/4 cup onions, diced
1 celery stalk diced
1/4 cup tomatoes, diced
sliced olives, green and black
2 to 3 large dollops of mayonnaise
salt and pepper

Cuban Style Pot Roast turned Stroganoff

I can't cook Cuban food everyday, but most of my recipes have a Cuban flavor. This is basically a Stroganoff made with a Cuban-spiced pot roast ... sort of.  It's good. Trust me.

I pulled out the Crock Pot and in went:

3 1/2 lb roast
1 large onion, chopped
5 cloves garlic, pressed
1 green bell pepper, chopped
1 cup tomato sauce
1 cup sherry
1 tsp cumin
1 tsp orgeno
1 bay leaf
salt and pepper

Once the roast is done, remove the broth (about 6 cups worth) to make a typical american gravy, and pull the roast apart with a fork. (The roast should be tender enough to do this without effort).

Boil 1 lb of fettucini noodles and drain. Set aside.

For the gravy:
In a large pot melt 4 tbsp butter over medium high heat whisk in 3-4 tbsp flour to form a paste and slowly add in your 5-6 cups beef broth whisking until thickened.
Add the pulled roast and fettucini noodles and mix together. I threw in some green peas for color.