The BEST Pasta

Today you are going to learn how to make my personal favorite: Spaghetti with meatballs. This turned out the best and the meat balls were to die for. I highly recommend this for a gathering of any kind. This recipe also made quite a lot so I decided to cut the ingredients in half. I found this on page 226 of Domenica Marchetti's book 'The glorious PASTA of Italy.'

INGREDIENTS

• I cup of bread crumbs
• 1/4 cup of milk
• 1 pound/ 455 grams of ground beef (My family didn't want to pay a whole bunch for 3 different kinds of meat but if you're feeling fancy: 1/2 pound of ground beef, 8 ounces of ground pork, and 8 ounces of veal)
• 1 large egg lightly beaten
• 1/2 clove of garlic, or just a really small garlic clove
• 1 1/2 tablespoons of minced flat-leaf parsley
• 3 tablespoons and some more of parmigiana reggiano cheese
• 1 teaspoon of sea salt
• freshly ground pepper
• cooking spray
• 5 cups of pre-made tomato sauce/ I used Bertolli Organic olive oil, basil, and garlic
• ***You can also make your own sauce that only takes 30 minutes by following the directions at the bottom of the page
• 1 pound of dried spaghetti

Time for the Fun

Step 1: pre heat the oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit. Defrost the ground beef by filling your sink with hot water and keeping the beef still packaged in there. This should take about 10 minutes so while that is defrosting wash your hands and prepare your food by combining the breadcrumbs and milk and mincing your parsley. Once the beef is done put it in a large bowl with the moistened bread crumbs, minced parsley, egg, cheese, salt and pepper. Combine using your hands to fold to combine thoroughly.

  

Step 2: Take a large rimmed baking tray and spray it with cooking spray. Roll the meat in your hands the size of a golf ball and you should end up with about 14 meat balls and place it in the oven for 20 minutes.

 

Step 3: start to prepare the homemade sauce if that is what you want to do but if not 5 minutes before the meat-balls are done; in a heavy bottomed pot pour in the sauce and let it simmer at medium-low heat. Once the meatballs are done, pull the meat balls out of the oven and use tongs to put them into the sauce pot.

 

Step 4: In a separate pot (medium sized or large) fill with water and salt generously to bring it to a boil. Once the water is boiling add the pasta and wait until they are soft. Remember to stir the pasta before they stick to each other. Once they are soft drain the pasta saving about 1 cup of the water to loosen up the sauce. Pour as much of the water into the sauce as you want (you don't have to pour any in if you don't want).

 

Step 5: Serve with a little bit of cheese on top and enjoy!

 

This recipe was by far the most delicious recipe I've made on my blog. The meat balls really brought the whole dish together by being juicy and with the perfect amount of cheese and bread crumbs. I can tell you that this certainly wont be the last time I make these balls of meat. I'm not a good cook but when it comes to meat I cook it just right. She says, "I promise that my version will bring back wonderful memories of your Italian grandmother," (Marchetti 226) and it did. :)

Pun of the post:

Question: What is the best dish you've made?




***to make your own sauce read these saucy instructions (Marchetti 49)



Marchetti, Domenica. The Glorious Pasta of Italy. San Francisco, CA: Chronicle, 2011. Print.

Noodle Soup!

Today you're going to learn how to make a delicious dish of noodle soup. The only thing I changed up in this recipe was the type of bean because I don't have a trader joes near me that might have it. But according to this substitute website pinto beans should've worked fine. This recipe takes a while to make but most of the time it's on the stove simmering; so make sure you have something to do for 2 hours. This is on page 90 of  Domenica Marchetti's book 'The glorious PASTA of Italy.'

INGREDIENTS

• 2 cups of canned pinto bean (or cranberry/borlotti beans if you can find them)
• 3 ounces of Bacon
• 1 celery rib finely chopped
• 1 yellow onion, finely chopped
• 3 large cloves of garlic passed through a garlic press
• 1 tablespoon of fresh rosemary, minced
• 1/2 cup of extra virgin olive oil
• 8 cups of water
• Fine sea salt
• generous pinch of red pepper flakes
• 8 ounces of dried fettuccine

Time for the Fun!

Step 1: Wash your hands and prepare the food by mincing the bacon and onion, chopping up the celery, and pouring a half cup of olive oil. Also in a small bowl mix the minced garlic and rosemary to make a paste.

     

Step 2: Drain the canned pinto beans and pour them into either a Dutch oven or a heavy-bottomed pot with lid. Then add bacon, onion, celery, and garlic and rosemary mixture. drizzle olive oil over it and stir. Pour in water and place over medium high heat bringing it to a boil. Then reduce the heat to low and let it simmer for 2 hours.

   



Step 3: Once that's done let it cool for 5-10 minutes, then season the soup with salt and red pepper flakes and bring the soup to a boil on medium-high heat. once it's boiling stir in the pasta  and cook it at a gentle boil for 15-20 minutes. (avoid the noodles sticking together by stirring it enough) (also avoid the sauce looking gross by not keeping them in the sauce too long)

 

Step 4: serve and Enjoy!

This pasta was easy but it just took a while to prepare everything and then a lot of waiting around. But in this recipe the only thing I'd recommend not putting the noodles in with the soup because that's what made the soup all mushy and what made me cringe. Although I didn't "appreciate the warmth and comfort that a bowl of this substantial soup can deliver," (Marchetti 90) I bet if you do it right it's delicious. Good luck!

Question: What's your favorite kind of pasta and why?


Marchetti, Domenica. The Glorious Pasta of Italy. San Francisco, CA: Chronicle, 2011. Print.

Dumplin' Soup

Today you're going to learn how to make Fluffy Semolina Dumpling Soup. But if you aren't Italian and don't know where to get Semolina flour, you can substitute it for all purpose flour. This will just make the dumplings thinner so you might need to add a little more flour than asked. You can also substitute it for Kamut flour or Durham wheat flour. This is found on page 76 of Domenica Marchetti's book 'The glorious PASTA of Italy.'

INGREDIENTS

• 2 Cups of Half-and-Half
• 2 Tablespoons of unsalted butter
• 3/4 Tsp fine sea salt
• Pinch of freshly grated nutmeg
• 2/3 cup of semolina flour (1 and a little bit more cups of all purpose flour)
• 1/2 cup plus a little freshly grated Pecorino Romano cheese
• 1 Tablespoon finely minced fresh flat-leaf parsley
• 2 Large eggs, light Beaten
• 6 cups of canned chicken broth, the chicken broth recipe at the bottom of the page (which should be made in advance), or your own recipe
• If you are using canned broth  add 1 teaspoon of Chicken Granules instant Bouillon for flavor



Time for the Fun!

Step 1: Wash your hands and prepare all of your ingredients for the dumplings by grinding your salt, beating your eggs, cutting 2 tbsp. of butter, mincing your parsley and having your cheese, nutmeg, milk, and flour ready.

 

Step 2: Grab a large sauce pan that can hold 6 cups or a large pot and place over medium heat. Pour in your chicken broth (and the Chicken Bouillon if it's canned broth) place the lid over it until it starts to boil. When it starts boiling anytime during the rest of the procedures just take off the lid and turn the heat down slightly.

Step 3: Pour the milk, butter, salt, and nutmeg in a heavy-bottomed sauce pan and place over medium heat. Bring it to a boil and gradually pour in the flour while whisking it into the mix. When it has thickened and is starting to pull away from the pan, pour it into a bowl using a spatula to scrape the sides

 

If your mixture looks too wet add more flour or make sure you have all the ingredients

Step 4: Stir in 1/2 cup of cheese and parsley, stirring slowly and easy. Carefully pour in the 2 eggs

Step 5: In this step you want to make sure that your chicken broth is boiling. The book says to grab 2 small spoons or  dessert spoons and scoop up about 1 tbsp. of the mix and to form it into an oval and gently drop it into the broth, but I did it a little differently. I just used 1 spoon and my finger to plop the dumpling in the broth because I attempted shaping it and I couldn't quite get it. You should have about 20-24 dumplings. Reduce the heat and let the dumplings simmer. Once they float to the top and puffed up considerably they are ready. If you wait too long yours will become mushy and fog up the broth and it'll look like mine. You don't want this.

 

(I should've turned down the heat long before it was boiling)

Step 6: Once you've turned down the heat, scoop a couple dumplings in a bowl and with a ladle, scoop some broth over the dumplings. Sprinkle some cheese on top and Enjoy! 

 vs. 

The pun of the post:

This recipe was fairly simple, but this was the recipe I messed up the most. This was probably because I rushed through the easiest part thinking I wouldn't need to worry about it. Always read the procedures thoroughly before starting the recipe to know exactly what you are going to be doing. So while I rushed I forgot the eggs, but strange enough the dumplings still tasted decent. That shows that if I actually made them correctly this soup must be pretty good. I also think that my dumplings would've benefited greatly with an extra large sauté pan rather than a pot. As always have fun with it. As she says in the book , "this is a soul- warming soup, just the thing to chase away the chill on frigid winter night," (Marchetti 76)

 

Question: When do I realize I've made a mistake in the recipe?

***To make your own broth follow the following steps from the book on Page 62

I didn't type it up myself because I didn't actually make it and get a chance to change it up a bit. Have fun, this is all you!
Marchetti, Domenica. The Glorious Pasta of Italy. San Francisco, CA: Chronicle, 2011. Print.

Delicious Penne

Today you are going to learn how to make Penne All'Incazzata which is Angry Pasta in Italian. Unless you are very weak when it comes to spicy stuff (like me) you'll just make regular penne pasta. This dish will be found page 37 of Domenica Marchetti's book 'The glorious PASTA of Italy.'

INGREDIENTS

• 1 tablespoon of unsalted butter
• 1 table spoon of extra-virgin olive oil
• 4 oz/115 G of Pancetta, Diced
• Unless you're like me and can't find this in the meat section just get 4 oz. of Naturally Dry Aged Prociutto: Cubetti found in Fred Myers
• 2 cloves of garlic, lightly crushed
• This one is if you have a spicy personality or not
• 2 or more fresh chili peppers, minced
• or a generous pinch of pepper flakes
• or 1 green pepper
• 1 14.5 OZ/411 G can  of ready-cut tomatoes diced and peeled
• 1 LB/455 G Dried Penne
• 1 Tablespoon of finely chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
• 4 OZ/ 115 G Pecorino Romano Cheese freshly grated

Time for the Fun

Step 1: Grab a pot and fill it up half way. Put it on the stove with medium heat and add about a teaspoon or two of salt. Put the lid on and continue to the next step. You want your water to look like this in about 5-10 minutes

Step 2: While the water is on the stove start cutting the green pepper (or mincing the chilly pepper) and mincing the garlic cloves. Also open the can of diced tomatoes, mince the parsley, and separate 3 lb of the cheese from the 4 lb. Keep them on the side and we'll come back to them



Step 3: On another stove top grab a large frying pan and warm the butter and olive oil over medium heat. Once the butter is melted and begins to sizzle poor in the diced meat and saute for about 5 minutes or until the meat, according to the book, "has rendered  some of its fat and is slightly crisp. With a spoon transfer the meat to a plate.

 

Step 4: Add the garlic and peppers of choice to the same frying pan and saute for about 5 minutes or until the garlic releases its fragrance. Take out as much garlic as you can and throw it away or do what you want with it.

 

Step 5: Then pour in the tomatoes, raising the heat to medium high, and stirring the tomatoes with the peppers. After a couple minutes bring it to a simmer and stir occasionally for 15-20 minutes or until it's thick

Step 6: While the sauce is simmerin' and cookin' check the pot and it should be boiling by now. If it is, pour in the penne with the lid off. After 5 minutes check if it's ready by grabbing a spoon and eating one of the penne's. If it's not cooked check it again after 2 minutes; if it is drain the water keeping about 1 cup of it. Set the stove to very low and wait for the sauce to be ready

Step 7: Once the sauce is ready, transfer the pasta to the frying pan gently tossing and combining thoroughly. Then stir in the meat that was set aside, the parsley, the 3 lb of cheese, and a little bit of the water to loosen the sauce. Mix it all together and you know that it's the best of all foods.

   

Step 8: Then serve with a little bit of cheese on top and enjoy!



The pun of the post: If I had a penne for every time I made penne I'd have 1 penne

This penne pasta was an easy and fun dish to make. If you're just making dinner for your family and want to impress them with your skills of Italy this is perfect because it is very doable for anyone who is just starting out in cooking. Don't be fooled by the many steps, it's just cutting, mixing, and boiling. so have fun with it. Add your own spices, make it as spicy or as salty as you want. As she says in the book, "use as much chili pepper as your lips can take," (Marchetti 37) This is just the  basis so don't let it stop you from letting your imagination run wild.

Question: How do you know what is enough spices in the food you're cooking?
Marchetti, Domenica. The Glorious Pasta of Italy. San Francisco, CA: Chronicle, 2011. Print.