e cooks :: classic carbonara

One of the first dishes that E made for me during our early dating days, was this carbonara. He knows the way to this carb-loving girl's heart. 

As often shown on the blog, he loves to make his own pasta, but for this casual dinner he went with dried linguine. In a way, I think dried pasta nearly goes better with carbonara, as fresh would make an already rich dish even richer. E would disagree, of course - he tries to ban me from the kitchen when he cooks, to hide the amount of butter he uses. The French will always be French.

This is a great, simple recipe that will no doubt wow whoever you're trying to impress - or, just plonk it on your lap, put Netflix on and go to town with a large glass of wine. That's what I call heaven.

Classic Carbonara {for 4 generous portions}

Ingredients:

500g pasta of choice

1 onion, sliced

a few cloves garlic, crushed

2 handfuls pancetta

white wine

60ml double cream

2 egg yolks

parmesan

olive oil
fresh parsley, chopped

black pepper

To make:

1) Caramelise the onions in olive oil with the crushed garlic, season to taste.

2) Remove from pan, fry the pancetta in the same pan.

3) Deglaze the bottom of the pan with a splash of white wine. Let it reduce until a syrupy consistency.

4) Add the 60ml double cream.

5) Cook the pasta in generously salted water, until it's 3/4 cooked. 

6) Drain (reserving some of the cooking water), and add to the cream/pancetta mixture in the pan. Add the caramelised onions/garlic, and a splash of the pasta water.

7) Cook on medium/high until the sauce is the right consistency and the pasta is fully cooked.

8) Remove from heat, add the 2 egg yolks. 

9) Once plated, grate the fresh parmesan, drizzle extra virgin olive oil, add the parsley and add lots and lots of black pepper - the namesake of this pasta dish!

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e cooks: gamberetti e zucchini tagliatelle & tarte tatin

When my sister was here, she took over my camera for one evening and snapped photos for the blog of E cooking dinner. I'm fairly picky about the photos I post on the blog (I'm a total amateur with the camera at best, but even I have to have standards), but I knew I could trust her completely to take some great pictures - she's naturally very talented and very used to taking photos of food, obviously.

So all credit goes to her for these shots! And the credit for the food goes to E. What credit do I get? Spreading the love by sharing these photos, and eating. Eating a lot.

Just a few simple steps for this pasta:
1) Either pan-fry raw king prawns, or buy them cooked.
2) Grate courgettes/zucchinis. Pan-fry with olive oil.
3) Marinate prawns and courgettes in plenty of extra virgin olive oil, raw crushed garlic and chilli.
4) Once the pasta (fresh or dried) is cooked and drained very al dente, mix with the sauce in a frying pan until well mixed.

Fresh pasta is very rich, but really makes a difference with simple sauces like these. Easy for me to say as I'm not the one doing the hard work, but E is evidently happy enough to put in the extra effort! (Not as happy to listen to me complain about the floury mess.)

Hope you enjoyed my sister's photography skills - more of which you can enjoy here!

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bruschetta pasta

This is probably the simplest and easiest pasta you'll ever make. But you know that I don't like to sacrifice taste for anything or anyone, so trust me when I say that this will not let you down - it's the perfect thing to make a big bowl of in the summer, as a side dish or as a main with some nibbles on the side.

I got this recipe from my mum who makes it all the time, but I don't actually know where she originally found it. It doesn't really matter, since it can barely be called a recipe - it's that simple.

Ingredients:
500g dried pasta (or however much you want to make, just divide the other ingredients by 5)
5 ripe vine tomatoes
a couple of bunches of fresh basil
5 large cloves of garlic (or more if you're brave!)
5 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
salt & pepper to taste

To make:
1. Dice the tomatoes, chop the basil (careful not to bruise), crush garlic.
2. If possible, season & marinate all of that in the olive oil for a while. Not essential though.
3. Cook the pasta according to instructions (we usually have shell shaped pasta, but any will do)
4. Mix it all up, season to taste, serve!

We had our friend C over (semi-watching the England vs Uruguay match that decided their fate... sad times), so I wanted to add a little something to the meal and made those prosciutto wrapped asparagus I talked about the other day. It was such an easy dinner to put together so I would recommend it.

You might not want to make this for a first date situation though... the raw garlic is pretty intense. I love garlic so it wouldn't phase me, but you never know with these things!

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e cooks: fresh pasta

For E's 30th birthday in a few weeks' time, he's planning to cook up a storm for us and a few friends. To say he's excited about it is an understatement - he's already planned the menu and the timeline of his preparations!

One of the dishes he plans to make involves fresh pasta, so he decided (three weeks early…) to practise his pasta making skills, with the aid of a traditional machine that he got given second hand from a friend. And as usual, I was there as paparazzi.

With some red pesto and salami, this was one decadent dinner. He used the recipe from this book, which he's tried before and swears by, and I have to admit the dough is perfect. There's no denying that making pasta at home is a little more hassle than buying pre-made, but for a special occasion or a relaxed weekend it's so worth it. You don't even need a pasta machine, I've tried it without a machine before and it definitely works, you just need some elbow grease.

Do you have a favourite pasta recipe? Please inspire us so we can have an excuse to make this again!

Smoked Salmon Pasta

If this pasta salad was the healthy take on the Italian carb-y goodness, this is the polar opposite. Unbutton your jeans, because this is one hearty dish.

When I transitioned from being in boarding school to living alone for university, one of the most daunting prospects was cooking for myself. Since smoked salmon is my favourite food, I made a beeline for this recipe to have in my arsenal, as my very first "cook to impress" meal.

I have since tweaked the original (read = play it by ear every time), and have no idea where I found the recipe, but nevertheless this is my take on it.

Once you've put a big pot of water on the stove to boil, take a few stalks of spring onion, a generous amount of garlic, and chop/crush respectively.

Cut about 100g of smoked salmon into bite sized pieces, and prepare half a lemon for later.

Fry the spring onions and garlic in a bit of olive oil until it sizzles and smells delicious, and then pour in 300ml of single cream. Add the juice of the lemon.

Let it simmer on low heat, and in the meantime boil your pasta. I used regular spaghetti this time, but my favourite for this dish would be linguini or fettucini.

A couple of minutes before the pasta is ready, add the smoked salmon to the cream sauce and season to taste.

Drain the pasta, mix with the sauce, and you're done.

Add a sprinkle of your favourite herb & some parmesan, and enjoy!

This was just what we needed last weekend. I went all out and also baked some brownies, with a secret family recipe that I was kindly given. Ridiculously indulgent and worth every bite.