Peckerwood Cafe is Serving up Pasta(chapter 1)! Share recipes, tips and What did/will you eat for dinner?

I don't believe I have ever met someone who doesn't like at least one pasta dish. At least. I eat it so many different ways I have lost count. I like twists and new versions of old favorites when someone does something unexpected. But I always go back to the pasta my godfather used to make, and when his mom came from Italy to visit, she would make so many lovely things, but they were always comforting and homey. That she refused to acknowledge my godfather's sexuality made for a strange tension, I didn't understand, and I think she cooked so much to avoid what was in front of her. A four-bedroom townhouse-one was mine; one room was an office, one was my cousin's, and the other had a king-sized bed. But OK, lady. 

There are a few things I retained passed on by him to me. If you love pasta, quality olive oil is one thing to invest in. It elevates pasta dishes and makes the flavors richer and closer to how Italians eat their food. Ironically, some of the best olive oil comes from Spain, but don't go to Puglia and say that, or you might get told off in a string of inventive Italian curse words you won't understand, but you will know you were told where to go. It depends on what you use it for and what you like the best. I am biased toward Spain and Greece. Greek olive oils give you more bang for your money and have a tremendous flavor profile, and a lot of it can be used safely at high temps. Crete is famous for its french fries in olive oil, and after tasting it that way for the first time ages ago, it is the only way I like my fries at home. Make sure to use a light one and not one for dips or dressings. 

Back to pasta, choose Spain for a fruitier, Italy for a grassier taste, and Greece for a lighter, robust flavor, and choose one that fits your budget but is more flavorful than some famous brands because they are bland and don't do your recipes proper justice. They will put it in bottles to make it look green-tinged when it is not and tastes more like Canola oil but at twice the cost. Some tasty at incredible prices can be found at Trader Joe's. In some dishes, I will add unsalted butter for 1/4 of the total olive oil called for because it can add richness to some recipes, and no one knows you snuck it in there. Not margarine but real full-fat butter. You will be satisfied with less food and not add more calories if calories are a concern. 

You can have your pasta fresh, buy, make, or use the dry kind. It is what is most convenient for you and how much you want to put into your dishes. Making pasta is easy, but only some people want to, and I certainly don't judge. You do what you have time for, what you enjoy doing, what is convenient, and what fits your budget. Again, Trader Joe's or Aldis are solid choices for dried pasta or fresh, depending on your TJs. Mario Batali makes decent dry, Raos is fine, or if you live in a city and have Italian import shops RUN and stock up, they might even have some fresh. Or look online at an Italian import shop. Whatever you choose is OK, but avoid Ronzoni, Muellers, and brands like that because the pasta is actually tasteless, and you can get something better tasting for a dollar more. Lecture over on that front. 

So here is my recipe for a delicious Bolognese:

Ingredients

• 1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil, divided
• 1 tsp unsalted butter

For the soffritto: I want to add that I use it in so many recipes that I always have onions, carrots, and celery on hand. I use it for all sorts of soups, stews, casseroles, and beans, and it is the base of my split pea soup and lentil soup. (I will share my split pea, bacon, and crouton soup when it gets chillier)

• 1 medium yellow onion, finely diced
• 1 medium carrot, finely diced
• 1 medium celery rib, finely diced
• 2 oz. pancetta, thickly sliced, finely diced. I have used thick-cut bacon here, but make sure it isn't too maple syrupy, overly smoked, or all fat and tiny slivers of meat. I did ham once long ago, and it was all wrong. Save the ham for a savory bean soup. 
• 1 pound ground beef
• 1/4 pound ground pork-not Italian sausage. Not for this recipe. It throws off the flavor for an authentic Bolognese. Save it for baked ziti, lasagna, or a delicious sausage and peppers sub. 
• 3 medium garlic cloves, chopped
• 1 cup dry white wine-drinkable cheap, not fruity or oaky or citrus. An unoaked dry Chardonnay, dry white Burgundy, not cooking wine. 
• 1 (28-ounce) can of peeled Italian tomatoes, seeded and finely chopped, juices reserved. You want the can to have plenty of tomatoes packed in. So make sure it is Italian tomatoes, called roma or plum. 
• 1 cup chicken stock or low-sodium broth
• 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
• 1 bay leaf
• sea salt-not Himalayan pink. Just good ole sea salt. Regular table salt is too salty and bitter. 
• Freshly ground black pepper-If you are stocking up on some tools, a pepper mill is a solid investment. Fresh ground pepper is great. If you don't have one, get those all-in-one disposable ones. A pepper mill saves in the long run. You use less and loose peppercorns are cost effective. 
• 1/4 cup heavy cream
• 2 pounds penne rigate pasta
• Freshly grated Parmesan cheese for serving. This is another area to investigate. They found that some already grated cheeses had cellulose in them and were not 100 percent cheese. A little wedge goes a long way and is cheaper than the tubs. But if time is not your friend and you aren't up to it, already grated is OK. Just make sure you aren't getting a mouthful of cellulose filler. 

Directions

1. Heat 1 tablespoon of the olive oil in a large, heavy saucepan until shimmering. Add the onion, carrot, celery, and pancetta and cook over moderate heat, stirring sometimes and make sure you don't brown it. Put this in a large bowl.
2. Add butter and the remaining olive oil to the saucepan and heat until starting to shimmer and butter is melted but not too browned. Add the meat and cook over moderately high heat until just barely pink, about 5 minutes. Don't cook all the way through,.
3. Return the vegetable mixture to the saucepan. Add the garlic and cook over high heat until fragrant, about 1 minute.
4. Add the wine cook on medium heat, until the wine has nearly totally evaporated.
5. Stir in the tomatoes and their juices, the chicken stock, thyme, and bay leaf. Season with a generous pinch of salt, pepper and cover partially. Don't close lid on the mixture set it on the pan leaving an opening.
6. Cook over moderately low heat so it is simmering but not too hard for 1 hour. Discard the bay leaf. Stir in the heavy cream and cook the sauce just until heated through. Do not boil or bubble. The cream will separate, so you just make sure it gets warm and before it boils take off the heat and close lid. 
7. Meanwhile, in pot of boiling salted water, cook the pasta until al dente. 
8. Drain well, return to the pot you cooked it in, add the sauce, and toss. Still not boiling or heating. The food should be hot enough.

Add generous amounts of cheese and serve and enjoy. Bolognese is not a tomato heavy sauce. However, play around with it, if you use turkey add some turkey Italian sausage in the place of the pork. If you do it vegetarian use crumbles, extra butter and garlic. I sometimes add more garlic if the cloves are not strong enough. I have done a pure Italian sausage version, with the ground beef and a some ground pork making sure the amount is still the same.

(photo BBC)