Magical Mac and Cheese from The Careless Cook

 

Magical Mac and Cheese from The Careless Cook

 

All too often, I pass on Mac and Cheese because so many times it’s sensationally blah.  Of course I make great exception for your mom’s mac and cheese, which is always blended with lovely memories, which overshadow those times she made you eat broccoli and boiled cauliflower. 

 

My mother did not make Mac and Cheese, but she did like me very much.  She liked my brother a lot also, which I could never understand.

 

But, I have good news for you from the Mac and Cheese front.  I have a recipe for absolutely Magical Mac and Cheese.  And I’m happy to say it does not use vegan rubberized non-cheese, or gluten free macaroni, both of which are outlawed in many parts of the civilized world.  But, yes, I do have vegan friends, who always smell faintly of broccoli and boiled cauliflower.  Oh, come on you Veganites!  You can take a joke if you put your mind to it!

 

Magical Mac and Cheese

 

Ingredients

 

16 oz package of macaroni (I used Ronzoni, Large Elbows)

1 tablespoon of extra virgin olive oil (I’ve yet to meet an extra virgin, but surely…)

6 tablespoons butter

1/3 Cup flour

3 cups milk (I used whole milk)

1 cup heavy cream

4 cups sharp cheddar, shredded (I shred my own)

2 cups baby Swiss cheese, shredded or chopped (some recipes call for Gruyere, but it’s expensive and to me the baby Swiss tastes almost exactly the same.  If you disagree, I suggest you have that second glass of wine and taste again.)

salt and pepper to taste (Be gentle with the salt. I use salted butter and the cheese also has salt.)

6 slices of bacon, chopped and fried to a crisp

½ large sweet onion, diced and cooked until translucent

¾ cup sundried tomatoes in oil, drained and chopped finely

 

For the Topping

1 ½ cups panko crumbs

½ cup shredded Parmesan

4 tablespoons of melted butter

¼ teaspoon of smoked paprika (opitional)

 

The Set Up:  

heat oven to 350ºF or 180ºC

Grease a 3-4 quart baking dish

 

Puttin’ It Together

 

Put the  Swiss and cheddar cheeses in a bowl and set aside

 

Cook the pasta as directed on the package, but a minute or two short of al dente.  Remember, you’re going to add milk and cheese and if you cook the pasta too long it’s going to be soggy after the additions.  

 

Remove the pasta and drain, reserving one cup of pasta water.  Place the pasta in a bowl, allow the pasta to cool and slosh it with a bit of olive oil.  Be very careful of all those extra virgins.

 

In a stock pot or large saucepan, on medium heat,  melt the butter, whisk in the flour and keep whisking until you see those tiny bubbles on the edges of the pot/pan, then whisk for another two minutes.

 

Add two cups of cheese to the pan and whisk until smooth, add the rest of the cheese in portions and whisk until the sauce is smooth and creamy.

Add the milk and cream and stir well.

 

Add the sundried tomato bits, bacon, and onion and stir vigorously until well blended. 

 

Stir in the pasta until it’s well coated with the cheese sauce.

 

Pour the Mac and Cheese mixture into the greased baking dish.

Time to Make the Topping

 

Add all topping ingredients to a bowl and mix well.  Sprinkle the mixture evenly over the Mac and Cheese.

 

Bake for about 30 minutes, or until the topping is lightly browned.

 

NOTE:  All ovens are different.  You may need slightly more or less baking time and if your oven heats unevenly, you will need to rotate the baking dish as needed.

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Italian Style Ragú With Penne Rigate Pasta From The Careless Cook

 

Italian Style Ragú With Penne Rigate Pasta From The Careless Cook

 

This is the best pasta dish I’ve ever made and one of the best I’ve ever tasted, including those in Rome.  Simple to make, nutritious and the clean up was very simple.  Matter of fact, I was able to sit and have another glass of wine while my wife cleaned the kitchen! 

 

Well, not the whole glass.  A broom spilled a lot of it down the front of my shirt.

 

Where did I get the idea for this ragú?  From a book by the actor, S. T., but that’s enough of a hint.  I’ll blog about the excellent, breezy, humorous, and delicious book soon.

 

As usual, The Careless Cook did not waste time following the recipe as written.  But, close.  Hey, every Italian mother has her own version, so why not me?

 

You may already know this, but for my three faithful readers who often have a loss of memory after …. Well, I can’t remember when, but often.

Anyway, here’s what the Italian cooks say about pasta:  Ogni salsa ha la sua pasta!  (O-knee salsa-la soo-a pasta!) Every sauce has its own pasta.

 

Ok, I made that up.  BUT, it’s true.  Certain pastas for certain sauces. Don’t mix and match….’cause with mixin’ there ain’t no matchin’!

 

In a dish like ragú, which has a rather thin sauce, you want pasta with ridges to catch all the flavors.

Italian Style Ragú With Penne Rigate Pasta

(feel free to use any other ridged pasta, such as Rigatoni)

Oven to 250ºF

 

Ingredients

 

A slosh of olive oil (Several times, as needed.)

1 onion diced

1 large carrot diced (I used colorful carrots and left some cut in rounds)

1 large stalk celery diced

4 oz diced pancetta (usually comes in a packet) 

¾ lbs lean hamburger meat

6 oz pork, finely diced, or use ground pork

¾ cup dry red wine

2 cups chicken broth (I used Tuscan style)

2 tablespoons tomato paste (I used tomato paste from a tube)

handful of fresh basil

handful of fresh oregano

(No herb garden?  Use dried herbs to taste.)

 

16 oz package Penne Rigate pasta

NOTE: No garlic on the list.  Quite often, Italian cooks do not put both onion and garlic in the same dish, although in the U.S. we commonly do.

 

Putin’ It Together

 

Use a large frying pan with a lid. This makes a meal for four to six folks.

 

Put a slosh of olive oil in the frying pan and add the onion and pancetta. Cook until onions are limp and pancetta is slightly browned.

 

Add the other two meats and stir occasionally until cooked.

 

Add the other vegetables and stir.

 

Add the wine, chicken stock, tomato paste and herbs. Bring to a simmer.

 

Cover the pan and place in the oven for an hour and a half.

 

Meanwhile, make the pasta in a large pot, according to package directions.  My directions called for 12-14 minutes.  I like my pasta a little past al dente, so I went the full 14 minutes.

 

Set aside two cups of pasta water and strain the pasta.  Why save the pasta water?  When you mix in the sauce, the pasta will soak up much of the thin sauce and you may want to add it to any pasta left over.

 

Toss in another slosh of olive oil and stir.  

 

Add the sauce to the pot of pasta and mix well.

 

In serving, add a couple of basil leaves for garnish.

 

And, don’t forget to fill all the glasses of red wine! Hey, this is an Italian meal!

 

You’ll note there is no mention of cheese, grated or not.  The Careless Cook sez: This here dish is too damn delicious to mess it up with cheese!

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Careless Pasta

 

Careless Pasta

 

I was hungry, didn’t have much time and I'm a careless cook……so.

Scouring my pantry, I came across a bag of elbow macaroni. The bag happened to hold ‘gluten free’ pasta, but hungry overcomes fastidiousness nine times out of nine.  And by the way, I didn’t notice any difference in taste.

 

Time for a mild digression. I’m convinced lots of folks merely live by the latest fads, whether it’s medicine or exercise or clothes or whatever.  I know that’s why I  had grabbed a bag of gluten free pasta off the shelf of my local grocer, without one word of evidence that it would make a difference in my already jolly life.   On the other side of the still flipping coin, I’d bet for only some 1% of the gluten free crowd that it does make a difference. 

 

Things you may not know:  Wheat allergy is not the same as gluten allergy.  Gluten is contained in more grains than just wheat, barley and rye, for example.  But, if you really want to know about your intestinal allergies, better get your buns to a board certified gastroenterologist.   Dr. Google, on the other hand, is only certified to treat your mildest medical interests.

 

Do you really care?  No, or at least not my three faithful readers, who only care about getting some pasta in the pot and sinking their fangs into something good, to be washed down with a martini or two.

 

So, let’s get to the making of Careless Pasta.

Ingredients

 

16 oz. package of elbow macaroni (or any other pasta---the careless cook doesn’t care)

28 oz. can of Italian or Italian style crushed tomatoes.  Italian tomatoes just flat taste better. But, I’ve found some U.S.A. grown tomatoes that are damn close (see photo)

Half an onion, diced.   I used a sweet onion.

½ cup of sun dried tomatoes, chopped

Heaping tablespoon of beef broth paste

Tablespoon of Herbs de Provence

2 tablespoons rustic Italian herbs (see photo)

 

Getting’ careless

 

Cook the pasta according to package directions, or cook it as long as you want and do the taste test. Hey, you know your preferences better than the package does.  I added some salt and olive oil to the pot. 

 

While the pasta cooks, sauté the diced onion until lightly caramelized, then add the dried tomatoes and beef paste.  Stir well until heated through.

 

When the pasta is cooked, drain and return it to the pot.  Pour in the crushed tomatoes and add the herbs and onion mixture.  (No, I did not reheat the pasta.  It was still steaming! I just poured the tomatoes from the can.)

 

Decorate with some chopped fresh basil and grated Parmesan, if you wish.

 

Seem too easy?  Too careless?  Wait until you find out how wonderful easy and careless can taste.

 

You may say the martinis had something to do with it, but I bleeg to dis-a-grease.

 

 

 

Ligurian Cuisine: Lasagna al Pesto

After giving you a glimpse of Cinque Terre:  http://stroudallover.blogspot.de/2017/04/on-to-cinque-terre-part-i.html

Then introducing you to Ligurian cuisine:  http://stroudallover.blogspot.de/2017/04/lunch-with-daniela-cinque-terre-part-ii.html

And taking you on a tour of the five plus one villages:  http://stroudallover.blogspot.de/2017/05/cinque-terre-part-iii.html

I’m going to go way beyond and with the inestimable help of Daniella’s exquisite recipes allow your taste buds to travel to Cinque Terre.  Being a generous soul, I’ll even allow you to take complaining family and fickle friends along.  Airfare not included.

On our first journey (yes, there will be more than one), you’ll make two sauces and put them together to form the perfect lasagna.  But, it’s not just any lasagna.  This one has no meat and no tomato sauce, so put those cans of tomato paste back on the shelf, behind your expired cans of Chef-Boy-R-Dee spaghetti.  Today, you’ll sample lasagna as you’ve never tasted it.

Pesto Lasagna Ligurian Style, by Daniella

First off, what is Ligurian style?  Well, Liguria is the area of Italy, often known as the Italian Riviera.  It’s capital is Genoa and Cinque Terre is right on the coast, on the part that curves to the right.  (See the map)

Now that you’re enlightened, let’s get on with this fabulous dish!  No more interruptions please, except of course to refill my wine glass.  As was famously said, I often cook with wine and sometimes I add it to the food.

Lasagna al Pesto

Preheat the oven to 350ºF or 180ºC

Butter a 9 X 13 Inch (23 x 33 cm) roasting dish or pan

Lasagna noodles

2 Packed cups fresh basil leaves

2 Cloves garlic, finely chopped

3 Tablespoons pine nuts, plus 2 tablespoon to put on top of the finished dish.

¾ Cup of mixed and grated cheese (parmesan and pecorino) + more cheese for

dusting between layers

Olive oil, (see putting it together below)

2 Cups whole milk

4 Tablespoons butter

3 Tablespoons flour

Salt

Here’s a hint:  What we call Parmesan, in Italian is Parmigiano

 (Par-mi-jan-o)

Here’s another hint:  Pine nuts too expensive?  No basil handy?  Lots

of ways to make pesto.  Try spinach with walnuts.  Delicious!

Use fresh lasagna noodles, or a package of no boil noodles, approx. 1 1/2 lbs.

If using fresh noodles, add sheets one at a time to boiling water

for a minute, then plunge in cold water. Place each sheet on dry towel.

Pesto- (Make double or triple the amount of pesto, if you’re a pesto

lover, as I am!)

Clean the tightly packed fresh basil leaves in cold water, dry well. 

I mean really dry!  Roll them in a tea towel, or dish towel. 

Place the leaves in a food processor or blender and pulse them until they’re finely chopped.

Add the garlic and a large pinch of salt and turn on the processor.  With the

motor running, slowly add ½ Cup extra virgin olive oil, 3 T. pine nuts and blend

until uniform and creamy. Add the grated parmigiano and pecorino cheeses and

pulse again. 

Note: You’re going to spread the pesto over several layers, so if you used

only two packed cups of basil, you’ll want to thin the pesto with about ¼ cup of

water, or do as I suggest and make double or triple the amount to begin with!

Béchamel (bee-sha-mell) Sauce = Besciamella (bee-sha-mella) in Italian

Warm the whole milk on medium heat until almost boiling. In another pot

heat the butter.  When melted, stir the flour into the melted buttr and cook and stir

2 minutes.

Note the milk heating on the back burner.

Drizzle hot milk into butter-flour mixture, a half cup at a time.  Repeat until

you've used up the milk. Continue stirring (I use a whisk) until smooth and thickened. 

Add 1/4 t. salt.

Putting the Lasagna together:

Spread about 2 or 3 Tbs of béchamel on the bottom of the roasting pan, and cover

with one layer of pasta, cutting the pasta if necessary to fit the pan.

Add a thin layer of pesto and sprinkle with parmigiano. Add another layer of pasta

and then a generous layer of béschamel. Continue making 6 layers in the same way,

ending with pesto, béchamel and parmigiano. Sprinkle more pine nuts on top.

Pop it in the oven about 20-40 minutes, until the top is browning.  Let sit 15 minutes

before serving.

Gather friends.  Pour wine.  Serve Lasagna….but not yet.  More recipes to come!

You’ll end up with a full assortment of several absolutely delicious Ligurian courses!

Bought your tickets yet?  Only a matter of time!  And while you’re at it, you might

Want to stay at one of Daniella’s properties in Monterosso.  

Go to https://www.vrbo.com/475435 The six digits are the villa where we stayed, but

she has others as well.