It’s Spring!
Here’s the Pasta Primavers Recipe I used as a guideline. By Giada Delaurentiis
Rainbow carrots, zucchini, garlic, broccoli, green beans, cherry tomatoes- halved, red onion, garlic cloves, tossed in olive oil, salt and pepper and a sprinkle of Italian Seasoning a mixture of herbs. Roasted in a hot oven. The green beans and broccoli were leftover from the past two nights so added the warmed beans towards the end.
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The only risotto I’ve eaten was made in fine restaurants. Although I always loved eating it. I’d never made it myself.
I’ve been binge watching lots of cooking shows. One episode of Master Chef Junior had Joe Bastianich demonstrating how to make risotto. Then I found a video of his mother Lidia Bastianich at Harvard demonstrating the science behind the cooking of risotto at a public lecture on Science and Cooking. I watched them and felt confident but upon a second look I heard that you use 1/4 c of wine not the one cup I thought I heard. Good thing I watched again.
You need the Arborio rice to begin with so I bought the correct ingredients (except I did not have a hunk of Grana Padano cheese and used some Parmesan to finish it) cook with wine you would drink, no cooking wine.
The best 22 minutes I’ve spent in a long time, and standing at the stove stirring constantly wasn’t difficult. Can’t wait to make it again.
When your neighbor brings you pounds of pancetta, what else can you do? (Thank you Joaquin.)
Find a recipe, quickly.
I read some eat pancetta raw but that turned me.
Next time I’ll slice it more thinly. First, I warmed the dish in the oven, cooked the cut up pancetta for about 8 minutes in my cast iron skillet and then drained it on paper towels. Tossed the eggs, cheese, minced garlic cloves mixture onto the hot drained spaghetti in the warmed casserole Freshly ground pepper. Rich and good. Next time I’ll hold off on salting the pasta water as the pancetta and cheese made it salty enough. The recipe called for 1/2 cup white wine which I didn’t have on hand so poured a glass of red to accompany this perfect dish for a snowy day.
Spaghetti Carbonara
There’s plenty of pancetta left for several meals if you have any suggestions.
-or save them first and then heave them after they get a bit furry in the fridge.
Or eat them cause you feel it a duty, but not enjoy them wholeheartedly?
How do you feel about leftovers? Does it depend on the type of food saved?
Today as I drove home after school, I thought about the spaghetti sauce in the fridge and although freshly made pasta is preferable, warming up a bowl of leftovers with hot sauce poured over top was incredibly satisfying.
A little fresh grated cheese. Mmmm. Eating my way through winter…………..
Didn’t have to start a meal from scratch and it was a relief to know it was there waiting on a shelf in the refrigerator. I looked forward to eating it again.
I thought the spaghetti sauce tasted even better today.
Some people don’t enjoy leftovers or being served leftovers for supper.
And true, certain dishes are better than others in the leftover department. Chili seems to improve, the flavors marry as they say.
I know I have wrapped things up and put them away or I have saved food in a little plastic container and forgotten all about it and then when I unearth it, it’s inedible and needs to be pitched. Storing in clear glass is key to seeing what is there to eat.
Does gender make a difference in leftover preference? Do you have a limit as to how long you will keep a dish?
When I did some research on leftovers I found an article about how Americans waste about twenty pounds of food each month. Yikes, that seems like a lot and is a disgusting statistic. So wasteful.
Growing up you were encouraged to consume everything and clean your plate. My mother had a book as a child The Sunny/ Sulky Book and one of the naughty kids (the book could be turned upside down to read about the good children) always took more on his plate than he could eat. One night he was visited by a Fairy-Eat-It-All in a dream and given a spoon to consume the mountain of food he had wasted. Eyes bigger than his stomach situation I guess.
A moral tale.
One time I posted how to revive a piece of leftover cake
It was snowing and really cold. I actually pulled over,got out of the car and took this pictureI. I was headed home from school on Friday.
The idea of going to the regular grocery store was out of the question although the larder was fairly empty. Had to stop somewhere.
I was in the Bloomfield neighborhood and decided to shop at Groceria Italiana and pick up some essentials.
When I got home I cooked the sweet and hot sausage and added the house sauce I had purchased. (Chicago John avert your eyes- if you click his name you get a recipe for homemade meat sauce)
A little fresh grated cheese and a glass of organic wine. Glad to be in a warm house and it tasted just fine! 
Snow in the door mat!
