Fettuccine with Truffle Sauce

Yum! This is an Ina recipe that my mother-in-law loves. It's decadent and delicious and if you love truffles, it's so great. It is on the heavy side, so great for a cold winter night and a special dinner. We had our friends Kara and Jon over for dinner and served it - big hit. 

Serves 4

Ingredients:

1 cup heavy cream

6oz truffle butter

1lb fresh fettuccine 

6 oz pecorino, shaved thin with a vegetable peeler

Directions:

Heat the cream in a sauté pan over medium heat until it simmers. Meanwhile, bring a large pot of water to a boil to cook the pasta.

Fettuccine with Red Wine Sauce

Sorry for the delay! December was busy and we went down to Florida for a week between Christmas and New Year's. Now winter has descended on New York and it's freezing. Nice, cozy pasta dishes sound so appealing, which could also partially be because... I'm pregnant! Jamie and I are expecting a little girl at the end of May. SO so excited! Probably fewer cocktail recipes on here for a few months...

My missing red wine may have played a role in this recipe's invention. Over the summer, my friend Kara and I had dinner at Ciccio and had this great red wine pasta. I'd been wanting to try to recreate it and tried tonight. Yum! It's really simple and goes perfectly with good, fresh pasta. It's a somewhat subtle sauce, but again, with fresh pasta you don't need too much. I served it with lots of grated pecorino and cracked black pepper. 

Classic Carbonara

On a cold or dreary day, there's nothing like a creamy plate of spaghetti carbonara. I know I've made the leek carbonara before, but I wanted to go for a really basic, classic carbonara. Usually you're supposed to use dried pasta, but after watching Master of None all weekend, I was inspired to make it with fresh spaghetti. Yum! It's so good and creamy and salty and delicious, and the little bites of crispy pancetta are just the best. This is easy and cheap, too, so a great weeknight dinner. 

Valentine's Day Heart-Shaped Ravioli

Jamie and I had some friends over last weekend for a Valentine's Day dinner party. I made this awesome ravioli, but in pink and white hearts. 

Fresh Garganelli

Sundays are great for making pasta. I was cooking a lamb ragu and thought garganelli would be fun and good for the hearty sauce. It's a lot like ziti and has a great texture. You need a gnocchi board or ridged surface for rolling them. 

Makes enough for 4-6 people

Ingredients:

2 cups flour

2 eggs

4 egg yolks

1 tsp kosher salt

1/2 tsp olive oil 

Water

Papardelle with Veal and Sausage Ragu

If you need to impress friends for dinner, this is a great way to do it. We had our friends Funk and Bettina over last weekend and I wanted to make fresh pasta. I was perusing epicurious for a recipe, and came across this ragu recipe that had veal, sausage, and porcini mushrooms. It was relatively easy to make, and as long as you make it the night before, all you have to do is warm it up when guests come over. The sausage adds a great, intricate flavor, the veal stew meat is tender, and the porcini mushrooms add a nice earthiness (I only used 1/2 oz because I bought one bag and that's all that was in it). I added 1/4 cup of balsamic to the recipe just because I find it adds a great tang and a little sweetness to ragus (learned it from this recipe). Make this for your next dinner and you won't regret it - especially if it's cold outside. Just toss the ragu with fresh papardelle (make it or buy it) and serve with a little grated pecorino on top.

Ingredients:

1 cup water

1/2 oz dried porcini mushrooms

1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil

1 small onion, finely chopped

1 small carrot, peeled, finely chopped

1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh Italian parsley

2 garlic cloves, peeled and finely chopped

8 ounces sweet Italian sausages, casings removed (2 links)

8 ounces veal stew meat, coarsely chopped

1/2 cup dry red wine

1/4 cup balsamic vinegar

2 14-ounce cans low-salt chicken broth

1 28-ounce can whole tomatoes in juice

2 bay leaves

2 teaspoons chopped fresh sage

1 teaspoon fennel seeds, lightly crushed

1 pound fresh pappardelle (homemade or store bought)

Freshly grated Pecorino cheese

Homemade Garganelli with Fresh Garden Tomato Sauce

So another fabulous shower gift (that probably only I would register for) was a gnocchi board. (Thanks, Alice!) While I'm super excited to make gnocchi, I wanted to try garganelli. It's a time consuming, penne style pasta that really appealed to me. I was waiting for Jamie to come home Sunday afternoon, so I thought I would take advantage of my fresh tomatoes and time to spare and try it. Yum! Any fresh pasta is great, but these are really pretty noodles. Certainly a treat. In contrast, the tomato sauce is one of the easiest sauces - feel free to make it with any other regular old pasta. This is also not a traditional garganelli sauce, but it's summer, it's what I had, and it's delicious.

Fresh Garden Tomato Sauce
Ingredients:
1 small bowls worth of super ripe, fresh tomatoes
1/4 cup good olive oil
1-2 tsp salt
2 cloves of garlic, minced

Pear and Pecorino Ravioli

Like the new cutting board? My little bamboo one split so I opted for plastic.

This is one of my favorite, favorite pastas! It sound sort of odd, but it's absolutely wonderful. I had it at Felidia a few years ago and fell in love. The combination of the sweat pear and the sharp pecorino, along with a little creamy mascarpone to hold it together, is amazing. There's a little bite because of the pears, and the salty pecorino is very satisfying. You toss with butter, water, pepper, and more pecorino and you probably won't have any leftovers. If you want to skip the pasta making, you can do it with wanton wrappers.

Ingredients:
Pasta:
4 eggs
5 cups flour
1/2 tsp salt
(I made extra to make noodles for dinner another night)

Filling:
1 bartlett pear, peeled and cored
8 oz pecorino cheese, grated
2 tbsp mascarpone

6 tbsp butter
3/4 cup finely grated pecorino
freshly ground black pepper

semolina flour

Directions:

Barbara Lynch's Pappardelle with Tangy Veal Ragu

Jamie and I had our friends Allen and Colleen over for dinner last night. We'd been trying to get them over for a while, so I wanted to make something special. My brother-in-law bought me a great cookbook for Christmas last year, "Stir" by Barbara Lynch. I've already made a few things in there, but just found this really great recipe. It's definitely not a quick thing to throw together, so make sure you've got at least 4 hours free before you want to eat. It's delicious! The marrow from the bones really makes the sauce rich and silky, and the long braise make the meat incredibly tender. The flavors are intense, and paired with fresh pasta it's an amazing winter meal. (Dried pasta would be fine too, but fresh can't be beat.)

Followed this with a light salad and some pecan pie.