Category: pasta

Cooking with ®Revol: Orecchiette Risotto, with Chorizo…for an Easy Weekday Meal!

Posted on May 22, 2012 by Cristina

Abajo en Español

- “I don’t understand..is it rice or pasta?” asked my husband..(Yes, I have been married to an engineer long enough to know that for them, life is “either..or”. Fusions are not quite their thing….)

- “It’s pasta cooked as if it were a risotto…” (I knew this statement was far from “seeing the light” for my dear hubby…Cooking is not his thing..BUT I must admit he is great making Argentinean barbecues!)

Orecchiette (plural of the Italian word “orecchietta” meaning “small ears”) are one of my favorite type of pasta for two reasons: their original shape, and the fact that the sauce finds a kind of “nest” in this “ear” …In this case, there is no sauce but the stock (chicken or vegatable) that you use to cook the pasta in…There is saffron, and then, for an international confusion, (that some chefs would call “fusion” ) some Spanish chorizo...!

Yes, someone said that Argentineans are Italians that speak Spanish…so this dish represents me…”Mamma Mia!” y “Olé”!

Cocinando con ®Revol: Risotto de Orecchiette, con Chorizo…para una Comida Facil !

-”No entiendo…es pasta o arroz?” pregunto mi marido..(Si, llevo casada los suficientes años con un ingeniero como para saber que para ellos las cosas son “blanco o negro”. La fusion no les va..!)

-”Es pasta pero cocida como si fuese un risotto..” (Y ahi ya sabia que mi maridito no iba a “ver la luz”..La cocina no es lo suyo..pero OJO es un master con los asados a la argentina!)

Orecchiette (plural de la palabra italiana “orecchietta”, que significa “pequeña oreja”) es una de mis pastas favoritas. Por qué? Porque en el hueco de la orejita se queda instalada la salsa, como en un nidito…Bueno, aca no hay salsa sino el caldo en el que se cocina la pasta! Luego hay azafran, y para asegurarme una confusion internacional (que algunos chefs “paquetes” llamarian “fusion”) le agregué chorizo español..!

Y si..alguien dijo que los argentinos son italianos que hablan español..entonces este plato me representa: “Mamma Mia” y “Olé” ! Read More →

Posted in Italian, pasta, revol | 34 Replies

Linguine Vongole, or When Foodbloggers are not “Allowed” to Foodstyle…

Posted on October 4, 2011 by Cristina

Abajo, Version y receta en Español !

Ever since we started writing our blogs, we soon understood that some time (some time?) has to be devoted to food-styling….that tiny flower? will it be here, or here? 43°21’17″ S, 20°22’33″W..yes, this is what I sometimes feel…then that ray of sunlight…if any! (I live in Paris)…from the back, from the right, from the left….and by the time I finished finding the right position for that knife….the sunray is gone..It is raining already!

But there are some days when we can’t do that…because a group of starved cannibals is waiting to eat!! I’m talking about my teenage kids (and hubby?) on Sunday lunch….So when I finished placing gracefully my linguine vongole in my dish, do you think i had time for foodstyling?? Food-what? My 18-year-old son said. Oh come on, mom!! The blog on Sundays???

“Wait a minute!! Look at those shells! So beautiful …..”

“We don’t want to eat that cold….the photos will be lovely…” added my husband, who for once sided with the kids…

So my linguine, so full of sea, so baroque with their shell necklace, scented with white wine…and garlic…and parsley ended up their voyage soon, too soon...Cruel destiny! To be born to be devoured! The photos have no styling….but success was on my face! Silence my witness! “Pass me some bread..the juice is great!! were the only words to be heard….Real life does not need styling…Real love neither!

<img src="http://i643.photobucket.com/albums/uu160/elliequent/signature-2.gif" alt="

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Desde el dia que empezamos a escribir un blog de cocina, se nos hace obvio que hay que dedicarle algo de tiempo al estilismo culinario...Bueno, lo de algo, es casi un eufemismo…Esta florcita..la pondré aqui? o un poco mas alla? 43°21’17″ S, 20°22’33″O…Si, a veces siento que es tan preciso como coordenadas! Luego, ese rayito de sol que entra por la ventan (si tengo suerte!…no se olviden que vivo en Paris..) Me harà mas efecto si entra de atras, o por la derecha..mejor por la izquierda? y cuando terminé de elegir la posicion exacta del cuchillo…mi unico rayito de sol…se fue! Y encima llueve!

Pero hay dias en los que todo este ritual queda anulado, porque un grupo de canibales famélicos espera para comer..Si, acertaron! Mis tres adolescentes (y mi maridito también), en el almuerzo del domingo. Cuando me acerco orgullosa a la mesa, con mi plato, se creen que tengo tiempo para el foodstyling? “Food-qué?”, dijo mi hijo de 18. “Dale, ma…!” El blog también los domingos…?!”

”Pero esperen..miren qué divino el color de los vongole…”

“Pero no queremos comer frio…las fotos te van a quedar lindas igual..”, dijo mi marido, que por una vez, se puso del lado de los chicos…

Asi que mis linguini, tan llenos de mar, tan barrocos con su collar de conchillas, con su perfume de vino blanco, y ajo, y perejil, terminaron su viaje pronto..demasiado pronto! Destino cruel..nacer para ser devorado! Fotos sin “estilismo”, pero el éxito pintado en mi cara…El silencio fue la mejor prueba. “Pasame el pan…esta re-rico el juguito”, fueron las unicas palabras que escuché…La vida real no necesita estilismo..El amor verdadero tampoco!

NB: quisiera pedir disculpas a mis lectores de habla hispana, ya que mi computadora, francesa ella, no me hace los acentos del español (y para la “ñ”? debo apretar tres teclas), asi que no es que me olvido los acentos…es que no puedo hacerlos!

<img src="http://i643.photobucket.com/albums/uu160/elliequent/signature-2.gif" alt="

Posted in clams, Italian, pasta | 57 Replies

Fresh Pasta…Fresh Herbs…Fresh Vegetables…Yes! It’s Almost Springtime!

Posted on March 14, 2011 by fromBAtoParis

Yes, it’s almost springtime…almost…Temperatures here in Paris not yet so “spring that’s sprung”. Anyway, as if our strong wish could make things happen…we want to see green on our dishes, we want our meals to be lighter (eh oui, soon we have to leave our “manteaux” -overcoats, in the closets and show the world our “real selves”-OMG!), so just pasta with fresh veggies and herbs suited the occasion!

But it also happened that my dear Heavenly Housewife, from “From Donuts to Delirium“, invited a blogger to join her making home-made pasta. I accepted the challenge for two reasons: First and foremost because for me, this “not so Heavenly Housewife”‘s blog is almost therapeutical: HH writes using this typical, ironic, subtile English sense of humour that I love…and she makes me laugh, and for me, that’s the best medicine..! Second, because home-made pasta is Sunday tradition, “chez moi” (at home), probably due to our Argentinian-therefore-Italian background…

The idea of “invite a blogger to your table” was actually started by Valli, from More than Burnt Toast. It is a good “challenge” to take a blogger-friend out of her/his comfort zone, and to share experiences, so I encourage you to do it too!

Here are the rules:

1) Choose a dish to prepare and invite 1 blogger to create that dish with you. You can source your recipe from a cookbook, magazine, blog or any other source.2) Decide upon a date that you can both mutually post your recipe.3) Link back to More Than Burnt Toast http://morethanburnttoast.blogspot.com/ somewhere in your post.4) Please feel free to use the Avatar/Badge above “Invite a Blogger to Your Table.5) Once you have made your dish with your blogging friends and posted it or you can choose to stop or continue on and “invite another blogger to your table” to make something different.6) Cut and paste these instructions into your post and contact a friend.

But, going back to my dish, that could be part of Chefex (if you buy fresh pasta), you will need barely a couple of minutes to do this, because it is just a question of using a mandoline or sharp knife to cut raw zucchinis in julienne, slicing some mint leaves, chopping coarsely some hazelnuts, and adding a touch of lemon juice!

What really feels me with pride is to share with you, this piece of my life: my 16-year-old daughter, and her father sharing this recurring self-imposed Sunday challenge, in our minuscule, not so full of light kitchen (yes, that’s the negative side of the “grandeur Hausmannien”)

We can barely move there, the photos come out awful! but I don’t mind…We are happy sharing all this, and a “Hollywood” kitchen would not make our pasta better or tastier… We are a boisterous family, we criticize each other harshly, but then, two hours later, we all sit around this pasta, and we laugh, barely talk because we are hungry and the pasta is delicious…that’s my Sunday lunch…as simple as that!

To make fresh pasta dough, you will need:

*flour, 500gr *eggs, 5 *olive oil, 3tbsp * salt, one pinch

In a stand-mixer, with the hook, put the flour with the salt, the eggs and the olive oil. Start mixing slowly until the dough is formed. Then, flour slightly your work top, and knead the dough until the dough is resistant to your touch…it bounces back when pressed. Let rest for 30′. Cut the dough in small balls. Put your pasta machine in “1″. Put the dough ball (previously flattened a bit by hand) in the slot. Pass it again several times until it is even.

Sprinkle the dough with flour if necessary. Change the machine to “2″, then to “3″ until desired thickness. Let the tagliatelle, or spaghetti rest and “air” to dry a bit, hanging from these hangers for 15′. In the meanwhile, put abundant water to boil. Once boiling, add some coarse salt, and put all the pasta in. Stir with a fork, to make sure it does not stick. Cook till “al dente”.

For the greens and herbs:

Cut the zucchinis (how many, depends on quantity of pasta and your taste) in julienne. Slice some leaves of mint (again, it depends on how strong you like to feel the mint), some chopped hazelnuts, and one spoonful of lemon juice. Before adding this, I sprinkled the pasta with olive oil, to prevent it from sticking.