Pasta all'amatriciana

I still find pasta dishes I haven't cooked yet. This was one of them. 

I have a piece of guanciale in the fridge. I used some for spaghetti carbonara. But other dishes use this kind of bacon too. It is made from the pigs cheek.

The all'amatriciana originates in the Abbruzzen mountain town of Amatrice in Latium. You can find this dish in many restaurants in Rome.

Important is the use of a can of whole tomatoes, just crush them yourself. Pecorino is the choice of cheese, but I had a package of Grana Padano that needed to go.

Cut the guanciale in strips and put them in a cold pan. Slowly start to heat it up, wait until the fat has rendered out, then add onion and garlic. Open the can of tomatoes, then crush them and pour in the pan. Clean out the can with a little water and add that too. Season with salt and pepper and peperoncini.

Now start the pasta in not too much water.

A few fresh basil leaves were ripped and added to the sauce. Let it cook on medium until the pasta is short from al dente. Tranfer it directly from the pot to the pan and let it cook in the tomato sauce until done.

Add the cheese and stir it in.

Ingredients:

60 g guanciale

60 g pecorino

225 g spaghetti

1 can whole tomatoes

7 basil leaves

Salt, pepper, peperoncini

Rice and Fruit Dessert

Got cold leftover rice in Summer? Make a dessert kind of rice dish.

Use the kinds of fruits that are in season or that you have at home. When they are ripe and sift, just cut them up and put them in a bowl.

When the fruits are on the harder side, put them in a small pot with liquid of your choice and cook a quick compote. Let it cool and add to the bowl.

Creaminess comes from full fat Greek yogurt. Sweetness comes from maple syrup or honey.

Texture and maybe crunch from nuts, seeds or cereals. Use whatever you have on hand. 

I finished mine with Dutch Hagelslag = chocolate sprinkles.

Recipe:

150 g cold rice

100 g Mirabelles

3 tbsp maple syrup

1 cup Greek yogurt

3 tbsp chopped pistacchios

2 tbsp chopped hazelnut brittle

3 tbsp chocolate sprinkles

Ajam Pedis or Chicken in Onion Sauce

The last of my spiceblends from the Dutch supermarket. Very easy to cook and not spicy at all. I googled the name and discovered that it ment chicken feet. But the package discription only advised to use 700 g chicken.

The only vegetables that went in were onions and garlic. Mixed with a lot of sauce, the chicken legs had enough liquid to simmer in for 35 minutes.

Onions and sauce then go over rice with the chicken served on the side of the rice.

But use boneless thighs or breast if you like that more. The preparation is easy. No need to season the chicken. Just sautee oniins and garlic first, den scrape them to the side of the pan and get the chicken in. It does only need the time to close the raw sides and get a little bit of color.

Start the Basmati.

Add the sauce package and 2 1/2 cups of water. Bring to a boil, cover and reduce the heat to medium and cook for 25 to 40 minutes, depending on the kind of chicken you use. Season with pepper. If you like more spice, add some now.

Ingredients:

700 g chicken

1 tbsp oil

1 large onion,  2 garlic cloves

1 spiceblend Ajam pedis

2 1/2 cups water

Pepper

Basmati

 

 

Fig Energy Balls

So many fresh but small figs sitting in bowls. A hand full went in these balls.

Lots of nourishing ingredients followed. My BFF gave me the recipe idea, but she used dates and mostly hazelnuts. But it is very versatile.

Dates need to soak over night in water. Figs only need 2 to 3 hours because they are fresh.

I chopped the quarted figs in small pieces and mixed them with the other ingredients, except the coconut.

Get the coconut in a small round container ot bowl. Form the small balls and toss each one seperately in the dessicated coconut.

Put the balls in the fridge they will dry out there.

Ingredients:

80 g fresh figs

150 ml apple soda or water

50 g ground almonds

30 g hazelnut brittle chopped

25 g toasted sesame seeds

1 tsp drinking chocolate powder

1/4 tsp cinnamon

2 tsp honey

Enough dessicated coconuts to roll the balls in

Spaghetti with Smoked Salmon and Dill

This is a fast dish that is based on "Henssler's schnelle Nummer".

But not that fast, because I used a bit more ingredients that lengthens the timeframe.

The longest time was cooking the spaghetti. They were double the length and al bronzo. Ba having a rough surface, the sauce clings to them a lot better.

I cooked them in less water to gain a high starch content in the water. That was needed for a good sauce.

Onion and garlic sauteed in a little butter, pasta water added to start the sauce. After 3 min 150 ml double cream were next. Seasoned and more water added. The spaghetti cooked the last 2 minutes in the sauce. 

The smoked salmon just needed to be cut up in small chunks and the dill to be chopped. They were in for the last 2 minutes just to heat up. Some lemon juice as a last thought and the dish was ready to serve.

Ingredients:

150 g spaghetti al bronzo

Salt

1 tbsp butter

1 onion, 2 garlic cloves

150 ml double cream

Pepper, Piment d'Espelette

150 g smoked salmon

Dill bundle

1/2 lemon

Bun with Crumble or Streuselbrötchen

Every time I am coming back to the Nuerburgring in the Eifel I am looking forward to this kind of baked good.

 

But you have to be early to get one. I got lucky yesterday at noon to get the last one.

It is a speciality that originates in the city of Aachen and is only available there and in parts of the Eifel. Outside this area nobody ever heard of it.

In Aachen they even have the "Day of the Streuselbrötchen" on April 29th.

It is a not so sweet heavy yeast dough. The streusel or crumble made with butter is pressed in a thick layer in the dough and piled on top of that.

When I came here 2,5 years ago for the first time and stood at the bakery, I wondered why they call Streuselkuchen a different name. But both bakes are very different. Now I am always looking forward to get a piece, even take some home and share with my neighbor.

Beef Shank leftovers

When there are bits and pieces of two dishes are sitting around in your fridge and taking up space, create something tasty from it.

In the door of my fridge in the jar was beef stock left. A smaller bowl in the fridge had some cubed cooked beef and a plastic bag was filled with cold Japanese short grain rice. 

In my compartment that holds all the condiments a jar of Ayvar paprika paste sat in the first row. 

For garnish I ripped off some green parts of a spring onion and ground lots of black pepper.