| As everyone on the Belt
discovered, Italians love their food.
And, as you would imagine, pasta is the most
popular
dish. Some of us were lucky enough to be the
audience,
and food tasters, at a very special "Ready
Steady
Cook" when Italian scouts gave us a crash
course
in
Italian cooking. Below are two of the
recipes....Go
on,
try them...they're bellissimo!
PASTA
ALLA AMATRICIANA
This
is a rural dish, cooked by peasant farmers, which
originated
in the city Amatrice.
INGREDIENTS:
*Pasta
lungi [it's like spaghetti, which can also be
used
- see pack for amount per person]
*Pancetta
[Italian bacon - ordinary bacon pieces will
do]
30g per person
*olive
oil [a couple of tablespoons]
*2
cloves of garlic [optional - leave out if you're
planning
on kissing someone afterwards!]
*tin
of tomatoes
*red
chilli [1 whole chilli - de-seeded - if cooking
for
a
lot of people, less if for a smaller number.
Beware
when
chopping chillis - they burn, so don't put your
hands
near your eyes until you've washed them]
METHOD:
Heat
oil in a large pot, fry the garlic gently, add
the
pancetta,
then a couple of minutes later add the
tomatoes
and chilli. If the flavour is too strong,
add
half
a glass of white wine. Cook the sauce
slowly on a
low
heat. Add salt and black pepper to taste.
About
10/12
minutes before you want to eat, cook the pasta -
in
a separate pot - according to the instructions on
the
packet.
When it's ready, strain it and add it to the
sauce.
Mix well and serve! Add grated pecarino or
parmesan
cheese if you like. GET STUCK IN!!
PASTA
ALLA CARBONARA
INGREDIENTS:
*pasta
- use penne [tubes] as the sauce needs to 'stick'
to
the pasta
*olive
oil [a couple of tablespoons]
*2
cloves of garlic
*sausage
meat [Italian sausage, in small pieces - bacon
pieces
could also be used] 30g per person
*eggs
- 1 per person
*black
pepper
METHOD:
Heat
oil in a large pot. Fry the garlic gently, then
add
the
sausage meat. Cook the pasta separately
according
to
the instructions on the pack. In a separate
bowl,
beat
the eggs lightly, adding some black pepper. When
the
pasta is cooked, strain it and add it to the
sausage
meat/garlic
pot. Add the beaten eggs immediately and
mix
the whole lot together quickly [the eggs will
cook
in
the heat]. Grated parmesan cheese is optional.
-------------------------------
While
we were stuffing our faces with pasta alla
Amatriciana, and some vino bianco, our Italian
friends told us a bit about the history of
Italian food. Until the early 1900s
Italians didn't consider their cooking to be
important, they valued French cuisine above all
others. It was American doctors, who had
gone to Italy after World War II to help with the
resistence movement who discovered the pleasures,
and health benefits of Italian food. They
discovered that Italians didn't suffer from the
same illnesses as Americans - mainly illnesses
connected to circulation. They put this
down to the goodness of olive oil.Italian food
also gained huge popularity in the United States
with the massive influx of Italian immigrants.
But,
one of the teams wondered; why are there no
Italian chippers in Italy??? Because
they're all over here!
Grazie
Italia!
|
