Spaghetti carbonara

20 min
Serves 2

250g of spaghetti
butter
1/2 onion, finely chopped
2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
6 rashers of streaky bacon, chopped
2 eggs
140ml single cream
25g of parmesan, grated

Boil the pasta following the instructions in the bag. Heat a knob of butter in a small frying pan and cook the onion, garlic and bacon for 5-7 minutes, until golden. Turn off the heat and add the cream.

On a bowl, crack the eggs and stir it with a fork. When the pasta is done, drain it and put it on top of the eggs, while hot. Stirr it with a fork so the eggs mix with the pasta and cook. Add the cream with garlic, bacon and onion, stirr it and finish with the parmesan and some black pepper on top.

Pic: https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6-eJrtHpJ1WYCsDt2nLywrZidgC7j_MwApzu_y2BRL_1-zJQUmpo7Xkv7Svux5uzfufMk_YLpkzALYYA3Gqba91EHeMXZjYKJXTp_kCWF_wsJUlE7TbobKvhBufnQg-BHKO4p1UbHOYI/s320/carbonara+prato.JPG

Collard green pancakes with mozzarela and mince

10 leaves of collard green
1 litre of water
3 ripe tomatoes, peeled
1 medium onion, chopped and mashed
1 pinch of oregano
salt/pepper
1 pinch of cumin
1 pinch of grond nutmeg
2 tbspoons of olive oil
200g of olives, sliced and no seeds
500g of mozzarela
500g of mince
1 tbspoon of butter
1 tbpoon of tomato extract
1/2 cup of milk
1/2 tbspoon of flour

Boil the collard green leaves (do not break them) in the water for 15 min. Drain them and fry them, both sides, in a frying pan with a bit of heated olive oil and the butter. Open them over a chopping board.

Season the meat with the cumin, nutmeg, salt, pepper and tomato extract. Cook it (medium heat).

Open one leaf and remove the tip of the stalk. Put one slice of mozzarela and 1 tbspoon of the cooked mince. Sprinkle with oregano. Roll it like a pancake, hiding the corners inside. Do the same to all the other leaves. Put the "pancakes" in a oven proof glass or ceramic tray.

Sauce:
Chop the tomatoes and add them to a pan with salt, olive oil, the onion, olives, the milk and the flour. Let it boil and thicken. Throw it on top of the collard green pancakes. Put it on a pre-heated oven (medium heat, 180C) for around 10 min. You can sprinkle parmesan on top if you want.

Serve with white rice.

Polenta (boiled cornmeal) with mince and tomato sauce

Polenta is a traditional north italian dish that was brought to Brazil by the immigrants who settled in the south.

Very easy to prepare!

Time of preparation: 40 min

2 Littres of water
1 tbspoon of salt
2 tbspoons of butter
400g of cornmeal (thin, not too thick, which can be found in international food stores or italian shops)

Boil the water, add the salt and butter. As soon as it starts to boil again, slowly add the corn meal, mixing it thoroughly and without stopping or it won't dissolve. After you added all the corn meal, continue to mix it regularly. Ideally, the polenta has to cook for 30 min in low heat.

Put it in a oven proof dish, sprinkle with grated parmesan and cover with the sauce:

Sauce:

1 can of ready tomato sauce (the one you prefer, or you can make your own)
350g of mince

If you are making your own, you know what to do. The other day I bought a smoky bacon that worked perfectly with this dish. So, fry the mince, add the sauce to the pan, heat it up and put it all on top of the polenta. Sprinkle with grated cheese and serve.

I generally serve with white rice, since the polenta I make is very creamy and I like to mix it with rice, so there's something to chew on. You can make it more consistent too, but in this recipe I believe creamy/runny works best

Garlic and oil pasta (Spaghetti alla agli e olio)

15 min
5 portions

500g of spaghetti
5 cloves of garlic
50g of butter
1 tbspoon of extra virgin olive oil
herbs: basil, oregano, parsley, chives, thyme
salt
ground ginger
1 leaf of bay laurel

5 min before the pasta is done cooking, start preparing this recipe.
"grease" the plates with one clove of garlic before chopping them all (finellY)
In a hot pan, add the butter, the olive oil, bay leaf and the chopped garlic. Drain the pasta and put it in the pan, adding salt, the herbs, the ginger and mixing it thoroughly.
Use some herbs to decorate the plate and serve it hot.

potato gnocchi

Time of preparation: 1 hour
6 portions

This is my dad's favourite and my grandma made the best I've ever had. My mum used to engage our help in the kitchen whenever she made the gnocchis and this may be an idea for children in the kitchen.

Gnocchi:
6 medium potatoes
1 cup of flour
salt

Sauce:
1 jar of tomato sauce
1/2 onion, finely chopped
1 tbspoon of olive oil
2 cubes of meat stock
500g of minced meat
grated parmesan

Cook the potatoes until soft. Drain, peal and mash them, while hot. Little by little, add the flour and salt. Kneed it well. It will always be sticky, but it can't be too sticky. Spread flour over the counter and put the gnocchi dough on top of it. Roll it making little gnocchi snakes, like children do with playdoh. Cut each snake in pieces of 2cm more or less.
In a big pan, boil water seasoned with salt. When the water boils, add the gnocchis in the water one by one. They are done when they float. Fill another big pan with cold water and put a colander inside it, under water. Put the gnocchis, fresh from the hot water in the cold water, for a thermal shock.
Drain it well and put the gnocchis in a oven-proof dish.

Sauce

Heat the olive oil, fry the onion and add the meat and the cubes of stock. Stirr and when the meat is cooked, add the tomato sauce and let it cook for 4 more minutes. Put it on top of the gnocchi, sprinkle grated parmesan on top and take it to the oven for 15-20 min. Serve it hot.

OBS: My grandma used to make Gnocchi a Romana: instead of using only tomato sauce, you use also white sauce. This is my favourite.
The way to do is this: you put the gnocchis on the oven-proof dish, and with the help of a spoon, make a cavity in the middle of them, where you put the white sauce. After that you put the tomato sauce on top of it, gently, in order to hide the white sauce. This way, we only find it when the first person gets a portion. Don't stirr the sauces, they will combine in a beautiful way!