Category: pancetta

artichokes a la barigoule

Post author By Gary @ BigSpud
Post date February 9, 2010
No Comments on artichokes a la barigoule

This is a recipe from the Ramsay protege Clare Smyth. It’s an unpretentious and hearty french stew, yet takes only 10 – 15 minutes. Mine is a little toned down from her version, going with what I had in the cupboard. It’s usually made with fresh artichoke but I used a jar of good-quality chokes that I had knocking about. It’s very tasty and very simple – my only slight criticism is that I think this will taste much better in the Spring.

Artichokes a la barigoule:

200g pancetta

200g baby onions, peeled and halved

1 carrot, sliced

1 clove garlic, sliced

4 mushrooms, quartered

100ml cider

200ml vegetable stock

500g jar of artichokes

Chopped parsley

Fry the pancetta and onions in a pan until browned. Add the carrots and mushrooms and stir fry four a couple of minutes.

Add the cider and bubble over a high heat. Add the stock and reduce to a simmer.

When the vegetables are tender increase the heat to high and get the sauce reduced down to a thick glaze. Add the artichokes to warm through.

Serve with parsley and bread for mopping up.

The original recipe can be found here.

Tags clare smyth

cream egg food pancetta parmesan pasta

tagliatelle carbonara

I have a version of carbonara I like to use when I need to keep the calorie- or egg-count low for this classic Italian pasta dish, but sometimes I need to bust out the real deal. The recipe often comes up for fervent debate, but I think most can agree that pancetta, eggs, cream and parmesan play a part in there somewhere. I love the sweet pungency of garlic, so I also chuck a clove in there for fragrance. For me it’s best when the pasta is really al dente, the sauce slick with no lumpy egg bits, big punches of salty pancetta, with a tiny tingle of black pepper at the end.

Tagliatelle carbonara (serves 2):

4 tagliatelle nests

100g pancetta, diced

1 garlic clove, peeled but whole

50ml single cream

2 egg yolks

Large handful of parmesan

Beat the egg yolks, cream and parmesan together with plenty of black pepper and set aside.

Boil the tagliatelle until al dente. While you do this fry the pancetta and garlic together in a little oil until the meat starts to crisp. Discard the garlic at this point.

Ladle a big splash of the pasta liquor into the pan with the pancetta, drain the pasta off and add this into the same pan.

Turn the heat off, and working very quickly add the sauce mixture into the pan. Shake the pan vigorously and beat with a wooden spoon to make the sauce stick to the pasta. Removing the pan from the heat, and the vigorous motion will stop the egg from scrambling. After about 45 seconds check for seasoning, then serve immediately.

cream cheese food pancetta parmesan pasta peas

not quite carbonara

I apologise for that photo, it makes it look really rough. It wasn’t though, honest!

I was driving home on Sunday and was hit by a sudden wave of pasta-longing: I wanted carbonara. I haven’t had any in ages. So that was Monday’s dinner sorted. One small catch though; with my wife about 8 months pregnant barely-cooked egg didn’t seem like the smartest of moves therefore some invention was required. As Dad-Baker pointed out, “If you can make a pasta sauce Look like a Carbonara, Taste like a Carbonara and Smell like a Carbonara, then surely it Must be a Carbonara – even if there are no eggs in it. “ How to change it then?

After some research it seemed like cream cheese was the way to go, not only was it skipping eggs but came with the bonus of avoiding mega fattening cream too. Also added peas as a passing nod to a rounded meal. Mushrooms would also be welcome here for a more alfredo style. The result was very satisfying, definitely ticking all the right carbonara boxes: creamy, cheesy, silky. Ready in no time at all to boot.

Not quite carbonara (serves 2):

5 tagliatelle nests

1 tablespoon garlic oil*

75g pancetta

175g light cream cheese

Grated parmesan, to taste

handful frozen peas

Cook the tagliatelle according to packet instructions. (Give them plenty of space to expand!)

Meanwhile, fry the pancetta in the garlic oil until browned all over.

Add your cream cheese, mashing it up a bit to break it down.

It probably won’t have formed a sauce so ladle out a tablespoonful at a time of your pasta water to thin it until it’s a smooth creamy consistency. Add grated parmesan and season until you’re happy with it.

Add the peas, simmer for a minute more, then toss with the cooked pasta to combine.

*I have a bottle in my cupboard of garlic oil I’ve made – just a few cloves of garlic left in a bottle of fairly-good olive oil. Well worth it – I used up a Christmas gift of oil for this purpose!

basil food garlic olives pancetta pasta tomato

roast squash rigatoni

An open confession: I arrived home to this hearty treat as a dish prepared by Mrs Roast Potato and eldest New Potato (is that metaphor too tortured?). Regardless, I present it here on their behalf. A real punchy mediterranean pasta blowout.

Roasted squash rigatoni:

1 butternut squash, skinned and diced

2 cloves of garlic, peeled

12 cherry tomatoes, halved

250g rigatoni

Handful of mixed olives

Handful of basil leaves

Preheat the oven to 200C.

Pop the squash, tomatoes and garlic in a baking dish in the oven for 30 mins.

Meanwhile cook the pasta according to packet instructions.

Combine the pasta with the vegetables, toss with olive oil and seasoning.

Stir through the olives and torn basil.