Fusili Afredo

Fusili Alfredo

One of the staples I used to exist on when I was student. And my kids absolutely love it and make it now they are students. Really simple, very rich and creamy, and even though I have been making it for years, I have always just "thrown" everything together up until now. It is only the discipline of writing this blog that has got me to think about the actual proportions needed. In other words, this is another classic Italian dish you can't really go wrong with. So don't get too anal about the measurements below.

Ingredients (serves 2 - takes about 20 minutes to cook):

30g Softened Unsalted Butter

200g of pasta (any pasta really, but long varieties such as spaghetti, fetuccini or linguini are most commonly used. Frankly I had run out when I made this one which is why I went for fusili)

50ml of Single Cream, slightly warmed

A Tablespoon of Mascarpone

30g Grated Mild Cheddar

50g Grated Parmessan

100g Button Mushrooms Quartered

100g of Bacon Lardons (or Pancetta cut into cubes)

30g Garden Peas (or Petit pois)

Small Hand full of Chopped Parsley Leaves

Freshly Ground Black Pepper Corns

The Cooking:

In a pot of boiling water, cook your pasta through in the usual way. In a separate pan, on a medium heat fry your lardons/pancetta in a knob of butter for about 7 minutes (chortle! chortle! I said "knob" Fnar! Fnar!). Once it starts to crisp up, add your mushrooms (which will mop up what ever fat is in the pan). Dry fry and stir for another 2-3 minutes so they brown up. Then add your 30g of softened butter, cream and mascarpone. Blend together thoroughly. Once combined add your grated cheeses a hand full at a time, stirring until thoroughly melted. I generally do this with a whisk to ensure you end up with a very smooth finish. Once all the cheeses are melted and smooth, add your peas and stir in.

You should now be left with a thick, smooth, creamy sauce (with pancetta/lardons, mushroom bits and peas floating in it). Drain off your cooked pasta and add it to the pan with your "Alfredo"sauce. Mix thoroughly and allow the pasta to absorb some of it by cooking on a low heat for a further minute or two. Stirring continuously so it does not stick or burn.

Serve up, sprinkled with some parmesan and seasoned with ground black pepper and chopped parsley.

A nice variation on this theme that also works well - instead of cheddar, use St Agur blue cheese. Mega! 

Tagliatelle With Salmon and Prawns

Tagliatelle With Salmon & Prawns (serves 3)

Ingredients:

2 Salmon fillets

100g of peeled prawns

2 slices of lemon and juice of half a lemon

25g Unsalted butter

Handful of Fresh Chopped Parsley

4 small chalottes (or 2 big ones) finely chopped

2 garlic cloves, crushed and chopped

2 Table spoons of creme fraiche

Grated Parmesan

3 hand fulls of Tagliatelle, linguine or spaghetti

20ml of white wine

The Cooking:

In a pan, add a tea spoonful of vegetable oil and melt half your butter and on a low heat. Add you salmon fillets, spray with freshly squeezed lemon juice and pop your lemon slices into the pan. Gently fry your salmon fillets for about 10 minutes each side (until all the flesh has turned from orange to peach). Remove from the pan and rest on chopping board for a few minutes. Take a fork and break up into flakes. 

Meanwhile, in a separate pan, pour in boiling water and add your pasta. Cook for about 12 minutes or until soft.

While the pasta is cooking, put the remaining butter into the pn you used for the salmon, add your shallots, parsley and garlic and in them gently fry your prawns for a couple of minutes on each side. If they are raw when you start cooking them, they should turn from grey to pink when cooked.Turn the heat up, add the wine and let it reduce down. Then add your flaked salmon back into the pan, drain your pasta and add that, and the creme fraiche. Turn down to a low heat and stir the lot together for about 3-4 minutes. Until the cream has covered everything and the pasta has absorbed the butter from the pan.

Season, dish up and sprinkle with some grated Parmesan.