Couscous with Summer Vegetables

Lately I've been feeling like eating very lightly. It's probably the combination of overdoing it a little while in Sicily a few weeks ago and also the hot weather, which tends to make me lose my appetite.

Tonight I made a simple whole wheat couscous with some sautéed vegetables. Paul and I found a big natural foods market today just outside of the city walls of Bologna, so that is where we got the couscous.

I got the inspiration for the dish from a biodynamic cooking class I did with Slow Food Bologna where we made couscous, and also from visiting the Trapani area in Sicily, where couscous is one of the specialties.

One of the new things I learned in the cooking class is that the couscous comes out better if you toast it first. I had never done this in the States before.

Below are two different presentation options for what I made, followed by the approximate recipe. I am more of an intuitive cook, so I encourage you to use your judgment and do what sounds good and looks right to you rather than measuring out the exact quantities I approximated below. Many other vegetables and herbs could be used instead.

Ingredients:

Couscous

2 cups dry whole wheat couscous

2 1/2 cups boiling water, or the proportional amount specified on the box

1/4 cup olive oil

Salt to taste

Vegetables

2 Tbs olive oil, or enough to cover the bottom of the pan

3 shallots, thinly sliced

2 cloves garlic, smashed

Fresh herbs: I used a sprig of rosemary and a handful of fresh sage, both chopped

3 small zucchini, sliced lengthwise and then diagonally into thin half moons

3 small carrots, thinly sliced about the same size as the zucchini

1 large heirloom tomato (or a few smaller ones), cut into cubes

Salt to taste

Garnish

1/4 cup toasted pine nuts

Directions:

In a small saucepan, heat the water to a simmer, as you will need it for the couscous.

Meanwhile, start the vegetables:

1) In a large sauté pan, heat the olive oil

2) Add shallots and garlic and sauté until fragrant

3) Add the zucchini and fresh herbs and cook on medium high heat until the zucchini are lightly browned. Remove from the pan and set aside. (I don't like soggy zucchini so I think it is best if you cook them on their own.)

4) Add the sliced carrots to the pan along with a little more olive oil if needed. Stir fry until they start to brown.

5) Add the tomatoes and continue to cook until the carrots are just starting to be tender.

6) Return the zucchini mixture to the pan, toss with the carrots and tomatoes, and add salt to taste. Remove the garlic cloves. Cover and set aside.

Start slowly toasting the pine nuts in another skillet for the topping. Meanwhile, make the couscous:

1) In a medium saucepan, heat half of the olive oil, about 2 tablespoons, on medium heat.

2) Add the couscous and toast it until some of the grains are golden brown.

3) Turn off heat and add the boiling water.

4) Cover and set aside for about 10 minutes.

5) Open the lid, fluff the couscous with a fork, and add the remaining olive oil and salt to taste.

Assemble:

1) Either mound the couscous into a cappuccino mug (about 1 measuring cup size) for each serving and invert onto a plate or shallow bowl, or simply spoon about a cup onto each plate.

2) If using the mold, spoon the vegetable mix around the couscous, or simply spoon it on top of the couscous.

3) Top with freshly toasted pine nuts.

Prep/cooking time: about 20 minutes. Serves 4.

Berkeley to Bologna, MO to BO: nostalgia and Slow Food for youth

I grew up in Berkeley, California, but because both of my parents are originally from Missouri (MO), I spent many summers as a child in the midwest. But for the last 14 years, since I was 18, I have lived elsewhere. One of the amazing and surprising things about living in Bologna, where I am now, is that it has brought me back to my roots of both Berkeley and St. Louis, especially now that summer has rolled around. A large university town, Bologna is known as the most liberal city in Italy. It is located in the upper middle of the country, and the summers are hot and humid. The combination of Birkenstock-clad folks roaming the streets and cicadas chirping in the trees has made me deeply nostalgic. This experience is particularly fitting because here in Italy, part of my project is to learn new approaches to bring the Slow Food movement to youth. This is much easier to do while feeling a resurgence of the magic of being young.

The nostaglia first hit me in early July, while Paul and I were camping with our new friends. While at a Slow Food cooking class sponsored by the Mercato della Terra here in Bologna, I met Simone, a dynamic leader of a Slow Food chapter in Faenza, which is about an hour east of Bologna, and his equally vibrant girlfriend Hande. We hit it off right away, as we are all about the same age and are passionate about making Slow Food relevant and more accessible to a younger crowd. Simone and Hande invited Paul and I to an event at “Pian di Stantino,” an agro-tourism (agriturismo) farm near Faenza. Called “PiandiStantinoStock,” the event had the flavor of a mini, tame Woodstock (minus the drugs and mud). The party started on a Saturday afternoon, and included dinner, a concert, camping, and a leisurely day of hanging out on the farm on Sunday.



Pian di Stantino is run by another young couple, Martino and Denise, who are friends of Simone and Hande. They are carrying on the family business begun by Martino’s father, not because they are obligated to, but because they are passionate about sharing the message of promoting a lifestyle that is more connected to the land. They live on the small farm, grow their own fruits and vegetables, raise goats and one big pig called Ciccia, or “Fatty,” and as a source of income they host guests for dinner and overnight stays.




Pian di Stantino isn’t a place you would find on accident; it is hidden in the hills outside of the city. Once we arrived, I felt completely removed from normal life, and for the first time in a long time, felt entirely relaxed.
Around 400 people came to the event, and many of them were in their 20s and 30s like us. Though there were many babies, young children, and older adults too. Upon arrival, we each paid 15 euro, and received a drinking-glass mason jar that was tied on a long necklace made of twine. The entrance fee covered everything: a dinner that featured organic produce, locally-made wine, the concert, camping, and even breakfast and a light lunch the next day for those that wanted to stay around. On Saturday afternoon the neighbors who raise sheep came by and did a demonstration to show the kids how the sheep are sheered and how the wool is dyed with natural materials such as pomegranates.








Here we are hanging out before dinner. Paul and I are in the lower left, to the right is a local winemaker and his daughter, and in the back are Simone (left) and Martino (right).



Dinner, served on plates made of tree trunks from the property, included pizzas cooked in the outdoor wood-burning oven.


Hande (middle below) and I (left) quickly jumped in on the pizza-making operation, and rolled enough pizzas to have sore palms the next day.





The above photo shows the pizza oven, and Denise is shown in action below on the left, followed by a photo of an organic crostata that she baked with homemade jam.





While making pizzas with the group, I was happily brought back to the days when I was working as a cook, and soaked up the familiar mix of camaraderie and friendly taunting in the kitchen that seems to transcend location, culture, and language. But in addition to the comforting sense of engagement that I found in cooking with friends for a crowd, the experience was new enough to seem a bit like a dream. Could I really be learning how to make authentic pizza in a wood burning oven in Italy in the middle of a forest? It was magical, and the feeling only continued as the night went on. Simone and Hande took us to a spot toward the edge of the forest where hundreds of fireflies lit up a marsh. The last time I saw a firefly was at my grandma’s house on a lake in Missouri when I was 10, and in the 22 years since then I had completely forgotten about them and found myself in awe. Simone, Hande, Paul, and I sat on bales of hay, drank wine, watched the miniature light show, and listened to the cicadas in between sets of the band which was playing nearby.

Here is a picture of one of the performances, which was a pair of dancers with torches.



The event wasn’t officially part of Slow Food, but it embodied the exact same philosophy, and I hope that through Slow Food we can work to give more people, especially youth, an experience like we had at Pian di Stantino. It is through casual, affordable, and experiential events like these, rather than fancy dinners, that we will reach and captivate the younger generation.

Chopped vegetable salad

The other night we ran out of lettuce, so I made a salad of what we happened to have around. I liked it so much that I will definitely make it again. Make sure to use really high quality cherry tomatoes – this is what I think made it taste especially good. Other types of radicchio, endive, or even red cabbage could be used too. You could also add a variety of other vegetables such as red or yellow peppers, mushrooms, or cucumber. To make it a main dish, add garbanzo beans and/or cheese.

Ingredients:

1 small round purple radicchio, about 3 to 4 inches in diameter.

1 carrot

1 cup cherry tomatoes (I used the Italian variety called datterini)

½ cup of fresh basil leaves

Olive oil

Vinegar, such as balsamic or red wine

Kosher salt and fresh ground pepper

Steps:

1) Cut the radicchio in half vertically, slicing through the core. Using a paring knife, cut out the core on each of the halves. Slice each half crosswise (horizontally) into thin ribbons of about 1 centimeter each. Rinse and dry, using a salad spinner if you have one.

2) Wash and peel the carrot, cut it half lengthwise, and slice it into thin half moons. Other shapes like julienne would work well too.

3) Wash and slice each of the cherry tomatoes in half.

4) Rinse the basil, remove the leaves from the stems, stack the leaves on top of each other and cut crosswise into ribbons about the same width as the radicchio.

5) Put all of the vegetables in a salad bowl and drizzle lightly with olive oil and vinegar, in about the ratio of 3 to 1. Add salt and pepper to taste.

6) Toss and serve.

Makes 2 generous portions, as shown in the picture.

Granita al Limone

As Paul mentioned in his last post, we needed a recipe to use the juice from the 22 Sorrento lemons that he zested for the limoncello. I’ve been ordering lemon granita and lemon sorbetto all over the place here in Italy, as I am crazy about anything lemon, so was inspired to see what it would be like to make granita al limone at home. It turns out that it’s not hard at all and I am very happy with the results. Plus, especially now that it is nearly 100 degrees during the day here in Bologna, it helps to be able to come home and find something icy and refreshing waiting in the freezer.

So, if you have a lemon tree and don’t know what to do with all of the lemons, just made limoncello and don’t want to waste the juice, and/or simply love lemon things like I do, I would highly recommend you try this. Try to choose a day to make it when you will be home for 4-5 hours and can stir it regularly as it freezes. Also make sure you have adequate space available in your freezer before you begin.

Here is the recipe. Adjust the quantities based on how much lemon juice you have. We had between 4 and 5 cups of juice, so I made 4 times this recipe.

Ingredients:

-2 cups water

-1 cup sugar

-1 to ¼ cups fresh lemon juice from high quality lemons, preferably from a neighborhood tree or a farmer’s market (approximately 5 lemons, depending on size). Start with about 1 cup lemon juice and add more from there after you taste it (in Step 4 below).

-Lemon zest (optional) from the above lemons. I didn't use any since it all went in the limoncello, and I thought the granita came out great regardless.

Steps:

1) Zest lemons. If you are using lemons that still have the zest on them (i.e. if you are not using lemons left over from making limoncello like I was), then you can wash them very well, zest the lemons, and use the zest to add extra flavor to the granita. The zest can be added to the boiling water along with the sugar in Step 3. If you want, you could also try adding some zest at the very end along with the lemon juice if you want fine pieces of zest in the final product. I have yet to see this here in Italy but I think it might be good.

2) Squeeze your lemons into a measuring cup and see how much juice you have. Set the juice aside. Adjust the quantities of water and sugar accordingly by using the ratios above.

3) Boil the water in a pot and stir in the sugar (and zest if using it, as described in Step 1). Stir well and simmer the sugar solution for about 5 minutes. Strain it if you added zest. Remove from heat and let cool to room temperature.

4) Stir the 1 cup lemon juice into the pot. Taste it to make sure you like the sugar/acid balance and add some of the remaining ¼ cup of juice if you would like for it to be more sour.

5) Put the mixture in the freezer. You can either leave the mixture in the same pot if it is not too deep and will fit in your freezer. Otherwise, transfer it to a shallower metal pan, such as a loaf pan (or 2 if you made a bigger quantity). I would suggest covering it with saran wrap or a lid to keep the flavor pure.

6) Stir periodically until frozen. Some recipes tell you to stir the mixture every half hour from when you start to freeze it. I found that mine wasn’t starting to freeze for a few hours, so it didn’t seem necessary to stir it right away, though I still did. The idea is that you want to break up the ice clumps around the edges of the pan before they turn too solid. You want to keep the texture uniform. I am not sure if it is just our freezer, but even after 2-3 hours, I found that there weren’t really any clumps to break, and at that point it was after midnight and I fell asleep. I woke up the next morning and found that the granita was frozen but I could still break it into an even texture with a fork. So in my case it was forgiving. To be safe, however, I would make it earlier in the day and try to mix/chisel it periodically until it is frozen. The goal is to have a uniform texture that has little tiny sheets/flakes of ice.

7) Transfer granita to an airtight container and store in the freezer. Take it out of the freezer 10 minutes or so before you want to serve it and chisel away at it to break it up again, if necessary. In the picture below, you can see that in the container on the right, I recently chiseled the granita before serving it, where as the container on the left hasn't been re-chiseled since I originally made it, so it would need to be chopped up before serving. Luckily it's not very hard to do.



Serve in small glasses with spoons. You can garnish it with a fresh lemon slice or a sprig of mint. The granita is perfect to eat in the afternoon on a hot day. It also makes a nice palate cleanser between courses for a fancy dinner– though only serve a tiny amount in this case, like a few spoonfuls in a tiny glass.

I hope you like it as much as I do! Let us know if you make it. And especially if anyone tries the recipe with Meyer lemons, let me know, as my friend Lisa and I are curious about how it will come out. I bet it will be great, so if you have Meyer lemons, I would try it. Other popular flavors of granita here in Italy are watermelon, mint, coffee, and almond. I want to try making coffee next.

The newest project...

Hi everybody, it's Paul.  I thought you all might be interested in my latest project, and maybe even want to follow along on your own.

Currently there are lots of beautiful Sorrento lemons at our local fruit/veggie stand, and I've decided to honor some of them by making the very best thing that can be made with lemons.  This is undoubtedly what all lemons hope and aspire to be a part of someday...it's their highest purpose.  You're probably wondering what the heck I'm talking about.  Lemon chicken?  Lemon pancakes?  Lemon asparagus risotto?

No, my friends.  Think of something even more delicious, something positively....INTOXICATING....

Yes, I'm talking about limoncello, of course.  Everyone's favorite citrus liqueur, the cold, sweet glass of Amalfi sunshine with a serious kick.  It's very simple to make, actually, it just takes a bit of time.  If you'd like to make some too, here's what you'll need for the first step:


1. Alcohol.  Pure alcohol - 95%, I'm using 2 liters.  Everclear is a popular brand...it may be a bit tough for you Californians to get, but you can find it in Nevada or Mexico so if you or some friends are going....

2. Lemons.  Lots of them, I used 22 large ones in fact.  Non-waxed is ESSENTIAL, and organic is best if you can find them.  I wouldn't worry about trying to find actual Sorrento or Amalfi lemons, just get the freshest, thickest-skinned ones you can find, probably at a local farmer's market.

3. A large glass jar with a wide mouth and a tight-fitting screw on lid. I used 2 jars, but really all you need at this point is one, although another one will come in handy when you're filtering.

In a future step we'll also use some sugar and a filter, but these aren't necessary right now.  Pretty simple, right?  So let's get started!

Step 1.  Thoroughly wash and dry your lemons and the jar.  You don't have to sterilize the jar like you would if making beer, but clean is good.  And make sure to get all the dirt off your lemons' peel, because that's the part you'll be using.  I used the scrubby side of a dish sponge which worked well and didn't cut into the peel.

Step 2.  Get nice and comfortable.  Someplace you don't mind sitting for the better part of an hour or so.

Step 3.  Peel your lemons.  Here's the thing though - you MUST only get the yellow, outermost layer.  Just below the yellow layer is the pith, which is bitter and will ruin your 'cello.  I would recommend using a standard fruit/veggie peeler, it doesn't take that long.  If you have a Microplane it works well too, it just makes tiny shavings so you'll have a little tougher job when it's time to filter.


I don't know what got into me, but I didn't do any of the above.  Instead of taking one of the easy, sensible, and probably just-as-good routes described above, I decided to peel the lemons by hand with a paring knife. I was able to cut my peels thicker that way than I could get with the peeler, it's true.  I thought that the thicker peels might get me a little more lemon oil extracted in the end, and make my limoncello just that more delicious.  But it took a LONG time, and until I got in a little Zen-peeling-groove, was not easy to do without getting the pith.  And I don't even know if it did any good - so I would say, unless you're willing to sacrifice a sore hand and quite a bit of time for your 'cello, just use a peeler.


Step 4.  Put the alcohol and peels in your jar, close the lid, and place it in a cool dark place.  Even though you'll be able to see the alcohol turning yellow almost right away, we're going to let that mixture sit for about a month.  The peels, I've been told, will turn as brittle as potato chips.  Every few days, you want to check in on your jar and give it a nice shake or two, to mix things up a bit.


Step 5.  Figure out what you're going to do with all those lemons.  Freezing the juice works well, I hear...Emily decided to make granita with ours, which I think she'll be posting about in a day or two...

And that's it for now!  I hope some of you decide to join along by making your own limoncello, leave a comment and let us know if you do.

Eating even better this summer

It's me (Emily) here with the nutrition hat on. But don't worry, I won't be getting too scientific. Also, those of you that are familiar with my doctoral research can rest assured: I won't mention anything about fiber here! I am doing this post because a few friends and family members have recently asked me for ideas on how to make some changes to their diets. To me, the best thing to focus on is eating more fruits and vegetables. It is way easier, more fun, and arguably more effective to add good things to your diet than to focus on taking things out of it. And especially since it is summer, the fruits and vegetables are really good right now, so eating more of them will be enjoyable. Here are 5 ideas for how to go about it:

1) Choose the best tasting, highest quality fruits and vegetables you can find. This is the most important of all of the suggestions. If they taste good, you will want to eat them rather than having to talk yourself into it. The fresher the better, so the ideal would be to grow what you can at your house or a community garden, or shop at the farmer's market or a farm stand. It's true that you will likely pay more for a peach, for example, from the farmer's market than you would at a normal grocery store. But the difference in biting into one where the juice runs down your arm vs. trying to eat one that is dry and mealy makes it clear that it is best not to waste your money on bad produce. Save up by not buying other unnecessary products at the grocery store and buy the good stuff straight from the source. If you can't always make it to the farmer's market, maybe there is another fruit and vegetable market nearby that has good produce. Here in Italy there are little markets all over. They don't necessarily offer all locally grown things, but they do have better produce than the big grocery stores.



2) Make Insalatone. Making big salads, or insalatone, is a good way to eat well in the summer. They make a light but satisfying lunch or dinner, and don't take too much time to prepare. Here is one that Paul and I made recently that had tuna, eggs, tomatoes, carrots, olives, butter lettuce, and radicchio. For salads, I would recommend not buying pre-bottled dressings, as they usually have preservatives and artificial ingredients and they can ruin the taste of your ingredients. You can do like the Italians do and pass olive oil, vinegar, salt, and pepper at the table. Here in Emilia-Romagna the vinegar of choice is balsamic. Paul and I like to dress it in a bowl so the dressing is better distributed. A good rule for the ratio of olive oil to vinegar is 3 to 1. To make an emulsified dressing, whisk the vinegar and a teaspoon of dijon mustard together in a small bowl and stream in the olive oil while continuing to whisk.




2) Arrange platters of vegetables (or fruit). Many of us are used to making a platter of raw vegetables with dip for an appetizer for a party. But this is something you can do on a regular day too. For instance, if you come back from the market, you can make a platter that same day and bring it out for a few days in a row if you don't finish eating everything. (You can do the same with fruit as well, and this will save you the problem of buying something like a cantaloupe and losing it in the refridgerator. If you cut it up right when you buy it and put it out to snack on, you will be more likely to eat it.) If you can, avoid using pre-cut baby carrots and other bagged, cut vegetables. You will notice the difference if you peel and cut fresh carrots. Paul and I like to have this appetizer before lunch or dinner while we are cooking. It also makes a good snack to eat while watching TV. In Italy the dip of choice is simply high quality olive oil with salt and popular vegetables include sliced, raw artichoke hearts. Other good options for dipping are the same vinaigrette as used for salad, or a creamy dressing made with yogurt or sour cream, lime or lemon juice, chopped green onions, and fresh herbs such as dill, cilantro or mint. If using cilantro, I recommend also adding chopped fresh jalapeno. (Writing this is making me miss cilantro and jalapenos, so please have some for me.) Here is a platter we made last week, which we ate in one sitting as an appetizer. After this I didn't really need or want dinner anymore though, so this could also make a light lunch or dinner.



3) Have fruit for dessert. When you have really good fruit in the house, it is worthy of dessert status. I like how in Italian restaurants, the dessert menu often includes a list of various fruits, which are served simply. At home, consider making a nice looking small plate of cut fresh fruit for each person to eat as a final course. Or even just putting out a bowl of fresh cherries is perfect.



4) Try something new. If you are bored with the typical fruits and vegetables you usually buy, try picking out something you have never had before the next time you go to the market. We did this recently with agretti, or barba del negus, and found that we like it enough to buy it regularly. We kept seeing it and thinking that maybe it was an herb rather than a vegetable. I finally asked a vendor what it was and how to cook it. I am finding that the vendors really like to give suggestions on how to cook what they sell, and other customers who are also buying the produce like to chime in as well, so don't be afraid to ask if you see something, want to try it, but don't know how to cook it. One of the next things I want to try are these baby eggplants....



5) Choose simple recipes with many vegetables. I like making vegetable soups because you can put as many vegetables as you want in them. Here in Italy we have also been making pasta and rice dishes with vegetables, such as pasta with asparagus and lemon, pasta with eggplant and tomatoes, and risotto with squash blossoms. If you are interested, I can post a few recipes in the future.



Buon appetito!! Cheers to GOOD TASTING, healthy food!

Pasta Carbonara

Paul here, and it's time for the next recipe!  It's a classic, although I've deviated from the most traditional version a little bit to add my own "improvements".

I highly, highly recommend you try this one - very easy to make, delicious, and economical. On first glance at the ingredients list it might sound unhealthy - but consider that it makes about 6 servings so really, you're not overdoing it.

Here's what you'll need:


1. 1 package Pasta - a thin noodle like spaghetti, you could probably use linguine too if it's thin. I wouldn't go as thin as angel hair though. As always, you want to try and get something with a nice matte finish to it.

2. 4 ounces smoked Pancetta, sliced about 1/4" thick - this is a very important ingredient, you can probably find pancetta (Italian bacon) at an Italian grocery, or Whole Foods carries it too. If you can't find smoked, you can use regular. And if you can't even find pancetta, you can use Niman Ranch applewood smoked bacon from Trader Joe's.

3. 4 eggs - you'll only use 1 entirely, and the other 3 just the yolks. For an interesting variation which I actually prefer, use 1 whole chicken egg and 4 quail egg yolks.

4. A slice of lemon - ordinary lemon.

5. Cheese: Parmigiano Reggiano and Pecorino Romano - another important set of ingredients so you should get some decent stuff. Trader Joe's usually has both. You'll need enough to make 1 grated cup of each. I only pictured the Parm, but the Romano has a very distinctive and different taste so I definitely recommend using both.

6. Extra virgin olive oil (4 tablespoons), kosher salt (to taste) and fresh ground pepper (2 teaspoons) - the magic trio, I think these are in every single thing I make and probably in 95% of Italian dishes in general. Start with plenty of peppercorns, 2 tsp doesn't sound like a lot but you'll see when grinding that it is.

OK let's get started!

Step 1:

Fill your pasta pot with water, add salt, and put it on high heat.

Step 2:

Time to prepare the eggs. Crack one of them and put both yolk and white in a small container like a cup. With your other eggs, you just want the yolks, which you should put in the same container as the first, entire egg. An easy way to separate eggs is to crack and put them into your hand. Let the white run through your fingers (do it over a bowl if you want to save the whites), and maybe pass the yolk from hand to hand. Soon it'll be white-free.


Step 3:

Now you want to chop the pancetta, into little squares or rectangles. I recommend about 1/2" by 3/4" but no need for the ruler, just do what you like.

Step 4:

Put your olive oil into a saucepan, set it over fairly low heat, and add your pancetta. The key part here is the heat - you want to cook the pancetta slow and low so that you render the fat without getting it too crispy or burning it.

Step 5:

So while the pancetta's slowly cooking, you can grate the cheese and pepper. After you've got 1 cup of Parm and 1 cup of Romano, which will take quite a while, you can mix them together in the same bowl and put it aside for now. Grind your 2 tsp pepper, which will take a while too, and put it in a separate little cup or dish.

Step 6:

When your pancetta is nice and brown, and most of the fat's rendered, it's about done. While it's still on the heat, add the ground pepper and cook for 2-3 minutes.

Step 7:

Pour the oil/pancetta/pepper mix into a large glass or metal bowl (I used another pot). It needs to cool just slightly so take a few moments and put your pasta into the water, which should be boiling by now.


Step 8:


Now take your cheese and eggs, dump them into the bowl with the oil/pancetta, and mix.

You should have a mix that looks a little bit like orangey-yellow cake batter with chunks of pork (yum, pork cake!).

If yours is not quite the same color as the pic, don't worry - our Italian eggs have extremely dark orange yolks. I'm not sure if it's an indicator of quality, or if they feed the hens marigolds or something to darken them.

Step 9:

Almost done, you just wait for the pasta. When it's done, drain it but RESERVE 3/4 cup of the water. Add the drained pasta to your sauce bowl, and gently but thoroughly mix while adding the reserved water a little at a time. You should end up with a nice creamy sauce coating your pasta.



You're done! Put the pasta in bowls, squeeze your lemon slice over the top, and enjoy. You can add salt if you need it, but you probably won't need too much if any.

Sometimes "Americanized" carbonara will have peas in it - I don't like to put peas in the sauce, but they make a good side dish. If you're making frozen peas, put them in boiling water at the same time you put the pasta in water, and the timing will be just about right.


Hope you like this one!