The secret of Italian cooking
I have been living in Umbria for about five years now, enjoying every day. I have discovered a few myths and theories debunked… Italian cooking? Every 30 km it changes. Every region has its specialities and particular methods. The one stand-out thing I have learnt, is however,
“ La rispetta della materia prima” the respect of the main ingredient.. Too often we try to over complicate recipes with fancy sauces and over spicing. True Italian cooking is fresh, simple and true to its roots.
Recently the Famous chef Carlo Cracco whispered into a masterchef contestant’s ear, that the secret of a good Amatriciana pasta sauce is… Garlic… well, the uproar was felt around the globe. The elders of the town of Amatricia, in Abruzzo were so outraged that the world famous Michelin star chef had to make a public apology. Such is the seriousness that true Italians observe when it comes to their traditional recipes.
Keep it simple, use top fresh ingredients, and leave a part of your heart in every dish.
• Sugo di Amatriciana : a basic tomato base pasta sauce, made of Pork cheeks, San Marzano tomatoes, dry white wine, chilli, black pepper, Grated Pecorino cheese and extra virgin Olive oil

FYI : Pork cheeks are prepared much like Pancetta , thus, those packs of smoked bacon cubes work fine ( dont tell the Amatricianese)
BRON – Chris van Rooyen

ARMY PASTA
400 g pasta
2 blikkies boeliebief
1 ui
2 eetepelsl tamatiesous
1 eetlepels blatjang
gerasperde kaas

Kook pasta tot gaar.
Braai ui.
Maar boeliebief fyn, en gooi dit by.
Braai goed.
Voeg tamatiesous en blatjang by.
Bedien op pasta met kaas

MICHELLE SE TUNAPASTA
Resep:  Michelle Joubert
Foto en aangepas deur :  Adam Cloete
FOOD LOVERS RECIPES
1 blikkie tuna
1 klein gekapte ui
250 g gekapte sampioene
1 gekapte soetrissie (kleur van jou keuse of dieselfde hoeveelheid gemeng)
1 blikkie heelpit mielies of dieselfde hoeveelheid gevriesde mielies
1 blikkie tamatiesmoor
ongeveer 125 g gekookte noedels
sout en peper na smaak
Braai die uie, soetrissies en sampioene tot sag en voeg die tuna, mielies, tamatiesmoor, sout en peper by.
Laat nog ‘n paar oomblikke liggies prut sodat die tamatiesmoor goed deurwerk.
Voeg die gekookte noedels by en meng alles goed deurmekaar.
Kaassous:
Smelt 2 eetlepels botter of margarien in ‘n kastrol en roer twee eetlepels meel daarby.
Roer vinnig tot goed gemeng oor lae hitte en voeg melk by terwyl jy aanmekaar roer tot jy die verlangde dikte sous bereik.
Meng ‘n ½ koppie gerasperde Cheddarkaas daarby en meng goed deurmekaar.
Haal van die hitte af en roer een eier daarby.
Plaas die tunamengsel in ‘n oondvaste bak en giet die kaassous daaroor.
Bak by 180ºC vir 20 minute.
Strooi nog bietjie kaas bo-oor en rooster tot die kaas gesmelt is en goudbruin is.

Njam! Almal geniet dit baie! My dogtertjie is 2 en sy eet 2 bakkies op!

BOEREWORS CANNELLONI

Ek het boerewors in cannelloni gedruk, kaassous oorgegooi en in casserole in oond gebak, 180′ vir 40 min, deksel afgehaal en 5 min onder grill gesit, uitgehaal en gerasperde kaas oorgestrooi. Vinnig en lig vir ons warm aande

http://www.foodloversrecipes.com/2013/06/kaassous/

Resep en foto: Mariette Heydenrych-Kotze

BUTTERNUT AND GORGONZOLA LASAGNA
Can be made in the morning and baked later. Mushrooms can also be added.
250 g instant lasagna sheets
½ cup grated mozzarella
½ cup crumbed Gorgonzola (or Simonzola)
½ cup cream
Pumpkin sauce:
1 kg butternut, peeled and cubed
1 onion, chopped
garlic, chopped
40 g butter
½ teaspoon nutmeg
250 ml cream
salt and pepper
sage (to taste)
bit of brown sugar to taste
Cheese sauce:
60 g butter
1/3 cup flour
2 cups milk
1 cup crumbed Gorgonzola (or 1/2 Feta)
salt and pepper to taste

Pumpkin sauce – Sauté the onion in the butter, add garlic, taking care not to burn it. Add the pumpkin, spices and ½ cup water. Cook until pumpkin is tender and water cooked away. Add the cream to the pumpkin and cook for about 8 minutes or until the sauce is thickened. Season to taste with salt, pepper, sage and sugar.
Cheese sauce – Melt the butter in a pot and add flour. Cook and stir for 1 minute, add the milk and cook until thickened. Add the cheese and season with salt and pepper to taste.
Layering – Spoon 1/3 of the pumpkin sauce into the base of an ovenproof dish. Place a layer of lasagna over that. Top with 1/3 of cheese sauce. Continue layering, finish with layer of lasagna sheets.
Sprinkle with the combined mozzarella and Gorgonzola cheese and pour the cream on top.
Bake at 180ºC for 35 – 40 minutes.
Recipe: Petro Borchard

SPAGHETTI CARBONARA
Recipe and photo:  Angela Landsberg
350 g spaghetti
200 g bacon, chopped
4 eggs, beaten with lots of freshly ground black pepper
1 big handful grated Parmesan plus extra for garnishing
1 tablespoon butter

Boil the spaghetti in lots of salted water until al dente.
Meanwhile fry the bacon until crisp.
Keep the bacon on low heat.
Best the eggs with the pepper and the Parmesan.
Remove the spaghetti out of the water with tongs and add to the pan with the bacon. You should get some of the pasta water in the pan.
You can keep a few tablespoons of the water for in case it is too dry.
Mix well and then pour over the eggs.
Stir well over the low heat.
The eggs should not get scrambled.
Top with extra Parmesan and black pepper.
Serves 2 – 3.

MILLION DOLLAR PASTA DISH
500 g mince
1 jar of spaghetti sauce bottled or your homemade one
1 tub cream cheese
1/2 tub sour cream
1 tub cottage cheese
little margarine
1 packet spaghetti / tagliatelle (any pasta)
grated Cheddar and or Mozzarella cheese

Preheat oven to 180˚C.
Boil the pasta, drain, set aside.
Mix the cream cheese, sour cream and cottage cheese until smooth.
Brown the mince in a saucepan on medium heat and drain.
Mix the mince and pasta sauce
Put 4 little blobs of margarine in the bottom of an oven proof dish, add half of the pasta on top of the margarine. Take the cream cheese mixture and spread it on top of the pasta, add the rest of the pasta on top of the cream cheese mixture.
Add 4 more blobs of margarine on top of the pasta and spread the mince sauce on top of the pasta.
Sprinkle grated cheese over and place in preheated oven for 30 min or until golden brown.
After 30 min sprinkle the desired amount of grated cheese on top. Enjoy!
Recipe and photo:  Dorea Fischer

TUNA PASTAGEREG
250 g macaroni (gaargekook volgens instruksie op die pakkie)
1 blikkie tuna
1 uie, grof gekap
1 groenpeper, grof gekap
2 tamaties, grof gekap
1 tot 1 ½ kop gerasperde kaas (ek het Gouda gebruik)
sout en peper na smaak
bietjie rooipeper, opsioneel
6 eiers, geklits met bietjie melk en so 2 eetlepels mosterd (ek het sommer All Gold s’n gebruik)
bietjie olie vir braai

Voorverhit oond op 180°C, (ek het waaieroond en het gebak op so 170)
Braai uie en groenpeper in bietjie olie, voeg tamaties by en dan die tuna.
Geur met sout, peper en rooipeper. Haal af van stoof af.
Plaas die macaroni in ‘n glasbak, dan die tuna-mengsel, strooi die kaas oor en heel laaste die eiermengsel.
Bak vir so 25 – 30 min.

Resep en foto: Sonja Young

PASTA WITH ZUCCHINI PESTO
Ingredients for 2 people.
200 g Spaghetti or Linguine pasta
3 or 4 zucchini (baby marrows) Raw
¼ cup olive oil
Small clove of garlic
3 or 4 FRESH mint or basil (whatever your preference is I used mint)
50 g Parmesan cheese grated
Salt and Black pepper
Optional toasted Pine Nuts 1 Tablespoon or Walnuts.
Put all ingredients (except the pasta) in a mixer and whizz must be creamy texture if a little dry add little more Olive oil.
Boil you pasta “al dente” drain and keep a little of your pasta water.
In a pot add your zucchini cream then add on top your cooked pasta. Mix well if too thick add a little of the water you have kept aside.(not too much water)
Garnish your pasta with some of the zucchini cream and sprinkle some of the toasted Pine nuts or Walnuts
Recipe and photo:  Sabrina Merli

CANNELLONI FILLED WITH RICOTTA CHEESE AND SPINACH

For Filling you need:
300 gr very very fresh Ricotta cheese
40 gr good quality grated Parmesan cheese
1 whole egg
a large packet of fresh English spinach (Swiss chard is bitter)
1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
salt and pepper

Mash your Ricotta with a fork and add all other ingredients, put aside.

Make your bechemel sauce with ½ liter of whole fresh milk 50 gr butter 50 gr flour again a little nutmeg and salt. Boil, must not be too stiff or thick, almost same consistency as custard.
2 tins whole peeled tomatoes
1 medium onion, chopped
1 carrot
1 stalk celery, chopped
salt pepper
add a little water to sauce and let it cook slowly for about 1 hour til thicken.

Cannelloni casings:
Fill them with ricotta mixture, butter your ovenproof dish and lay cannelloni, then your tomato sauce, then bechemel sauce, add Mozzarella cheese and a good sprinkling of Parmesan, place in oven 200°C for 30/40 mins.

Recipe and Photo: Sabrina Merli