Food: didn't know Italians were so picky about their carbonara!

[theREALdotnet]

I think by the time I wanted to eat something, I'd be to tired to bother cooking, considering all the thought that has to go into these dishes.

Ah, but none of the above is about food you cook for yourself or your family. Nobody hears you when you’re calling your creation of the day “Carbonara”. It’s about people marketing and selling food for what it isn’t.

Far more seriously though, if you feel too exhausted to cook for yourself you need to rethink your daily routine. Unless you want to take a shortcut to the grave

 

[Keith_W]

I think by the time I wanted to eat something, I'd be to tired to bother cooking, considering all the thought that has to go into these dishes.

Do what I do. I make big batches of pasta sauce and freeze them. When you want to eat, you boil up some pasta, microwave the sauce to defrost, then toss the cooked pasta with the sauce in a pan. Some sauces can't be frozen (e.g. Carbonara) but many can. Also, authentic Italian recipes are really easy to whip up on weeknights since they are so minimalist.

Here are some super-easy pasta recipes that you can whip up in no time: kale and fusilli, mushroom pasta, pasta puttanesca, olio e aglio, tuna pasta, and spaghetti ala limone (lemon spaghetti). Go to youtube and search "Vincenzo's plate" for all those recipes.

I only keep two types of pasta sauces frozen. I make these in huge batches with my 12L stock pot and freeze them in meal sized containers. The first is Bolognese, and the second is a tomato sauce. If you are lazy, you can use passata straight from the bottle, but I prefer to slow cook my passata with a soffritto for an hour and shred some basil leaves into it. I then bottle it up when it's still hot and it will keep in the fridge. Once you have this, you can do anything with it - toss it with some spaghetti, or warm it up and eat it with a burrata, have it on bread, etc. You can add water and turn it into a tomato soup. You can also use it as a base for any tomato based pasta.

Bolognese sauce is also versatile. You can eat it with pasta, or you make a lasagne. Italians on ASR, stop reading now! You can add chilli and beans to it and transform it into a chilli. You can pour it on tacos and add cheese and bake it. You can even use it as a topping for a hot dog.

 

[Rednaxela]

Bolognese sauce is also versatile. You can eat it with pasta, or you make a lasagne. Italians on ASR, stop reading now! You can add chilli and beans to it and transform it into a chilli. You can pour it on tacos and add cheese and bake it. You can even use it as a topping for a hot dog.

We have it with rice at times.

 

[Lasker]

Is this a comic tread?
Ciao from Italy (Macerata)

 

[BlackTalon]

Do what I do. I make big batches of pasta sauce and freeze them. When you want to eat, you boil up some pasta, microwave the sauce to defrost, then toss the cooked pasta with the sauce in a pan. Some sauces can't be frozen (e.g. Carbonara) but many can. Also, authentic Italian recipes are really easy to whip up on weeknights since they are so minimalist.

Here are some super-easy pasta recipes that you can whip up in no time: kale and fusilli, mushroom pasta, pasta puttanesca, olio e aglio, tuna pasta, and spaghetti ala limone (lemon spaghetti). Go to youtube and search "Vincenzo's plate" for all those recipes.

I only keep two types of pasta sauces frozen. I make these in huge batches with my 12L stock pot and freeze them in meal sized containers. The first is Bolognese, and the second is a tomato sauce. If you are lazy, you can use passata straight from the bottle, but I prefer to slow cook my passata with a soffritto for an hour and shred some basil leaves into it. I then bottle it up when it's still hot and it will keep in the fridge. Once you have this, you can do anything with it - toss it with some spaghetti, or warm it up and eat it with a burrata, have it on bread, etc. You can add water and turn it into a tomato soup. You can also use it as a base for any tomato based pasta.

Bolognese sauce is also versatile. You can eat it with pasta, or you make a lasagne. Italians on ASR, stop reading now! You can add chilli and beans to it and transform it into a chilli. You can pour it on tacos and add cheese and bake it. You can even use it as a topping for a hot dog.

In the summer we make a dozen or two batches of pesto and freeze them for eating late fall through the next spring. Pesto freezes really well. And it makes for a really easy-to-prepare dinner.

 

[Martin]

Italians are also very picky about fettuccine Alfredo. first off is the name: pasta al burro e pamigiano (fettuccine with butter and parmesan cheese). Many will say fettuccine Alfredo is not really Italian but it is. Many Italians eat pasta al burro e pamigiano. Alfredo Di Lelio made fettuccine all'Alfredo for his wife Ines with only three simple ingredients: fettuccine, butter and Parmigiano-Reggiano. No cream! It is still served in the restaurant he founded:

Martin

 

[Axo1989]

Italians are also very picky about fettuccine Alfredo. first off is the name: pasta al burro e pamigiano (fettuccine with butter and parmesan cheese). Many will say fettuccine Alfredo is not really Italian but it is. Many Italians eat pasta al burro e pamigiano. Alfredo Di Lelio made fettuccine all'Alfredo for his wife Ines with only three simple ingredients: fettuccine, butter and Parmigiano-Reggiano. No cream! It is still served in the restaurant he founded:

That was hysterically funny. Also, magnificent.

 

[Andretti60]

Is this a comic tread?
Ciao from Italy (Macerata)

Ciao Macerata,
Actually this thread is indeed serious. Maybe we add some humor just to light it up a little.

 

[Andretti60]

I think by the time I wanted to eat something, I'd be to tired to bother cooking, considering all the thought that has to go into these dishes.

Please don’t give up.
Like in any country in the word, dishes that are prepared to be served in a restaurant require a lot of work, but for a family dish during week days, a 10 minute job (the time to cook good dry pasta) is enough. And you can follow very simple recipes (like Italian aglio e olio, garlic and olive oil) or modify them as for your taste. No Italian police will arrive knocking at your door because you added some cream…

 

[Suffolkhifinut]

Jamie Oliver steps on the cultural heritage of every cuisine he attempts. Chilli jam, olive oil, and instant rice in his egg fried rice. Peanut butter in Indonesian gado-gado. A pitiful lack of chillis in Thai green curry, and more olive oil. I can't remember him doing Carbonara but I am sure he would mangle that up too. A carbonara is the easiest thing to do, it's all about gathering the correct ingredients and using the right technique. No need to overcomplicate it.

The problem with Jamie Oliver is the food doesn’t taste very good. Eaten two or three times at his ‘15’ restaurant in Watergate Bay, had the taster menu and no flavour what so ever. His Italian restaurant in Liverpool One was awful. Ate once at his father’s pub had the worst sirloin steak I’ve ever had. He’s just a disciple for so called healthy eating and the media love him for it.

 

[cavedriver]

The Scots deep-fry Pizza.

So do Napolitanos, and it's heavenly!

 

[Martin]

I agree that some of the best dishes are the simplest. Start with good dried pasta and have dinner ready in 10 minutes. Pasta al burro e parmigiano, aglio e olio, cacio e pepe:

Easy Authentic Cacio e Pepe Recipe

No butter, oil, or cream! Learn how to make the Cacio e Pepe recipe - the authentic Roman dish beloved throughout Italy!

www.recipesfromitaly.com

If you think Italian restaurant dishes are difficult and time consuming look into making Indian curries - just trying to find ingredients is challenging.

Martin

 

[SIY]

I agree that some of the best dishes are the simplest. Start with good dried pasta and have dinner ready in 10 minutes. Pasta al burro e parmigiano, aglio e olio, cacio e pepe:

...and my current favorite, spaghetti all'assassina.

 

[JP]

Ooh that sounds good.

 

[BlackTalon]

Not a simple dish, but a dish that can be made millions of ways is pappardelle alla cinchiale... The versions in Tuscany I've had seemed very similar to a bolognese, with the boar ground up. In Assisi, I had versions where the boar was stewed/ braised and severed as dice-sized cubes in the sauce. Had it here in the US last week from a chef from Piedmonte, and it was ground but in a white sauce. The only thing in common is it is totally f---ing delicious no matter how you make it.

 

[SIY]

Ooh that sounds good.

You have my address.

 

[JP]

You have my address.

And you mine

I come up, you're stuck with me for at least a whole weekend. Not many people are that brave.

 

[beeface]

We are fortunate to have him in Australia! All his recipes use ingredients that he bought in Australia, which means he faces the same limitations that I do. Awful watery Australian tomatoes. The only good ones are the ones you grow yourself or buy from a farmer's market. Difficult to find guanciale and other specialty Italian foods (although I am lucky enough to live near a large Italian community in Melbourne). The lemons here are nowhere as good as Italian lemons. In one video (this one) he makes a mushroom pasta in Italy, and he used Cantina Zaccagnini Bianco di Ciccio and Porcini mushrooms. Well, that lead me to a hunt where I drove all over Melbourne, and found myself the exact same wine he used and dried porcini mushrooms (that's the best I can do here).

I'm a big fan of Vincenzo. He's taught me a lot about authentic Italian cuisine.

Interestingly, Barilla have introduced an upmarket line, "Al Bronzo", which seems to be readily available at Woolworths etc. (at least, it is at the stores near me).
Seems like Barilla is responding to consumer demand for better quality pasta.

I've tried it, and I have admit it's pretty good. Will be great value whenever it goes on sale. My main reservation is that Barilla entering this market segment is likely going to hurt the smaller companies.

 

[cavedriver]

Isn't the "correct" pasta for carbonara bucatini? Anyway, it's my favorite.

 

[HewinFM]

Barilla is pretty good. I really enjoy La Molisana. The key for me is to finish cooking the pasta in the sauce for a few minutes with a bit of the pasta water. The starchy water helps to emulsify the sauce, thicken it up, and bond it to the pasta.