Cream Sauce or Alfredo Sauce

Fettucine Alfredo (Homemade noodles) 

The sauce with onion 

Photographs by Jenny 

This recipe is so simple. You really can make it any way you like it and it will still taste great. It is very rich and creamy and definitely the ultimate comfort food! There really isn't a way to go wrong. If you want less calories or fat, use more milk and less cream and butter. If you want a bite to the sauce then add different cheeses or some spices. 

Serves: 3-4 people
Ingredients: 

• 1/2 cup of half and half cream 
• 3/4 cup of skim milk 
• 1-2 tablespoons of flour 
• 2 tablespoons of butter 
• 1/4 cup of cheese of choice (I use parmesan or pecorino)
• Salt and pepper to taste 
• Pasta 
• Parmesan cheese
• Optional: lemon, nutmeg or onion

Directions: 

• Melt the butter. If you wish, add some onion and garlic. 
• Add the creme and milk and let simmer for about four minutes. 
• Add the flour. This will give your sauce a thicker consistency. Start with 1 tablespoon and add more if you desire a thicker sauce. 
• Add lemon or nutmeg. 
• Cook the sauce or medium to medium low heat for about five to ten minutes. You can serve it right away or put it in the fridge for later. 
• When serving, remember to add parmesan cheese on top. 

For a homemade pasta recipe click on this link: http://thesweettomato.blogspot.com/2015/02/homemade-pasta-dough.html

Spicy Pasta with Tomatoes

Homemade noodles 

Penne noodles

This is the most simple but savory and truly authentic Italian pasta dish. I made up this recipe and I love foods that are moderately spicy. But do not worry, this dish is still comforting as well. The sauce goes well with any type of pasta. 

Serves: 3 

Ingredients: 

• 3 tablespoons of olive oil 
• 2 pieces of garlic
• 1-2 teaspoons of chili flakes
• 2 chopped tomatoes 
• Grated cheese of choice (Parmesan, Romano, Pecorino Romano, Asiago) 
• 3/4 lb of pasta 
• Salt and pepper to taste 

Directions: 

• Heat up two pans - one with the chopped tomatoes, one tablespoon of olive oil and one piece of garlic and the other with the other two tablespoons of olive oil, the chili flakes and the other garlic. Turn both of them on to medium heat and sautee them for about five minutes. The garlic should not turn brown. The pan with olive oil, chili flakes and garlic heats up very fast. Take it off the heat after the oil begins to boil. 
• Heat a pot of water for the pasta and cook the pasta. When the pasta is finished (pasta should be cooked al dente), add the tomatoes to the pasta and mix. Then add the other mixture and mix too. 
• Top the pasta with cheese when you serve. 

Pesto Sauce

Pesto Pasta 

Credit: Jenny 

This is an amazing recipe!! It will not make very much pesto, but is so worth the money and time to make it. If you grow your own basil, well this is a great recipe to use the leaves in. Feel free to decrease the amount of oil to limit your fat intake, but it is harder to make it spin the blender without the liquid. This recipe goes well together with pasta, roasted cherry tomatoes and cheese. You can also put this sauce on pizza or bread. 

Ingredients: 

• 1/2 cup of olive oil 
• 2 cups of basil 
• 1 garlic
• 3 tbsps of pine nuts
• 1/4 cup+ of parmesan 
• Salt to taste 

Directions: 

• Put a cup of basil, 1/2 of the oil, garlic and 1 tablespoon of pine nuts into a blender or food processor.  Blend together. 
• Put the next cup of basil, the rest of the oil and all of the pine nuts into the blender or food processor. Blend. If the basil is not mixing, push it down with a spatula or spoon. It will go, trust me. 
• Add salt 
• Add parmesan later to the pesto to give it more of a flavor. 

Crab Spaghetti

Crab Spaghetti 

Photo Credit: Jenny 

This recipe is better than my classic tuna spaghetti recipe. I prefer to use less oil than many of the recipes require in order to reduce fat intake.  If you buy high quality crab, the pasta will taste amazing. 

Ingredients: 

• 15 oz of crab or one can of crab 
• Chopped tomatoes or 1 package of strained tomatoes
• 1/3 cup of olive oil 
• 3/4 package of pasta 
• 2 pieces of garlic 
• A teaspoon of chili flakes
• Salt and pepper to taste 
• Parsley to top 

Directions: 

• Heat up the oil
• Add the garlic and chili flakes
• Throw in the crab and tomatoes
• Stir at medium heat for 20-30 minutes 
• Add salt if necessary 
• Add the sauce to the pasta and mix well. Don't forget to top of the pasta with parsley! 

Spaghetti alla Carbonara and Deconstructed Carbonara

Spaghetti Carbonara

Photo Credit: Jenny 

These two recipes are personal favorites of our family. We have not eaten spaghetti carbonara in awhile, but it is very special and comforting. I ate it when I went to Italy, and Italian carbonara is so creamy and savory. 

Here are two recipes for "spaghetti carbonara" and "deconstructed carbonara" - fresh sheets of pasta with the egg poached on top instead of broken and mixed in with the pasta. 

Regular Carbonara
Serves: 4-5
Ingredients: 

• 1 tablespoon of olive oil 
• 5 oz of pancetta cut into 1/4 x 1/4 dices 
• 2 eggs plus 2 egg yolks
• 1 lb of spaghetti 
• 1/2 cup of grated parmesan cheese 
• 1/2 cup of grated pecorino romano 

Directions: 

• Heat oil in a fry pan over medium- high heat. Add the pancetta and fry until they turn brown and become crisp. 
• Put the eggs, egg yolks and 1/4 cup of water into a small bowl and beat them together with a fork. Set this aside. 
• Cook the spaghetti in a large pot of rapidly boiling water (remember to salt the water). Use a fork to mix the eggs, the pancetta with the fat and oil, and 1/4 cup of parmesan and pecorino romano into the spaghetti.
• Top the pasta with the remaining cheese on top. 

Deconstructed Carbonara 

Serves: 4-5
Ingredients: 

• 1 tablespoon of olive oil 
• 5 oz of pancetta cut into 1/4 x 1/4 dices 
• 4 poached eggs
• 1 lb of fresh pasta sheets
• 1/2 cup of grated parmesan cheese 
• 1/2 cup of grated pecorino romano 

Directions: 

• Heat oil in a fry pan over medium- high heat. Add the pancetta and fry until they turn brown and become crisp. 
• Cut the fresh sheets of pasta into squares and cook it in a pot of boiling water.
• Poach four eggs in a separate pan and then place the egg on top of the cooked pasata.
• Add the bacon and then bacon fat. Dribble the fat over the pasta. 
• Top the pasta with parmesan and pecorino romano cheese.

Tuna Spaghetti

Photo Credit: Jenny 

Tuna is one of my new favorite foods. I used to hate it when I was a child.  I basically made this up and served it to my family. This recipe is so light and delicious! It is actually pretty healthy too. All you really need is about a cup of pasta with the tuna and you feel quite full. My boyfriend thought that the tuna tasted so sweet, and he did not even know that the meat he was eating was tuna. This recipe does not need cheese on the top. 

Calories per serving: 325 calories 

Recipe by Jenny
Serves: 3 people

Ingredients: 

• 1 tablespoon of olive oil 
• 1/2-3/4 onion 
• 1-2 garlic 
• 2 cans of tuna 
• One pack of chopped and strained tomatoes 
• 2/3 pack of spaghetti or any other pasta of choice 
• Salt and Pepper to taste 
• A few chili flakes 

Directions: 

• Heat up the oil 
• Add the garlic and onion, and cook until clear and translucent. 
• Add the tuna and stir around for around about 4 minutes 
• Add the chopped tomatoes 
• Add the chili flakes, salt and pepper. Cook on medium-low heat for about 15 minutes.
• Cook the pasta and then add the pasta to the sauce 
• Bon appétit! 

Rigatoni Con Guanciale E Cipolla

Rigatoni with guanciale and onion. 

Photo by Jenny 

This recipe is from Williams Sonoma Italian Cooking, but adapted by Jenny. My family and I wanted to go to a restaurant called Louis in downtown, Saint Paul, but we never got the chance. They had a guanciale rigatoni on their menu. When I bought the Williams Sonoma Cookbook, I saw a similar recipe in their book and immediately decided to cook this. Well, this is it! So simple and delicious. The guanciale is very thin and shrivels up but adds a salty bite to the dish.

Serves: 4-6 people

Ingredients:

•  1 sweet red onion, julienned
• 1/4 cup of white white or vinegar 
• 1 tablespoon of extra-olive oil 
• 1 teaspoon of sugar 
• Salt and pepper
• 1/2 cup of parmesan cheese

Directions:

•    In a small pan on low heat, combine the onion, vinegar, olive oil, sugar and pinch of salt. Stir about 5 minutes until the onion wilts.
•  At the same time, in a large, deep frying pan, fry the guanciale or pancetta until quite crisp over medium heat for about 15 minutes. Remove half the guanciale pieces and set aside in a warm place. Add the cooked onion to the guanciale in the pan and keep warm over the lowest setting.
•    Bring a pot of water to a boil and cook the pasta. Remember to salt the water before. Drain the pasta after the pasta is cooked to al dente.
•  Add the noodles to the guanciale and onion. Remove the pan from the heat and toss the pasta to coat thoroughly. Add the cheese. Toss again.
•   When ready to serve, sprinkle the reserved guanciale or pancetta with 4 grinds of pepper for each person.

Homemade Pasta with Bolognese Sauce

Today my mother and I made homemade pappardelle with bolognese sauce. The dough is made with flour and egg. To get the pasta flat, you put it through a pasta machine. Flattening it at least six times. It was hard to get the dough in straight lines by cutting it with a ravioli cutter too. We are going to try to make thinner pasta (linguini) again in a few weeks.

How to cook Pasta/Noodles(CORRECTLY)

(Spinach pasta sheets cut in squares)

Tips for Cooking Pasta/ Noodles
Cooking pasta/noodles is quite simple.

1. Bring a pot of water to a boil. Have enough water in the pot so it's about 1 -.5 inches away from the top of the pot.

2. Once the water is boiling (forming large bubbles and rolling like a river) pour in some sea salt to salt the water. (Udon and Soba noodles do not require salt). Many recipes state to pour oil into the water to not have the pasta/noodles stick together. This is a MISCONCEPTION. As long as you are stirring every minute to 30 seconds your pasta/noodles will not stick together. Oil actually makes the pasta clump together.

3. Dump in your pasta/noodles and set the timer to the required amount of time for your pasta/noodles. Every different type of pasta cooks differently. Ex: Fresh pasta takes less than five minutes, while rigatoni/raw pasta takes at least eight minutes.

4. Stir every minute making sure the pasta/noodles are not stuck to the bottom of the pot. Make sure that your spoon is touching the bottom of the pan when you are stirring.

5. When the timer goes off, it's obviously time to dump out your pasta. Get a strainer ready and pour the pasta and water into the strainer. Get a seperate bowl ready to pour your pasta into. If you want, you can heat the bowl up by pouring the water from the pot that you used to cook your pasta/noodles in and heat it up for two seconds that way.

Be sure to not let your noodles/pasta stick to each other.

6. Pour/ Put whatever sauce you prepared onto your noodles/pasta and mix well. Pasta that has the sauce only on the top makes the nooodles stick together underneath.

7. Enjoy!