Monday, July 28, 2008

Beef Stuffed Zucchini Tagliatelle with Shiitake Mushrooms and Prosciutto San Danielle in Carbonara Sauce

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First, you make the pasta dough by combining 7 oz. of flour with two eggs. Use a fork to slowly incorporate the flour into the eggs, then knead for about 10 minutes until the dough is smooth and elastic. Coat with a little olive oil and let rest for 20 minutes.

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While the pasta is resting, make your carbonara sauce. You'll need 4 egg yolks, a half cup of grated parmesan, and a little less than a half cup of cream. Whisk it all together and it should look something like this:

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For the zucchini, I sliced them into thirds and used a tomato corer to hollow them out. Then I ran the tomato corer down the sides of the zucchini to make the little lines on the outside.

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To make the stuffing, I combined bread crumbs, ground beef, garlic, a little white onion, chopped fresh basil, cream, ricotta cheese, the chopped insides of the zucchini, and salt and pepper. Pack it into the hollow zucchini and put in the oven at 375 degrees for 10 minutes on each side.

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Roll out and cut your pasta while waiting for the zucchini to cook.Toss pasta in a pot of hot boiling water for about 8 minutes, stirring occasionally so it doesn't stick together.Take 2 thick slices of prociutto and chop with 3 cloves of garlic. Saute in olive oil at moderately high heat. When the fat renders from the prociutto, chop or thinly slice a couple handfuls of shiitake mushroom caps and throw those in the pan. Add about 3/4 cup of white wine and cook, stirring, until all liquid is absorbed. Then drain the pasta and toss it with the mushroom/prociutto mixture.

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By now your zucchini should be out of the oven. As soon as it is cool enough to handle, slice into thin rounds and brown in the saute pan you just emptied. This will help all the flavors meld as well as give the zucchini filling some color. now put the pasta back in the pan with the zucchini and heat for about a minute, stirring. This is just to even out the temperature. Place in a serving dish, cover with carbonera sauce, and serve.

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Thursday, July 17, 2008

Robin doesn't add much, but....

We have had some AMAZING meals lately:

Brisket:


SUPER Spicy chicken and pineapple

BBQ Shrimp and Corn

LOBSTER!!!



More BBQ Shrimp!