It’s a March Monday trifecta: meatless, noodles and Batali. Have been feeling a little under the weather since last night and with the return of the rain today nothing sounded better than a big bowl of pasta. I’d recently downloaded the Mario Batali Cooks! app for my ipad and decided to make some things from it. The Insalata Tricolore started the meal followed by this incredibly simple and fast [under 20 minutes] noodle dish – Bavette Cacio e Pepe, Thin Linguine with Sheep’s Milk Cheese and Pepper. It was, well, so good, proving the simplest ingredients, when combined right, can be wonderful. I noticed when looking at a lot of the recipes on this app that there are some measurements missing. Not sure why that is, if it was intentional or not. So for this recipe, I am providing the amount of cheese I used, which I think worked out well.
Bavette Cacio e Pepe
Mario Batali
serves 4 as an entree
1 lb. bavette noodles, or any thin noodle
1/4 c plus 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1 stick of unsalted butter
3 tbsp freshly ground pepper
Kosher salt
1 ¼ c Pecorino Roman, grated
1 ¼ c Cacio di Roma, or any other hard sheep’s milk cheese
Bring 6 quarts of water to a boil. Add 2 tbsp Kosher salt. Cook pasta to al dente according to package directions. While water is coming to a boil, grate cheeses and grind pepper. While pasta is cooking, heat oil and butter over low heat in a large saute pan until melted. Turn off heat. When pasta is al dente, turn heat back on under saute pan and add 2 ladles of pasta cooking water; bring to a boil. Add a handful of each cheese, allowing it to melt. Drain pasta, reserving a few cups of pasta water. Add noodles to saute pan and toss with pepper. Add 2 more ladles of pasta water. Add the rest of the cheeses, reserving just enough to sprinkle over the top when serving. Turn off the heat, allow cheese to melt on the pasta then toss well. Drizzle with 2 tbsp of extra virgin olive oil adding more pasta water to make a nice creamy sauce. Serve with remaining cheese over the top and freshly ground pepper.
It’s March 27th, which means there are only a few days left in National Noodle Month. I kid you not…there is a day and a month for everything apparently. And who am I to tell all the noodles of the world they can’t have their own month? This is one of my favorite Filipino dishes, pancit. I loved it when my grandmother would make this dish, but loved it even more when she made my favorite version – sotanghon, which uses bean thread {cellophane} noodles instead of rice noodles and has a chicken broth base. I could eat three bowls – three big bowls, mind you. Everyone who enjoys pancit likes the variety they grew up with, the one that was made for Sunday dinners and every festive family gathering. This is the one I like the best, the one my grandmother taught me to make, and the one that reminds me of nice family meals when I was little.
Pancit Sotanghon
1 boneless, skinless chicken breast
1 – 6 oz package of Saifun bean thread noodles
3 tbsp vegetable oil
6 cloves garlic, minced
1 yellow onion, sliced
2 medium carrots, sliced
½ lb. deveined shrimp
1 tbsp. annatto powder
2 tbsp. fish sauce
1 tbsp. soy sauce
salt + pepper
½ cup green onions, sliced
2 limes, quartered
Place bean threads in a bowl, covering with warm water. Let sit for 5 minutes while the rest of the dish is cooking.
Heat oil in a skillet over medium heat. Add garlic, onion and carrots, sautéing for 4 minutes. Add chicken, shrimp, annatto powder, fish sauce and soy sauce. Cook for 1 min. Add chicken broth, raising heat to cook until mixture comes to a boil. Salt and pepper to taste. Drain noodles and add to skillet, stirring to incorporate. Remove from heat. Sprinkle green onions over top and serve with lime wedges.
**A few notes, do not worry about ‘not seemingly cooking the bean noodles – the hot soaking water will do the trick. Adding them at the last stage of cooking the dish will cook them well enough. Doing anything different will start to break them down and your pancit will turn to mush. Since the bean threads are so fragile I usually use a silicon spatula or tongs with silicone tips so that the noodles don’t break when they’re added to the skillet and then served. If you can’t find annatto powder, you can grind annatto seeds, add them to the reserved chicken stock and then strain the stock with a cheesecloth before adding to the mixture.
oh, and p.s. – don’t even try to match up dates to burgle me [yeah, I know that’s not the word, but it’s my word]…my housesitter will kick your behind. Plus then I’d have to take your pic from the surveillance tapes and put it all over youtube, probably not the kind of viral fame you’re looking for. 😉
veehive 