Cooking fresh food and drinking divine Cape wines in Melkbosstrand Cape Town
Pasta alla Gricia is a classic Roman pasta dish that exemplifies simplicity at its finest. This humble yet incredibly flavorful dish is a staple in the traditional cuisine of Rome, showcasing the region’s love for cured pork and aged cheese. With just a handful of ingredients, Pasta alla Gricia delivers a satisfying and comforting meal that will transport you straight to the heart of Italy.
Ragù is an Italian meat-based sauce normally served with pasta. For the meat, I chose duck breasts and as for the pasta, I decided on pappardelle which is a large, very broad and flat pasta. The “ruggedness” of the pappardelle goes very well with the peasant-style ragù. To spruce things up a bit, I added aubergine and fava (broad) beans.
As we try to stick to a fairly low carb diet most of the time, I haven’t made fresh pasta for ages. This was a great excuse to make ravioli for date night.
As every date night is a special occasion I decided to push the boat out and make 3 different types of ravioli with 3 different sauces.
Veal & Spinach Ravioli in a Walnut Sauce, Ostrich & Pancetta Ravioli in a Porcini Sauce and Venison & Butternut Ravioli in a Sage Butter Sauce.
When you think of Jamaica you think of relaxed island vibes, rum cocktails and food flavoured with chilli, all spice and thyme. This inspired me to try the quintessential Jamaican dishes of Jerk Chicken with Rice and Peas for this week’s Jamaican date night.
Of all the Thai food we ate in Chiang Mai (and we ate a lot), 2 of our favourite dishes were Khao Soi (a soup like dish consisting of egg noodles and meat in a curry coconut sauce) and Khao Kha Moo (braised pork leg on rice). When Adrienne brought home fresh turmeric last week it was a sign to make Khao Soi, and in keeping with the Thai theme I decided to try and recreate the fabulous Khao Kha Moo from the famous “Lady with the cowboy hat” at the Chang Phueak Gate in Chiang Mai.
I decided to make a bolognese sauce with some handmade pasta for date night. Probably not something Tim Noakes will be proud of, but there are only a few things better than homemade pasta and a good pasta sauce.