Pasta Grannies: A discussion on favorite recipes and pasta advice
Greetings ~food! Not too long ago, I posted a topic asking for cookbook recommendations and received a flood of amazing recommendations. Thank you all for sharing your favorites; I have expanded my collection thanks to that thread! One that has become a quick favorite of mine is Pasta Grannies, although I accidentally grabbed Book 2 and I'm still needing to grab Book 1.
Something that has dawned on me with that cookbook is the desire to make all the recipes similar to how Ash Ketchum wanted to catch all the Pokémon! The first recipe I made was Rina's Capriccio and oh lordy did it blow my mind how good it was and that I made it! My only complaint was the struggle to just pick one recipe to try and I'm aspiring to make a pasta dish every Sunday now.
Since there are several recipes from Pasta Grannies between the two books and their Youtube channel, I'm indecisive on what to do next. To all who have dived into their recipes, what are your favorites that are absolute must tries? What are some that might not be worth the effort? I'd love to hear everyone's experience with pasta making regardless if it's a Pasta Grannies recipe!
Oh hell, here we go.
No, I was just having PTSD flashbacks to Reddit threads. Carbonara was a verboten topic in a few of the food subs because people wouldn't stop sniping at each other about whether it was ok to use pancetta or bacon or cream or whatever.
Pancetta is ok. You’ll make a good carbonara with pancetta, especially if that’s all you can find.
However if at all even remotely possible use guanciale. Once you have it with guanciale you’ll be hard pressed to go back to pancetta.
I was able to find some guanciale in my town from a specialty meat shop, but it cost $40/lb. (~450g) with a minimum 1 lb. purchase. Now, I like carbonara, but not that much.
Carbonara is certainly something I want to attempt in the future! I am fortunate to have a store nearby that carries pancetta, but I really want to look for guanciale as other users have recommended.
I've had both the "lazy" and the "proper" version, and they're both good. Though one certainly stands out because of the amount of labor put into it, and that's why it's something I want to attempt. Eggs can be scary if you don't understand your oven or you want something more approachable. If you can pull off a recipe that removes that stress and still taste good, I'd say that's a good meal!
But sometimes I want to put in the effort when I have the time, and pasta making is perfect for that. The last dish I made was a labor of love, but it was some of the best food I have made. To be able to say I made every part of the dish from scratch and have it taste good is one of the most rewarding aspects of cooking.
I wanted to follow-up on this thread that I made Spaghetti with Lemon Pesto from Procida this past Sunday! A video of the recipe can be found on this Pasta Grannies episode featuring summer time recipes. It's the third one featured in this video.
Overall, this was such a great recipe to utilize herbs that we grow on our balcony garden! I used a combination of basil and mint that pretty much wiped out my reserve. The type of lemon they recommend for the recipe is a sweeter variety that is not easily found where I am in the US, but Meyer lemons made a great substitute.
It turned into such a flavorful pasta that I served with lobster cakes to help round it out as a meal. All the herbs made it pop with freshness and makes it an enjoyable pasta even when served cold. I'm tempted to make it again with regular lemons since I do like some acidity in my food; maybe a balance of Meyer and regular would allow for a perfect sweet-sour-herby harmony. But I do certainly recommend it as an easier pasta dish if your looking for something other than a red sauce.