Menu:
Salmorejo
Vegetarian Marinara
Basic Marinara + Meat Sauce
Roasted Broccoli
Gorgonzola Alfredo
Bread (?)
Salmorejo:
1 whole can San Marzano tomato (28 oz)
1 cup olive oil
.5 small white onion, diced
1 clove garlic
8 oz el cheapo white bread (if you can find vegan version, then this dish is vegan)
4 eggs, poached however you want
Optional: 4 oz bacon, crisped(ideally, some kind of cured, not cooked pork like jamon iberico, but that's okay... no meat it's fine)
-Combine liquid from tomatoes, olive oil, and white onion. Bring to a simmer for about 5-10 minutes or until oil is tinged orange and onion is translucent.
-Add tomatoes, minced garlic, and bread and allow mixture to sit (ideally about an hour). Blend thoroughly, pass through sieve to remove chunks if time allows for smoother final product. Season with salt.
-If using, crisp the bacon to desired doneness.
-To serve, put a poached egg in 1/4 of the soup topped with pork product if using.
Basic Marinara:
1 lbs angel hair (or some other thinner noodle: spaghetti is maximum thickness pasta recomended)
8 oz spinach
1 can San Marzano tomatoes (28 oz)
.25 cup olive oil
1 tablespoon tomato paste
1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
4 cloves garlic
Optional: 8-10 basil leaves
Optional: 1 tube-o-meat (supermarket sausage canister)
-Get lots of water boiling, salted. You will both blanch the spinach and cook the pasta in this.
-Bring the tomatoes plus juices, olive oil, balsamic vinegar, and garlic to a boil. Simmer for 15 minutes or until slightly reduced. Add tomato paste and cook until thickened. Blend thoroughly.
-If using meat, brown in a skillet or wok or whatever over medium/high heat. Combine with marinara. Add the fat: it helps make ppl full.
-Meanwhile, blanch the spinach. Combine with the sauce at the very end: do not overcook.
-Boil the pasta. Note: if using angel hair, it will cook extremely quickly. Have the sauce ready before the pasta is done so that you can strain it, then immediately combine with the sauce. The reason for this is that the noodles are most receptive to sauce straight out of the sticky pasta water: especially for a marinara, you need all the help that you can get so that the sauce sticks to the pasta.
Gorgonzola Alfredo:
ute
1 lbs thicker pasta (fettuccine is ideal, linguine is okay, anything thinner will not work so great)
3 tablespoons butter
4 tablespoons flour, sifted (i.e. 3 packed tablespoons)
(OR if you want to do butter/flour by weight, since its more reliable, its 50 grams each butter and all purpose flour)
2 cups milk, warmed up in the microwave (lukewarm)
.5 lbs gorgonzola or roquefort cheese
-Make the roux. While whisking, heat the butter and flour until it makes a very uniform, wet looking paste. Do not brown it.
-As soon as the roux is combined, begin adding the milk while whisking. Add it in incremental amounts, whisking thoroughly, otherwise the sauce will become clumpy and may burn.
-Once all the milk is added, simmer until it thickens, about 15 minutes.
-Turn the heat off the sauce. Add the cheese and whisk in thoroughly. Try not to destroy all the delicate flavors (this is why this should be done off heat).
-Meanwhile, boil the pasta. As soon as it is done, combine it with the ready sauce
Roasted Broccoli:
Cut broccoli into bite sized pieces. Saute on oiled skillets until charred on all sides. Salt to taste.