One Gorilla Kitchen

Creamy macaroni & cheese with pancetta, asparagus, peas and lemon

Brilliant accidental dinner inspired by "What am I going to do with this?" asparagus and "I can't believe we have no tomatoes, canned or fresh, in this house!" pancetta, which I bought on Sunday with tomato sauce in mind.

And this recipe, from bon appetit, which I found at epicurious. 

Cool, right?  A perfect match, including some of my staples (lemons, parmesan, onions, garlic, pasta) and a timely treat (cream) except I didn't have fresh basil or parsley. Or green onions.  But I would have been inclined to skip them, anyway.

Here's what I did do:

Creamy macaroni and cheese with pancetta, asparagus, peas and lemon

• A bunch of small noodles (Bee's going through a bow tie phase)
• A few slices of pancetta
• A handful of asparagus, trimmed and chopped up
• A sprinkling of peas (mine were frozen)
• A glop of cream (The other recipe calls for heavy whipping cream, but I had table cream.  I don't actually know what the difference is.)
• About half a lemon (Just the juice.)
• Parmesan cheese, grated
• Onion and garlic
• Salt and pepper

I chopped the pancetta up, and then fried it until it was a bit crispy.  Moved it to a paper towel with a slotted spoon.  Removed a bunch of the leftover oil, but left about a teaspoon in.  Fried the chopped asparagus until it was a bit tender (about 3 minutes).  Added the onion and garlic and peas, and fried until tender.

Meanwhile, I cooked the pasta.  And then I drained the pasta.  Wasn't exactly sure how to save the liquid (any tips?), which is what the other recipe recommended.  Ended up draining it over a big bowl.

Plonked it back into the pot, and added the veggies.  Dumped some parmesan in.  Added some cream.  Stirred.  Squeezed half a lemon in.  Decided to mix the pancetta bits in, instead of sprinkling it on top.  Added salt and pepper.

It was soooooo gooooood.  All three of us agreed, and that's rare. 

Tabasco & asparagus quinoa

I think this recipe, from 101 cookbooks, may have sparked a love affair with quinoa (ahem - for me, not the rest of my family. Yet.)

Cooking quinoa

Heidi says to boil 2 cups of quinoa in 3 cups of water. I haven't looked elsewhere for instructions.  I only had a cup of dry quinoa-- slightly less than a cup, actually, because I was just experimenting when I bought it.  Didn't pay enough attention when I added the water, and I'm sure I added too much.  Didn't matter.  The texture was awesome.  Simmered for 25-30 minutes, like she says, until the little curlies appeared.  So yummy!  Just as good as rice, if not better!  Need to convince Slim to give it a chance.

The Tabasco butter

• 1/2 cup butter
• 2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
• 25 drops Tabasco sauce
• 2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice
• 1/4 teaspoon salt

Heidi says to mix it all up in a food processor, but I thought I'd try to do it by hand.  I didn't feel like I needed a whipped butter consistency for this-- but come to think of it, would mixing the butter mechanically like that have changed the flavour?  Interesting question.  Maybe I should try it next time.  

Meanwhile ... the asparagus

Boiled it. 

Mixed the butter-- 3 tablespoons butter for 4 cups of cooked quinoa, Heidi says.  I estimated that.  Added the asparagus.

She also recommends adding pine nuts-- and I have some in my freezer!  But forgot.  Bummer.

Mental note:  This recipe worked well as part of the Rob & Naomi combo.