Category: Spaghetti Pasta

Honoring National Spaghetti Day with Spaghetti Milanaise

Today is National Spaghetti Day. According to Foodimentary, there are some very interesting facts surrounding spaghetti. Did you know that the average Italian eats more than fifty-one pounds of pasta a year and would never think to use a spoon to twirl spaghetti onto their fork? The side of their plate and an experienced wrist is all it takes. Me? I have a “pasta” spoon, sort of flat and round and looks a lot like a bouillon spoon with a long handle. My spoon is perfectly designed for twirling my sauce-saturated twines onto my pasta fork.

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Awesome Spaghetti with Double the Meats

Hubby loves Spaghetti with Meat Balls – it’s one of his favorite ways to eat Spaghetti. I love Spaghetti with Italian Sausage in the tomato-based sauce. Kiddo isn’t particular – he loves Spaghetti any way you serve it. Hum, wonder what would happen if I made the sauce my way, rich in tomatoes with Italian sausage and invited meat balls to the mix . . .

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Spaghetti with a Meaty Ragù

A while back, Kiddo was given a strange gift – a small bottle of top-shelf imported Italian Balsamic Vinegar. I say strange because Balsamic Vinegar is not a typical gift to give a twenty-something guy. Kiddo in turn gave the bottle to me.

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Spaghetti and Meatballs Enough for a Crowd

Did you know that Spaghetti and Meatballs isn’t an Italian dish? At least not in the way we think of Spaghetti and Meatballs. You know, big, juicy meatballs swimming in a rich red sauce poured over a mountain of spaghetti noodles. In Italy, you will find spaghetti noodles, tomato based sauces and even meatballs of sorts (called polpettes). These are not the meatballs we know and love. They are often eaten plain (as the meatballs alone) or in a soup. The meat is anything from beef to turkey to even fish. Often these meatballs are no bigger than a golf ball. In some regions, there are meatballs no bigger than a marble called polpettines. While polpettes are commonly found at the family table in Italy, they are rarely found in restaurants and never served with spaghetti. If you happen to be in Italy and find “Spaghetti and Meatballs” on the menu, then you have stumbled into a tourist spot that caters to American expectation.

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Simple Man’s Smokin’ Spaghetti with Beer

It’s interesting how one thought or memory will lead to another. Friday, I posted a recipe for Fried Lobster Ravioli with Two Cream Sauces – a recreation of a dish served at a Brewery we once frequented. The brewery got me to thinking about beer. Beer got me to thinking about a friend from eons ago – Nancy. Sadly we have lost touch over the years, but I still remember her fondly.

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Spaghetti Bolognese with Chicken and Pancetta

Panchetta is Italian Bacon, of sorts. Both American Bacon and Italian Pancetta are pork, usually from the pork belly section. Typically both have been cured (while some bacon is sold uncured). Bacon is cured in salt, either in a brine or packed in salt. It is then aged by drying the meat, be it dried in cold air for weeks or even months, or smoked (my favorite kind of bacon). Pancetta can also be cured in simple salt, but seasonings and other aromatics are often added to the curing process to infuse Pancetta with its distinctly Italian flavors. While this recipe can be made using Bacon, depending upon the type of bacon, the flavor will vary.

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