Four Cheese Pasta with Peas and Ham* from Food Network magazine has a wonderful taste but was a tad grainy in texture. By creating the custard for this type of recipe you end up with a very rich sauce. I think next time I make this I will keep the flavor profile but start with a basic white sauce using butter, flour, and milk instead of the egg and evaporated milk approach.
- Kosher salt
- 12 ounces penne
- 1 cup frozen peas
- 2 large eggs, plus 1 egg white
- 1 cup evaporated milk
- 4 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 3 ounces sharp cheddar cheese, grated (1 scant cup)
- 3 ounces part-skim mozzarella cheese, grated (about 1 cup)
- 3 ounces fontina cheese, grated (1 scant cup)
- 3 ounces deli ham, in 1 piece, diced
- 1 ounce parmesan cheese, grated (about 1/2 cup)
Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add the pasta and cook until very al dente, about 8 minutes, adding the peas in the last 2 minutes of cooking. Meanwhile, whisk the eggs, egg white, evaporated milk and 1/2 teaspoon salt in a bowl. Drain the pasta and peas; wipe the pot dry and return the pasta and peas to the pot. Add the butter and stir to coat. Add the cheddar, mozzarella, fontina and the egg mixture. Place the pot over medium-low heat and cook, stirring constantly, until thickened, 8 to 10 minutes, adding the ham halfway through cooking (don't let the mixture boil or the eggs will scramble). Remove the pot from the heat and stir in the parmesan.
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Three Cheese Macaroni* came from Martha Stewart magazine. This recipe uses the concept I mention above of creating a basic white sauce in which to make the cheese sauce. The flavors were good but I have had better and am still searching for just the right combination of cheeses.
- Coarse salt
- 1 pound elbow macaroni
- 5 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 6 tablespoons all-purpose flour
- 4 cups whole milk, room temperature
- 3/4 teaspoon ground mustard
- 1/2 teaspoon Old Bay seasoning
- 8 ounces white cheddar, shredded (3 cups)
- 4 ounces Monterey Jack, shredded (1 1/2 cups)
- 1/2 ounce Parmesan, grated (1/4 cup)
In a large pot of boiling salted water, cook macaroni according to package instructions. Drain. In pot, melt 4 tablespoons butter over medium. Whisk in flour and cook, stirring frequently, until mixture is pale golden and has a nutty aroma, about 4 minutes. Whisking constantly, slowly add milk. Cook, whisking along bottom of pot, until boiling, about 7 minutes. Reduce heat and gently simmer, stirring occasionally, until sauce is thickened, 10 to 12 minutes. Remove from heat and add 1 tablespoon butter, mustard, Old Bay, and cheeses. Stir until cheeses are melted and sauce is smooth; season with salt. Add macaroni to sauce and stir to combine.
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The Pesto recipe I tried came from the Essentials of Classic Italian Cooking by Marcella Hazan and is specifically the version of the recipe using a food processor. Want to read a lot of blogs? Just run a Google search on this book and "pesto by food processor" and you can read lots of blog reviews of the recipe. This is a definite YUM (**) recipe and was very easy to make but it does differ from other pesto recipes by including butter. The hardest part was actually finding the pine nuts in my grocery store (found in the fruit and vegetable section of the store where they have fresh nuts). I was able to use basil from my own herb garden and I did make this ahead and freeze it according to the recipe tips. I served the pesto over homemade gnocchi - adventures in making I will share in a future post. Below is the recipe and comments taken directly from the cookbook.
- 2 cups tightly packed fresh basil leaves
- 1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
- 3 tablespoons pine nuts
- 2 garlic cloves, chopped fine before putting into the processor
- salt
Soak and wash the basil in cold water, gently pat thoroughly dry with paper towels. Put basil, olive oil, pine nuts, chopped garlic and an ample pinch of salt in the processor bowl and process to a uniform creamy consistency. If freezing stop here, proceed with rest of recipe after thawing.
- 1/2 cup freshly graded parmigiano-reggiano cheese
- 2 tablespoons freshly grated romano cheese
- 3 tablespoons butter, softened to room temperature
- 1 1/2 lbs pasta
Transfer the contents from the food processor to a bowl and mix in the two grated cheese by hand. It is worth the slight effort to do it by hand to obtain the notably superior texture it produces. When the cheese has been evenly amalgamated with the other ingredients mix in the softened butter distributing it uniformly into the sauce. When spooning pesto over pasta dilute it slightly with a tablespoon or two of pasta water.
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