Papardelle with Dairy Chilli Sauce

With the holiday of Shavuos a couple of days ago, I decided to set up a couple of simple yet tasty ideas for the family table. After all, I graciously missed all the previous holidays in terms of sharing recipes at least one single time - before the High Holidays in autumn - to be on point. 

I am starting with an easy and fast - within 30 minutes - recipe, which combines healthy, simple and dairy ingredients. Plus, it has my beloved pasta in it, therefore I couldn't wait to test, taste it and live to write another tasty foodie story.

The type of pasta used are papardelle, a large, very broad flat, cut into a ribbon shaped pasta (in Italian, pappare means to gobble up). They require around 6-7 minutes of boiling. I prepared a one liter water with one teaspoon of salt. When the water starts to boil, I added the pasta and let it boil. For a portion of two persons, I used the equivalent of 100 gr. of papardelle.

The ingredient that gives the full spicy taste to the meal is chilli. I used 1/2 teaspoon of homemade, brought to me by my Turkish friend from her hometown in Trabzon. They are so strong, that even the smallest amount put your mouth on fire.

The sauce is the most important part of the meal, as its success - or failure - is crucial for setting the gourmet standards for your meal. It is very important that each ingredient is added one by one, mixing well and allowing the different tastes and flavours to melt.

For the sauce, I used the following ingredients

100 gr. butter

6 medium-sized garlic cloves, minced

2 tablespoons olive oil

1/2 tablespoon chilli

125 gr. sour cream - buttermilk can also be used alternativelly

Directions

Melt the butter in a pan at 250C. In a separate bowl, add the olive oil, the garlic, the chilli, the sour cream, the melted butter. Mix them until you have a homogenous creamy paste. 

Now, it is about time to put all the ingredient together and prepare your pasta plate.

Once the papardelle are ready and drained, add the sauce on a pan at 250C, and mix well, until all the sides of the pasta are covered. Put on the top 50gr. Peccorino hard cheese and mix for another couple of minutes.

Your delicious bowl of pasta is ready. Serve it warm, in the company of a lemonade or a glass of cold white wine.

Preparation time: 10 min.

Cooking time: 10 min.

Serves: 2

Bon Appétit!

Fast gefillte mushrooms

Even though I do not have too much pressure lately to finish cooking while working hard, the writing and reading takes a lot of time and energy and once in a while I found myself looking for fast and delicious yet new recipes. For the Shavuos, I am very good at the cheesecake part of the menu, but I am not too inspired when it comes to the side and salty dishes in general. Thus, I asked around and I was recommended, without the recipe, the gefillte mushrooms (probably the reference was given in relation with my long love for gefillte fish, that I still need to learn how to prepare - one day). 

I don't know how I did not think about it before, but the preparation of the filling included: some simple cheese cream and a bit of salt. I added for each mushroom a drop of pumpkin oil and some walnuts. A leaf of coriander is welcomed, as I discovered one week later when I was asked to repeat the recipe for Shabbos. 

It takes around 10 minutes to prepare the mushrooms and another 20 minutes to bake them. In a matter of seconds, they will disappear from the table.