Food & Drinks

Pasta as the Romans made it

Say wine, snacks or haute cuisine and the food lovers of online food magazine FavorFlav know where to drink, how to eat and what to cook. This time our chefs serve you: traditional Italian pasta.

Traditional Italian recipes with a modern twist: the new cookbook Big Mamma’s Cucina Popolare is full of them. The Italian chefs of Big Mamma cook according to the traditions of their mamas but with a contemporary signature. Like this typical Roman pasta with spring vegetables.

INGREDIENTS
160 g guanciale (pork cheek) or bacon, sliced
2 large artichokes
80 g peas, shelled
80 g broad beans, shelled
1 tbsp olive oil
1 spring onion, chopped
400 g tonnarelli (or spaghetti)
40 g pecorino, grated
10 mint leaves
salt

How to make Roman pasta with spring vegetables

  1. Cut the guanciale into strips about 2 cm wide. Clean the artichokes. Break the stem, remove the tough fibers from the bottom, and remove the leaves by hand. Remove the choke. Wash the artichoke hearts in clean water. Cut them lengthwise into thin slices.
  2. Blanch the peas and broad beans for 1 minute in salted, boiling water.
  3. Heat the olive oil in a frying pan over high heat and fry the guanciale for 10 minutes. Add the artichokes and fry for another 5 minutes.
  4. Add the spring onion, turn the heat down to medium, and fry the guanciale and vegetables for another 10 minutes.
  5. Meanwhile, cook the tonnarelli in salted, boiling water in a large pot.
  6. Take a ladle of the boiling water while the pasta is cooking and pour it into the frying pan. Turn the heat up and stir well to create a sauce.
  7. Drain the pasta as soon as it is al dente and immediately add it to the vegetable sauce in the frying pan.
  8. Add the broad beans and peas and mix according to the mantecare method.
  9. Serve the vignarola sprinkled with pecorino and mint leaves. Enjoy your meal!

Title: Big Mamma’s Cucina Popolare
Author: Big Mamma
Price: €35
Publisher: Good Cook

Text: Favorflav