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Posts Tagged ‘Mascarpone’

Tagliatelle con salmone e mascarpone

Posted in Fish, Food, Italian, Pasta, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , on 9 January 2023| 2 Comments »

We’re clearing out in January, rather then dieting. This recipe used up the last of a side of smoked salmon and its simplicity is perfect.

Wine Suggestion: We think Verdicchio is under-rated as a grape and for food combinations like this where you have a creaminess, combined with some Omega fatty acids and citrus zest it is the business. Tonight our choice was Sartarelli’s Tralivio which balances fruit weight with an almost saline minerality.

Tagliatelle with Salmon and Mascarpone – serves 4

  • 400g tagliatelle
  • 200g smoked salmon, snipped with scissors into short strips
  • 125g mascarpone
  • 20g soft butter
  • zest of 1 lemon, plus more to garnish
  • a few sprigs of dill, snipped

Cook the tagliatelle in lots of very salty water until al dente.

Meanwhile, tip the salmon strips into a large warm serving bowl along with the mascarpone, butter and lemon zest. Add a ladleful of the pasta cooking water to loosen it all to a cream, then taste and add salt if needed.

Drain the pasta, reserving some water, then tip into the bowl with the sauce and toss gently, adding more cooking water if needed. Serve sprinkled with the dill and some more lemon zest.

(Original recipe from An A-Z of Pasta by Rachel Roddy, Penguin: Fig Tree, 2021.)

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Pasta with Fennel, Sausage and Courgette

Posted in Food, Italian, Pasta, Pork, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , on 4 August 2022| 4 Comments »

A nice pasta with unusual flavours. Use good-quality Italian sausages for this if you can find them.

Wine Suggestion: As this dish is full-flavoured we’d suggest a full flavoured white like Cline Cellars Sonoma Coast Chardonnay, which has a wonderful Californian ripeness combined with a core of fresh minerality and zing from the cooling breezes and fog coming through the Petaluma Gap each day. The subtle oak gives a lovely texture which helps matching this dish too.

Pasta with fennel, sausage and courgette – serves 4

  • 3 good-quality pork sausages (we like Italian sausages)
  • 1 tsp olive oil
  • ½ small fennel bulb, trim off any green bits and chop finey, reserve any fronds to garnish
  • ½ onion, diced
  • 2 big cloves of garlic, finely chopped
  • 200g rigatoni pasta
  • zest and juice of a lemon
  • 100g mascarpone
  • 1 medium-large courgete, grated
  • 1 tbsp toasted pine nuts
  • grated Parmesan (to serve)

Take the skins off the sausages and crumble them into small chunks. Heat the oil in a large frying pan, then fry the sausages until browned and crispy, breaking the lumps up with a wooden spoon. Scoop out with a slotted spoon and set aside.

Add the fennel, onion and garlic to the sausage fat in the pan and cook for about 10 minutes, or until softened but not coloured. You can add a splash of water if it starts to stick.

Bring a large pan of salty water to the boil, add the pasta and cook according to the timings on the pack. Drain but reserve a mugful of the cooking water.

Return the frying pan to the heat and stir in the lemon zest, lemon juice, mascarpone, grated courgette and a splash of pasta cooking water. Bubble for 2 minutes, then stir in the cooked pasta and sausages. Season, then serve garnished with fennel fronds, pine nuts and Parmesan.

(Original recipe from BBC Good Food)

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Tomato & Courgette Risotto

Posted in Food, Italian, Vegetarian, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , on 1 August 2022| Leave a Comment »

We chose this recipe because it has courgettes in it (and we have loads in the garden) but we’ll definitely be making it again. The method is a little different from usual but the results are lovely, fresh and tasty.

Wine Suggestion: Try to find a white wine with a lemony citrus flavour to bring out the bright flavours of the courgettes. We had a bottle of Karavitakis Assyrtiko “Nomas” from Crete that a friend had given us and it was a summery, lemony delight.

Tomato & Courgette Risotto – serves 2

  • 2 tbsp olive oil
  • 1 small onion, diced
  • 2 cloves of garlic, crushed
  • ½ tsp coriander seeds, crushed
  • 200g risotto rice
  • 500ml vegetable stock
  • 200g carton passata
  • 12 cherry tomatoes, halved
  • 2 courgettes, halved and sliced
  • 2 tbsp mascarpone
  • grated Parmesan, to serve

Preheat the oven to 200C/180C fan/gas 6.

Heat 1 tbsp of the oil in a large pan over a medium heat. Add the onion and fry for about 5 minutes until softened.

Add the garlic and coriander seeds and cook for another minute, then stir in the rice and stir until coated and glistening.

Gradually add 300ml of the stock, stirring until absorbed each time before adding some more. Stir in the passata, then cover with a lid and cook gently for 10 minutes. Keep giving it a stir every couple of minutes and add more stock as needed.

Meanwhile, put the tomatoes and courgettes into a roasting tin, keeping them at separate ends. Drizzle with the other tbsp of oil, then season and roast for 10-12 minutes until just tender. You might need to scoop out the tomatoes and cook the courgettes a little longer.

Add the mascarpone to the risotto and season generously with salt and black pepper. Keep stirring and cooking for about 5 minutes more or until the rice is cooked. Add the courgettes to the risotto and stir to mix together. Serve in warm bowls with the roasted tomatoes and some grated Parmesan.

(Original recipe from BBC Good Food)

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Farfalle with Peas, Mushrooms & Ham

Posted in Food, Italian, Pasta, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , on 23 January 2021| 2 Comments »

This is a good family meal, with lots of veg and a rich creamy sauce – it’s really filling. Quick and easy too and you can  double to serve many people or a crowd of kids, when crowds of kids exist again.

Wine Suggestion: This goes really well with a white that can cope with a rich, creamy dish.Keeping the Italian theme we’d suggest a good Verdicchio which tend to strike a nice balance between a fuller body, polyphenols (those white wine tannins that give texture and grip) and a nutty, saline freshness. The textures and the body make it work with the marscapone, ham and tomatoes especially well.

Farfalle with peas, mushrooms & ham – serves 4

  • 3 tbsp olive oil
  • a small onion, finely sliced
  • 125g diced cooked ham
  • 50g frozen peas
  • 100g chestnut mushrooms, sliced
  • 1 x 400g tins chopped tomatoes
  • 75g mascarpone cheese
  • 250g farfalle pasta
  • a small handful of chopped basil
  • grated Parmesan, to serve

Bring a very big pot of water to the boil and add lots of fine salt.

Heat the oil in a large frying pan and fry the onion for a few minutes over a medium heat. Add the ham, peas and mushrooms and keep cooking for about 5 minutes.

Add the chopped tomatoes, stir well and simmer gently for about 8 minutes, uncovered. Add the mascarpone, season well, then remove from the heat.

Meanwhile, cook the pasta in the boiling water until al dente, then drain and tip back into the pot. Pour the sauce over the pasta, then add the basil and stir together for about 30 seconds. Serve in warm bowls with Parmesan over the top.

(Original recipe from Pronto! by Gino D’Acampo, Kyle Books, 2014.)

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Fusilli with Chestnut Mushrooms, Leeks and Mascarpone Cheese

Posted in Food, Italian, Pasta, Vegetarian, tagged , , , , , , , , on 10 January 2020| Leave a Comment »

Fusilli with Chestnut Mushrooms, Leeks and Mascarpone Cheese

This pasta sauce can literally be made in the same time as it takes to boil the pasta. The recipe is easily halved for two and therefore good for using up mascarpone.

Wine Suggestion: A tasty supper like this pairs well with unoaked Chardonnay, particularly from slightly cooler areas like the Maçon in Burgundy. Tonight’s choice, the Domaine Manciat-Poncet Maçon-Charnay which has a fresh joy to it with red apples and citrus flavours.

Fusilli with chestnut mushrooms, leeks and mascarpone cheese – serves 4

  • 45g butter
  • 250g chestnut mushrooms, sliced
  • 2 leeks, washed and sliced
  • 2 garlic cloves, peeled and finely chopped
  • 250g mascarpone cheese
  • 3 tbsp finely chopped chives
  • 4 pinches of cayenne pepper
  • 400g fusilli pasta
  • plenty of freshly grated Parmesan to serve

Heat a large frying pan over a medium heat, then add the butter and allow to melt. When the butter is foaming add the mushrooms, leeks and garlic and fry for 5 minutes.

Add the mascarpone and cook for another minute or so, stirring continuously. Stir in the chives and cayenne pepper, then season carefully with salt and remove from the heat.

Meanwhile cook the pasta in lots of salty water according to the timings on the pack, then drain and return to the same pan.

Pour the mushroom sauce into the pasta pan and stir together for 30 seconds before dividing between warm bowls.

Sprinkle over the Parmesan and serve.

(Original recipe Gino’s Pasta by Gino D’Acampo, Kyle Books, 2010.)

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Steak in Porcini Mushroom Sauce

Posted in Beef, Food, tagged , , , , , , on 9 November 2018| 2 Comments »

Steak in Porcini Mushroom Sauce

We’re all about mushrooms at this time of year, both dried and fresh, as they have the smell and taste of Autumn. We cooked this when the clocks changed and we got home to a cold house after a long weekend away. Serve with steamed rice or Italian roasties, and some greens if you like.

Wine Suggestion: Luigi Pira makes some really thoughtful and traditional Barolos and his Langhe Nebbiolo is no different; it tastes of Nebbiolo with the tar and roses, firm tannins sit well with the perfectly ripe wine and, with a touch of age, velvety undergrowth characters. An excellent match to both the steak and the mushrooms.

Steak in Porcini Mushroom Sauce – serves 4

  • 15g dried porcini mushrooms
  • 450g sirloin steak, cut into ½ cm strips
  • 4 tbsp olive oil
  • 250g chestnut mushrooms, sliced
  • 1 clove of garlic, peeled and grated
  • 1 tsp thyme leaves
  • 50ml red wine
  • 3 tbsp chopped flatleaf parsley
  • 150g mascarpone cheese

Put the dried porcini in a bowl and pour over enough boiling water to cover. Set aside for 5 minutes.

Season the steak really well with salt and black pepper. Heat 2 tbsp of the oil in a large frying pan and fry the steak in batches over a hight heat for a maximum minute per side, or until nicely browned but not cooked through. Transfer to a plate and cover with foil.

Pour another 2 tbsp of oil into the pan and fry the chestnut mushrooms for a couple of minutes. Add the garlic and thyme and cook for another minute. Pout in the wine and cook for another 2 minutes.

Meanwhile, drain the porcini mushrooms and reserve the liquid. Stir the liquid into the frying pan (leave the last gritty bit behind). Roughly chop the porcini mushrooms and add to the sauce.

Stir in the parsley and mascarpone, then return the meat to the pan. Cook gently for a couple of minutes.

Season to taste and serve with rice or Italian roasties.

(Original recipe from Pronto! by Gino D’Acampo, Kyle Books, 2014.)

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Tortellini with Creamy Tomato & Mascarpone Sauce

Posted in Food, Italian, Pasta, Vegetarian, tagged , , , , , , , , on 22 August 2018| Leave a Comment »

Creamy marscapone tortellini

Because we had leftover marscapone … we love using leftover ingredients. It’s ok to cheat sometimes with some shop-bought fresh tortellini and the result is dinner in minutes!

Wine Suggestion: this works with young, fresh red wines. If you feel like Italian then the Rocca delle Macie Chianti Vernaiolo which is unoaked and vibrantly full of fruit is a good choice. We, however, threw a Pike & Joyce Rapide (unoaked) Pinot Noir from the Adelaide Hills into the fridge for 30 minutes. A good match too.

Tortellini with Creamy Tomato & Mascarpone Sauce – serves 2-4

  • 1 tbsp olive oil
  • 1 garlic clove, crushed
  • 400g tin chopped tomatoes
  • 1 tsp vegetable stock powder (we never are without Marigold Swiss Bouillon) or ½ cumbled stock cube
  • 1 tbsp tomato purée
  • 1 tsp sugar
  • few basil leaves
  • 2 tbsp mascarpone plus a bit extra
  • fresh tortellni – we used spinach & ricotta

Preheat the oven to 180ºC.

Heat the oil in a pan, add the garlic and gently fry for 1 minute. Add the tin of tomatoes, the stock powder, tomato purée and sugar, then bring to the boil. Turn down the heat and simmer uncovered for 5 minutes. Tear in the basil leaves and stir in the 2 tbsp of mascarpone.

Meanwhile, cook the tortellini in boiling salted water as per the timing on the pack, then drain well and tip into a small ovenproof dish.

Pour the sauce over the tortellini and top with a few more spoonfuls of mascarpone, then bake until bubbling at the edges.

(Original recipe by Gareth Morgans IN: BBC Good Food Magazine, August 2008.)

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Tomato Tart with Pesto & Marscapone

Posted in Food, Vegetarian, tagged , , , , , , , , on 14 August 2018| Leave a Comment »

Tomato, pesto & marscapone tart

This couldn’t be easier, especially if you use fresh pesto (you can use the recipe below if you’ve lots of basil growing). Perfect for a late summer lunch.

Wine Suggestion: We find we gravitate to dry rosé quite often during summer as the good ones tend to refresh and revive us in the warmth and also complement summer foods. Today it was the Château St Jacques d’Albas Chapelle en Rose, predominantly Grenache and Mourvedre but with a touch of Roussanne from Minervois. Excellent.

Tomato Tart with Pesto & Mascarpone – serves 4

  • 1 ready-rolled puff pastry sheet
  • 6-8 ripe vine tomatoes, thinly sliced
  • 4 tbsp pesto (see recipe below)
  • 2 tbsp mascarpone
  • green salad leaves, to serve

Heat the oven to 200C/Fan 180C/Gas 6.

Unroll the pastry on to a baking sheet (it usually rolls out easier if you take it out of the fridge for 10 minutes before using). Score a border 1cm from the edge and prick inside the border with a fork. Bake for 15-20 minutes or until golden.

Gently squash down the middle of the pastry. Spread the pesto inside the border, dot over the mascarpone, then layer the tomato on top. Season well and bake for 10 minutes or until the tomatoes are cooked and the mascarpone has melted.

Decorate with some fresh basil leaves and serve some dressed salad leaves.

(Original recipe by Paula Stain in BBC Olive Magazine, August 2005.)

To make pesto:

Put a large bunch of fresh basil leaves (minimum 50g) into a food processor with 2 peeled garlic cloves, 25g of toasted pine nuts and 3 tbsp of olive oil. Blend to a paste, then slowly add 125ml through the feeder tube. Transfer to a bowl and fold in 50g of freshly grated Parmesan, then season to taste with salt and pepper. Keep refrigerated in a clean jam jar covered with a layer of olive oil until needed.

 

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Penne with Blue Cheese Sauce

Posted in Food, Pasta, Vegetarian, tagged , , , , , , , on 17 January 2018| 1 Comment »

Penne with blue cheese sauce

We seem to have a piece of blue cheese that sits permanently on the shelf on our fridge door. It changes every week but never completely disappears and so we find ourselves constantly on the search for weeknight dinners to put it to good use. Not a bad problem to have.

Wine Suggestion: We’ve cooked dishes similar to this many times and have found they work best with white wines with body: Chardonnay, Chenin Blanc, Soave … if it has a touch of oak or richness then all to the good.

Penne with blue cheese sauce – serves 4

  • 350g penne pasta
  • 200g frozen leaf spinach
  • 85g Danish blue or other blue cheese, crumbled
  • a pinch of chilli flakes
  • 250g tub mascarpone cheese
  • 25g Parmesan, grated

Bring a large pan of salted water to the boil and cook the pasta according to the instructions on the pack, add the spinach 3 minutes before the end of the cooking time. Drain the pasta and spinach and tip into a shallow heatproof dish along with the blue cheese, chilli flakes and lots of black pepper.

Put spoonfuls of the mascarpone over the top of the pasta. Sprinkle with the Parmesan and grill for 5 minutes or until the mascarpone has melted and the top is golden. Serve with a green salad.

(Original recipe from BBC Good Food Magazine, October, 2000.)

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Marscarpone, Mushroom & Marsala Fettucini

Posted in Food, Pasta, Vegetarian, tagged , , , , , , , , , on 17 January 2014| 8 Comments »

Marscapone & Marsala Fettucini

A rich and indulgent pasta dish and quite a hefty portion but as Nigella points out there is little point in leaving 50g of fettuccine in the box for another time!

Fettuccine with Mushrooms, Marsala & Mascarpone – serves 2

  • 15g dried porcini
  • 60ml Marsala
  • 125g mascarpone
  • freshly grated nutmeg
  • ground pepper
  • 2 tbsp chopped parsley plus more to serve
  • 250g  fettuccine (or tagliatelle)
  • 1 tbsp unsalted butter
  • small clove of garlic, crushed
  • 4 tbsp grated Parmesan

Measure the porcini into a very small saucepan, cover with the Marsala and 60ml water, put on the heat and bring to the boil. As soon as it starts to boil, turn off the heat and leave to stand for 10 minutes.

Put the mascarpone into a bowl with a good grating of fresh nutmeg and ground pepper. When the porcini have finished soaking, strain the liquid into the bowl and fork together to combine.

Squeeze the porcini out over the bowl, then chop on a board along with the parsley.

Cook the fettuccine in a large pan of boiling salted water.

Melt the butter in a large pan and add the garlic, stirring over the heat for a minute, then add the porcini and parsley mixture and cook for a couple of minutes. Whisk in the mascarpone and stir until the sauce bubbles, then turn the heat off.

Reserve a small cup of the pasta cooking water before draining and tipping the pasta into the sauce. Add a little pasta water to loosen as it will thicken on standing.

Add the Parmesan and check the seasoning before serving with some extra parsley.

(Original recipe from Nigella Lawson’s Nigellissima, Chatto & Windus, 2012).

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Easy pasta dish to use up leftover mascarpone

Posted in Food, Pasta, Vegetarian, tagged , , , , , on 29 March 2012| Leave a Comment »

Mascarpone is a great ingredient but its one we use rarely as most recipes only require a few spoons and we inevitably end up throwing the rest out. Well not any more! This is not really a recipe but more of an idea which you can adapt depending on what else you have lying around to complement your mascarpone.

Pea, mint & mascarpone pasta – to serve 2

  • 200g pasta
  • 140g frozen peas
  • 100g mascarpone
  • handful of chopped mint

Cook the pasta according to the pack and add the peas for the last 3 minutes of cooking time. Scoop out and reserve a bit of the cooking water before you drain the pasta and peas. Return to the pan and add the mascarpone, mint, plenty of seasoning and a couple of spoons of the cooking liquid to make a nice saucy consistency.

Wine Suggestion: Something simple and food friendly is all that’s needed here. An easy Pinot Grigio (not a variety that we often recommend) went really well.

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