Sunday 9 November 2008

Cuckold pasta

Well, it is useless to slave over a kitchen if said kitchen is not used, isn't it so?
So I'll stop for a moment just to pass along a recipe, thing that, you're warned, I'll do often.
Because there is little in my life I value as much as good home cooked food.

Cuckold Pasta

Cuckold pasta is a recipe that comes from Livorno, big port city in Tuscany.
The curios name is in fact the reason of the easiness.
This in fact was a recipe that the husband could cook while his wife was enjoying someone else's embrace and, seen the usual male clumsiness in a kitchen, it is kept child easy.
I warn you though, it is by no means light and, seen the ingredients, well, I would not advise to use it for a romantic dinner.

Ingredients (4 people):

Pasta 500Gr
Olive oil 6 tablespoons
Garlic 4 to 6 cloves, depending of the size
Chili powder
Pinch of salt
Parmigiano or Grana grated cheese 150Gr

- Put the oil, the chily powder and the salt in a bowl and mix till the oil is nicely red.
- Crush the garlic cloves and mix the to the oil in the bowl.
- Fill a pot with water and add a handful of salt, then boil it *
- When water boils pasta in and cook till "al dente" **
- Drain the pasta and put it in the bowl, mix quickly
- Put the cheese on it and mix again
- Serve hot

* Which pasta is better? Long or short? We could write books on it, but let's keep it short by saying that if you go for long pasta ( spaghetti, tagliatelle) you should consider putting more oil, since this type absorbs more.

**"Al dente" is not a measurement, it is a philosophy of life.
It is the exact moment in which the pasta has stopped to be hard but a second before it goes marshmallowy soft.
Training is the best advise I can give, but do not stress too much, because this consistency varies greatly from person to person.
In the end you alone know what you like, so, have fun ^_^

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