Pasta & potatoes, peanuts, and pizza

It's been a long time since I posted anything, and I've had several wonderful cooking experiences, so I'll share some with you. Last week we had another Neopolitan cooking class. The pasta dish we made was extremely traditional, pretty easy, and really tasty! I thought I'd share it with you.

Pasta and Potatoes

Sauce:
½ onion
½ stalk of celery
1 container pancetta (about 1/5 pound bacon, chopped)
Olive oil to cover

½ kilo potatoes (peeled and chopped)

2 or 3 cherry tomatoes
Mixed pasta (or your choice)

Put all sauce ingredients in large pot, cover with oil, and sauté until cooked. Then add the potatoes. Squeeze tomatoes to get extra juice out, add to the pot. Cover with water, add salt, and cook 15-20 minutes until potatoes are soft. Add pasta and cook until pasta is done. Serve with extra liquid as sauce.

Serves 4-5. Rice can be substituted for pasta.

I finally gave up on making pizza dough from scratch and now I just use a packaged mix, but it still tastes good. I think I have finally come up with the perfect pizza:
Alfredo sauce
Red pepper flakes
Chopped onion
Chopped red bell pepper
Crumbled bacon
Cheese

That, my friends, is pizza perfection.

And finally, a recipe I found in a brand name cookbook my mom sent me. Tim loves it and it's very popular wherever we go. We do, however, use chicken instead of beef. The beef tastes gross. It's good on either spaghetti or rice.

 

Thai Peanut Beef (er, Chicken)

8 oz uncooked thin spaghetti

1 lb lean (at least 80%) ground beef (or chicken)

4 green onions, chopped (1/4 cup)

8 oz fresh pea pods, halved diagonally (about 3 cups)

1 red bell pepper, cut into 3x1/4x1/4-inch thin strips

1 1/2 cups chicken broth

1/4 teaspoon ground red pepper (cayenne)

1/4 teaspoon salt

2 teaspoons cornstarch

1/2 cup peanut butter

1/4 cup chopped salted peanuts

DIRECTIONS

1. Cook and drain spaghetti as directed on package; cover to keep warm. 2. Meanwhile, in 12-inch skillet, cook ground beef over medium-high heat 5 to 7 minutes, stirring occasionally, until thoroughly cooked; drain. Add onions, pea pods and bell pepper. Cook and stir 3 to 4 minutes or until vegetables are crisp-tender. 3. In small bowl, mix broth, ground red pepper, salt and cornstarch. Stir into beef and vegetables. Add peanut butter. Cook 1 to 2 minutes, stirring frequently, until thick and bubbly. Serve over cooked spaghetti; top with peanuts.

 

Buon appetito!