I recently had a lovely surprise in my mailbox. Fabio sent me a Thank You photo for the taralli I brought him on our recent visit to Cafe Firenze. I might just have to make him a whole batch when we return! Obviously his mamma did a great job in teaching him good manners! Fabio, Grazie a Lei!
We decided to try to recreate the flavors that were in the pasta dish Brad ate at Cafe Firenze: caramelized onions, brussels sprouts and pancetta.
Brad made a batch of pasta dough, and we let it rest in the fridge. 30 minutes before dinner, we ran it through the pasta roller, then the pasta cutting attachment. We made some fettuccini and some linguini. In the past, we have used fresh pasta dough to make ravioli or lasagna sheets, so it was our first time making noodles.
We thought our small batch of pastas were beautiful!
Meanwhile, I caramelized an onion in 2 T. of olive oil.
After 15 minutes, I added 10 sliced brussels sprouts, and 3 oz. chopped pancetta. I also added salt, freshly ground black pepper, and some red chili flakes. After a few minutes of cooking, while the water boiled for the pasta, I added 1/4 c. white wine, and let it reduce.
The pasta was done in about 1 1/2 minutes.
We tossed the cooked pasta with the onion-brussels sprouts-pancetta sauce.
Add a little grated parmesan, and it was wonderful. (It was not as good as Fabio's, but it was really damn tasty!)
Comments (9)
This looks incredibly delicious. So does the photo of Fabio...woohoo personalized to boot! You made an impression! Palma's taralli "rules"!
Posted by Barb Cabot | March 31, 2009 8:59 AM
Posted on March 31, 2009 08:59
Looks delicious! And yay for the thank you card.
Posted by candi | March 31, 2009 2:11 PM
Posted on March 31, 2009 14:11
Palma, I wish I could jump through the screen. Man does that look good!
Posted by Terry (teaberry) | March 31, 2009 5:16 PM
Posted on March 31, 2009 17:16
That looks delicious! I have been eating a lot of bacon and pancetta lately and I can't seem to get enough of it.
Posted by Chiocciola | March 31, 2009 6:03 PM
Posted on March 31, 2009 18:03
The pasta dish looks delish! Bill loves brussels sprouts, so I will have to try it.
And your photo from Fabio is great! You must be so excited! But, isn't Brad just a little bit jealous?
Posted by nancyhol | March 31, 2009 10:51 PM
Posted on March 31, 2009 22:51
Looks wonderful.
It's funny to me to see your cut pasta just resting all together. Here it's so humid that, if we did that, it would all just glop together. And how do I know this? It has happened to me.
Posted by jgk | April 1, 2009 6:15 AM
Posted on April 1, 2009 06:15
That looks so good! I love brussel sprouts, but don't cook them as often as I should. I'll have to try this. And what a special photo to have!
Posted by Cindy Ruth | April 1, 2009 8:01 PM
Posted on April 1, 2009 20:01
I am still sorry I forgot to reach my fork over to Brad's pasta plate that night at Cafe Firenze, so now I am determined to come out to the desert and let you make me this dish :). I could bring the bottle of Brachetto d'Aqui that I saw at Bristol Farms, pretty please . . .
Posted by Marcia | April 3, 2009 12:11 PM
Posted on April 3, 2009 12:11
Any time, Marcia!
Posted by Palma | April 3, 2009 10:30 PM
Posted on April 3, 2009 22:30