I Ain't Alfredo No Ghosts

Pasta. Who doesn't love it? Well, maybe someone who is gluten intolerant.

Garlic Cream Sauce. Who doesn't love it? Well, maybe someone who is lactose intolerant.

Sausages. Who doesn't love them? Well, maybe a vegetarian.

Mushrooms. I know someone who doesn't love them. And he's 11.

If you are not one of these people, you must try this super easy recipe. Ten minutes prep time, 15 minutes cooking time and an hour of divinity. A great recipe for beginners of cooking and you have guests coming over and you're not sure what to make them. It is a sure fire hit for most guests and kids. Trust me. I've fed this recipe to a ton of people.

This is also something you can make in advance if you're nervous about people watching you or if you're nervous about having everything ready on time. Cook your pasta ahead of time and after draining from the water, toss in a little olive oil to prevent the pasta from sticking together. Heat sauce and toss pasta in the sauce to warm it through. You will see how easy entertaining can be.

Classic Fettuccine Alfredo with Sausages

Half a stick of Butter
2 Medium Sized White Onions, finely diced
3 Garlic Cloves, crushed
Pinch of Nutmeg
50 ml Vodka
500 ml 35% Cream
15 Cremini Mushrooms, sliced
Juice of a Half a Lemon
5 Smoked Sausages, sliced in half and cut into half moons
2 (more!!)Garlic Cloves,
Parmigiana Cheese to taste (for garnish)
1 Package of Fettuccine (I like Barilla)
Salt and Pepper to taste

In a tall stock pot, bring water and 1 tbs. salt to a rapid boil.

In a frying pan, melt half the butter until frothy. Add onions and garlic, and cook for five minutes. Add vodka and allow to deglaze your pan. Add cream and bring to a boil, stirring often. Remove from heat. Liquefy in a blender and hold.

Melt remainder of butter in the same pan. Add mushrooms and garlic and cook for 10 minutes. Add lemon juice and smoked sausages and cook for 1 minute. Add cream puree and bring to a slight boil and hold. Since sausages are cooked, they only need to be heated through.

Add pasta and follow manufacturer's instructions. Drain and toss with cream sauce. Garnish with cheese and add salt and pepper to taste.

Enjoy!

Serves 4 - 6

Root Awakenings

Cooking creatively can be challenging at times. I find I get most inspired in people's homes because I will often find ingredients I don't normally have at home or even in a professional kitchen. I even get much of my inspiration walking through markets and grocery stores.

Fennel is a vegetable that I don't normally have at home because I simply never purchase it. When was the last time you purchased fennel? Or parsnips? Turnip? Rutabaga? It simply rarely goes on most people's grocery lists because we never think of it. Yet these vegetables are easy to cook, easy on the wallet and probably healthier than most things on your grocery list.

I've learned recently that many root vegetables were considered good for feeding pigs. I wonder if this is because blandness of the vegetable or cost?

In a previous post, I have explained the risotto process in more detail. The risotto cooking method should be the same every time, but what you add is what makes it unique and yours.

Sausage and Shrimp with Fennel Risotto

3 Sweet Italian Sausages
16 Shrimp, deveined
250 g Arborio Rice
3 Red Bell Peppers
3 garlic cloves, crushed
A Few Chili Flakes
1 Fennel Bulb, finely diced
1 Red Onoin, finely diced
1 Green Onion, chopped
1 l Chicken Broth
100 ml Sambuca or Ouzo
50 g Marmalade Preserve
Drizzle of Olive Oil
Juice of 2 Lemons
200 g Parmigiana Reggiano Cheese, grated
100 g Butter
Season and Pepper to Taste

Combine marmalade, 1 clove of garlic, chili flakes, lemon juice and olive oil. Marinate shrimp in mixture in fridge for 1 hour.

In a sauce pan, heat chicken broth to a boil then bring to a simmer. Poach sausages for 2 minutes and let cool.

In a sauté pan, heat up drizzle of olive oil. Sauté onion and fennel until lightly brown. 1 minute. Add garlic and cook for 30 seconds. Add rice and sauté until translucent, about 1 minute. Deglaze with Sambuca and let reduce by half. Add ladle of broth and stir. As broth evaporates, add more broth by the ladle and stir constantly.

Meanwhile, coat red peppers in oil and char the skin on open flame (BBQ, burner or with a kitchen torch) and place in a bowl and cover. Let steam through for ten minutes. Open and let cool. Once cooled, shed skin, remove seeds and innards and chop up the flesh. In a frying pan, sauté peppers, green onion, and clove of garlic. Add a ladle of broth. Bring to boil and purée.

For the sauage, cut lengthwise, then in half moons and a bias. In a frying pan, heat drizzle of oil. Add sausage and shrimp with the marinate. Cook for two minutes.

As risotto finishes cooking (all your broth should be used up) add butter and cheese and stir. Add seasonings.

In a bowl, pour risotto, ladle pepper purée overtop and garnish with sausage and shrimp.

Serves 4 - 6.

A Humble Chef's tip: check the doneness of the rice before adding the cheese and butter.

Variation: Omit the fennel and through some other onion related veg, like leek or something. Not everybody likes the black licorice flavour fennel has. If you don't like Ouzo, go with Vodka.