Back to my roots. That's right, back to Rachael Ray and her obsession with doing everything in under 30 minutes. Doing everything... under 30 minutes... poor Mr. Ray.
Anyway, there is an old Italian saying: La pasta è pasta; formaggio è il formaggio.
It's not an old saying, me and Google Translate made it up together. It-tuh means-uh, Pasta is pasta; cheese is cheese. Permit me to explain?
With ingredients like broccoli, cheese, and pasta, Rachael Ray encourages you to make "Mama's Broccoli with Pasta" or Romanesco Broccoli as it's Italianized on her website.
But her recipe calls for rigatoni, ricotta cheese, and chicken breast! And I only have spaghetti, grated parmesan, and chicken sausage!
spaghetti != rigatoni
parmesan != ricotta
sausage != breast (teehee)
Ma, signora, non preoccupatevi! La pasta è la pasta e il formaggio è il formaggio.
Ah, certo, certo, Google Translate. Sei sempre così intelligente.
Let's keep cooking, and pretend like everything is molto buona, ok?
Broccoli radioattivi! Radioactive broccoli!
No, it was still good. Whew!
The cheese stands alone.
Cook the pasta. Are you a pasta water-salter or non-salter? Salt it like the sea.
Garlic IN.
The secret is to give it enough thyme and add a couple pinches of nutmeg at the end! Oh, and also, simmer the chopped broccoli in a pan with a cup of water and a cover, for 5 minutes! After you drain the broccoli, it'll be soft and not raw/crunchy. And, remember to reserve a cup of pasta water before you drain the pasta, for the cheese sauce. Ultimately, you're just going to combine everything I've talked about.
It's so pretty and yummy! So the message is, any kind of pasta is pasta, any type of Italian cheese is pretty much interchangeable.
Ciao, bella! Umile mangia.
12/14/2010: Happy European travels, Ethan! from, this American kitchen.
