MACARONI AND BUTTER

Growing up in the 40s and 50s we never had Mac and Cheese.  Instead my mother would occasionally serve macaroni with butter, which was really the Italian-American version of Mac and Cheese.  Oh my God...it was delicious.  Spaghetti soaked with butter and Parmigiano cheese.  Only now, approaching my 75^th birthday, have I been able to overcome my shame and confess that as  a young boy I would put Ketchup on my mom’s macaroni and butter. I shudder now when I think about that.  Fortunately I out grew that taste.

I don’t know how my mother prepared that dish; I imagine it was basically butter and cheese.  I serve my own version now.  It is quite simple and like most of my pasta dishes, nothing is measured, and it’s never prepared exactly the same way twice.

While the pasta is cooking – usually elbow macaroni, but any of the small shaped pastas will do – I select and serving bowl and begin tossing in the following:

Mascarpone

Grated Parmigiano or Grana Padana

Butter

Just a small bit of blue cheese

A bit of heavy cream or milk is optional

Toss in the cooked pasta along with some pasta water, mix well and prepare yourself for some heavenly comfort food.

Tonight I added a little twist to send Patience off to NYC and Westminster in the morning.  Bite sized pieces of asparagus previously nuked in the microwave were added to the mix in the bowl, along with finely chopped fresh Dill.

LUNCH WITH DAD part 2

In today’s post I would like to focus on the food. We have all been well informed about the important role of fresh ingredients in any meal preparation, but like most people, this time of the year I must rely on the local supermarket. Mine is the Krogers on Park Avenue in Paducah and they have served me well.

Of the many new culinary experiences during my month in Italy the one I have incorporated in my own meal preparations at home is the simple use of olive oil and fresh lemon juice. I suspect that this in not a revelation to many cooks, but it was new to me, and I loved it. Here is one way I have used it.



The ingredients:

2 slices of your favorite bread…mine is Josh’s ciabatta at Kirchoffs…toasted.

Prosciutto…I like the packaged prosciutto at Krogers. It’s a good as any you can buy locally, although a far cry from the prosciutto my father used to make. But that’s another story.

Mozzarella…Galbini’s mozzarella fresca…sliced. An alternative is their mozzarella balls in olive oil and spices.

Fresh asparagus spears nuked for 2-3 minutes.

Not seen here but a great addition is a sliced fresh tomato. I have decided that winter supermarket tomatoes are better than NO tomatoes, and prefer the ones sold on the vines.

Finally good olive oil and fresh lemon juice, and if desired, a small dollop of basil pesto in the middle of the plate.

Preparation is simple. Toast the bread, drizzle with olive oil and top with the asparagus spears. Then add the fresh lemon juice over the asparagus and repeat the olive oil and lemon juice over the tomatoes.

Salt and pepper to your taste. Oops…almost forgot…grate some Parmesan cheese over the asparagus.

Mangia bene.