La béchamel is one of the best sauce ever. It’s made with a roux of butter and flour cooked in milk and it’s one of the staples of the French Cuisine. You’ll taste it on the Croque Monsieur, layered with meat sauce in Lasagne, in the oven baked pasta (pasta pasticciata), on baked crepes and ever as and add-on to gratin and make veggies tastier. Notes for a perfect béchamel: You … Continue reading Cooking bases: La sauce béchamel
Gnocchi are perfect little ridged plump dumplings made with potatoes, flour (and eggs). And virtually anything you would like to add – be it beets for purplish/pinkish gnocchi, vitelottes for purple gnocchi, squid ink for black gnocchi, yams, pumpkin or saffron for a dark yellow/orangey tone and spinach and greens for green gnocchi. Very simple to prepare but, still, gnocchi have their downfalls, like water, the ratio potatoes/flour, kneading and the … Continue reading COOKING BASES: How to make PERFECT gnocchi
Ragù or Ragù alla Bolognese is a hearty, delicious, glorious meat-based sauce. Originated in Emilia Romagna, the paradise of fresh pasta, this sauce is served best with eggy pappardelle or pillowy potato gnocchi. Great to have a container in the freezer to whip up a batch of Lasagna or Messy Baked Pasta for hungry friends coming over. Every step of the preparation of Ragù is designed … Continue reading Cooking bases: The Glorious Italian Ragù
Sticky post
This was the big thing for me. Being able to make fresh pasta, especially stuffed pasta was the big deal. I kept my pasta machine stored for a while, and then one day I decided to try. It’s surprisingly easy! If you have the machine and its adorable add-ons, any long shape such as tagliatelle, tagliolini, pappardelle, and lasagne is just a piece of cake. Otherwise, … Continue reading COOKING BASES: How to make fresh pasta from scratch :)
There are at least 100 different ways to prepare crêpes. Thick or thin, sweet or salty, soft or crunchy, they’re always a pampering creation. Following this recipe, you will get about 15 of these French style pancakes. Three crêpes each for 2 people fit a 9x7in roasting pan. And you may use the others as dessert (Nutella or Dulce de Leche are the best fillings!) or … Continue reading Cooking bases: Je vous salue, ma Crêpe
Pasta & Co. 