I spent some time at my sister's house this weekend while she's recovering from surgery. It's been like a retreat with my sisters and mom. We don't leave the house and the only activity is eating. We plan lunch while we are eating breakfast, and dinner while eating lunch. I have been getting
New York Times recipes in my email every day -- and decided to take some time to investigate options when we were discussing dinner yesterday, and we landed on Macaroni Milanese. Universally rated a thumbs-up -- I do think this could be a keeper for my family as well (as long as they are open to mushrooms). I doubled the recipe to feed all 5 of us.
Macaroni Milense
1 lb. gemelli pasta
4 T. tomato puree
1 lb. mushrooms
8 slices of ham (can also use prosciutto)
4T. Madiera (we used dry sherry -- I'm sure red wine would work too)
4T. unsalted butter
6 T. Gruyere cheese
6 T. parmesan
- Cook pasta in heavily salted water
- In a separate saute pan, cook mushrooms, tomato puree, ham and wine over medium high heat (until liquids cook down to a glaze)
- When pasta is done, reserve a cup of pasta water, and then drain the pasta
- Return pasta to the pot, mix with cheese, butter and enough pasta water to get the cheese to melt
- Add the mushroom/ham combination and mix well
