The August heat wave has arrived and so has the height of my work season. Luncheons and dinners every day this week equals long shifts and an empty kitchen at home for me. This week I have let Chef Dad take the floor. So I’ll just get back to work while you sit back and take in another Chef Dad flashback story. – Kayleigh
Hi there, it’s Chef Dad, filling in this week for Chef Kay. She kind of mentioned that perhaps this would be a good week for me to fill in, hint, hint. It’s what dads do.
So, what to write about? Well, I generally do a memory piece when I fill in, and I assure you I will follow the pattern. It’s the height of summer, we are in some kind of heat wave, and everyone is tired. So it’s time for a summer story.
Back in the day, I was studying over in Bologna, Italy — “studying” here is a euphemism for eating and drinking my way through northern Italy. My year abroad was almost over. It was late June, and my plane ticket home was still a couple of weeks off. It was hot. The city was in the midst of a heat wave and I was almost out of money. I still had my bus pass, and some spare lira, but not much for food. Luckily, I had friends. A couple of other American students had an apartment on the other side of town, and I was always welcome for lunch. And I took advantage. This was Bologna, of course — no one ever starved here.
Typically, lunch was the big meal of the day, So all I needed to worry about was breakfast, generally an espresso and a croissant or pastry. I would then head for my friend’s apartment for lunch. We would typically make a pasta meal, usually with fresh pasta and whatever was fresh from the market that day. My favorite was tagliatelle with peas and ham in a cream sauce. We ate so much of it that you would think I would never want to see it again, but I still love it.
It’s a little hard to duplicate because the ingredients in Bologna, well, let’s just say they were pretty good. The pasta was egg pasta made that morning down the block in the pasta shop by someone’s grandma, the cheese was Parmigiano-Reggiano, D.O.P., way before we could get it here, the ham was prosciutto di Parma, D.O.P., way before we could get it here legally, and the cream and peas were all local ingredients. Now, let me explain this D.O.P. stuff. D.O.P – Denominazione di Origine Protetta, or in English, Protected Origin of Designation. This means that only cheese or Prosciutto coming from a certain area in Italy can carry the DOP designation, and with that it means you are getting the best. Your meal couldn’t help but be great!
On our recent tour of Italy, the chef and I visited these areas, for some exclusive inside looks at the making of the products.
Here’s my version of the dish.
Tagliatelle with Peas and Ham a Cream Sauce
Serves 4 to 6
3-4 qts water
1 cup heavy cream
¼ tsp salt
¼ cup Prosciutto, (diced as best you can)
2 garlic cloves, sliced thinly
½ cup fresh peas (you can substitute frozen)
16 ozs of fresh tagliatelle, or dried fettuccine, or any kind of flat noodle, not too wide.
⅓ cup grated Parmigiano Reggiano cheese
Boil the water, salted to taste.
In a large saute pan, cook the cream, ham, salt and garlic over medium heat until the cream comes to a boil. Keep stirring, don’t let it stick to the bottom of the pan. Lower the heat and let the sauce simmer until the sauce coats the back of a spoon.
Add the peas and cook for a couple of minutes. While cooking the sauce, time the pasta to be done when the sauce is done, just a few minutes for fresh pasta, 7-8 minutes for dried pasta.
When the pasta is done, drain well and return to the hot pot, pour the sauce over the pasta, add ½ the Parmigiano, and mix well. Serve in warm pasta bowls, with a dusting of Parmigiano on top.
Some fresh bread, a good Lambrusco wine, and you’ll be transported with me back to 1978 Bologna…
“Chef Dad” Len Van Vliet is the father of Kayleigh Van Vliet Baig. He lives in Riverhead.
