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Authentic Amatriciana

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Bucatini all'amatriciana (pasta with guanciale, tomato sauce and pecorino romano)

Most people rave about the carbonara, which is an Italian treasure, no doubt about it.

I feel that the Amatriciana is the unloved brother though. I don’t get why, because (i) we all love a good tomato sauce, and (ii) guanciale rules. Maybe it’s because you couldn’t mess up with it using bacon instead, as it would have absolutely zero interest, so it didn’t become popular.

With the guanciale though (cured pork cheek, a highly fatty part), the classic tomato sauce has an added depth and umami flavour that is unmatched. Add a healthy portion of grated Pecorino, some pasta water, and there you have it ! The 30-mn dish that will make you and your friends go wild for seconds.

Authentic Amatriciana Ingredients – Advice & key points

I usually go to Eataly to get the produce I need. If you don’t have one near your location, you can find fresh produce like guanciale and pecorino at your local Italian deli, maybe even your pasta. For pasta, if not available there, you should be able to order it online quite easily.

  • Pasta : The best choice for this recipe would be bucatini, which is what I used. These thicker tubular pasta are holed in the middle ; it’s what you’ll be served in Rome when you ask for pasta all’amatriciana. However, it can be tricky to find, especially is a bronze drawn version. Don’t worry and just pick spaghetti instead. The Italians also use mezze penne rigate, which are short ridged pasta ; you can use it, too (but I find it less satisfying).

What you must not compromise on is using Bronze Drawn pasta. Why so ? Because when processed this way, the pasta will present small irregularities that will enable the sauce to cling to it.

  • Guanciale : You can buy it in blocks at your deli or have it pre-sliced. I usually cut it in really thin matchsticks, so that they crisp up in the pan, about 1cm x 4cm.

I’d really advise against replacing Guanciale with Pancetta, or worse, bacon or lard, as it simply yields a different flavour and fat content.

  • Cheese(s) : The cheese of choice is Pecorino Romano here.
  • Tomato purée : I advise you to use tomato purée here, which cooks quickly but is not as thin as Passata ; some bits of tomato remain, which I like better. If you want to use diced canned tomatoes or whole canned tomatoes, that’s perfect, but be sure to smash it a bit with your hands, and to cook the sauce longer (at least 20 minutes instead of 10-15).

Authentic Amatriciana Recipe – What to pay attention to

  • Pasta :
    • Instead of 10g of salt/liter, I recommend 7g here, with the salt from the guanciale and the cheese.
    • We’ll cook the pasta half of the packet cooking time in water, then in the pan with the guanciale. It is important that you taste several times starting 2 minutes before the theoretical end time, so that you get perfect al dente pasta.
  • Guanciale :
    • You want to crisp it up, but still let the fat melt. Therefore, cook on medium heat. The process should last around 6 to 7 minutes.
  • Pecorino :
    • It is very important to thinly grate your Pecorino to that it melts properly. Look at my carbonara picture ; this is the thickest you can get. You can use a microplane, but if you have a kitchen robot with a really thin setting, it will also work just fine and save you the trouble.
    • Do not use pre-grated cheese ! Additives are added to these cheeses so that they don’t clump together, which will prevent it from integrating properly in your sauce.
  • Plating : I highly recommend heating your plates in the oven for 10 minutes at 80°C before plating. This will prevent the sauce from getting cold too quickly and become unappealingly “set”.

Now you’re fully ready to cook a magnificent pasta dish. Off to your kitchen !

If you’re interested in more authentic italian recipes, you can also check my Ragu alla Bolognese recipe.

Saint-Pierre (John Dory) in Galanga dashi

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Saint-Pierre in galanga dashi

This is a dish that’s heavily inspired from an appetizer I found in a French magazine (Elle magazine), I must admit. But it made me imagine a full main that I wanted to cook right away.

Thaï cooking, with its procession of fresh, peppery, lemony herbs and roots, can bring life to any broth. When you pick a broth that already has lots of depth -hello, Dashi friend-, you’re in for a beautiful ride.

See for yourself the colours and the beautiful simplicity of this dish : thinly sliced fish, turnip petals ; a clear, flavourful broth ; and a variety of zingy herbs. Lots of flavour, but all very delicate.

Add a bit of rice and steamed sweet potatoes -that you can simultaneously cook in your rice cooker, or in a pot ; you have yourself a truly satisfying meal, that also happens to be healthy. What’s not to love ?

Saint-Pierre (John Dory) in Galanga dashi – Recipe

Ingredients – Advice & where to find them

  • I recommend you to go to a well-stocked Asian store, in order to find kombu and katsuoboshi, and more particularly galanga, which can sometimes be tricky to find ! I was able to find some frozen, pre-sliced one. You can also get it fresh from some Asian stores, too (it looks like ginger, but is more delicate and lemony in taste).
    • If you’re in Paris :
      • you can go to Tang Frères in the 13th (they have other stores in Paris but be careful, some are small, this one is large) or Paris Store in the 10th ;
      • ever since I moved to the 18th, I’ve been going to XP 16 or Chen Market, but those shops are slightly smaller, especially XP16, and you might not find everything you need. 
    • If you’re in France :
    • For my foreign friends : I bet you can easily find some Asian shops around you or online, but if you can’t, message me with your location and I will try to find it for you !
  • On another note, feel free to replace the Saint-Pierre (which is really quite expensive : I personnally paid around 40€ for 300 grams of fillet, which translates to 1kg of fish) with sea bass (still costly but far less, at least where I live), or even cod ; really, any white-fleshed fish will do. Please choose a fresh one though, since the fish is only cooked through the hot dashi.
  • If you have doubts regardings which herbs to use, I’d say my absolute favourite here is Thaï basil, whose flavour pairs so well with the lemony galanga. Thaï basil and cilantro would suffice here for me, the rest is optional. But feel free to experiment with other herbs !
  • The key here to only spend 40 minutes cooking is to prep other things during the resting or cooking times. For example, make sure to launch your rice and sweet potatoes, if using, before you start your dashi. Also, use the 15 minutes dashi resting time to cut your fish fillets in thin slices.

Off to your kitchen now !

30mn French-Thaï fusion beef tartare

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French-Thaï Beef tartare

My companion’s favorite dish is steak tartare. Almost every time we go to a French Brasserie, he picks this dish.

Between mine and his, I’ve tried a great many deal of tartares along the way, and have had good suprises with funky tartares. I remember a beef and avocado tartare, which seems odd but was really great, and a garlic beef tartare, for beef lovers, with a pleasant hint of garlic, some salt and olive oil, and virtually nothing else.

While I do like the classic French version, I liked unorthodox tartares better. Since I’m in love with cilantro and all things fresh and crunchy, I went down this pairing road, and it did not take long for me to picture my idea of a perfect tartare ; lots of herbs and shallots, an acidity and spice kick, and a bit of crunch with fried onions. That’s it ! The French-Thaï tartare was born.

30mn French-Thaï fusion beef tartare – Recipe

Ingredients – Advice & key points

  • Pay attention to your beef quality ! Ask your butcher for the best option, as it depends on the amount you want and the parts they have available. For example, here I used “surprise de boeuf” (a small part on top of the shoulder) because I didn’t need much, and it was perfectly tender and tasty for a reasonable price. As a rule of thumb, know that you can rely on tenderloin (expensive but tender and minimal connective tissue) and sirloin (cheaper option that is perfectly fine).
  • Everytime I asked for meat to be eaten raw, the butcher went to the backroom to fetch the freshest bits, which were visually redder than the meat in the window. If your butcher doesn’t, feel free to ask him to !
  • I like to dice my tartare meat myself, which allows you to do this at the very last minute, and with the thickness you want -I personnally want small dices, but not ground meat. Don’t worry, it’s not complicated at all, and only takes a few minutes. Besides, I find freshly cut meat to taste much better than pre-diced or ground meat.
  • If you ask your butcher for ground beef, do know that you should eat it within 12 hours. If you grind or dice it yourself, it can be kept 24 hours.

30mn French-Thaï fusion beef tartare – How to serve it

  • You can serve your tartare with fries or sweet potato fries, which will bring some nice texture, or rice for a more Thaï feel !
  • Don’t make your tartare in advance, because the lime might cook the beef slightly ; I recommend you to leave it in the fridge 30 minutes tops, no more.

Vegan Spring Rolls

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Vegan spring rolls with peanut butter sauce

I love it when I make dishes that are accidentally vegan.

I’m not saying that we should not be consciously trying to reduce our meat consumption, of course. In some rare instances though, when it just so happens that you left out the meat without trying, because taste-wise, it was not needed, those meals are often the best vegetarian/vegan ones.

Here, the magic peanut sauce is all you need to go from a bunch of veggies and rice noodles to a delicate, herbal and crunchy roll that is full of flavour. The sauce balance is perfect, with some honey and sriracha for the sugar and slight kick, some rice vinegar to offset the fat from the peanut butter, and the freshness and flavour from the garlic and ginger. The herbs are very important here, too, as they turn out to be a major contribution to the delicate and fresh flavour profile.

This Spring Rolls version is not an authentic one, as I tried to make my own, slightly simplified recipe.

Vegan Spring Rolls – Recipe

Ingredients – Where to find them

Some ingredients for this dish are basic Asian pantry items (soy sauce, rice vinegar, sriracha). You might have a tad more trouble finding rice vermicelli and rice paper, but you should be able to find those in traditional grocery stores, without needing to visit an Asian one.

Ingredients – Advice & key points

  • I must say it takes a bit of time to cut your veggies in matchsticks, but if you do it the way I showed in my video (especially for carrots : first slice quite diagonally, then cut in matchsticks), it should be quicker and easier !
  • I managed to find large rice papers, which I like better as you make less rolls (team Lazy forever !), but smaller ones, around the size of a plate, work perfectly well.
  • Be careful not to overfill your roll (check out my video), as it won’t close properly and might rip off !
  • Feel free to add other veggies, or replace some, depending on the seasons ! The ones I find best suited for a spring roll are, in particular :
    • raw red cabbage when in winter,
    • red bell pepper when in summer,
    • avocado if you feel like it (I find that it’s not needed with the rich peanut sauce, but see for yourself !)

Got everything you need ? Let’s roll !

20mn Spaghetti Aglio, Olio e Peperoncino

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I remember the first time I ate this dish. Towards the end of our trip to Rome with my companion, we started to realize we had enjoyed the city a bit too much ; the cash was on the low-low !

We sat for what would be our last meal in the city, and I ordered the cheapest item on the menu of a rather nice restaurant ; pasta aglio, olio e peperoncino, which I remember to be less than 10€. I didn’t expect much from it though, as I had already, and I guess like many of us garlic lovers, drunkenly eaten pasta heated in a bit of olive oil with some garlic, and it wasn’t a dish to be remembered.

Once again, Italy proved me wrong. The flavours ! The garlic, intense but not overpowering, was paired with an amazing olive oil : IT’S A MATCH ! It didn’t need anything else, really, and while I appreciate the heat from the peperoncino and the freshness from the parsley, they remain optional in my view.

Years later, I tried to understand why the garlic flavour was so intense yet delicate, so I did my research. It turns out your must not heat garlic like you usually do, on medium-high heat for a few instants. On the contrary, the garlic should infuse in the oil. The lower the temperature, the better. That’s the secret of this recipe.

The time spent to pleasure ratio for this recipe is crazy. When you’re low on cash or short on time, just pick up some garlic and peperoncino, buy decent pasta, and cook this gem.

20mn Spaghetti Aglio, Olio e Peperoncino – Recipe

Ingredients – Advice & key points

  • Pasta :
    • I believe spaghetti is a great choice here, or any long-shaped pasta kind, as the light sauce will cling to it.
    • What you must not compromise on is using Bronze Drawn pasta. Why so ? Because when processed this way, the pasta will present small irregularities that will enable the oil-based sauce to cling to it.
  • Olive oil : As this ingredient is possibly the most important in this recipe, I strongly recommend using a good quality olive oil.

Cooking your pasta – Pieces of advice

  • Pasta :
    • Please salt your pasta water appropriately ! 10g of salt/liter is usually recommended.
    • As for most pasta recipe, we’ll finish cooking the pasta in the pan with the sauce (here, only for the last minute or two).
    • It is important that you start tasting 2 minutes before the package theoretical time, so that you get perfect al dente pasta.
  • Garlic sauce : The secret of this recipe is to start infusing your garlic in a cold pan, that you will put on your lowest temp setting. It needs to cook piano, piano, for the oil to become remarkably delicate, with the most perfect garlicky taste.

Now come and cook !

Japanese Kare Raisu with Chicken (Chicken Curry)

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Japanese Kare Raisu, Thick Curry rice with Chicken

I can’t believe this is my first curry recipe. I love curries ! From the Indian to the Carribean, from the Japanese to the Thaï ones, each country has its own proud and fiery spice blend -and I love them all.

I never had Japanese Kare Raisu in Japan, but I did have several in Korea, sometimes in Japanese restaurants, sometimes in Korean ones with a Korean-Japanese adaptation. You could tell it was a popular dish here, just like Jjajangmyeon, for example, of Mapo Tofu, which are beloved Korean-Chinese dishes.

Contrary to what one might think, this curry is very fragrant. You might be worried by the absence of cream or tomatoes ; fear not, this thick curry won’t let your down ! The intense orangey-brown colour reflects the intensity and depth of flavour of this curry. Without the rice to dilute the taste, it’d be too strong and salty. With plain rice though, it’s just perfect.

You can go the easy way, like I did, using boxed curry blocks, which is a popular option in Japan ; you could also make your own Roux (a mix of spices and butter) yourself, which I’ll try in the future.

Japanese Kare Raisu with Chicken – Recipe

Ingredients – Advice & key points

  • Try to buy quality, deboned and skinned chicken thighs. It is important to use chicken thighs, which are juicy and tender ; the skin crisps up and caramelizes beautifully, and protects the meat from the high heat, allowing it to remain juicy. Simply ask your butcher to debone and skin it for you.
    • You could use chicken breasts if you don’t mind your meat being drier, or if you watch out for your fat intake.
    • Also, the quality focus makes a world of difference. I used free-range chicken thighs, and with my partner, we both said that the quality difference with restaurants items was huge.
  • You’ll find boxed curries in Asian stores, or online (Amazon in a handy option here). I used S&B Golden Curry, the Hot version, which was great, but there are many popular brands that I’d recommend, too, like Vermont Curry or Java Curry.
    • If you’re in Paris :
      • you can go to Tang Frères in the 13th (they have other stores in Paris but be careful, some are small, this one is large) or Paris Store in the 10th ;
      • ever since I moved to the 18th, I’ve been going to XP 16 or Chen Market, but those shops are slightly smaller, especially XP16, and you might not find everything you need. 
    • If you’re in France :
    • For my foreign friends : I bet you can easily find some Asian shops around you or online, but if you can’t, message me with your location and I will try to find it for you !
  • I used 2 Japanese cutting techniques in this recipe :
    • I cut my carrot Rangiri-style. You rotate the ingredients as you cut (see video), in order to create a more open surface and reduce the cooking time ; it also gives a quite pretty shape !
    • I cut my chicken Sogigiri-style. You try to cut as parallel to the cutting board as possible, so as to create here again a more open and flat surface, to shorten and homogenize the cooking time.

How to eat your Japanese Kare Raisu

This dish is normally served with rice and Fukujinzuke, which is mix of pickled vegetables. I simply used some pickled onions I had in my fridge here.

Since this recipe is not that short and keeps well in the fridge or the freezer, do not hesitate to make a large batch !

Let’s dig into it !

Stewed lentils and sausage (Italian-style)

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Sausage and lentils stew

We French people have a passion for lentils. From the simple saucisses-lentilles to the more elaborate Petit salé aux lentilles, we know what to make from those humble items ; a tasty and hearty stew that takes you away from Paris and right back to Auvergne or Lyon, with recipes that go far back, originating from the Gallic era.

This time though, I wanted to go for an Italian version of these stews, to check out a more tomato-ey style. It did not disappoint ! I’d say it is a lighter take on the French versions, but I found it just as comforting. Plus, this might be the only stew I know that takes less than an hour to make. You can do it on a weeknight, and have your house smelling like you spent the whole day in the kitchen.

Stewed lentils and sausage – Recipe

Ingredients – Advice & key points

For once, there’s not much to say about the ingredients, that are all easy to find !

  • Sausages : Try to find large sausages from the butcher’s. Ideally, they should be Italian sausages, but your local ones will work too.
  • Lentils : You want to go for the green or brown kind here. I used Puy Lentils, which I definitely recommend for any lentil dish as they hold their shape extremely well -they won’t turn to mush into your stew.

Cooking your stew

  • Make sure to brown your sausages in your Dutch oven (or regular pot), as it significantly increases the stew’s flavour.

Now come and cook !

Chinese Pork & Chive Dumplings

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Pork & chive dumplings with soy sauce

I need my weekly dose of dumplings. I have a passion for them, the Asian, the Italian, the French, or even the Polish ones alike. Careful, still talking about dumplings here !!

One of my all-time favourites are the classic Chinese steamed dumplings, in their most common Pork and Chive version. I simply adore their garlicky, sesamey flavour, with a freshness brought by the ginger and the scallions, but also all the richness of the fatty pork. I sometimes mix it with veal if I want to lessen the strong porky taste (but that’s not very authentic if you do !).

If you’re lazy like me, buy frozen wrappers, spend 30mn on your filling, and move on to the soothing part : the folding ! Make yourself comfortable : sit down, turn on your TV, your radio or your favourite podcast, because if you want to freeze lots of delicious dumplings (and I recommend you do so), it’s gonna take a while !

Bring a companion in if you can, or two, and start wrapping. I don’t find it annoying, rather therapeutic.

Chinese Pork & Chive Dumplings – Recipe

Ingredients – Advice & key points

For some ingredients in this dish (like the Chinese cooking wine or Chinese vinegar, msg, chives), you might need to visit an Asian store :

  • If you’re in Paris :
    • your could go to the K-mart near Opera (there are several others K-marts, check on Google) ;
    • you can also go to Tang Frères in the 13th (they have other stores in Paris but be careful, some are small, this one is large) or Paris Store in the 10th ;
    • ever since I moved to the 18th, I’ve been going to XP 16 or Chen Market, but those shops are slightly smaller, especially XP16, and you might not find everything you need. 
  • If you’re in France :
    • Paris Store has several shops across the country ;
    • you can also order online ! There are several online Asian websites you can order from.
    • For my foreign friends : I bet you can easily find some Asian shops around you or online, but if you can’t, message me with your location and I will try to find it for you !

Got everything you need ? Let’s fill your freezer with dumplings !

PS : This recipe will provide you around 100 dumplings, which is good for 8 to 10 servings depending on your appetite ! Don’t forget to buy enough dumpling wrappers (in my usual shops they average on 25 dumpling wrappers per package only).

Basic Shortcrust Pastry

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I’m not a baker.

I like the freedom there can be in cooking. No need to weight everything to perfection, you can eyeball and feel the measurements as you cook.

On the contrary, I always found dough-making to be very precise and intimidating. That led me to find ways around it, belittle its importance and buy ready-made stuff.

I won’t anymore. What a difference it can make ! I was mind-blown. There is simply no comparison between shortcrust pastry that you buy from the store and the one you bake yourself. Texturewise and flavourwise, they are worlds apart. The strong buttery flavour you get from the homemade stuff is addictive ; but the greater difference is from the slightly crumbly texture, with some bite and some crunch, that I have absolutely never found in ready-made dough.

Just try to make your shortcrust pastry yourself, next time. I promise, even if you struggle -and I did- it won’t take you more than a half hour. Without issues, 15-20 minutes will do.

This dough is perfect to make quiches ; I recommend my Quiche Lorraine with Asparagus, for example.

Basic Shortcrust Pastry – Recipe

Ingredients – Advice & key points

  • Butter:
    • Use room-temp butter, that you took out from the fridge 1h earlier.
    • Don’t try to make it warmer quickly in the microwave ! If the butter is softened, your dough may very well start to break.
  • Don’t mix everything together !
    • First, mix together the flour and butter, in between your hands. You must reach a sand-like texture.
    • Then, only, add your salt.
    • Form a small well, where you’ll put your water and egg yolk.
    • Then, quickly knead, roll in a tight ball and put into your fridge.
  • It is important to let it rest in the fridge at least 30 minutes (ideally 1 to 2 hours). It allows the dough to lose its elasticity, making it easier to work and roll out, and prevents it from shrinking.
  • Don’t freak out if the dough seems rock solid when out of the fridge ! Leave it at room temp 15 minutes or more until it softens again.
  • Small things to keep in wind :
    • Don’t knead too long ! You don’t want to warm the dough.
    • Don’t forget to put some flour on your work surface, as you knead or roll the dough ! Else the dough will stick and it’ll get messy.
    • Try to roll it down until it is nicely thin, about 3-4mm thick.

Cooking your Basic Shortcrust Pastry

  • You can precook this dough for 10 minutes at 180°C. Then, you can cook according to your recipe.
  • To fully cook it without filling it, bake it 30 minutes at 180°C.
  • When cooking it, don’t forget to :
    • Poke a few holes in the dough, and ;
    • Put a sheet of baking parchment with dry beans on top.
    • This will ensure your dough doesn’t swell up once in the oven !

Now come and cook !

Asparagus Quiche Lorraine

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Quiche Lorraine with Asparagus

Every workday of the week, when I go fetch my lunch at noon, I walk by a nice corner bakery -one of the best in the neighbourhood. There’s always a line, because the French love their sandwiches. Don’t get me wrong ; we enjoy a good sit-down meal when we can, but some busy days call for a quick lunch.

You can be sure that most people in this line will order one of two things : a jambon-beurre, or a slice of quiche. And the queen of all quiches is Quiche Lorraine.

Quiche Lorraine is a French favourite. It is quick and easy to eat on-the-go, and oh so flavourful : on a pie crust, you put a simple filling made of eggs, cream, milk, and lard. It is kind of a treat, but we tend not to refrain on carbs and lactose at lunch ! Many families also bake some Quiche Lorraines on lazy weeknights, using a premade dough. In this case, you almost always eat a slice with a side of lettuce.

I wanted to draft an authentic recipe for Quiche Lorraine, I really did ; but spring came by and I felt the urge to add some asparagus. And I’m not sorry in the least ! It paired wonderfully with the traditional Quiche Lorraine. The slight bitterness from the asparagus added a layer of complexity to the dish, as well as some freshness and bite.

And I can’t stress enough the difference that homemade Shortcrust Pastry makes. This buttery flavour, this crumbly texture ; try it, at least once, to know what you’ve been missing on.

Asparagus Quiche Lorraine – Recipe

Ingredients – Advice & key points

  • As this is a recipe with minimal ingredients, do try to get quality ones. Try to get some organic, free-range eggs, some whole milk (ideally unpasteurized), and some smoked lard from your butcher ; I did, and the end result was simply incredible compared to your usual bakery quiche.
  • I like to use liquid cream instead of heavy cream for a fluid texture. But do use a full-fat one (mine is 30 to 40%) !
  • I forgot to in my video recipe, but it is nice to add a sprinkle of nutmeg in your filling !
  • Don’t be afraid to season your filling well ; the recipe calls for two nice pinches of salt. Even if the lard is salty, and you’ve seasoned your asparagus, it will bring out much more flavour -and I do not like over-salty dishes.

Cooking & Serving your Asparagus Quiche Lorraine

  • I like to cook this Quiche around 45 minutes at 180°C. If you’re in a rush, you can cook it 30 minutes between 200 and 220°c, but I recommend the first option.
  • Serve a slice of this pie with some lettuce on the side (I like to make a quick vinaigrette, using a 1 to 3 balsamic vinegar to neutral oil ratio), and you’ll be French’d !