Comfort Food

Now, I know we are here to eat healthy and we are working hard to drop a dress size or 6 and I’m all for that…

But sometimes, comfort food is a necessity.

Bad days, rainy days, suddenly cold days (Like we’re having. a week or 2 in the upper 70’s and low 80’s and BAM! 62! ONE DAY OF IT!) menopause…that time of the month – why is it the things that make us bat shit crazy starts with the word – MEN (menopause, menstruate, mental illness… but I digress)

Can’t live with them, can’t pull their heads off.

There are days, I come home and Spawn looks at me and says – I know, Mom. Just go sit down with your kindle… I’ll cook.

And he does MOST of the cooking.

Either way, this is my FAVORITE comfort food dish. Spawn has done some finagling so it’s not near so fattening and it can be done so…

Tagliatelle

INGREDIENTS:

– 1 pkg. of bacon or pancetta (we like bacon and Spawn gets the Center Cut, so it has less fat)

– 1 pkg. of tagliatelle noodles (or fettuccine if tagliatelle is unavailable) (we also use whole wheat – it cooks MUCH faster and doesn’t do the carb thing to this diabetic)

– Rosemary

– Thyme

– 1 or 2 garlic cloves

– Olive oil

– 1 tbsp. butter

– 1 pkg. shaved Parmesan cheese (Find light if you can. Most times, we can’t.)

– 1 pkg. parsnips

– Black pepper to taste

Begin by peeling and discarding the skin of the parsnips. When parsnips are properly peeled, use peeler to peel off thin strips of the vegetable until you get down to the root. Turn 90 degrees and continue peeling until you reach the root on both sides.

In a pot, fill with water for the pasta. When it comes to a boil, add some salt and oil (salt to flavor the noodles, oil to prevent foam-overs). Cook the noodles according to package directions. Let the noodles cook while you’re doing the bacon. (Actually, if you do whole wheat, wait until the last step. It’s done in like 5 minutes)

Put enough olive oil in a frying pan until the bottom is lightly covered and turn the burner to medium heat. As it’s warming up, cut your bacon into thin strips and fry as you would. We cut the strips into 1/4ths. Add some rosemary and/or thyme to the bacon as it’s frying. When the bacon is halfway cooked to your preference, thinly slice one or two cloves of garlic and add to the bacon.

When the noodles are cooked thoroughly, add the parsnips to the bacon and turn off the heat. Stir generously. Then use tongs to carry the pasta to the bacon mixture and combine, save the pasta water!

When noodles and bacon are mixed, add one tablespoon of butter and mix, with some black pepper to taste. Then, carefully add the shaved Parmesan cheese to the pan and stir as you go. If you saved the pasta water, use a ladle or a spoon to bring some of it to the pasta, this helps loosen it up and makes everything blend together beautifully. Serve.

This recipe is courtesy of Jamie Oliver from the third season of The Naked Chef. The recipe is the first one aired in this episode:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=35s02JFdRrU

So, Sir Raymond, what wine would you suggest for this dish???