Take A Tasty Trip To Rome With 3 Delicious Italian Dishes | Saucy

Take A Tasty Trip To Rome With 3 Delicious Italian Dishes | Saucy

there’s nothing worse than like a chewy bit of pancetta in your carbonara it’s like such a smooth delicious sauce and then all of a sudden you’re like chewing gum but it’s meat yum meat gum coming soon [Music] whenever i travel to italy i make it a point to fly in and out of rome because the food there is just so good it’s also the home to some of my favorite markets and restaurants romans are artisans of taking just a few simple ingredients and combining them to make really impactful flavorful dishes today i’m making three of my favorite dishes inspired by the eternal city first i’m cooking up a creamy pasta carbonara then for a little greenery roasted asparagus but cache pepe style and for the main chicken is salt and boca in a buttery wine sauce now let’s head on over to rome [Music] rome is famous for its pasta dishes four in particular pasta allagricia pasta machiciana cacio e pepe and my personal favorite pasta carbonara what sets carbonara apart from the rest are that it’s made using eggs which turn into this velvety luscious super decadent sauce the first thing we need to do is dice up some pancetta so traditionally guanciale would be used here guanchala is cured pork cheek it’s super fatty and a little bit more gamey it’s just still sort of hard to find here so i am using pancetta instead it is different it’s not as gamey it is also cured but it comes from the pork belly it also doesn’t have the same seasonings that guan chalet does which tend to include herbs like sage rosemary in a pinch you also can use really high-end bacon but it is going to change the flavor profile because it’s smoked so i have my pancetta i purchased it like this they’re about quarter inch pieces you can buy diced pancetta in the store it loses its flavor when it’s diced but it is a lot more convenient if you can find this i would use this and i threw it in the freezer for about 10-15 minutes which will help the fat solidify and make it easier for me to cut this into slices and then dice so this is plenty of pancetta it’s about four ounces worth and i’m going to show you an easy trick to properly render fatty cured meat like this if you’ve ever tried to crisp pancetta but it was still super chewy it’s because you cooked it too fast and the fat didn’t have time to properly render so one way to ensure really nice tender properly rendered pancetta is to actually cover it barely cover i should say with just some cold tap water and what happens is as the water begins to boil it begins to melt the fat and will almost cook it will cook the pancetta through so that it gets nice and tender and then eventually the water will begin to evaporate leaving behind the rendered fat and will crisp it up so you’ll have nice tender interiors and crispy outside so i’m going to bring this to a boil we want this to evaporate fast but just keep an eye on it because once the water’s gone it’s going to start to saute and you want to make sure you don’t burn your pancetta you can see that the fat is really starting to render now and has kind of made its way around the sides of the pan and we’ll just let this keep going it’s like a roman mosaic art piece you can also tell that the pancetta has rendered because the fatty pieces are almost transparent at this point keep stirring it so that it gets nice and crispy all over [Music] all this liquid remaining that’s all the rendered fat that is not water anymore this rendered fat is the key to why my carbonara is so good it’s all flavor you want to get it really crispy really golden almost to the point where it’s borderline burnt smells heavenly at this point too [Music] this looks great i’m going to cut the heat grab a bowl and a slotted spoon and transfer the pancetta to a bowl this will stop the cooking process and last but not least i’m going to reserve a tablespoon worth of this rendered grease this rendered fat is going to get added into our sauce to add that pancetta salty flavor at the end so i have a large clearly large pot here of boiling water and we are going to generously season that once it comes back to a boil time to drop our spaghetti one pound do you want to cook this pretty much till it’s all dente meanwhile let’s work on the sauce so i need six egg yolks these are large eggs that have allowed to come to room temperature and that’s sort of important for this just because you’re going to be adding your hot pasta right into the eggs so the closer they are in temperature the less of a chance you’ll have of curdling you also want to use really good fresh eggs here since the only cooking of the egg is the pasta doing so the warmth the heat of the pasta and save the egg whites for a baking project lastly one whole egg right on in don’t neglect your pasta give it a stir as every now and then so i have my six egg yolks and one whole egg i’ll just give those a light beating and while i’m whisking i’m going to take my reserved pancetta renderings and just drizzle that in it’s pretty cool at this point you don’t want to add it while it’s super hot just whisk really well to combine sure we get all of that it’s all flavor up next some pecorino romano cheese which is a cheese that originates from the area lazio where rome sits most of it is now actually made in sardinia super delicious and salty and it’s one of my favorite cheeses in the world i’m adding three quarters of a cup so it’s a fairly generous amount of cheese and this cheese along with the pancetta and the renderings are going to really help season the sauce this cheese is one of the most pronounced flavors of this sauce so you really want to be using the real deal [Music] going to add about a quarter teaspoon of freshly ground pepper whisk that in to combine and that’s all there is to the sauce when the pasta hits the eggs it begins to slowly cook them and that’s what creates this creamy sauce there is no dairy no cream milk it’s all the egg yolks just slowly beginning to cook that creates that velvety sauce so if you go to a restaurant and it says cream it’s not a true carbonara i’m sure it’s still delicious i mean cream i’m just cooking the pasta until it’s al dente unlike most sauces that we finish in a pot i’m going to finish the dish right in this bowl so when it comes out the pasta needs to be perfectly cooked so the pasta is very close to being ready a nice perfect al dente and at this point the only important ingredient left is speed everything from this point on needs to happen really quickly to make sure that one we don’t curdle the eggs and two our sauce stays nice and luxurious and doesn’t set too much before we serve it so are you ready okay let’s do it grab as much of the spaghetti as possible into the bowl into the bowl and start to stir [Music] and you can see how creamy it’s starting to get already and at this point you’re looking for just a nice creamy sauce but you still want it to coat the pasta you can add a splash of the pasta water if you need it i don’t think i need it at this point the pancetta goes right on in oh my god this just looks so good at this point you can taste it for seasoning but if you seasoned your water well and there’s so much salt in the sauce you really shouldn’t need it let’s plate it up i’m gonna grab some lock my tongs set it in a ladle and twist to make a nest just keep twisting and then right onto a plate [Music] just a couple of last finishing touches some more pecorino cheese i’m gonna freshly grate some this time and just a little bit more black pepper look how pretty how simple that was to get on the dish and all that’s left is to taste it you have to serve this right away [Music] it is so perfectly seasoned it’s so simple you would swear that this has a million calories worth of cream in it [Music] and it doesn’t it’s just so delicious this is what i love about roman cuisine just a handful of ingredients making the most flavorful delicious dish so it’s so good truly fantastic ten out of ten two thumbs up six stars kachore pepe is normally associated with pasta but for this recipe i’m going to be taking those flavors and roasting some asparagus with the cheese and the pepper makes a perfect side for today’s meal so for this recipe i like to use a really thin stock asparagus called pencil asparagus it’s really easy to find in the summer it can be a little bit more difficult to find the rest of the year but you never know the only thing you’ll have to adjust is cooking times if you have the thicker stalks the first thing i’m going to do is trim off the woody bottoms of the stalk and discard [Music] and then onto a foiled lined sheet pen you don’t have to line it with foil i just like to do so because it helps with clean up a little later on and i’m lazy and just in a thin evenish layer just kind of lay your asparagus out onto the sheet pan and then in true roman style literally just a few ingredients starting with extra virgin olive oil i’m going to add three tablespoons and this is a great eyeball recipe i do give the measurements for this but feel free to eyeball it quarter teaspoon of salt quarter teaspoon of freshly ground black pepper and last but not least a packed quarter cup of freshly grated pecorino [Music] and it is a pretty generous amount when you pack it and freshly grate it it’s very fluffy then just give it a little toss with your hands to coat it with all of these delicious ingredients that is literally all there is to this dish all that’s left is to put it in a 400 degree oven and roast it until fork tender which will be about 16 18 minutes [Music] look how great this looks nice and tender and you can cook it to your preferred doneness some people like it to be a little bit crispier and have more of a snap i should say really love roasting vegetables it’s a great way to bring out their flavor and you could even do this recipe with broccoli or cauliflower would be really nice okay and just a couple of finishing touches some more cheese because you could never have enough cheese and roasted vegetables can really handle seasoning so it may look like a lot but it could use it and then just another couple of cracks of fresh freshly cracked black pepper right on top that’s it i think i need to take one of these and give it a taste [Music] it’s just such a simple dish but that combination of the salty cheese and the spicy black pepper it’s just amazing pairing that is what makes kachore pepe such a delicious dish so good [Music] is a quintessential roman dish however i am going to be americanizing it by using some chicken instead i actually prefer chicken it’s easier to find and it’s cheaper than veal but the flavors are still there and i promise this dish is so impressive looking that it’s great for entertaining but simple enough to serve on any weekday evening in front of me i have eight very thinly sliced chicken collets which i purchased just like this at my local supermarket it is very important that they’re thinly sliced but the first step is to season both sides of the chicken with salt i’m being fairly generous with my seasoning and now i’m going to one by one wrap the chicken in some prosciutto de parma so i have thinly sliced prosciutto i’m just gonna work one cutlet at a time so place the prosciutto over the chicken cutlet and cover as much as you can and press it on to kind of just glue it together then i flip it over and take any of the excess and just wrap it around the underside [Music] now working on the prosciutto side i’m going to take two sage leaves [Music] and i’m going to secure them over the top with a toothpick sage smells so delicious i just love that aroma so just thread the toothpick on through the chicken underneath and then i like to just go back and make sure that the leaf is nice and flat and that is our first cutlet you want to just repeat the process with all the remaining chicken cutlets [Music] halfway there [Music] and the last one the last thing we need to do before we actually cook the chicken is just dredge it in some flour [Music] make sure you get it fully coated and then gentle shake to remove any excess just work gently so that you don’t disrupt the sage leaves [Music] and the last one [Music] all right i’m going to give my hands a quick rinse and grab a couple of ingredients so we can finish our sultan bokeh [Music] my chicken is all dredged up all that’s left to do is to cook it so i’m starting with a high sided fairly large skillet i’m gonna put that over medium heat the heat is very important for this recipe we want to cook the chicken so that the exterior gets nice and crispy but doesn’t overcook but then the chicken also has the opportunity to cook through that’s why we’re using these thin cutlets i’m going to add about two tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil and just warm that up over the medium heat you want to cook the chicken in batches adding more oil is necessary until all of it is cooked you don’t want to overcrowd your pan so i’m just going to do two cutlets to start so you want to put the prosciutto and sage side down because we really want to get a nice crispy crust on that it’s going to take about two and a half to three minutes per side and i’m looking for the sides to get nice and caramelized and you’ll actually see the chicken beginning to turn more opaque as it cooks now you want to cook it on the other side for another two to three minutes until it’s fully cooked through the sage not only looks pretty it infuses this whole dish with a punch of delicious flavor transfer it right to a serving platter and then continue cooking your chicken you don’t want to smell the saltiness of the pursuit though it’s a very distinct aroma and the earthiness of the sage just a great combination [Music] okay halfway there it’s very important to not rush this cooking process if you do it on too high heat you’re going to crisp up your prosciutto but your chicken isn’t going to be able to fully cook through okay our last batch of cutlets already and i just keep pounding these on top so that they stay warm but we’re going to finish it with a pan sauce that’ll warm them right back up too isn’t that beautiful saltine boca is typically paired with a white wine hand sauce i do mine just a little bit differently but the flavors are all still there i’m going to take a half a cup of some good dry white wine i like to use a pinot grigio and we’re going to use that to deglaze the pan [Music] all those brown bits are from the prosciutto and from the chicken and it’s all flavor so just stir it to melt right into the wine and you want to reduce this for about a minute or two [Music] so fragrant now that that’s reduced i’m going to add a cup of chicken stock or broth [Music] and i’ll bring that to a simmer typically this pan sauce is very loose and runny super whiny i kind of tone it down with the sauce i also add a little bit of flour at this point because i like a sauce that sticks to the cutlets similar to you would find in like a marsala or francese so i reserved one tablespoon of the dredging flour and i’m going to add three tablespoons of unsalted butter to it i’m doing this for two reasons first the butter is going to add a delicious richness to this dish but i’m also going to create a paste with the flour if i were to add the flour in by itself it would clump and it’s nice and soft and i’m going to just gently kind of massage the flour into the butter you can use your hands for this too just a little messy this is something you see in french cooking called bermonier [Music] i’m just going to add this butter flour paste right to the skillet and as the butter melts the flour will begin to incorporate and slightly thicken the sauce so you can already see how the sauce has slightly thickened the last thing to do is to taste it for seasoning [Music] she’s salty now [Music] just like me all that’s left to do is pour this gorgeous sauce right over the chicken [Music] dinner is served i think i need to taste this now carefully remove the toothpicks they’re not edible or tasty you want a really good bite it is so good this is why the romans are just geniuses they take just a few ingredients the saltiness of the prosciutto the earthiness of the sage and combine it with the white wine and is all i can say so good so simple so pretty any guest would be super impressed by this dish [Music] hey thanks for watching our youtube channel find your favorite recipes celebrity interviews uplifting stories shop our favorite deals and so much more with the today app download it now

Anthony Contrino whips up three classic Italian dishes inspired by Roman cuisine. Up first, his silky pasta carbonara made with rich egg yolks and crispy pancetta. Then he puts a Roman spin on roasted asparagus with loads of pecorino romano cheese and spicy black pepper. Finally, earthy sage and salty prosciutto come together for a delicious chicken saltimbocca.

About Saucy: Chef Anthony Contrino whips up classic Italian-American fare while sharing his best professional kitchen hacks.

RECIPES
Pasta Carbonara
https://www.today.com/recipes/anthony-contrino-s-pasta-carbonara-recipe-t238819

Cacio e Pepe Roasted Asparagus
https://www.today.com/recipes/cacio-e-pepe-roasted-asparagus-recipe-t238832

Chicken Saltimbocca
https://www.today.com/recipes/anthony-contrino-s-chicken-saltimbocca-recipe-t238840

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