Fuck it, dog, life's a risk!
2013/01/19
2013/01/03
Tortellini alla panna
I love Tortellini. I think there is no other dish that I have prepared more often in my life than Tortellini alla panna. It is my favourite dish of all time. If you have ever tasted fresh homemade Tortellini you will never want to buy the finished product again. On the other hand if you make everything from scratch it involves a lot of work!
Filling:
200 gr Parmesan cheese (good quality)
150 gr Mortadella (you can take the SA local, does not have to be the imported stuff)
150 gr Pancetta or Parma ham (I prefer Pancetta! Make sure that you fry the pancetta for a couple of minutes in a pan)
Salt, Pepper, Nutmeg
1 egg
Put everything in a food processor. Filling complete!
Pasta Dough:
3 eggs
200 gr Semolina
100 gr Cake Flour
2 Tbsp Olive oil
Some salt
Knead the dough and use more flour if you need until it does not stick. Use pasta machine to get the dough really, really thin. Use a glass or something similar to cut out round discs of dough. Put some of the filling (small teaspoon max) on the disc, wet the edges with some water and fold the disc to a halfmoon. Press edges until they stick. Fold the halfmoon to a Tortellini. Sprinkle some flour on the Tortellini and keep in the fridge until you are ready to cook them.
Cook the Tortellini in a big pot for about 5 minutes (should be ready once they come to the surface of the water) and toss them into the pan with the sauce.
Sauce:
Some slices of pancetta (or other bacon)
200 gr of heavy cream
100 gr parmesan
Salt, pepper, olive oil
Fry pancetta with some olive oil until crispy. Take out of pan. Pour heavy cream into pan. In goes the parmesan cheese and the Tortellini. Season with Salt, Pepper. Serve with the crisp bacon on top. Done!
Filling:
200 gr Parmesan cheese (good quality)
150 gr Mortadella (you can take the SA local, does not have to be the imported stuff)
150 gr Pancetta or Parma ham (I prefer Pancetta! Make sure that you fry the pancetta for a couple of minutes in a pan)
Salt, Pepper, Nutmeg
1 egg
Put everything in a food processor. Filling complete!
Pasta Dough:
3 eggs
200 gr Semolina
100 gr Cake Flour
2 Tbsp Olive oil
Some salt
Knead the dough and use more flour if you need until it does not stick. Use pasta machine to get the dough really, really thin. Use a glass or something similar to cut out round discs of dough. Put some of the filling (small teaspoon max) on the disc, wet the edges with some water and fold the disc to a halfmoon. Press edges until they stick. Fold the halfmoon to a Tortellini. Sprinkle some flour on the Tortellini and keep in the fridge until you are ready to cook them.
Cook the Tortellini in a big pot for about 5 minutes (should be ready once they come to the surface of the water) and toss them into the pan with the sauce.
Sauce:
Some slices of pancetta (or other bacon)
200 gr of heavy cream
100 gr parmesan
Salt, pepper, olive oil
Fry pancetta with some olive oil until crispy. Take out of pan. Pour heavy cream into pan. In goes the parmesan cheese and the Tortellini. Season with Salt, Pepper. Serve with the crisp bacon on top. Done!
2013/01/02
Bicycle Tour in Alexandra
The lady and I have been on a bicycle tour in Alexandra last weekend. It was at the same time a fascinating and sobering experience. Check out some of our pictures below:
We found this tour in the highly recommendable book about Joburg called Joburg-Places 2.0 by Gerald Garner. We booked the tour (2hrs) for R300 via email and were picked up at the Marlboro Gautrain Station. This parking lot is quite expensive (R85) so next time we might ask them to pick us up somewhere else.
Jeffrey, our tour guide was born in Alex and started this successful business on his own three years ago. He currently has five employees. Jeff shared a lot of his experiences with us. The funny stuff (like how to greet someone properly) and the rest as well. He gave us a quick overview of the history of Alexandra, we stopped at Mandelas house and the heritage centre but we were interested in the day to day living as well. He tried to answer every question and invited us to his and his mothers home to see how they live.
Before the tour I was a bit excited because of the crime and all the stories that we had heard about Alex but after a while that went away. Everyone we met was very friendly and even though a lot of people stared at us, most of them smiled and waved. We had a beer at one of the informal pubs after the tour and even though I would not want to go to Alex without a guide or at night, we actually felt quite safe the whole time.
Overall it was an experience for us that we will probably never forget. Here are the links to Jeffs webpage and his facebook profile.
http://www.alexandratours.co.za/
http://www.facebook.com/AlexandraBicycleTour
We found this tour in the highly recommendable book about Joburg called Joburg-Places 2.0 by Gerald Garner. We booked the tour (2hrs) for R300 via email and were picked up at the Marlboro Gautrain Station. This parking lot is quite expensive (R85) so next time we might ask them to pick us up somewhere else.
Jeffrey, our tour guide was born in Alex and started this successful business on his own three years ago. He currently has five employees. Jeff shared a lot of his experiences with us. The funny stuff (like how to greet someone properly) and the rest as well. He gave us a quick overview of the history of Alexandra, we stopped at Mandelas house and the heritage centre but we were interested in the day to day living as well. He tried to answer every question and invited us to his and his mothers home to see how they live.
Before the tour I was a bit excited because of the crime and all the stories that we had heard about Alex but after a while that went away. Everyone we met was very friendly and even though a lot of people stared at us, most of them smiled and waved. We had a beer at one of the informal pubs after the tour and even though I would not want to go to Alex without a guide or at night, we actually felt quite safe the whole time.
Overall it was an experience for us that we will probably never forget. Here are the links to Jeffs webpage and his facebook profile.
http://www.alexandratours.co.za/
http://www.facebook.com/AlexandraBicycleTour
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