Brotherly Games: Carbonara Pasta & Granny's Risotto

 My friend Valentin is writing Brotherly Games, including descriptions of the fantastic French cuisine. As an added bonus, here is the first recipe you can make on your own in order to get more into the feel of the story. You can follow Valentin here

From Chapter 6, and made by Jean-Baptiste's father:

Carbonara Pasta

Ingredients for two; 

• 150 grams of Pork Belly.

• Half a lemon, or lemon juice. 

• 1 onion, or 1 shallot. 

• Fresh parsley. 

• 20 centiliters of sour cream. 

• 250 grams of Tagliatelle pasta (preferably not fresh one).

• 2 yolks.

1st step:

Slice the Pork Belly in thin rectangles (5cm long, 1,5cm wide). The pork belly should be sliced in a way that you have several layers of meat and fat. For an indication google the word "Lardons". 

Chop the onion or shallot, they should be sliced thinner and shorter than the pork belly. 

Slice the fresh parsley. 

Fry the pork belly along the onion/shallot without any added oil or butter. When the frying pan is hot

and the pork belly fat has started to melt add some lemon juice, roughly two spoons. 

2nd step. 

When most of the lemon juice is evaporated, whip the sour cream until it's fully liquid, and add it to the frying pan. Stir regularly. 

3rd step.

When the sour cream is boiling, turn off the fire. Add the sliced fresh parsley and stir. 

Boil your pasta as your sauce cools. When the pasta are ready, you can either add the sauce to the

whole pot or add it individually, to each plate. You can add some pepper. 

Finally, add the yolk to your plate and stir the pasta. 

You can use sliced cheese. Either Parmiggiano, or Grand Padamo, or Pecorino. 

Bon appetit! 

From Chapter 5, George asking Henri to make grandmother's risotto:

George's and Henri's Granny's Risotto

Ingredients for two:

• 200 grams of Risotto rice. 

• Cheap white wine.

• Extra virgin olive oil.

• 100 grams of peas. 

• 150 grams of Dried duck breast. 

• 5 button mushrooms. 

• 25cl of sour cream.

• Fresh chive. 

• 1 pear. 

• 0.1 grams of Saffron. 

• Honey. 

1st step. 

Peal the pear, take the seed out, slice the pear in little cubes of roughly 2cm and put it in a sauce pan.

Add water and honey and put it on low heat for 15 minutes. 

2nd step. 

Slice the Duck breast in very thin lamela. \

Slice the fresh chive. 

Slice the mushrooms. 

3rd step. 

Put two spoons of extra virgin olive oil into a frying pan and put the risotto rice in the pan when it's hot. 

Let the rice fry for 2-3 minutes without letting it burn. 

Add 30cl of white cooking wine. 

4th step. 

When most of the white wine has evaporated, add the mushrooms and the peas. Add 10cl of hot water

in the frying pan. (Never let the frying pan getting dry, add water if necessary) 

5th step. 

After 10 minutes of cooking the risotto, whip the sour cream until it's liquid and add it to the frying pan. 

Add the pears, the slices of duck breast, the fresh chive, and the saffron. 

Reduce the heat and let the cooking finish on low heat. 

6th step

When the rice has absorbed most of the sauce, add two spoons of honey, some pepper, and stir. 

Serve the risotto in soup plates, add some fresh chive on top and it's ready! 

Bon appetit!