Pasta

Fresh Homemade Pasta*

Fresh pasta is delightful to enjoy as an alternative to dried pasta; there are many types to choose from, and it freezes beautifully! Fresh pasta requires at least an hour to prepare or you can learn to prepare it yourself in a private cooking class.

Fresh Stuffed Pasta*

Fresh stuffed pasta can be provided with any combination of fillings, shape, and sizes, is easy to serve with a quick sauce, and it freezes beautifully! Fresh stuffed pasta ranges from 1-2.5 hours to prepare, but is so worth it! This pasta is a great learning topic for a private cooking class.

Linguine with Pesto, Green Beans, and Potatoes

Dried linguine is cooked with fresh green beans and potatoes and served Ligurian-style with fresh pesto. The meat will not be missed! Serve with a salad and fresh bread.

Linguine with Lemon-Garlic Shrimp

This pasta dish is simple, elegant, and loaded with flavor. The unique ingrediet is mascarpone, a type of Italian cream. Serve as a starter or as a meal with a salad and fresh bread.

Fettuccine with Artichokes and Mushrooms

A simple pasta dish with complex flavor: fettuccine is tossed with sauteed artichoke hearts, mushrooms, garlic, lemon, olive oil and topped with grated Parmesan cheese. It's a complete meal by itself, but you'll want bread to dip in the sauce.

Real Fettucine Alfredo

This is the real deal direct from Rome. Fettucine is cooked al dente and tossed with butter, Parmigiano Reggiano cheese, and pasta water. No cream, no grilled chicken or shrimp, or anything else is added or necessary. This simple pasta dish is especially delicious with dried pasta. Serve with sauteed artichoke hearts, or whole artichokes when in season.

Pati’s Mac’N’Cheese

A super cheesy dish that is truly American yet has Italian origins made with any of the following cheeses: cheddar, blue, fontina, gouda, pecorino, goat, or jack. The pasta is small penne and the casserole is topped with toasted breadcrumb and baked till brown and bubbly. Served with a salad, this dish is comfort food at its finest!

Pasta Sauces

Chicken and Mixed Mushroom Sauce

Chicken breasts are cut up and sautéed with garlic, onion, and an assortment of local mushrooms, tomato sauce, wine, chile flakes, and parsley. This sauce is best served with a short noodle such as rigatoni, farfalle, or penne to fully capture the sauce and flavor. Fresh bread and a green salad complete the meal. This sauce also makes a great lasagne with a ricotta and spinach filling.

Clam Sauces

We have a few versions of clam sauce available: an olive oil, garlic, and parsley version, a lemon cream sauce version, and a tomato sauce version. All are good, so it depends on what you like. Serve with fresh bread and a mixed greens salad.

Southern Italian Meatballs, Braciole, or Sausage in Tomato Sauce

My family is from the town of Benevento outside of Naples. All of these recipes came across the Atlantic Ocean with my grandfather in 1917 and are as authentic as they get. The meatballs are made with garlic, Parmesan, parsley, and breadcrumbs. Braciole is a Southern Italian delicacy made with round steak that has been pounded and stuffed with mint, parsley, parmesan cheese, salt, and pepper. It’s rolled up, tied with kitchen twine, and stewed in the tomato sauce until its fork tender. You’ve never had round steak this way . . . trust me! We can also make homemade Southern Italian sausage with fennel and red chile flakes. Any one, or all three of these meats can be cooked in the tomato sauce for a real Napolitan style pasta meal. This sauce is best served with spaghetti, linguine, or if you like thicker noodles, fettucine. Fresh bread and a green salad are all that’s needed to round things out.

Bolognese Sauce

A traditional meat sauce from Northern Italy made with ground beef, white wine, San Marzano tomatoes, and Italian soffrito (carrot, celery, onion). Slow cooked over low heat, this sauce is delicious with wide noodles like pappardelle, or a short noodle like rigatoni. It is also an integral component in Lasagne al Forno.

Marinara Sauce

Southern Italy’s finest contribution next to pizza. San Marzano tomatoes are slowly cooked with onion, garlic, red chile flakes, and fresh herbs (basil, oregano, and parsley). Served with spaghetti and topped with Parmesan cheese, this simple dish will put a smile on your face! This sauce is also made with in-season cherry tomatoes for an incredibly delicious and not-to-be-missed variation.

Lasagne

Lasagne al Forno (Baked Lasagne)*

This lasagne is from the region of Emilia Romagna which is known for its meat sauce: Bolognese. The lasagne is traditionally made with fresh spinach pasta (which we can do certainly for an extra fresh pasta fee), or with plain, no-boil pasta noodles, that are a good substitute. The sauce is made with tomato sauce, ground beef, and a sofrito of carrot, celery, and onion-a traditional Italian flavor base. The cheese is Parmigiano Reggiano, and the creamy texture comes from besciamella (white sauce). If you’ve never had this kind of lasagne, you should definitely try it.

Open Lasagne*

Made with fresh hand-rolled pasta noodles and seasonal ingredients. Open lasagne is not arranged in a casserole and baked as is tradtional-style. The noodles are boiled and then strewn across a serving platter or plate and topped with your choice of toppings and sauces. This lasagne must be served immediately or on the same day it is prepared, so would not be a good choice for the freezer. It is a beautiful and delicious presentation for a dinner party or a fun learining topic for a private cooking class.

Meatless Lasagne

In the past, we have called this ‘pantry lasagne’ because it was made with whatever we could find in the pantry. This type of lasagne is much closer to one from Southern Italy where ricotta cheese is prevalent in the dish. We like to make ours with any combination of eggplant, mushrooms, onions, garlic, artichokes, olives, ricotta or mascarpone, mozzarella, and tomato sauce. We use the no-boil noodles again for convenience, but it can easily be made with fresh pasta for the extra fee. This lasagne is delicious in any way it’s made!

Mushroom Lasagne

A mushroom lover's dream! This lasagne is made with mixed mushrooms such as button, portobello, shiitake, or oyster. Ground dried porcini mushrooms are added to the mix for that deep earthy flavor they are known for. The sauce is a besciamella with more dried porcini and fontina cheese. Noil-boil noodles and Parmigiano Reggiano round out the combination for a simple, yet highly flavorful lasagne. (Note: this lasagne tied for 2nd place at the 2011 Wild Mushroom Cook off at the Culinary Center in Lincoln City).

Butternut Squash Lasagne

It's a unique flavor combination: roasted butternut squash, toasted sage, fresh goat cheese, and besciamella. Noil-boil noodles and Parmigiano Reggiano round out the combination for this light and elegant lasagne.

Chicken-Spinach Lasagne with Artichokes

This is a white lasagne, no tomato sauce, and it’s loaded with great flavors: mushrooms, chicken, artichoke hearts, spinach, mozzarella and parmesan cheese, those versatile no-boil noodles are used again (unless you want fresh pasta), and its bound with a besciamella sauce.

Crab Lasagne*

Another white lasagne made with no-boil noodles: fresh crab (when in season), mushrooms, and roasted garlic. The binder sauce is lemon besciamella, and while cheese is not traditionally served with seafood in Italy, the creamy sauce is enhanced with Parmesan cheese. Topped with chopped fresh parsley, this unique lasagne is great for a party or a special family meal.

Southern Italian-style Lasagne

This lasagne is made with a tomato sauce that has been slow cooked with meatballs or sausage for a rich flavor. Ricotta, mozzarella, and pecorino cheeses add texture and balance to this hearty lasagne from Campania, Italy. All of these lasagnes are delicious with a mixed green salad and some crusty bread to mop up the sauce.

*Note: Items with an asterisk after the title are not part of the personal chef meal packages due to cost of the ingredients. The menu item can be added for the extra cost of the ingredients plus a 15% surcharge for pantry items. Go to Personal Chef Service and Pricing

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