Thank you to
Keiji for making me write,
Alex + the rest of the Polski Czat Transseksualny for the help and all the people at a certain rationalist-adjacent group house in London who tried out the end product and found it acceptable.
Strawberry pasta (macaroni z truskawkami) is apparently a very popular dish in the glorious republic of Poland. It surprises me that the Italians haven't invaded Poland yet considering that Donald Tusk recently poasted a picture of himself desecrating pasta by covering it in yoghurt and sliced strawberries. While it may be on brand for Wimbledon (and Polish nationalists considering the red and white colours), I think I might have succeeded at making a better version of this dish that brings out the wonderful flavour of British strawberries using mac and cheese as an inspiration. I have made some adjustments to make it more enjoyable for the palates of normal people. Please try this out and let me know if it was edible :3c
Recipe:
- 500g of pasta (preferably Mongrano Felicetti for obvious reasons)
- 1200g of strawberries (preferably Driscoll's Zara)
- an unwaxed lemon, zested and juiced
- vanilla essence
- a couple of sprigs of mint, chopped
- 100g of freeze dried strawberry powder
- 150g of a good honey (I tried an acacia one)
- Twarog (can be subbed with ricotta)
- 50g unsalted butter
- 500g creme fraiche (the good french stuff with 40% fat). As a substitute, high quality ice cream/coconut greek yoghurt with 20% fat will suffice too.
Procedure:
- Cook the pasta according to the instructions on the packet. Once drained, cool the pasta and then proceed to fold in 50g of butter to prevent it from sticking.
- In a large bowl, add 800g of halved strawberries taking care not to smash them. Add the honey, chopped mint, the zest and juice of the lemon, with a dab or two of the vanilla essence before mixing everything.
- Lay the strawberries from the previous step on baking trays and bake for around 45 minutes (or when jammy enough) at 150C.
- To prepare the sauce, combine the roasted strawberries with the remaining diced, fresh strawberries and add in 200g of creme fraiche. Lightly toss, and set aside.
- To serve the dish, take a 70~80g serving of pasta, and cover it generously with sauce. Finish with a quenelle (or a dollop) of creme fraiche, crumble some Twarog and add a liberal amount of freeze-dried strawberry powder.