Macarrones a la Asturiana

From Eating Asturias, the Encyclopedia of Asturian Gastronomy
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A typical course on a menu del día in Asturias, this hearty pasta dish is easy to make at home
Summary
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Time:30 minutes
Difficulty:Easy
Nutrition
Nutrition Facts[1]
Serving Size 225 gram Servings in recipe 4
Amount Per Serving
Calories 411 Calories from Fat 260
% Daily Value*
Total Fat 28.9g 44%
    Saturated Fat 14.3g 72%
    Trans Fat -
    Monounsaturated Fat 10.5g
    Polyunsaturated Fat 1.1g
      Omega-3 7mg
      Omega-6 203mg
Cholesterol 105mg 35%
Sodium 246mg 4%
Total Carbohydrate 21.9g 7%
    Dietary Fiber 3.5g 14%
    Sugars 1g
Protein 16.2g
Vitamin A 29% Folate 4%
Vitamin B1 7% Vitamin B2 16%
Vitamin B3 25% Vitamin B5 4%
Vitamin B6 18% Vitamin B12 54%
Vitamin C 7% Vitamin D 2%
Vitamin E 5% Vitamin K 4%
Calcium 5% Copper 13%
Iron 10% Magnesium 14%
Manganese 11% Phosphorus 29%
Potassium 7% Selenium 25%
Sodium 10% Zinc 47%
* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet. Your daily values may be higher or lower depending on your calorie needs.
Calories 2,000 2,500
Total Fat Less than 65g 80g
  Sat Fat Less than 20g 25g
Cholesterol Less than 300mg 300mg
Sodium Less than 2,400mg 2,400mg
Total Carbohydrate 300g 375g
  Dietary Fiber 25g 30g

This regional variation on the Spanish home-cooking favorite Macarrones con Chorizo gets a decidedly Asturian twist by using picadillo in place of cured chorizo, and a creamy pan sauce instead of the more traditional tomate frito.

As I have said before, some of the best cooking in the world is to be found in the cheapest places around. This is very true in Asturias, where village bars, neighborhood coffee shops, and even truck stops serve some of the tastiest food in the region. Indeed, my favorite places to eat are often located in poligonos (warehouse districts, or industrial estates to our British cousins). These restaurants specialize in feeding the people who work in the surrounding factories and businesses, and they serve a version of the menu del día that is sometimes called a menu obrero - worker's lunch. A menu obrero is made up of a first course, often pasta; a second course, almost always meat; and a dessert course, usually homemade cheesecake or similar; washed down with tinto verano, red wine and sparkling water mixed by the diner. High calorie, flavorful, and plenty on the plate. No one leaves the table hungry; that's the rule. This type of restaurant shouldn't come as much of a surprise. Let's be honest, some of the best eating in the States comes from the food trucks that pull up outside factories at lunch time. This is the Spanish equivalent.

A Note On Pasta Naming

Spain does not usually use the Italian names of pasta shapes. In particular, they do not use the name penne for this pasta, assuming that house wives would be scandalized by buying a box of penises, The Spanish pene being too close for comfort.[2] Therefore penne and penne rigati are sold as macarrones in Spain, and macaroni/maccheroni essentially don´t exist, or are subsumed into their slant ended tubular brethren.[3]

Ingredients

  • 400g picadillo
  • 1 small onion, minced
  • 2 cloves garlic, minced fine
  • 150 ml heavy cream
  • 250g penne pasta

Instructions

  1. Pan fry the picadillo as you would any ground meat, until browned
  2. Halfway through, add the onion and garlic
  3. Once your picadillo is browned and the onion is well cooked and translucent, drizzle in the cream slowly, stirring as you go. The sauce you will get from this mixture will coat the pasta perfectly. Set the sauce aside, still in the pan
  4. Prepare your pasta al dente, drain, and dump it directly into the sauce pan.
  5. Stir through, adjust with salt and pepper, and serve immediately
  1. Much later, and with much less success, the pasta is beginning to be marketed as plumas, the proper translation...
  2. The History of Maccheroni - LA PASTA: UNA LUNGA STORIA (in Italian) https://www.maccheroni.it/storia.htm