Macarrones a la Asturiana

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. 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.

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