What's up TEMP!
It's been a lot of time since I last wrote a Cooking blog entry.
Today's kinda special because it's a favourite of mine.
And my niece was asking yesterday for Spaghetti, so I decided to not just do any Spaghetti, but make it special just for her.
This will be the first time she'll be eating this Spaghetti!
The story of this Spaghetti is kinda cheesy (heh!)... because it's my mom's invention.
I was very child the day mom came up with this happy accident, I was still in Kindergarten when I first ate this.
One day we only had cheeses in the fridge, pasta in the kitchen drawer and very little money. Mom just bought parsley and made this Spaghetti that turned instantly in an all time favourite. And it's so good that we only have it in special days such as Christmas, Birthdays and whenever we don't regret being alive. We, called it: "Spaghetti á'la Gemme".
Without further ado, let's begin by the ingredients!
Ingredients
- Spaghetti
- Tomato Sauce
- Sour Cream
- Butter
- Oaxaca Cheese (shredded)
- Manchego Cheese (sliced)
- Cotija Cheese (grated)
- Parsley (sliced)
- Garlic
- Onion
- Oil
- Chicken Bouillon
Process
First! You'll have to cook your Spaghetti.
I always cook my pastas in an express pot, with enough water to cover my pasta, 2 garlic cloves, 1 whole onion, small quantity of chicken bouillon and enough cooking oil.
Put everything in your pot, and heat it until you can smell the broth. Once it starts to smell good, let it boil for 5 to 10 minutes, 15 at max.
Onion, garlic and bouillon will make your pasta tasty, and oil will prevent it from sticking together while cooking.
Lower the heat and place your Spaghetti in the broth.
Please, follow manufacturer instructions to know when to take out your pasta. For me, it's usually 8 to 10 minutes to get it cooked. Do not overcook because you'll ruin your pasta!
Keep an eye at this!
Once your pasta is done, put it in a strainer quickly! It'll continue cooking while out due to extreme heat!
Let it cool! It doesn't matter how much time it passes in these next steps. Don't worry, oil will prevent it from clumping together.
Next, drain your pot, leave it completely empty from any liquid. And whilst is hot, butter all the pot's surface with your prefered unsalted (or salted) butter!
Next up!
Take your cheeses:
From left to right: Cotija, Manchego, Oaxaca
And grate your Cotija, slice your Manchego, and shred your Oaxaca!
Important note:
Cotija cheese is hard, crumbly and salty. It's a hard cheese that doesn't melt! It gets soft when cooked, but it'll never melt!
Manchego, on the other hand, is a little bit sour, and it melts easily! I don't know if it can be replaced by Mozzarella, because in fact, both kinda taste the same!
Manchego can be replaced by Chihuahua cheese, that's for sure. You could try with Mozzarella if you can't find neither. But I do not recommend because I haven't done a taste test and don't know if Mozzarella would work.
Oaxaca cheese melts too! But it resist heat better than Manchego. There's something called String Cheese and I don't know if it's the same. My guess is not, but you could try String Cheese if you can't find the real deal.
Next! Once you're done with your cheeses... you need to "build" your pasta in layers.
Firstly, add one layer of Spaghetti at the bottom.
Top it with slices of Manchego, then shredded Oaxaca, and sprinkle Cotija on top:
After your cheeses are layered, pour Tomato Juice/Puree, and add Sour Cream at your liking. Finish with a bit of Parsley at the very top.
Repeat by covering with more Spaghetti, then add more Cheeses, Tomato Juice/Puree, Sour Cream and Parsley.
Repeat until you're done with all your ingredients!
Important note:
Do not start your very first layer with Cheese or Puree/Cream. Reason is, they're first in contact with heat, and most likely it'll burn before everything else is properly cooked!
Have in mind that pasta, even if burned at the bottom, won't add any off flavor to the rest of the ingredients, so it's highly advised to put pasta first before anything else!
Once you're done layering, cover your pot and leave it at a very low heat.
Cook until the very last layer has melted it's cheeses!
That's everything to cook this delicious Mom's Spaghetti!
Last Thoughts
It's perfect with any piece of protein, chicken, tuna/fish/croquettes, steak... whatever meat you like it'll go amazing with it.
Even steamed vegetables or any salad are completely fine with this Spaghetti.
Today, since it's a meal for my niece, I'll be using Chicken Nuggets, Mashed Potatoes and Bread!
Hope you try this recipe!
Please share it with your loved ones, and leave a review when you try it.
