Pasta Porcini E Formaggi, Plus

     Think of it as mac & cheese on performance-enhancing drugs.  Alessi sells several versions of pasta and cheese: cheese and broccolini, black pepper and cheese, and porcini mushroom and cheese.  It's dehydrated, stays good on the shelf for a very long time, and it's quick to prepare.

     I wanted something a little different for breakfast today, a plan which would have worked better if I had gone to the grocery store yesterday.  But I had bacon, eggs and a packet of Pasta Porcini e Formaggi.  The cheese is Parmesan and Romano, and they've got the dehydrating thing all figured out.  I hard boiled three eggs, fried four strips of bacon, and made the pasta in the microwave, a simple matter of mixing it with water in a bowl, giving it eight minutes, stirring the result and letting it sit for two minutes before snipping in the bacon, peeling the eggs and running them through the slicer, adding a few shakes of truffle powder* and stirring the whole thing together.

     The pasta is curly but skinny, so it's not quite American mac & cheese.  I think it's better; the ingredients compliment one another well, the crunchy bacon and al dente pasta add interest and the flavor is wonderful.  I ate two small bowls and a couple of forkfuls more before realizing I'd eat all of if I didn't stop -- and it makes enough for four people.  You can vary the ingredients, and, depending on how you make the dehydrated mix and how hot it is, even add raw eggs and let them cook just enough from the heat of the dish (this is tricky and carries some risk from undercooked eggs; or, if the mix is too hot, you end up with scrambled eggs and not a silky sauce, though that's okay for brunch).

     It is dish heavy: a small saucepan for the eggs, a skillet for the bacon, a bowl for the pasta and cheese.  But it's worth the effort and the extra dishwashing.
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* A pure indulgence.  I bought the stuff quite a while ago and I will darned well use it up.