Entries Tagged as 'Pasta'

Festa di Salumi: Bucatini all’Amatriciana with Guanciale

2

30.10.12

This post is part of the Festa di Salumi  from Punk Domestics.

As a pasta taskmaster, I’m gonna go out on a limb here.  According to legendary Italian cookbook writer Marcella Hazan, All’amatriciana and bucatini are “as indivisible as Romeo and Juliet. But other couplings of the sauce…can be nearly as successful.” I utterly disagree! Those hollow rope-like bucatini tubes are the only noodles that stand-up to this extraordinary sauce.

Not that making this dish is any trouble– most of the cooking is hands-off. Rendered pork fat amplifies the bright tomatoes and red pepper flakes to create a vibrant synergy. It feels crude adding a dollop of butter to the bubbling tomatoes rich with pork fat and olive oil,  but just do it. It adds creaminess and pleasantly coats your mouth.

Use home cured guanciale if you can. Pancetta is an acceptable substitute but lacks the nutty depth of dried pig jowl. For the love of god, DON’T USE BACON. The smokiness muddies the delicate harmony. The sauce is done after it has simmered for over an hour and pools of oil collect on the surface. Slather the cooked noodles in the sauce, and garnish with crispy guanciale and grated cheese.

My bucatini all’amatriciana recipe will make you swear off stodgy Prego slop on gluey spaghetti forever. Just please take care while making it.

Bucatini all’Amatriciana

  • 2 tablespoons olive oil
  • 3 ounces guanciale, sliced into thin lardons
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons red pepper flakes
  • 1 large onion, diced
  • 2 cloves garlic, minced
  • 1 28-ounce can tomatoes
  • 1 tablespoon butter
  • 1 pound bucatini
  • 2 tablespoons Parmigiano-Regianno

1. In a skillet, heat the olive oil over medium heat. When the oil is hot, add the guanciale. Turn the heat up to medium high, and let the guanciale cook for 2 to 3 minutes to get it going, and then turn the heat down to low and let it cook for about 15 minutes or until crispy.

2. Turn the heat down to medium low. Using a slotted spoon, remove 2/3 of the guanciale to a paper towel.

3. Add the diced onion and red pepper flakes and cook, stirring occasionally, for about 10 minutes.

4. Turn the heat up to medium. Add the minced garlic and cook, stirring frequently, for about 2 to 3 minutes.

5.Carefully add the tomatoes to the skillet. Cook on low for 15 minutes.

6. Stir the butter into the simmering tomatoes and mash them with a wooden spoon. Cook on low for another 45 minutes or until pools of oil collect on the surface of the sauce. Serve over cooked bucatini noodles garnished with the crispy guanciale and the cheese.

 

 

2 comments categories: Charcuterie, Festa di Salumi, Italian, Meat, Pasta, Pork, Vegetables

Cookbook Review: Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone by Deborah Madison

9

26.6.12

My absolute favorite cookbook ever is Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone by Deborah Madison. I credit her with teaching me to cook. It’s not just a vegetarian cookbook— it’s a guide to anything you’d ever want to cook that happens to be meatless.  Wondering how to make mayonnaise? Or the best way to cook zucchini? Just consult Deborah Madison and her impeccable sense of flavor. After you master those simple recipes, move on to much more complicated dishes like butternut squash ravioli with toasted pecans and sage— one of the best meals of my life, right up there with Uchi. This huge book has 1400 recipes that appeal to every skill level, so you’ll never get bored.

No one venerates seasonal produce as much as Deborah Madison, clear in her delightful writing. First published in 1997 before farmers’ markets were fashionable, Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone was ahead of its time.  I’ve returned to it again and again now that I subscribe to a CSA. The useful index lists recipes for every vegetable imaginable, and D.M. always knows the best way to prepare them.

Of course this book isn’t without faults. D.M. learned to cook while a student at the San Francisco Zen Center, so the book is quite California-centric. I can’t always turn to her for new ways to prepare the black-eyed peas, okra, collards, and green tomatoes that seem omnipresent at Austin farmers’ markets. Her soup recipes are occasionally disappointing, and I don’t depend on her for desserts.

Her other books, like Local Flavors, are also outstanding, but Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone will always have a special place in my heart. I followed those recipes word for word when I was learning to cook, but now they’re more like a source of inspiration. Some of the recipes, like roast potatoes with garlic, have become so second nature to me that I forgot where I learned them.

This fresh tomato sauce is another example of a dead simple recipe that I’ve integrated seamlessly into my repertoire. By the way, D.M. taught me NEVER to put tomatoes in the fridge because it “cold kills everything about them that’s good.” You can actually find me saying that word for word on occasion. After growing up on Prego and it’s ilk, this sauce was a revelation. Fresh summer tomatoes simmered with basil and finished with a glug of olive oil tastes like sunshine in a bowl.

Fresh Tomato Sauce from Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone by Deborah Madison

  • 3 pounds ripe tomatoes, quartered
  • 3 tablespoons chopped basil or 1 tablespoon chopped marjoram
  • Salt and freshly milled pepper
  • 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil or butter

Put the tomatoes in a heavy pan with the basil. Cover and cook over medium-high heat. The tomatoes should yield their juices right away, but keep an eye on the pot to make sure the pan isn’t dry. You don’t want the tomatoes to scorch. When the tomatoes have broken down after 10 minutes, pass them through a food mill. If you want the final sauce to be thicker, return it to the pot and cook over low heat, stirring frequently, until it’s as thick as you want. Season with salt and pepper to taste and stir in the oil.

9 comments categories: Cookbook Reviews, Italian, Pasta, Vegetables

Crawfish Pasta and Jazz Fest Emotions

2

12.5.12

It was Jazz Fest in New Orleans last weekend. I went once or twice a year when I lived there. My first experience involved hopping the VIP barricades to watch Bruce Springsteen up close. Then I rode home in the back of a pickup truck driven by some old hippies. Periodically they’d stop in the street and open all the doors so we could enjoy the Black-Eyed Peas blasting from the radio. I guess it was thoughtful of them.

A random drunk guy got a ride with them too. He rambled to me all about growing up in Gentilly. Being out in the Louisiana sun all day in May makes every drink twice as strong, so I can’t blame him.

Little did I know I’d see that man annually for the next four years. It became part of the Jazz Fest routine. We boarded the Jackson Avenue bus from our Garden District apartment and headed to the Fairgrounds. Like clockwork, a trio of middle-aged men boarded the bus from downtown. One of them was that guy, and sometimes he was forced to sit across from me. But we never acknowledged each other ever again. He was probably so drunk he didn’t remember or maybe just embarrassed. It was somewhat awkward.

I wonder if that guy boarded the Jackson Avenue bus again this past weekend? Some of my bffs still live in New Orleans, but they no longer partake in the bus routine. They’ve moved on.

Oh I was recently gifted some freshly peeled crawfish tails and made a dish similar to the quintessential Jazz Fest dish, Crawfish Monica. It’s pasta smothered in a spicy crawfish sauce. Kajun Kettle Foods only makes it for Jazz Fest, but now you can make it at home.

Crawfish Pasta

Ingredients

1 pound fusilli or penne
1 tablespoons olive oil
4 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 onion, chopped
4 cloves garlic, minced
salt
freshly ground black pepper
2 teaspoons paprika
1/2 teaspoon onion powder
1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1 teaspoon dried marjoram
1 teaspoon dried thyme
1/4 teaspoon cayenne
1/4 cup dry white wine
1 1/2 cup heavy cream
juice of half a lemon
1 pound crawfish tails
1/2 cup chopped green onions
1/2 cup chopped fresh parsley leaves
1 cup grated Parmesan cheese

Directions

1. Bring a pot of salted water to a boil and cook the pasta until it is al dente. Drain and reserve 1/2 a cup of the cooking liquid. Toss the pasta with the olive oil and cooking liquid and set aside.

2. Melt the butter and cook the onions over medium high heat until their soft, about 5 to 10 minutes. Add the salt and black pepper to taste along with garlic, paprika, cayenne pepper, onion powder, marjoram, and thyme and cook for another 1 to 2 minutes.

3. Pour in the white wine and cook over medium heat until almost evaporated. Stir in the cream and lemon and simmer until slightly reduced. Add the crawfish tails, green onions, and parsley, and cook until warmed.

4. Add the cooked pasta and toss to coat with the sauce. Taste for salt and black pepper and adjust as necessary.

5. Serve in crawfish pasta in bowls garnished with Parmesan cheese.

2 comments categories: Cheese, Dairy, Pasta, Seafood

Sweet & Savory Goat Ragù

4

12.4.12

Goat is the most popular meat in the world. Did you know that? I’ve wanted to cook it ever since Wheatsville started stocking it. But goat intimidates me. I tried it for the first time in a taqueria in Sunset Park, Brooklyn. I was branching out of my comfort zone. But it was stringy and gamey and just…not…pleasant.

Goat has a distinct flavor for sure, but it’s not as strong as lamb. The key to delicious goat is cooking the crap out of it. Adding liquid helps keep it moist. That’s where this sweet and savory ragù comes into play. Sear the meat, sauté some vegetables, and throw everything in the slow cooker. Dinner is ready when you get home from work. This ragù is fantastic over pasta or homemade gnocchi (even better).

Slow Cooker Goat Ragù

  • 1 pound goat stew meat, cubed
  • olive oil
  • 1 teaspoon red pepper flakes
  • 1 teaspoon dried thyme
  • 1 yellow onion, diced
  • 1 carrot, peeled and sliced
  • 6 cloves garlic, chopped
  • 1 cup white wine
  • 1 14 ounce can peeled whole  tomatoes
  • 1 sprig fresh rosemary
  • 1/2 cup golden raisins

1. Heat the olive oil in a skillet. Add the onions, dried thyme, and red pepper flakes. Cook over medium heat.

2. Add the carrots after the onions become translucent.  After five minutes, add the garlic and cook until just browned (1-2 minutes). Scrape the vegetables into the slow cooker.

3. Dry the goat meat with paper towels and season aggressively with salt pepper. Wipe out the skillet with a paper towel. Add a thin coat of olive oil to the skillet and turn the heat up to high. Add the meat to the hot skillet to get a good sear on it (be careful, the oil might sputter!). Turn the heat off after about 5 minutes, and add the goat to the slow cooker.

4. Pour the white wine and tomatoes into the slow cooker. Toss in the rosemary and raisins and stir to combine everything. Turn on the slow cooker and for at least 6 hours, but 16 is even better. Shred the meat thoroughly with a fork before serving it over pasta or gnocchi.

4 comments categories: Italian, Meat, Pasta, Slow Cooker

It’s Gnocchi Making Time

10

14.2.12

The first time I had gnocchi, my sister made it for me. We ate gnocchi with pink sauce because it was the 90′s.  I felt cool eating this trendy, hip food with my older sister. About 20(!) years later gnocchi still has a special allure. Except now I make it from scratch.

But that doesn’t mean I’m Heidi Swanson (obviously, just take a look at my photos). My gnocchi aren’t perfect little pillows, but they’re still better than the stuff you’ll find at Olive Garden. That’s saying something, right?

Here’s my low maintenance gnocchi method. I use two eggs because I like gnocchi with some bite to it. I hate when it disintegrates in the water like balls of mashed potatoes. This method will make about 60 gnocchi, so you can freeze them unless you plan to eat them all in one sitting.

Ingredients

  • 2 large russet potatoes
  • 2 eggs
  • 1 1/2 – 2 cups flour
  • salt to taste

1. Place the potatoes in a pot and cover with water. Add a generous pinch of salt. Bring the water to boil and then simmer until the potatoes can be easily pierced with a fork. Remove them from the water and place them in a bowl.

2. Wait until the potatoes are cool enough before handling them. You can cut them in half so they’ll cool faster. Then scoop the potato flesh into a mixing bowl and discard the skins.

3. Add one cup of flour to the potato flesh. Using your hands, knead the mixture until the potato and flour are well combined, and it is as smooth as possible.

4. Crack the eggs and add them to the potato and flour mixture. Knead the eggs into the other ingredients to form a dough.

5. At this point the dough will be very sticky. Little by little incorporate 1/2 cup to 1 cup of flour into the dough so that it is just pliable enough to handle. Use as little flour as possible. Add a generous pinch of salt to taste.

6. Flour a clean counter top to prevent the dough from sticking. Taking a large ball of dough in your hands, roll it out into a long cylinder about 1/2 inch to 1 inch thick. Press the top down with the tinges of a fork. Slice the dough roll into pieces about 1 inch wide. They don’t need to be uniform as this is artisanal gnocchi after all!

7. Bring a pot of salted water to a boil and drop in the gnocchi. When they have all floated to the top, drain the water. Alternatively, place the dumplings on a cookie sheet and leave in the freezer until frozen. Place the gnocchi in a Ziploc bag and boil later using the directions above.

10 comments categories: Italian, Pasta

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