Category Archives: Pasta

Pasta, Seafood

Pasta cu Anciova

September 30, 2021 robiulo Leave a comment

Pasta cu Anciova

Here’s another tinned fish recipe. I think this one might be a family recipe since I’ve never seen anything like it except when my friend Vinnie’s Sicilian grandmother made it. The first time I had it I was in my teens and eating dinner at Vinnie’s . It seemed strange to me then compared to my mother’s tomato sauce. But as I grew older, I often asked Vinnie’s grandmother to make it. There are some intense flavors here and even if you aren’t crazy about anchovies (anciova in Siciliànu), you should give this a try.

Ingredients:

2 tbsp. olive oil
2 cans of anchovies packed in olive oil
4 cloves of garlic thinly sliced
Red pepper to taste
1 can of tomato paste
1 ½ cups of water
½ cup chopped parsley divided
1 cup unseasoned toasted breadcrumbs
1 lb. pasta – perciatelli, bucatini, or spaghetti

Start a pot of water for the pasta.

Heat two tablespoons of olive oil over medium low heat. Empty the cans of anchovies with the oil they’re packed in, into the pan. Add the sliced garlic, stir, and simmer on low for 8 minutes. The anchovies will eventually dissolve so don’t worry about breaking them up.

Add the tomato paste, raise the heat, stir and cook for 5 minutes. Add 1 ½ cups of water and half of the parsley, blend, cover and simmer on low for 30 minutes stirring occasionally.

While the sauce is simmering cook the pasta until almost done. Using tongs put the pasta in the sauce to finish cooking. Stir in the rest of the parsley and serve. Pass the toasted breadcrumbs to be sprinkled on the pasta.

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Pasta, Seafood, Vegetarian

Tinned Fish

September 21, 2021 robiulo Leave a comment

Tinned Fish

It’s been around for a long time but suddenly it’s become a thing – tinned fish. When I was growing up if I wanted a snack, I could always open a can of sardines, squid, or tuna. It’s a very old way of preserving food. It doesn’t need to be refrigerated, and isn’t perishable until it’s opened.

Here’s an informative post from Epicurious –

The Can of Food That Makes Dinner Parties Delicious, Easy, and Insanely Fast

The easiest dinner party you’ll ever throw is the one where all you do is make a few salads, open a few tins of fish and put out a few baguettes. The reason you aren’t throwing this party already is because you think that tinned fish is cheap, acrid, odorous stuff that you’d never serve to company, much less yourself. But that line of thinking stops now.

Click logo for full article –

Tinned Fish Pasta

Here’s a recipe that works with almost any type of tinned fish. I used sardines.

Adapted from Bon Appétit

Ingredients:

1 cup unseasoned toasted breadcrumbs
¼ cup. olive oil
2 finely chopped garlic cloves
2 cans sardines packed in olive oil
1 tsp. lemon zest
2 tbsp. lemon juice
1 tbsp. chopped capers
Salt and black pepper
1 lb. spaghetti or linguini
Chopped parsley for serving

Lightly sauté the garlic in olive oil in a small pan until it’s fragrant. Don’t let it brown.

Put the garlic and oil it cooked in, sardines, lemon zest and juice, capers, salt, and pepper in a heat proof bowl. Place the bowl on top of a pot of boiling water to gently heat the ingredients. Remove the bowl and cook the pasta in the same boiling water.

When the pasta is done add it to the bowl with 1 cup of the pasta water and the parsley. Mix and serve with a sprinkling of the toasted breadcrumbs.

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Pasta

Pasta with Broccoli Rabe and Sausage

September 9, 2021 robiulo Leave a comment

Pasta with Broccoli Rabe and Sausage

Simple ingredients and an easy preparation – this one is a classic. Whoever first put this combination together deserves a medal. You can get this in almost any Italian restaurant, hero shop and even in some pizzerias.

Ingredients:

2 bunches broccoli rabe
Olive oil
Salt, black and red pepper
3 garlic cloves, sliced
4 Italian sausages (sweet or hot) cut into 1 inch pieces
1 lb. short pasta

Start a pot of boiling salted water for pasta. Remove stems, cut into 2 inch pieces and wash the broccoli rabe.

Boil it in the pasta water for 8 – 10 minutes until tender. Remove and drain. Add 2 tablespoons more salt to the water and cook the pasta in the same pot until almost done.

Fry the sausage in 2 tablespoons of olive oil until browned. Add garlic, salt, red, and black pepper and lower the heat so the garlic doesn’t burn. Cook for 5 minutes and add a half cup of pasta water and deglaze the pan.

Add the prepared broccoli rabe and another half cup of pasta water. Blend and cook for 8 minutes. Add the drained pasta to the sausage and broccoli to finish cooking. Serve with grated Parmigiana cheese.

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Pasta

Pasta with Mushroom Sauce

July 29, 2021 robiulo 2 Comments

Pasta with Mushroom Sauce

Pasta with mushroom sauce is an easy recipe for a rich tasting sauce.

Ingredients:

2 cups chicken stock
1 cup dried porcini mushrooms
3 tbsp. olive oil
1 chopped onion
2 hot or sweet Italian sausages
¼ cup dry red wine
2 cups peeled, seeded, chopped tomatoes
½ tsp. oregano
1 bay leaf
Salt and black pepper
1 lb. short pasta (penne, fusilli, gemelli, etc.)
¼ cup chopped parsley

Put the chicken stock and dried mushrooms in a small pot and bring it to a boil. Remove it from the stove and set it aside.

Heat the oil in a large pan and add the onion. Sauté until translucent. Add the sausage meat and brown it.

Remove the mushrooms and save the liquid. Chop the mushrooms and add them to the pan with the onions and sausage meat.

Add the wine and cook for 5 minutes until the alcohol evaporates. Add the tomatoes, 1 cup of the mushroom/chicken stock, oregano, bay leaf and salt and pepper to taste. Lower the heat and let the sauce simmer for 30 minutes or so until it thickens. If it get’s to dry mix in some more chicken stock or pasta water.

While the sauce simmers cook the pasta until almost done. Drain it and add it to the sauce to finish cooking. Sprinkle with parsley and place the pasta in a serving dish. Serve with grated Parmigiana cheese.

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Pasta

Marietta’s Tomato Sauce

July 15, 2021 robiulo Leave a comment

Marietta’s Tomato Sauce

A friend I used to work with and had lunch with almost every day invited me home to dinner with him. He said his wife, Marietta, was Italian like me and a great cook. When I arrived and was introduced to Marietta, we made the standard exchange that Italian-Americans often do – “So, where in Italy are your people from?” Since we were both of Italian descent, instead of the general “Naples,” I more specifically said Salerno and instead of “Sicily,” Marietta said Trapani. And so, the inevitable cooking rivalry began. She knew her husband’s friend was coming for dinner but didn’t know I was Italian-American. She made, among other things, what she called simply ‘tomato sauce.’ She knew I would silently compare it to my family’s ‘tomato sauce.’ Before we started eating, I mentioned that my mother’s sister married a Sicilian and learned recipes from her mother-in- law which she introduced to our family. I made it clear that I was familiar with Sicilian cuisine and appreciated it. We put a love of cooking and good food before the old regional rivalry and had a great dinner. Before I left, Marietta wrote down her sauce recipe for me. Keep in mind that you only need just 5 ingredients for a simple tomato sauce – olive oil, garlic, salt, pepper, and tomatoes. This one has a lot more than that! That’s a ton of flavor.

Marietta’s Tomato Sauce Ingredients:

1 pound of long pasta (ideally perciatelli or bucatini but spaghetti will work)
1/2 cup olive oil
Salt, black, and red pepper
1 medium onion, finely chopped
1/2 lb. chopped beef
1 – 6 oz. can tomato paste
1 cup dry red wine
1 – 28 oz. can of crushed tomatoes
1 sprig of basil
* Sachet – 10 black peppercorns, 1 dried chili, 2 bay leaves, 1 crushed garlic clove
1 – 8 oz. can peas

* Sachet – little cloth bags are available in supermarkets or Google, If you can’t find them, cut a white handkerchief into quarters, wrap the ingredients and tie it with a string.

Sauté the chopped onion in olive oil, salt, black and red pepper. Don’t brown it, just cook until it’s translucent. Add the chopped beef and brown it. Add the tomato paste, blend well, and cook about 8 minutes.

Start a pot of salted water and cook the pasta.

Add the red wine to the sauce and deglaze the pan. Add the can of San Marzano tomatoes, a sprig of fresh basil, the sachet, and simmer for 30 minutes.

At the end of 30 minutes add the 8 oz. can of drained peas to the sauce, simmer 5 minutes and serve. Serve the pasta with a sprinkle of basil chiffonade, and pass grated Parmigiana around the table.

Variations:

It you intend to add additional meat to the sauce (sausage, meatballs, braciole) brown it in a separate pan, deglaze the pan with some wine and add it all to the sauce for that last 30 minutes of cooking.
If you make Sicilian pizza try this sauce without the chopped beef. When the sauce is cool mix in ¾ cup of unseasoned breadcrumbs.

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Pasta, Vegetarian

Pasta with Fried Lemons

May 27, 2021 robiulo Leave a comment

Pasta with Fried Lemons

This is adapted from a Melissa Clark recipe in the New York Times. No garlic or onion – the lemon acts as an aromatic for this simple sauce.

Ingredients:

1 lb. linguini
3 lemons
3 tbsp. olive oil
Salt and black pepper
A pinch of sugar
3 tbsp. butter
Red pepper flakes to taste
½ cup chopped parsley
2/3 cup of grated Parmigiano cheese

Start a large pot of salted water for the pasta.

Finely zest one of the lemons and set aside. Cut the tops and bottoms off the remaining two lemons and stand on end. Cut them into four quarters and thinly slice each quarter into triangles. Blanch the lemon slices for two minutes in a small pot of boiling water. Set them aside on paper towels and blot dry.

Heat the oil in a large pan and add the dry lemon slices. Add salt, black pepper and a pinch of sugar. Cook for a few minutes until the edges brown and remove them.

Add the butter, lemon zest, red pepper and a half cup of pasta water to the pan. Mix in the drained pasta and coat with the sauce. Turn off the heat and stir in the parsley, lemon wedges and cheese. Serve with additional cheese and a drizzle of olive oil.

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Pasta, Vegetarian

Basilicata Style Pasta

April 2, 2021 robiulo Leave a comment

Basilicata Style Pasta

If you’ve been following my blog you’ll know that I encourage you to not limit yourself to using just grated Parmigiana or Loccatelli type cheese on your pasta. For this recipe it’s grated fresh horse radish. The use of ground walnuts and breadcrumbs in the sauce and a good sprinkle of grated horse radish is typical of Basilicata, where my paternal grandparents are from. Fresh horse radish is common in Basilicata but not so much in New York expect around Passover. It’s the bitter herb in the Seder meal that represents the bitterness of slavery.

Ingredients:

¼ cup olive oil
1 finely chopped onion
Salt, black pepper & red pepper to taste
1 tbsp. tomato paste
1 28oz. can of crushed tomatoes
½ cup finely chopped walnuts
½ cup toasted breadcrumbs
1 lb. short pasta – fusilli, gameli, rotini, cavatappi,
Fresh horse radish

Start a pot of salted water for the pasta and lay out your ingredients.

Heat the oil in a large pot and cook the onions on medium low. Add one tablespoon of tomato paste, salt, black, and red pepper. Cook low and slow until the onions are soft and translucent – don’t brown. The onions add a little sweetness to the sauce which is a nice counterpoint to the horse radish.

Add the tomatoes and simmer for 30 minutes. Taste to check for seasoning. If you want a meat sauce, now is the time to add some nicely browned sausage or braciole.

Cook the pasta until almost done, drain it and add it to the sauce where it will finish cooking. Add a few tablespoons of the pasta water if the sauce is too dry. Pour in the walnuts and breadcrumbs, stir to thoroughly combine and serve. This is still a very good sauce even if you don’t have fresh horse radish.

Cut about an inch of the end of the horse radish and remove some of the bark with a potato peeler. Pass the horse radish and a grater at the table and top each dish with a good amount of horse radish. Sometimes when the horseradish hits the hot steamy pasta it can make your eyes tear. Don’t let it bother you.

Cover the cut end of the horse radish with some foil and refrigerate.

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Pasta, Vegetarian

Sautéed Tomato Sauce

February 16, 2021 robiulo 2 Comments

Sautéed Tomato Sauce

When most people think of tomato sauce they think ‘simmering.’ For this recipe you start by sautéing the tomatoes. This gives them a rich hearty flavor and it’s ready to eat in about a half an hour.

Ingredients:

½ cup olive oil divided
Salt, black, and red pepper
10 – 12 plum tomatoes
2 minced garlic cloves
¼ cup chopped basil
¼ cup chopped parsley
1 lb. short pasta (ziti, penne, rotelle, etc.)

Start a pot of salted water for the pasta.

Heat ¼ cup of the oil in a large frying pan and season it with salt, black and red pepper. Cut the stem end off the tomatoes, cut them in half lengthwise and place then cut side down in the pan. Cook on medium-high heat until they begin to soften and color. Depending on their ripeness and thickness they might take 8 – 12 minutes.

Season the top side and then turn them and cook for another 8 – 12 minutes. Start cooking the pasta in the boiling water.

The tomatoes should be soft now so add the minced garlic, basil, and parsley and the remaining ¼ cup of oil.

Add some of the pasta water to the sauce, blend and deglaze the pan. A ½ cup might be enough but add more if needed to get a saucy consistency.

When the pasta is almost al dente add it to the sauce and mix to finish cooking. Serve with grated Parmigiana.

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Pasta

Pasta with Broccolini, Sausage and Beans

December 11, 2020 robiulo Leave a comment

Pasta with Broccolini, Sausage and Beans

Pasta with Broccolini, Sausage and Beans can also be made with broccoli or broccoli rape. There’s an informative article about their differences here.

Ingredients:

1 ½ lb. broccolini, washed & stems removed
¼ cup olive oil
1 lb. Italian sausage, hot or sweet, skins removed
2 gloves, minced garlic
½ cup dry white wine
1 – 15 oz. can white beans strained and rinsed
2 tbsp. butter
½ cup grated Parmigiana cheese
½ lemon – zest & juice

Start a pot of salted water for the broccolini and later the pasta.

Remove the rough stem tips and roughly chop the broccolini and boil on high for 5 minutes or until tender. Remove the broccolini and add the pasta.

While the pasta is cooking, in another pot add the olive oil and break up and cook the sausage meat. When it’s lightly browned, add the garlic and cook for 1-2 minutes then add the wine and deglaze the pot and stir for a few minutes.

Add the cooked broccolini and the beans. Cook on medium heat for 5 minutes. Add the pasta and a cup of the pasta cooking water and toss.

Remove the pot from the heat. Add the butter, cheese, juice of ½ the lemon and zest. Mix until the butter is melted and serve with additional cheese.

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Pasta

Pasta alla Bottarga

November 20, 2020 robiulo Leave a comment

Pasta alla Bottarga

Don’t expect an assertive taste like caviar or anchovies. Bottarga is subtle. It’s the roe sac of a fish, usually mullet or tuna, which is salted, pressed, and dried.

Ingredients:

1 lb. spaghetti or linguini
¼ cup olive oil
2 large garlic clove thinly sliced
3 tbsp. grated bottarga divided
red pepper to taste
½ cup chopped parsley divided
½ cup toasted breadcrumbs

Start with boiling the water for pasta.

Add the oil, garlic, red pepper and ½ the parsley to a pan over medium heat. Fry for a few minutes. Don’t brown the garlic. Reduce the heat to low and add a tablespoon of bottarga. Stir and simmer for few minutes.

Save a cup of the pasta water and drain the pasta. Add the pasta and another tablespoon of the bottarga to the pan with the sauce and some pasta water if needed.

Turn off the heat and add the toasted breadcrumbs and remaining parsley. Serve, topping individual plate with the remaining bottarga.

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Pasta cu Anciova

Ingredients:

Heat two tablespoons of olive oil over medium low heat. Empty the cans of anchovies with the oil they’re packed in, into the pan. Add the sliced garlic, stir, and simmer on low for 8 minutes. The anchovies will eventually dissolve so don’t worry about breaking them up.

Add the tomato paste, raise the heat, stir and cook for 5 minutes. Add 1 ½ cups of water and half of the parsley, blend, cover and simmer on low for 30 minutes stirring occasionally.

While the sauce is simmering cook the pasta until almost done. Using tongs put the pasta in the sauce to finish cooking. Stir in the rest of the parsley and serve. Pass the toasted breadcrumbs to be sprinkled on the pasta.

Tinned Fish

The Can of Food That Makes Dinner Parties Delicious, Easy, and Insanely Fast

Tinned Fish Pasta

Here’s a recipe that works with almost any type of tinned fish. I used sardines.

Ingredients:

Lightly sauté the garlic in olive oil in a small pan until it’s fragrant. Don’t let it brown.

Put the garlic and oil it cooked in, sardines, lemon zest and juice, capers, salt, and pepper in a heat proof bowl. Place the bowl on top of a pot of boiling water to gently heat the ingredients. Remove the bowl and cook the pasta in the same boiling water.

When the pasta is done add it to the bowl with 1 cup of the pasta water and the parsley. Mix and serve with a sprinkling of the toasted breadcrumbs.

Pasta with Broccoli Rabe and Sausage

Simple ingredients and an easy preparation – this one is a classic. Whoever first put this combination together deserves a medal. You can get this in almost any Italian restaurant, hero shop and even in some pizzerias.

Ingredients:

Start a pot of boiling salted water for pasta. Remove stems, cut into 2 inch pieces and wash the broccoli rabe.

Boil it in the pasta water for 8 – 10 minutes until tender. Remove and drain. Add 2 tablespoons more salt to the water and cook the pasta in the same pot until almost done.

Fry the sausage in 2 tablespoons of olive oil until browned. Add garlic, salt, red, and black pepper and lower the heat so the garlic doesn’t burn. Cook for 5 minutes and add a half cup of pasta water and deglaze the pan.

Add the prepared broccoli rabe and another half cup of pasta water. Blend and cook for 8 minutes. Add the drained pasta to the sausage and broccoli to finish cooking. Serve with grated Parmigiana cheese.

Pasta with Mushroom Sauce

Pasta with mushroom sauce is an easy recipe for a rich tasting sauce.

Ingredients:

Put the chicken stock and dried mushrooms in a small pot and bring it to a boil. Remove it from the stove and set it aside.

Heat the oil in a large pan and add the onion. Sauté until translucent. Add the sausage meat and brown it.

Remove the mushrooms and save the liquid. Chop the mushrooms and add them to the pan with the onions and sausage meat.

While the sauce simmers cook the pasta until almost done. Drain it and add it to the sauce to finish cooking. Sprinkle with parsley and place the pasta in a serving dish. Serve with grated Parmigiana cheese.

Marietta’s Tomato Sauce

Marietta’s Tomato Sauce Ingredients:

Sauté the chopped onion in olive oil, salt, black and red pepper. Don’t brown it, just cook until it’s translucent. Add the chopped beef and brown it. Add the tomato paste, blend well, and cook about 8 minutes.

Start a pot of salted water and cook the pasta.

Add the red wine to the sauce and deglaze the pan. Add the can of San Marzano tomatoes, a sprig of fresh basil, the sachet, and simmer for 30 minutes.

At the end of 30 minutes add the 8 oz. can of drained peas to the sauce, simmer 5 minutes and serve. Serve the pasta with a sprinkle of basil chiffonade, and pass grated Parmigiana around the table.

Variations:

It you intend to add additional meat to the sauce (sausage, meatballs, braciole) brown it in a separate pan, deglaze the pan with some wine and add it all to the sauce for that last 30 minutes of cooking.

If you make Sicilian pizza try this sauce without the chopped beef. When the sauce is cool mix in ¾ cup of unseasoned breadcrumbs.

Pasta with Fried Lemons

This is adapted from a Melissa Clark recipe in the New York Times. No garlic or onion – the lemon acts as an aromatic for this simple sauce.

Ingredients:

Start a large pot of salted water for the pasta.

Heat the oil in a large pan and add the dry lemon slices. Add salt, black pepper and a pinch of sugar. Cook for a few minutes until the edges brown and remove them.

Add the butter, lemon zest, red pepper and a half cup of pasta water to the pan. Mix in the drained pasta and coat with the sauce. Turn off the heat and stir in the parsley, lemon wedges and cheese. Serve with additional cheese and a drizzle of olive oil.

Basilicata Style Pasta

Ingredients:

Start a pot of salted water for the pasta and lay out your ingredients.

Add the tomatoes and simmer for 30 minutes. Taste to check for seasoning. If you want a meat sauce, now is the time to add some nicely browned sausage or braciole.

Sautéed Tomato Sauce

When most people think of tomato sauce they think ‘simmering.’ For this recipe you start by sautéing the tomatoes. This gives them a rich hearty flavor and it’s ready to eat in about a half an hour.

Ingredients:

Start a pot of salted water for the pasta.

Season the top side and then turn them and cook for another 8 – 12 minutes. Start cooking the pasta in the boiling water.

The tomatoes should be soft now so add the minced garlic, basil, and parsley and the remaining ¼ cup of oil.

Add some of the pasta water to the sauce, blend and deglaze the pan. A ½ cup might be enough but add more if needed to get a saucy consistency.

When the pasta is almost al dente add it to the sauce and mix to finish cooking. Serve with grated Parmigiana.

Pasta with Broccolini, Sausage and Beans

Pasta with Broccolini, Sausage and Beans can also be made with broccoli or broccoli rape. There’s an informative article about their differences here.

Ingredients:

Start a pot of salted water for the broccolini and later the pasta.

Remove the rough stem tips and roughly chop the broccolini and boil on high for 5 minutes or until tender. Remove the broccolini and add the pasta.

While the pasta is cooking, in another pot add the olive oil and break up and cook the sausage meat. When it’s lightly browned, add the garlic and cook for 1-2 minutes then add the wine and deglaze the pot and stir for a few minutes.

Add the cooked broccolini and the beans. Cook on medium heat for 5 minutes. Add the pasta and a cup of the pasta cooking water and toss.

Remove the pot from the heat. Add the butter, cheese, juice of ½ the lemon and zest. Mix until the butter is melted and serve with additional cheese.

Pasta alla Bottarga

Don’t expect an assertive taste like caviar or anchovies. Bottarga is subtle. It’s the roe sac of a fish, usually mullet or tuna, which is salted, pressed, and dried.

Ingredients:

Start with boiling the water for pasta.

Add the oil, garlic, red pepper and ½ the parsley to a pan over medium heat. Fry for a few minutes. Don’t brown the garlic. Reduce the heat to low and add a tablespoon of bottarga. Stir and simmer for few minutes.

Save a cup of the pasta water and drain the pasta. Add the pasta and another tablespoon of the bottarga to the pan with the sauce and some pasta water if needed.

Turn off the heat and add the toasted breadcrumbs and remaining parsley. Serve, topping individual plate with the remaining bottarga.

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