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Pasta

Pasta Alla Zozzona

April 7, 2024 robiulo Leave a comment

Pasta Alla Zozzona

Pasta alla zozzona is a traditional Roman dish. Typical Roman pastas are usually made with a few simple ingredients but not zozzona, which means something like “a big mess.”

Ingredients:

Salt
12 oz. Pennine rigate or rigatoni
Olive oil
5 ozs. chopped pancetta or guanciale
1 small, minced onion
2 tbsp. tomato paste
3 hot or sweet Italian, casings removed
3 cups tomato passata or puree
1 cup red wine
3 egg yolks
¼ cup grated Pecorino Romano, plus more for serving
1 tsp. freshly cracked black pepper

Bring a large pot of salted water to boil. Cook the pasta until almost al dente. Reserve ¼ cup of pasta water, then drain pasta.

For the sauce: Add the olive oil to a deep, large pan and heat medium low. Add the pancetta or guanciale and cook, stirring occasionally, until it starts to crisp, about 5 minutes. Using a slotted spoon, remove meat to a small dish and set aside. Transfer the pan drippings to a small bowl, leaving about 1 tablespoon in the skillet.

Stir the onion into the pan and add the tomato paste. Blend and fry for about 5 minutes. Add the sausage, season with salt and black pepper and break up the sausage meat into small pieces. Cook for about 5 minutes until the sausage has browned.

Stir in passata and the red wine. Cover the sauce with a lid and cook for about 10 minutes. Remove the lid and stir. Cook uncovered for 5 more minutes. Add the pancetta to the simmering sauce and stir to coat.

In a bowl combine the 3 egg yolks, ¼ cup cheese, the pepper and the reserved guanciale drippings. Stir 2 tablespoons of the hot pasta water into the egg mixture to temper it (otherwise you might wind up with scrambled eggs when you add it to the hot sauce). Stir the egg mixture into the pasta until coated and glossy, adding a bit more pasta water if you feel the sauce is too thick. Add the pasta to the sauce, stir and finish cooking. Serve the pasta and top with additional cheese.

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Pasta, Vegetarian

Fresh Tomato Sauce with Rusks

March 3, 2023 robiulo Leave a comment

Fresh Tomato Sauce with Rusks

Fresh tomato sauce with rusks, inspired by a Greek friend, is a dish that brings together the flavors of ripe tomatoes, olive oil, and the unique crunch of rusks. Rusks are not a vegetable but rather dry, hard biscuits or twice-baked bread, lending a distinctive texture to this dish.

Ingredients:

4 or 5 ripe tomatoes
¼ cup olive oil
3 cloves sliced garlic
Salt, black pepper, and red pepper
1-2 cups crumbled rusks
1/2 lb. pasta

Start by bringing a pot of salted water to a boil for the pasta. The sauce is quick to make, ensuring it’ll be ready by the time the pasta is cooked to perfection.

Using the large side of a box grater, grate the ripe tomatoes and set aside.

In a large pot, sauté the sliced garlic in olive oil until it starts to darken. Add the grated tomatoes to the pot, incorporating salt, black pepper, and red pepper to taste. Allow the mixture to simmer for about 20 minutes, letting some of the liquid evaporate and the sauce thicken.

As the sauce simmers, cook the pasta in the salted water until it reaches your desired level of doneness. Once almost done, transfer the pasta to the sauce to finish cooking, allowing the flavors to meld.

Using a mortar and pestle or the bottom of a small frying pan on a cutting board, crush the rusks to yield approximately one cup of crumbles.

Plate the pasta and sprinkle the crushed rusks on top. Add the tomato sauce on top of that.

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Seafood, Vegetarian

Crab Sauce

December 31, 2022 robiulo Leave a comment

Crab Sauce

I got this recipe from an old friend. I personally think crabs are a lot of trouble to eat. It seems to me that it’s too much work cracking those shells for just a tiny bit of meat. Nevertheless, they make a delicious crab sauce.

(You can have your fish market clean the crabs or you can do it yourself.)

Ingredients:

¼ cup olive oil
3 cloves of garlic sliced
Salt, black, and red pepper
6 crabs
2 – 28 oz. cans crushed tomatoes
1 pound spaghetti or linguine

Slowly simmer the garlic in the oil in a pot on low eat or until it begins to color. Discard the garlic and season the oil with salt, black and red pepper. Add the crabs (broken in half) and toss in the oil for 8 minutes.

Add the crushed tomatoes and 1 tomato can full of water. Bring to a boil, lower heat and simmer for 2 hours.

Cook the pasta al dente, add the sauce and crabs and serve.

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Pasta, Vegetarian

Roasted Poblano Pasta

November 23, 2022 robiulo Leave a comment

Roasted Poblano Pasta

This recipe is adapted from Gretchen McKay | The Seattle Times. She calls Roasted Poblano Pasta a “an Italian-meets-Mexican fusion dish,” and I agree.

Ingredients:

5 poblano peppers
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 teaspoon ground cumin, or more to taste
12 ounces fettuccine pasta
½ cup packed parsley
½ cup chicken stock
1 cup heavy cream, divided
1 minced garlic clove
Pinch or two crushed red pepper flakes optional

Char poblano peppers on all sides over a gas flame until skin is blistered evenly all around. (If you don’t have a gas stove, char them under the broiler.) Once all of the peppers are roasted, place in plastic bag and let them sit for 5 minutes. This helps loosen the skin to make them easier to peel. When they’re cool to touch, rub the charred skin off with the back side of a knife blade. Remove stem and seeds.

While the peppers are sweating, bring large pot of salted water to a boil. Cook pasta until just shy of al dente, about 10 minutes. Drain, reserving about ½ to 1 cup of the starchy pasta water. Set aside.

While pasta is cooking, add 3 peppers, parsley, cumin, garlic, chicken stock and ½ cup heavy cream to a blender or food processor. Process until smooth. Slice 2 remaining peppers into thin strips.

Once drained, add the poblano cream sauce to the pasta, along with the remaining heavy cream, minced garlic, ½ teaspoon salt and red pepper flakes. Sometimes poblanos can be very hot, so taste before adding any more pepper. Taste and add more salt or cumin, if desired. Bring to a boil and reduce to a simmer until slightly thickened and the pasta absorbs some sauce, about 3-4 minutes.

Add the sliced peppers and cook until pasta has absorbed sauce. Stir to combine and give one final taste to see if you need more salt and/or pepper.

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Pasta

Pasta with Eggplant and Breadcrumbs

November 1, 2022 robiulo 2 Comments

Pasta with Eggplant and Breadcrumbs

Here’s another recipe adapted from Melissa Clark at the New York Times, Pasta with Eggplant and Breadcrumbs. She never lets me down. I used Progresso Plain Breadcrumbs for this dish and Melissa made her own. Make them is you have time.

Ingredients:

2 large eggplants, cut into 1-inch cubes (about 8 cups)
Salt, black, and red pepper
½ pound short pasta, such as shells or orecchiette
½ cup olive oil plus as much as needed to fry the eggplant, plus more for drizzling
12 anchovies, coarsely chopped
8 garlic cloves, 3 grated or finely minced, 5 thinly sliced
1 cup plain Italian breadcrumbs
1 cup cherry tomatoes, halved
2 tablespoons capers, drained
1 cup torn parsley
Juice of ½ lemon

Place the cut eggplant on some paper towels and sprinkle all over with salt. Wait 15 minutes and blot the moisture.

Start a pot of salted water for the pasta.

Heat ¼ cup of oil in a large pan. Add about a quarter of the chopped anchovies and all of the grated garlic. Cook, stirring, for about 1 minute. Stir in breadcrumbs and sauté until well blended, 2 to 3 minutes. Season with black pepper and salt. Scrape into a small bowl and set aside.

Wipe out skillet and add ¼ cup olive oil and put it back over medium-high heat until oil thins out in the pan. Add enough eggplant to fit in one layer without overlapping. Without moving them around too much, cook eggplant until brown on one side, 3 to 5 minutes. Stir and let them cook on the other side until browned and thoroughly soft, 3 to 7 minutes more. Use a slotted spoon to transfer eggplant to a large bowl. Repeat with remaining eggplant, adding more oil to the pan as needed.

Add remaining 2 tablespoons of oil to the skillet and stir in remaining anchovies, the sliced garlic and red-pepper flakes. Cook over medium heat and don’t let the garlic turn brown.

Stir in tomatoes and capers. Cook until tomatoes just begin to soften, 3 to 5 minutes. Add eggplant, pasta and ¼ cup pasta water. Toss well, adding more pasta water if it looks dry.

Stir in the parsley. Squeeze half a lemon all over the pasta and toss. Taste and add more red-pepper flakes, salt or lemon juice to taste. Generously sprinkle breadcrumbs on top of pasta and serve.

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Pasta

Pasta al Pomodoro Light

September 3, 2022 robiulo 2 Comments

Pasta al Pomodoro Light

Pasta al Pomodoro Light is adapted from an Eric Kim’s recipe in the New York Times. This sauce is delicate and subtle. Its appearance is very plain although very tasty. You can dress it up with a sprinkle of parsley and some grated Parmigiana cheese if you’d like.

Ingredients:

½ cup olive oil
3 garlic cloves, sliced
3 lbs. plumb tomatoes roughly chopped
Salt and black pepper.
1 lb. spaghetti

Lightly sauté the sliced garlic for 5 minutes in a large pot. Don’t brown it. Add the tomatoes and raise the heat to medium high. Stir until the tomatoes start to release their liquid and season with salt and pepper. Lower the heat and simmer for 45 minutes.

Put the cooked tomatoes a few spoons at a time into a sieve over a bowl. Force them through with the back of a wooden spoon. You should have about 2 plus cups of sauce. Discard the tomato skins, seeds, and garlic.

Leave whatever liquid is left in the pot and add enough salted water to cook the pasta.

When the pasta is almost done drain the water and add the tomato sauce. Cook for another few minutes, tossing until the pasta has absorbed some of the sauce. Remove the pot from the heat and let it sit for 5 minutes to absorb more sauce.

Serve with parsley and grated Parmigiana.

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Pasta

Basic Bolognese

July 16, 2022 robiulo Leave a comment

Basic Bolognese

Different people make Bolognese differently. My recipe is for basic Bolognese. I don’t used any garlic because the sofrito (carrot, onion, celery) is enough for the aromatics. Some people use pancetta, but with a mix of pork and beef it isn’t necessary. Often recipes call for chicken or beef stock but that’s not needed with a pound of chopped meat already in the sauce. Don’t be tempted to add and basil, oregano, bay leaf or any other herbs or spices. They’re not needed. On American menus you sometimes see “Spaghetti a la Bolognese.” Spaghetti should never be served with Bolognese sauce, only broad long pasta like mafalda, pappardelle, tagliatelle, fettuccine, and sometimes rigatoni.

Ingredients:

1 diced carrot
1 diced medium onion
2 diced celery stalks
Olive oil
½ lb. each – beef and pork
1 6 oz. can tomato paste
1 28 oz. can crushed tomatoes
1/2 cup dry white or red wine
salt & black pepper to taste

Dice the onion, carrot, and celery. That’s the sofrito, the base for many Italian sauces. Heat 3 tablespoons of olive oil in a large pot and sauté until soft, about 10 minutes. Add the tomato paste and stir. Cook for another 5 minutes. Remove the sofrito to a bowl and set aside.

Add 2 tablespoons of oil to the pot and brown the meat, breaking it up with a spoon as it cooks. Return the sofrito to the pot. It’s fine if some of the meat is still a little pink.

Now add the wine and deglaze the pot. Stir and cook for 5 minutes and then pour in the crushed tomatoes and 2 cups of hot water. Turn the heat down to low and simmer for 2 hours. If the sauce gets too thick as it simmers add more water. While the sauce is simmering, start a pot of boiling water for the pasta. I’m using fettuccine. Drain the pasta when it’s done and save a cup of the pasta water.

To serve, put a sauté pan on low heat. Put some of the sauce in the pan, add some pasta, and stir with a little pasta water. Place in a dish and sprinkle with Parmigiana cheese.

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Pasta

Spaghetti with Cherry Tomatoes

June 28, 2022 robiulo Leave a comment

Spaghetti with Cherry Tomatoes

This is a simple and quick recipe similar to aglio e olio. You can make the sauce in the time it takes to cook the pasta. Spaghetti with Cherry Tomatoes has a fresh light taste so I wouldn’t recommend any cheese on this one.

Ingredients:

1 lb. spaghetti
¼ cup olive oil
6 cloves garlic, sliced
Salt, black pepper
Red pepper (from a pinch to a tablespoon)
½ cup chopped parsley
1 pint cherry tomatoes

Start a pot of water for the pasta and begin to cook the pasta.

Slowly cook the garlic in the oil in a large frying pan. Add the seasoning (salt, black and red pepper) and the parsley. Stir and then add the tomatoes (half of them cut in half). Cook over a medium heat until the pasta is almost done.

Add a cup of the pasta water to the sauce and then add the almost cooked pasta to finish cooking. Add additional water as necessary to keep it moist.

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Pasta, Vegetarian

Roasted Broccoli Pasta

March 10, 2022 robiulo 2 Comments

Roasted Broccoli Pasta

I know that lots of people don’t like broccoli and this recipe is for them. Roasting it gives it a crisp flavor that makes the difference. This is adapted from Melissa Clark’s recipe in the New York Times.

Ingredients:

2 ½ lbs. broccoli cut into bite sized florets
2 tbsp. olive oil plus more for drizzling
Salt, black pepper and red pepper flakes
12 oz. small pasta
1/3 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1/3 cup plain breadcrumbs
1 tbsp. lemon zest
12 oz. whole milk ricotta

Pre-heat your over to 425^o.

In a bowl, toss the broccoli, 2 tbsp. oil, salt, black, and red pepper. Place it in a large sheet pan and roast for about 10 minutes, toss and roast for another 10 minutes until edges start to lightly brown. Remove, set aside, and set the over to broil.

Cook the pasta according to package instruction, drain and set aside.

Mix together the Parmesan, breadcrumbs, lemon zest, salt and pepper in a small bowl.

In the large bowl, mix together the broccoli, cooked pasta, and ricotta. Add the Parmesan mix and combine.

Spread the pasta and broccoli evenly in the sheet pan, drizzle with oil and broil for 2 to 4 minutes until pasta is lightly crisped and serve.

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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 Alla Zozzona

Pasta alla zozzona is a traditional Roman dish. Typical Roman pastas are usually made with a few simple ingredients but not zozzona, which means something like “a big mess.”

Ingredients:

Bring a large pot of salted water to boil. Cook the pasta until almost al dente. Reserve ¼ cup of pasta water, then drain pasta.

Stir the onion into the pan and add the tomato paste. Blend and fry for about 5 minutes. Add the sausage, season with salt and black pepper and break up the sausage meat into small pieces. Cook for about 5 minutes until the sausage has browned.

Stir in passata and the red wine. Cover the sauce with a lid and cook for about 10 minutes. Remove the lid and stir. Cook uncovered for 5 more minutes. Add the pancetta to the simmering sauce and stir to coat.

Fresh Tomato Sauce with Rusks

Fresh tomato sauce with rusks, inspired by a Greek friend, is a dish that brings together the flavors of ripe tomatoes, olive oil, and the unique crunch of rusks. Rusks are not a vegetable but rather dry, hard biscuits or twice-baked bread, lending a distinctive texture to this dish.

Start by bringing a pot of salted water to a boil for the pasta. The sauce is quick to make, ensuring it’ll be ready by the time the pasta is cooked to perfection.

As the sauce simmers, cook the pasta in the salted water until it reaches your desired level of doneness. Once almost done, transfer the pasta to the sauce to finish cooking, allowing the flavors to meld.

Using a mortar and pestle or the bottom of a small frying pan on a cutting board, crush the rusks to yield approximately one cup of crumbles.

Plate the pasta and sprinkle the crushed rusks on top. Add the tomato sauce on top of that.

Crab Sauce

Roasted Poblano Pasta

This recipe is adapted from Gretchen McKay | The Seattle Times. She calls Roasted Poblano Pasta a “an Italian-meets-Mexican fusion dish,” and I agree.

Ingredients:

While the peppers are sweating, bring large pot of salted water to a boil. Cook pasta until just shy of al dente, about 10 minutes. Drain, reserving about ½ to 1 cup of the starchy pasta water. Set aside.

While pasta is cooking, add 3 peppers, parsley, cumin, garlic, chicken stock and ½ cup heavy cream to a blender or food processor. Process until smooth. Slice 2 remaining peppers into thin strips.

Add the sliced peppers and cook until pasta has absorbed sauce. Stir to combine and give one final taste to see if you need more salt and/or pepper.

Pasta with Eggplant and Breadcrumbs

Here’s another recipe adapted from Melissa Clark at the New York Times, Pasta with Eggplant and Breadcrumbs. She never lets me down. I used Progresso Plain Breadcrumbs for this dish and Melissa made her own. Make them is you have time.

Ingredients:

Place the cut eggplant on some paper towels and sprinkle all over with salt. Wait 15 minutes and blot the moisture.

Start a pot of salted water for the pasta.

Heat ¼ cup of oil in a large pan. Add about a quarter of the chopped anchovies and all of the grated garlic. Cook, stirring, for about 1 minute. Stir in breadcrumbs and sauté until well blended, 2 to 3 minutes. Season with black pepper and salt. Scrape into a small bowl and set aside.

Add remaining 2 tablespoons of oil to the skillet and stir in remaining anchovies, the sliced garlic and red-pepper flakes. Cook over medium heat and don’t let the garlic turn brown.

Stir in tomatoes and capers. Cook until tomatoes just begin to soften, 3 to 5 minutes. Add eggplant, pasta and ¼ cup pasta water. Toss well, adding more pasta water if it looks dry.

Stir in the parsley. Squeeze half a lemon all over the pasta and toss. Taste and add more red-pepper flakes, salt or lemon juice to taste. Generously sprinkle breadcrumbs on top of pasta and serve.

Pasta al Pomodoro Light

Pasta al Pomodoro Light is adapted from an Eric Kim’s recipe in the New York Times. This sauce is delicate and subtle. Its appearance is very plain although very tasty. You can dress it up with a sprinkle of parsley and some grated Parmigiana cheese if you’d like.

Ingredients:

Lightly sauté the sliced garlic for 5 minutes in a large pot. Don’t brown it. Add the tomatoes and raise the heat to medium high. Stir until the tomatoes start to release their liquid and season with salt and pepper. Lower the heat and simmer for 45 minutes.

Put the cooked tomatoes a few spoons at a time into a sieve over a bowl. Force them through with the back of a wooden spoon. You should have about 2 plus cups of sauce. Discard the tomato skins, seeds, and garlic.

Leave whatever liquid is left in the pot and add enough salted water to cook the pasta.

When the pasta is almost done drain the water and add the tomato sauce. Cook for another few minutes, tossing until the pasta has absorbed some of the sauce. Remove the pot from the heat and let it sit for 5 minutes to absorb more sauce.

Serve with parsley and grated Parmigiana.

Basic Bolognese

Ingredients:

Dice the onion, carrot, and celery. That’s the sofrito, the base for many Italian sauces. Heat 3 tablespoons of olive oil in a large pot and sauté until soft, about 10 minutes. Add the tomato paste and stir. Cook for another 5 minutes. Remove the sofrito to a bowl and set aside.

Add 2 tablespoons of oil to the pot and brown the meat, breaking it up with a spoon as it cooks. Return the sofrito to the pot. It’s fine if some of the meat is still a little pink.

To serve, put a sauté pan on low heat. Put some of the sauce in the pan, add some pasta, and stir with a little pasta water. Place in a dish and sprinkle with Parmigiana cheese.

Spaghetti with Cherry Tomatoes

This is a simple and quick recipe similar to aglio e olio. You can make the sauce in the time it takes to cook the pasta. Spaghetti with Cherry Tomatoes has a fresh light taste so I wouldn’t recommend any cheese on this one.

Ingredients:

Start a pot of water for the pasta and begin to cook the pasta.

Slowly cook the garlic in the oil in a large frying pan. Add the seasoning (salt, black and red pepper) and the parsley. Stir and then add the tomatoes (half of them cut in half). Cook over a medium heat until the pasta is almost done.

Add a cup of the pasta water to the sauce and then add the almost cooked pasta to finish cooking. Add additional water as necessary to keep it moist.

Roasted Broccoli Pasta

I know that lots of people don’t like broccoli and this recipe is for them. Roasting it gives it a crisp flavor that makes the difference. This is adapted from Melissa Clark’s recipe in the New York Times.

Ingredients:

Pre-heat your over to 425o.

In a bowl, toss the broccoli, 2 tbsp. oil, salt, black, and red pepper. Place it in a large sheet pan and roast for about 10 minutes, toss and roast for another 10 minutes until edges start to lightly brown. Remove, set aside, and set the over to broil.

Cook the pasta according to package instruction, drain and set aside.

Mix together the Parmesan, breadcrumbs, lemon zest, salt and pepper in a small bowl.

In the large bowl, mix together the broccoli, cooked pasta, and ricotta. Add the Parmesan mix and combine.

Spread the pasta and broccoli evenly in the sheet pan, drizzle with oil and broil for 2 to 4 minutes until pasta is lightly crisped and serve.

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.

Reveries and Recipes

Pre-heat your over to 425^o.