Category: Entrees

Servings: 2-3
Source: Fine Cooking

Ingredients
One: Sauté
2 Tbs. olive oil
1 small yellow onion, finely chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 cups canned crushed tomatoes

Two: Flavor
1 tsp. chopped fresh thyme (or ½ tsp.dried)
2 tsp. chopped fresh oregano (or ½ tsp. dried)
¼ tsp. dried red chile flakes
¼ cup vodka
1/3 cup homemade or low-salt canned chicken or vegetable broth

Three: Enrich
½ to 2/3 cup heavy cream

Four: Toss
12 oz. dried penne, cooked and drained
¼ cup freshly grated Parmesan
¼ cup roughly chopped fresh flatleaf parsley

Directions
Do onions first until soft. Add garlic for 30 sec, then tomatoes. Season with salt and pepper. Add spices, then liquids. Do not boil, but reduce liquid slightly to let flavors form a background. Add cream and reduce slightly so that sauce has a nice coating consistency but isn’t thick. No more than a few minutes of cooking. Under reducing will make for a soupy sauce with a raw edge. Over-reducing won’t give you enough sauce to coat the pasta well, plus you may break the cream.Add the cheese and the cooked pasta while the pan is still over the heat. Toss both in the pan and stir to heat pasta through and sauce completely incorporated. Remove pan from heat. Check salt and pepper. Add parsley now. Serve immediately.

Servings: 6

Ingredients
1 large fennel bulb (sometimes called anise), stalks trimmed flush with bulb and green feathery tops reserved
3 scallions, sliced thin
2 garlic cloves, minced

½ teaspoon fennel seeds, ground fine in an electric coffee/spice grinder
6 flat anchovies, rinsed, patted dry, and chopped fine
1/3 cup dried currants
½ cup extra-virgin olive oil
freshly ground black pepper to taste
1 pound penne or other tubular pasta
½ cup coarse fresh bread crumbs (preferably from a crusty loaf), toasted until golden
1/3 cup pine nuts, toasted lightly
fresh lemon juice to taste

Directions
Quarter fennel lengthwise and discard core. In a food processor fitted with a 1-2 mm. slicing blade or with a mandoline or other manual slicer cut fennel lengthwise into very thin slices.

In a large bowl toss together fennel, scallions, garlic, ground fennel seeds, anchovies, currants, oil, pepper, and salt to taste and let stand 30 minutes.

While mixture is standing, in a 6-quart kettle bring 5 quarts salted water to a boil for pasta.

Cook pasta in boiling water until al dente and drain in a colander. Immediately add pasta to fennel mixture and toss well. Add bread crumbs, pine nuts, lemon juice, salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste and toss again.

Serve pasta warm or at room temperature. Serves 6.

Servings: 4
Source: Bon Appétit
September 2004
“”On my days off from the restaurant, I cook for my wife at home. We tend to eat light, and I cook with foods that are in season since I’ve never been one for complicated dishes. It’s just not my style. I’d rather have sliced tomatoes with a good olive oil or pasta with vegetables than something fussy.””
Broccoli rabe is also called rapini.

Ingredients
12 ounces penne pasta
1/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil
4 garlic cloves, chopped
2 bunches broccoli rabe, chopped
8 anchovies, chopped
3/4 teaspoon dried crushed red pepper
1 pound tomatoes, diced
1 cup chopped fresh basil, divided
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
1 1/4 cups grated Parmesan cheese, divided

Directions
Cook pasta in large pot of boiling salted water until tender but still firm to bite. Drain; return to same pot.
Meanwhile, heat oil in large skillet over medium-high heat. Add garlic; sauté 30 seconds. Add broccoli rabe, anchovies, and crushed pepper; sauté until broccoli rabe is crisp-tender, about 5 minutes. Add tomatoes and 1/4 cup basil.
Add vegetable mixture and lemon juice to pasta; toss to coat.Transfer pasta to large bowl. Add remaining 3/4 cup basil and 3/4 cup cheese; toss to blend. Season pasta to taste with salt and pepper. Serve, passing remaining cheese.

Servings: 4-6

Ingredients
1½ pounds squid, cleaned
3 to 4 tablespoons olive oil
2 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
1 shallot, thinly sliced
1 (28-ounce) can tomato sauce
1 cup white or red wine
½ cup chopped parsley leaves
1 pound linguini or spaghetti
Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Directions
Cut squid bodies in half lengthwise and then cut in half widthwise. If the tentacles are large, cut them in half lengthwise. Set aside.

Heat olive oil in a large sauté pan. Add garlic and shallot and cook over medium-high heat for about 5 minutes. Add tomato sauce and wine. Cook sauce over high heat for 5 minutes, until it reduces and thickens. Season with salt and pepper, to taste. Simmer, uncovered, for about 15 minutes.

Meanwhile, bring a large pot of salted water to a boil, then add linguini or spaghetti and cook until tender (time will vary according to freshness of pasta, but it should take at least 7 minutes). Drain well.

Add calamari to tomato sauce, and cook for 3 to 5 minutes, or until just cooked through. Taste for seasoning, and add more salt and pepper, if desired. Add the drained pasta and parsley, then toss well. Serve with freshly grated Parmesan cheese and red pepper flakes.

Servings: —
Source: Gourmet
Pasta with Eggplant and Tomato Sauce

Ingredients
2 lb. Eggplant
2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
1 cup plus 1 tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil
3 lb. plum tomatoes, chopped
1/4 cup finely chopped fresh basil
1 lb. spaghetti
1 cup freshly grated ricotta salata cheese or pecorino (2 ½ oz.)

Directions
Cut eggplant lengthwise into ½-inch-thick slices and layer in a colander, sprinkling each layer generously with salt. Let stand 1 hour.

Cook garlic in 1 tbsp. oil in a 5 to 6 quart heavy saucepan over moderate hear until pale golden. Add tomatoes and simmer, stirring occasionally, until thickened, 30 to 40 minutes. Force mixture through food mill into a bowl. Return sauce to pan and stir in basil and salt and pepper to taste.

Rinse eggplant and pat dry with paper towels. Heat remaining cup oil in a large heavy skillet over moderately high heat until hot but not smoking, then cook eggplant in 3 or 4 batches, turning once, until browned and tender, 5 to 6 minutes. (If eggplant begins to brown too quickly, lower heat to moderate.)

Transfer to paper towels to drain. Cool and cut crosswise into ¼ inch strips.
Cook pasta in a large pot of boiling salted water until al dente, then drain well. Toss pasta with half of sauce, half of eggplant, and ¾ cup cheese.
Serve pasta topped with remaining sauce, eggplant, and cheese.

Servings: —
Source: Joan Berman-Segall

Ingredients
2½ lbs cherry tomatoes and/or grape tomatoes
1/3 C extra virgin olive oil
5 garlic cloves
1 Tbs balsamic vinegar
½ red onion, sliced

12 oz. Farfalle (bow tie) pasta
¾ pitted kalamata lives
¼ C capers
1¼ C feta cheese
1/3 C pine nuts, toasted

Directions
In 400° over, combine first 5 ingredients in 13”X9” baking dish. Season with salt and pepper. Roast until a little brown and soft – about 1 hours. Let stand until room temperature.

Cook/drain pasta. Add tomato mixture with olives, capers and feta.

Serve at room temperature.

Servings: 8
Preheat: 375°
When I bit into my first expensive plate of pasta e quattro formaggi, I was surprised that it immediately struck a homey and familiar note. This is not macaroni and cheese out of a box; it isn’t cheap; it isn’t slimming; and while not particularly complicated, it also isn’t an instantly made dish. But it is resoundingly delicious and always pleases people. As one friend said upon digging in, “”You can go home again!””

For the pasta you can use any substantial pierced pasta. Shops that sell loose pasta often have macaroni or the larger ziti, about 18 inches long. The long pieces look wonderful curled around in the dish, but you need a very large pot to cook them in. If your pot isn’t big enough, just break the noodles into halves, thirds, or whatever will fit comfortably.

This will make eight generous servings. It’s the kind of dish that those who are clearly untroubled by thoughts of calories confess to enjoy eating the next day, fried in butter.

The most efficient way to organize your work is first to put the water on to boil for the pasta and then, while it’s heating, make the white sauce and grate the cheese. Once the noodles are cooked, toss them with the sauce and cheese and cover them with a layer of bread crumbs. The dish can either be baked right away or held and baked hours later.

Ingredients

Directions
THE WHITE SAUCE

3 cups milk
½ small onion, sliced
1 bay leaf
4 parsley sprigs
10 peppercorns
2 branches thyme or 2 pinches dried
a couple of gratings of nutmeg
2 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons flour salt
freshly ground pepper

Slowly bring the milk to a boil in a saucepan with the onion, bay leaf, parsley, peppercorns, thyme, and nutmeg, then strain. Mix the butter and flour together; then whisk it into the hot milk. Lower the heat and simmer, partially covered, for 25 minutes. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

THE PASTA AND THE CHEESES

salt
slightly less than 1 pound macaroni or ziti, in short or long pieces
1½ cups fresh bread crumbs
¼ cup melted butter
6 ounces (about 2 cups) Gruyere, grated
2 ounces (about 2/3 cup) smoked cheese such as Swiss, Gouda, or mozzarella, grated
½ pound mozzarella cheese, fresh if possible, sliced or grated
freshly ground pepper

Bring to a boil a pot of water large enough to hold the long pasta easily, if you’re using it. If your pot isn’t large enough to allow the noodles to become quickly submerged, break them into smaller pieces. When the water boils, salt to taste and add the pasta. Cook until slightly underdone since it is going to cook again. With tubular noodles this will take less time than you might guess since, being pierced, they cook from both the inside and the outside. Check frequently-they may be done after only 4 or 5 minutes. Drain and rinse in cold water to stop the cooking; set the pasta aside.

Toss the breadcrumbs with the melted butter. Preheat the oven to 375°F. Lightly butter a large gratin or baking dish. Toss the pasta with the first 2 cheeses and the white sauce. Put a third of it into the dish, make a layer of sliced mozzarella, season with pepper to taste, and repeat with the rest of the pasta and cheese.

Cover the dish with a blanket of the buttered breadcrumbs and bake until the crumbs have browned and the dish is hot, about 45 minutes. If you are going to bake the macaroni later, set aside the bread crumbs until you put the dish in the oven. If the dish goes directly from the refrigerator to the oven, it will take about 60 minutes to heat.

If you’re serving macaroni and cheese as a main dish, serve it with something fresh, simple, and a little tart, such as a tomato and onion salad or a salad of endive or crisp romaine lettuce with fresh herbs and a lemon vinaigrette.