Cook Like a Rock Star (21 page)

Pasta Fagioli

SERVES: 4 TO 6 • TIME: ABOUT 1 HOUR

I love beans—any time, any way. And while my preference is to
cook my own beans
, I’m the first to admit that sometimes a can of beans is a lifesaver. For this recipe in particular I have no problems using canned beans, and you shouldn’t either. Having a few cans in the pantry means whipping up this dish is easy—it’s one of my very favorite things to make when I want something super comforting to slurp up and stick to my belly while sitting around watching TV on a Sunday afternoon.

MISE EN PLACE

Extra virgin olive oil

¼ pound pancetta, cut into ¼-inch dice

1 onion, cut into ¼-inch dice

Kosher salt

Pinch of crushed red pepper

2 cloves garlic, smashed and finely chopped

1 28-ounce can San Marzano tomatoes, passed through a food mill

2 15-ounce cans cannellini beans, drained and rinsed

2 15-ounce cans chickpeas, drained and rinsed

1 pound ditalini pasta

Freshly grated Parmigiano

Big fat finishing oil

Chopped chives for garnish

1
Coat a large wide pot with olive oil and add the pancetta. Bring to medium heat and cook the pancetta until it starts to crisp, 4 to 5 minutes. Toss in the onion and season with salt and red pepper; cook until the onion is soft and aromatic, 8 to 10 minutes. Add the garlic and cook for 2 to 3 minutes more. Add the tomatoes and 1 cup water, season with salt, and bring to a boil (BTB); then reduce to a simmer (RTS) and cook for 15 minutes.

2
Add the cannellini beans and chickpeas to the pot and cook for 20 minutes more.

3
Bring a large pot of well-salted water to a boil. Cook the pasta two-thirds of the way—it should still be fairly hard in the middle. Drain the pasta, reserving 1 cup of the cooking water. Add the pasta and the reserved cooking water to the pot with the tomatoes and beans. Continue cooking until the pasta is done, another 3 to 4 minutes. Taste and adjust the seasoning if needed.

4
Serve sprinkled with Parm and chives and drizzled with big fat finishing oil.

Fagio-licious!

Bucatini All’Amatriciana

SERVES: 4 TO 6 • TIME: ABOUT 1½ HOURS

When I’m in the mood for tomato sauce, Amatriciana is my go-to. It’s all about onions, spicy tomatoes, and pork products. Guanciale—cured pork jowl—is the key here. It has a sweeter, more interesting flavor than bacon. In a pinch, pancetta can be substituted, and in a double pinch bacon will suffice (though it does add a smokier flavor, so be warned). What else can I say? This sauce makes me want to dive into the bowl head first with my mouth wide open!

MISE EN PLACE

Extra virgin olive oil

8 ounces guanciale, cut into ¼-inch strips

4 onions, cut into ½-inch dice

½ to 1 teaspoon crushed red pepper

Kosher salt

2 28-ounce cans San Marzano tomatoes, passed through a food mill

1 pound bucatini or perciatelli

½ cup freshly grated Parmigiano, plus extra for garnish

Big fat finishing oil

1
Coat a large saucepan with olive oil; add the guanciale and cook over low heat until it’s brown and crispy and has rendered a lot of fat, 6 to 8 minutes. Remove the guanciale and set a third of it aside for garnish—I like to call these bits “the crispy critters.”

2
Bring the pan and the remaining fat to medium heat, add the onions and red pepper, and season generously with salt. Cook until the onions are soft and aromatic, 8 to 10 minutes.

3
Add the tomatoes and two-thirds of the guanciale, and bring to a boil (BTB), then reduce to a simmer (RTS) and cook the sauce for about 1 hour, tasting periodically and adding salt as needed (trust me, you will need to reseason).

4
Bring a large pot of well-salted water to a boil. Add the pasta and cook for 1 minute less than the instructions on the package suggest. Taste it: It should be toothsome with just a little nugget of hard pasta still in the center—this is al dente.

5
Ladle about 2 cups of the sauce into a bowl and set it aside as an insurance policy; you want the perfect ratio of pasta to sauce and while you can always add it back, you can’t take it out once the pasta is in the pan.

6
Drain the pasta, add it to the pan of sauce, and stir well. Cook the pasta in the sauce, adding more sauce if needed, for another 1 to 2 minutes; the pasta will begin to absorb the sauce and it will cling to the pasta in a lovely little hug. Add the cheese and a drizzle of big fat finishing oil and toss until it’s a homogeneous mixture. Divide among serving bowls, top with more Parm, and give each a sprinkle of the crispy critters.

Open your mouth, dive in, and enjoy!

Raviolo al’Uovo (Ricotta-Nestled Egg Yolk)

SERVES: 8 • TIME: ABOUT 30 MINUTES WITH PREMADE PASTA DOUGH

After culinary school, I spent a year in Italy learning to cook Italian food the way the Italians do, the right way. That year was probably one of the most important of my education; I learned a ton from the chefs I worked for—techniques and methods I still rely on every day. I also learned how to make this dish—which is a total showstopper.

Uovo means “egg,” and that’s what this dish is all about: a lovely golden egg yolk nestled in a bed of creamy ricotta cheese all wrapped up in a tender blanket of pasta. Cut these lovelies open and the yolk flows out of the center. It’s an incredibly sophisticated and sexy dish, but deceivingly easy to make—the only catch is you have to cook the raviolis in batches. I realize this may seem like a pain, but it’s really the best approach as these ravs are very fragile (and they do cook really quickly, so it’s actually not that big a deal). I promise it’s worth it, because this recipe will make you a rock star!

MISE EN PLACE

2 cups ricotta cheese

1 cup freshly grated Parmigiano, plus more for garnish

¼ cup chopped fresh Italian parsley

2 large eggs plus 8 large egg yolks

Kosher salt

All-purpose flour, as needed

½ recipe
Chef Anne’s All-Purpose Pasta Dough
, rolled for ravioli

Semolina flour, as needed

8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter

2 cups
chicken stock

¼ cup chopped fresh sage leaves

1
In a medium bowl, combine the ricotta, Parm, parsley, and 2 whole eggs; mix well and season with salt.

2
Dust a clean work surface lightly with all-purpose flour and lay out two sheets of pasta about 12 inches long; brush them lightly with water. Equally space 4 dollops of the ricotta mixture on each pasta sheet; then use a spoon to make a “nest” or small hole in the center of each dollop. Carefully separate the remaining eggs (reserve the whites for another purpose) and put a yolk in each ricotta “nest”—the ricotta should lovingly nestle each yolk (if a yolk breaks, scoop it out with a spoon and don’t use it).

3
Cover the ricotta nests and egg yolk with another sheet of pasta. Use your index fingers to press around each ricotta nest to seal the edges, then use a fluted ring cutter or dough
roller to cut around each ravioli (they should be 3 to 4 inches in diameter). Reserve the ravioli on a tray generously dusted with semolina.

4
Bring a large pot of well-salted water to a boil. In a large sauté pan, melt half the butter and add half of the chicken stock (you’re going to use the remainder for your next batch); season with salt and toss in half the sage. Bring this to a boil (BTB) and reduce to a simmer (RTS).

5
Add 4 of the ravioli to the boiling water and cook for 3 minutes. Using a spider or slotted spoon, carefully transfer the ravioli from the water to the pan with butter and chicken stock and cook for 2 to 3 minutes. If the sauce reduces too much, add a few drops of the pasta cooking water. The sauce should cling to the ravioli in a buttery hug.

6
Transfer the ravioli to serving plates, spoon a little extra sauce over each one, and finish with a sprinkey-dink of grated Parm. Repeat with the remaining butter, stock, sage, and ravioli.