Fabulicious!: On the Grill (20 page)

Esse nufesso qui dice male di macaroni.

“One has to be an idiot to speak badly of pasta.”

N
o matter how we cook our food, pasta is still an essential part of the Italian meal. While Americans eat about twenty pounds of pasta per person a year, Italians beat that three times over, eating more than sixty pounds. And yet, the Italian people are not three times fatter. In fact, it's the opposite. Worldwide obesity rates from 2010 show that America has the second highest obesity rate in the world with twenty-eight percent of all adults being medically classified as obese, while Italy has one of the smallest percentages, at just ten percent. Clearly pasta is not the problem. (What a relief, right? Since pasta is so, so good!)

Here's why I think pasta can be such a huge part of the Mediterranean diet and the Italian people can still stay skinny: because instead of eating deep-fried, white-flour, sugar-covered foods, we fill up on pasta. And while people in American often put pasta and bread in the same “bad carbs” category, they actually aren't the same. Pasta isn't made from the same white flour you make bread or cupcakes with. Even the regular “white” pasta is made from durum wheat—a hard, coarse wheat naturally high in protein. (Use the whole grain pasta, and that's even healthier!)

We also don't traditionally cover our pasta in crazy, buttery, melty, cheesy sauces; we toss it in extra virgin oil and sprinkle just a bit of a sharp-tasting fresh cheese over the top for flavor. Instead of a staple, super creamy sauces are considered
a big treat. And we don't just eat a giant plate of pasta with sauce and call it a day. We use pasta as a sort of vehicle for carrying other foods—mostly vegetables—into the body. Meat can accompany pasta, but it isn't the majority of our plate.

So just because we're grilling up seasonal vegetables and a lot of lean meats, we don't abandon our precious pasta. It takes just a few minutes to cook up noodles
al dente
in a pot of salted water. On my grill, because I have extra side burners and an outdoor sink for draining the pasta water, I do it outside next to the grill, so I don't even have to keep going back and forth between the grill and my kitchen.

Don't feel restricted to using your grill's side burners. There's really no reason you can't stick a big pot or pan right on your grill and use the burner heat the same you would on an inside stove. In fact, I hope by now you're starting to see your grill not
just as a place to sizzle hamburgers and hotdogs, but also as your outdoor stove and oven. I truly love being in the kitchen, and I love being outdoors, so when I grill, I get the best of both worlds: an outdoor kitchen!

Make sure, however, that if you do use a pot or a pan that it's safe for very high heat. Not all pans are, especially some of the ones with nonstick or Teflon coating. You don't want that coating to melt off! (The same goes for plastic handles.) If your cookware is rated for oven use, you're OK. Or get stuff specifically made for camping. Just one roasting pan and one Dutch oven would be great, and you can even store them outside with your grill if it has any of those extra doors or drawers.

In my family, we're not big on going back into the kitchen to scrub dirty pots and pans after we've eaten, so we use a lot of disposable aluminum pans. You can't sauté or sear a steak in them or anything, but for cooking juicy seafood and pasta and letting their flavors mingle, they're perfect.

I hate to throw away extra food. I just can't bring myself to do it. It feels like a sin. But more often than not, we have extra pasta left over. It's not so great reheated the next day (although I do like it tossed in a pan with a little olive oil and some fresh herbs), and I don't care what your grandmother says, there's no point in freezing it.

So what can you do with leftover pasta? You can add extra sauce, put it in an oven-safe pan, top it with some cheese, and bake up a spaghetti pie. Or you can turn it into an amazing frittata.

Frittata is from the Italian word for “fry,” and while it uses eggs and cheese like a quiche, it's fluffier and usually also contains pasta. Put a little olive oil on the bottom of an oven-safe pan, and add your leftover pasta. Depending on how much pasta
you have, beat four to six eggs really well to get a lot of air into them. (A whisk is best for this job, but a fork is fine, too.) Add some salt and pepper, then pour the eggs over the pasta. Sprinkle your favorite cheese over the top—mozzarella, Pecorino Romano, fontina—and then bake at 300°F for thirty minutes, until the egg is set and the cheese is starting to brown. Let it set for another five minutes before serving. No need to even tell your guests they're eating leftovers— they'll never notice!

 

Makes 9 to 12 servings

I'm not gonna lie—this is a bit of a project, but you won't care when you hear all your guests raving, “This is the most outrageously delicious lasagna I've ever eaten!” And no-boil noodles cut the hassle factor down a lot. If you have any vegetarians in the family, this is one time when the tables will be turned on the carnivores, who won't even notice that there isn't any meat.

2 large eggplants, cut into ½-inch-thick rounds

Extra-virgin olive oil, for brushing the vegetables and the baking dish

½ teaspoon salt, plus more for seasoning

½ teaspoons freshly ground black pepperplus more for seasoning

2 medium zucchini, cut lengthwise into ½-inch-thick strips

2 red bell peppers, cut according to the instructions on
page 180

4 cups (1 pound) shredded mozzarella cheese, divided

1 (15-ounce) container ricotta cheese

1 cup (4 ounces) freshly grated Parmesan cheese

¼ cup finely chopped fresh basil

1 recipe “The Quickie” Tomato Sauce with Garlic (
page 56
)

12 no-boil lasagna noodles

 

1.
Preheat the grill for direct cooking over medium heat (400°F).

2.
Brush the eggplant rounds on both sides with the oil and season with the salt and pepper. Place the eggplant rounds directly on the grill and close the lid. Cook until the undersides are seared with grill marks, about 5 minutes. Flip the eggplant rounds and continue cooking, with the lid closed, until the other sides are seared and the eggplant is tender when pierced with the tip of a small knife, about 5 minutes more. Transfer to a platter.

3.
Repeat with the zucchini slices, cooking until just tender, with the lid closed as much as possible, about 5 minutes total. Transfer to the platter with the eggplant.

4.
Increase the grill temperature to high (500°F). Place the peppers on the grill and cook according to the instructions on
page 178
. Coarsely chop the peppers and add to the platter.

5.
Put 3 cups of the mozzarella in a medium bowl, reserving the remaining mozzarella for the topping. Add the ricotta, Parmesan, and basil to the bowl and mix well. Season lightly with salt and pepper.

6.
Lightly oil a 13 × 9–inch baking dish that is at least 2 inches deep. Spread ¾ cup of the tomato sauce in the bottom of the dish. Top with 4 overlapping lasagna noodles, one-third of the remaining tomato sauce, and half of the cheese mixture, spread as evenly as possible. Arrange half of the vegetables as evenly as possible over the cheese mixture. Repeat with 4 more noodles, the remaining cheese mixture, half of the remaining tomato sauce, and the remaining vegetables. Finish with the remaining noodles, spread with the remaining tomato sauce, and sprinkle the reserved mozzarella on top. Cover loosely with an oiled piece of aluminum foil, oiled side down, tenting the foil so it does not touch the cheese. (The lasagna can be refrigerated for 2 hours before cooking.)

7.
Preheat the grill for indirect cooking with medium-low heat (350°).

8.
Place the baking dish on the grill over the unignited burner(s) and close the grill lid. Cook for 45 minutes. Remove the foil and continue cooking until the sauce is bubbling and the mozzarella topping is golden brown, about 30 minutes more. Remove the baking dish from the grill. Let stand for 15 minutes. Cut into serving portions and serve hot.

Note:
You can bake the lasagna in a preheated 350°F oven, if you prefer.

 

Makes 4 to 6 servings

Grilling meatballs not only adds extra flavor to them, but it also keeps your stove clean from annoying grease splatters. You'll want to cook the meatballs on a perforated grill pan, or use a perforated meatball holder specifically made for grilling. If you use the holder, just shape the meatball mixture, put the balls in the oiled holder, and grill for about six minutes per side.

Meatballs:

1 pound ground round beef

½ cup Italian-seasoned dry bread crumbs

½ cup milk (preferably 2%)

⅓ cup plus 1 tablespoon freshly grated Pecorino Romano cheese

1 large egg, beaten

3 tablespoons finely chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley

2 garlic cloves, minced

¾ teaspoon salt

¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Extra-virgin olive oil, for brushing and for the pan

1 recipe “The Quickie” Tomato Sauce with Garlic (
page 56
)

½teaspoon red pepper flakes

1 pound ziti or other tube-shaped pasta

Freshly grated Parmesan cheese, for serving

1.
To make the meatballs:
Combine the ground round, bread crumbs, milk, grated Pecorino Romano cheese, egg, parsley, garlic, salt, and pepper in a large bowl. Mix everything together with clean hands. Feel for the right texture—it should be soft, but not sopping wet, so add a little more milk (if it's too dry) or bread crumbs (if it's too wet), if needed. Shape into 12 equal balls by gently shaping the meat mixture in your hands. Do not crush and mold the meat between your palms. Place the balls on a plate and brush all over with oil. Refrigerate the meatballs while preheating the grill.

2.
Preheat the grill for direct cooking over medium heat (400°F).

3.
Lightly oil a perforated grill pan, place it on the cooking grate, close the grill lid, and heat for 2 minutes. Place the meatballs on the pan. Cook, with the lid closed as much as possible, turning the meatballs occasionally with a metal spatula, until browned on all sides, about 12 minutes. The meatballs do not have to be cooked through. Remove the pan from the grill.

4.
Meanwhile, bring a large pot of salted water to a boil over high heat.

5.
Bring the tomato sauce and red pepper flakes to a simmer in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add the grilled meatballs and reduce the heat to medium-low. Simmer until the meatballs show no sign of pink when pierced in the center, about 15 minutes.

6.
Add the ziti to the water and cook according to the package directions until al dente. Drain well. Return the pasta to the pot. Add the sauce and meatballs and mix well.