Fabulicious!: On the Grill (22 page)

2.
While the water is heating, preheat the grill for direct cooking over medium heat (400°F).

3.
Place a large, disposable, aluminum foil roasting pan on the cooking grate. Add ¼ cup of oil, butter, and garlic and close the grill lid. Cook, stirring often, until the butter is melted and the garlic is fragrant and softened, about 3 minutes. Stir in the wine, clam juice, parsley, and red pepper flakes. Put the clams and crabs in the bottom of the pan. Close the grill lid. Cook for 5 minutes. Shake the pan well, and scatter the shrimp on top of the clams and crabs. Continue cooking, with the lid closed, occasionally shaking the pan, until the clams have opened and the shrimp is opaque, 5 to 10 minutes more.

4.
About 10 minutes before the seafood is done, add the linguine to the pot of boiling water and cook according to the package directions until al dente. Drain well. Transfer to a large serving bowl, toss with the remaining 2 tablespoons oil, and cover with aluminum foil to keep warm.

5.
Remove the roasting pan from the grill. Using tongs and a slotted spoon, transfer the seafood to a large bowl, discarding any unopened clams.

6.
Pour the cooking liquid in the pan over the pasta and mix well. Divide the pasta and sauce among deep soup bowls, and top with equal amounts of the seafood. Serve hot.

 

Makes 4 to 6 servings

This grilled sauce is fantastic with spaghetti, but you can also use it for any other pasta and with any other additions: add grilled shrimp or sausage—or both! Fair warning though, the reason I call this “summer spaghetti” is because it's only worth making with ripe local tomatoes.

Sauce:

3 pounds ripe plum (Roma) tomatoes, cut in half lengthwise

¼ cup plus 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

3 garlic cloves, minced

½ cup packed basil leaves

¼ teaspoon red pepper flakes

1 pound spaghetti

Freshly grated Parmesan cheese, for serving

1.
Preheat the grill for indirect cooking with medium heat (400°F).

2.
Arrange the tomatoes, cut sides up, in a metal roasting pan. Brush with 2 tablespoons of oil and season with salt and pepper. Place the pan over the unignited burner(s) and close the lid. Cook until the tomatoes are very tender and their edges are browned, about 1 hour. Remove the pan from the grill.

3.
Heat the remaining ¼ cup oil and the garlic over medium heat until the garlic is tender, about 2 minutes. Remove from the heat. Pulse the tomatoes, garlic oil, basil, and red pepper flakes in a food processor until coarsely chopped. (If you don't have a food processor, add the tomatoes to the garlic oil in the saucepan and mash with a potato masher into a chunky sauce. Chop the basil and stir it into the sauce, with the red pepper flakes.)

4.
Meanwhile, bring a large pot of salted water to a boil over high heat. Add the spaghetti and cook according to the package directions until al dente. Drain well. Return the spaghetti to the pot and add the sauce. Stir to combine well.

5.
Serve hot with the Parmesan cheese passed on the side.

Presto matura, presto marcio.

Literally: “Early ripe, early rotten.” What it means: If you spoil a young child too much they will turn into a rotten adult.

I
'm giving you some side dishes that feature my favorite summer vegetables: carrots, eggplant, peppers, and zucchini; but know that some of these recipes, like the grilled eggplant, can easily be made as entrées for vegetarians—or anyone really. I grew up eating lots of vegetables because my mother grew up the same way, and we were surrounded by them; in Italy there are 25 million acres of farmland that grow fruits and veggies.

If you've ever grown any summer vegetables yourself, you know it can be almost too easy, and you can easily end up with more than you'll ever eat. At the end of every summer in August, my family gets together and we can tomatoes to last us through the year, but we also preserve extra zucchini. Just like tomatoes, zucchini can be sun-dried, too.

In addition to preserving, my mother actually uses the sun to “prebake” vegetables too. For instance, she'll put the salted zucchini slices for
scapece
on a baking sheet and set them in the sun for an hour to let the salt pull out some of the moisture and concentrate the zucchini's taste. Try her “old world” trick and see if it doesn't make the Italian squash a little more special—just like my mama!

Although it's not well known as an Italian seasoning, paprika is commonly used in many Italian dishes because it is, after all, just another form of one of our favorite ingredients: peppers. Red hot pepper flakes are an Italian staple, and paprika is made from ground, dried peppers. I use paprika a lot in my summer dishes because it's milder than cayenne pepper and has an almost fruity taste. It also makes any dish prettier!

Paprika belongs on more than just devilled eggs. I use it on chicken, salads, and once you taste it on my grilled corn on the cob, you won't want it any other way!

 

Makes 6 servings

Eggplant loves being grilled—it picks up a lot of flavor. Eggplant also loves garlic, olive oil, pesto, and Parmesan cheese, and when you put these all together, you end up with a kind of vegetable pizza without the dough. You can serve this as a side dish to just about any meat, or try it as a warm appetizer, maybe drizzled with a little balsamic vinegar. You can easily take this dish to a whole new level by serving it with my Quickie Tomato Sauce (
page 56
). It will magically transform into a new main course: Grilled Eggplant Parmesan.

⅓ cup extra-virgin olive oil

2 garlic cloves, crushed under the flat side of a knife and peeled

1 large eggplant, cut crosswise into ½-inch-thick rounds

1 teaspoon salt

½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

¼ cup Homemade Pesto (
page 161
)

⅓ cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese

1.
Heat the oil and garlic together over medium-low heat until tiny bubbles form around the garlic, about 3 minutes. Remove the pan from the heat and set aside for at least 30 minutes and up to 1 hour. Discard the garlic.

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

3.
Brush the eggplant rounds on one side with about half of the garlic oil. Season the eggplant on both sides with salt and pepper. Transfer to a large platter. Place the eggplant, oiled-sides down, on the cooking grate and cover with the grill lid. Cook until the underside is golden brown and seared with grill marks, about 5 minutes. Brush with the remaining garlic oil. Flip the eggplant over and continue to cook, with the lid closed, until the other side is golden brown and the eggplant is tender, about 5 minutes more. Flip the eggplant, and use the back of a spoon to spread each eggplant round with a thin smear of pesto. Sprinkle with the Parmesan cheese and cook with the lid closed until the cheese melts, about 1 minute.

4.
Return the eggplant rounds to the platter, slightly overlapping. Serve hot or cooled to room temperature.

 

Makes 6 servings

This is my Teresa twist on the French dish Carrots Vichy, in which root veggies are glazed with mineral water, butter, and sugar. In this recipe, though, I use my Fabellini fruit-flavored sparkling wine. It's a bit of a splurge for a side dish (unless you use the leftovers from the previous night's celebration), but the carrots turn out like candy, and everyone will
love
them.

1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil

1 tablespoon unsalted butter

1 pound baby-cut carrots

2 tablespoons light brown sugar

1½ cups raspberry-flavored sparkling wine, such as Fabellini

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

1 tablespoon finely chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley, for serving

1.
Use a large nonstick skillet big enough to hold the baby carrots in a single layer. Heat the oil and butter together in the skillet over medium heat until the butter melts. Add the carrots and sprinkle with the brown sugar. Cook, stirring often, until the sugar is melted, about 2 minutes. Add the Fabellini, spread the carrots in a single layer, and bring to a simmer.

2.
Reduce the heat to medium-low and cover the skillet. Simmer for 10 minutes, occasionally stirring the carrots. Uncover and increase the heat to high. Cook, stirring often, until the carrots are very tender and the liquid is syrupy and reduced to about 2 tablespoons, 10 to 15 minutes. Season with salt and pepper. Sprinkle with the parsley and serve hot.