Pasta Modern (13 page)

Olive oil

8 baby Roma or plum tomatoes, cut in half

2 garlic cloves, minced

1 pound (455 g) spaghetti, preferably Benedetto Cavalieri brand

Salt

Several untreated wood chips or dry twigs

Fresh herbs, minced, such as parsley, basil, and oregano

Parmesan or other aged cheese

Heat a heavy iron skillet until very hot, add 1 tablespoon oil (it will smoke) and put in the tomatoes, cut sides down. Cook on very high heat until the tomatoes are blackened. Turn them over with a spatula, and char them on the skin sides. Sprinkle the garlic over the tomatoes, drizzle with 2 more tablespoons oil, remove from the heat, and cover.

Boil the spaghetti in salted water until it is al dente. While the pasta is cooking, put a scattering of wood chips or a few bits of dry twigs in a large high-rimmed baking pan, top with a grill rack, and light the wood so the chips begin to smoke. Drain the pasta and spread it over the grill rack. Cover the pan tightly with aluminum foil so the smoke flavor can absorb into the pasta, about 4 minutes.

Peel away and discard the skin from the tomato halves—it should separate easily. Gently toss the smoked pasta into the skillet with the tomatoes and season with salt. Serve topped with a drizzle of olive oil, fresh herbs, and shaved or grated cheese.

{
Pasta senz’acqua
}

SERVES
6
|
REGION:
Abruzzo and Puglia

I love recipes like this one, where you pop raw ingredients into the oven, walk away, and return to a gourmet dinner!

It’s called “pasta without water,” because instead of cooking the pasta in boiling water, the uncooked pasta is layered with sliced tomatoes, potatoes, and herbs and baked into deliciousness. It absorbs lots of flavor as it melds with the other ingredients!

It’s a casual, easy-to-assemble recipe that lends itself to improvisation. Use any type of potato you like: colorful and tasty Yukon golds, purple potatoes, tiny red potatoes. Add veggies like zucchini or spinach, herbs like thyme or marjoram, and even salami, if you like.

Olive oil

2 large red onions, thinly sliced

Dried oregano

Dried basil

3 pounds (1.4 kg) potatoes, any type, peeled and thinly sliced

4 garlic cloves, finely minced

Salt

4 pounds (1.8 kg) baby Roma or plum tomatoes, cut in half or quarters

1 pound (455 g)
pennoni
or other tube pasta

3 cups hot vegetable stock

Freshly ground black pepper

Grana padano
, pecorino, or any aged cheese

Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C).

In a Dutch oven or roasting pan over medium-high heat, drizzle 2 tablespoons oil. Scatter the onions over the entire bottom of the pan, sprinkle with oregano and basil to taste, and cook for about 5 minutes, until softened. Top with a layer of potatoes, pressing down firmly and evenly. Drizzle on about 3 more tablespoons oil, oregano to taste, the garlic, and salt to taste. Top with half the tomatoes, then scatter on the raw pasta. Drizzle with 2 more tablespoons oil and basil to taste. End with a layer of tomatoes, skin side up. Using a spatula, press all the layers down very firmly, all the while cooking it over medium-high heat.

Pour the hot stock over the top, put aluminum foil right onto the surface of the food, and cover it with a lid. Bake until the pasta and potatoes are tender, about 1 ½ hours, checking periodically to see if more liquid is needed (if it is, add some boiling water).

Increase the oven temperature to 475°F (245°C). Remove the lid and foil, sprinkle with the black pepper and ½ cup of grated cheese, and bake for an additional 10 minutes, or until golden on top. Serve with more shaved or grated cheese on the side.

{
Pasta spezzata con crema di patate
}

SERVES
4
|
REGION:
Campania, Naples

Spaghettata di mezzanote

Midnight spaghetti
REFERS TO ANY PASTA MADE AS A QUICK LATE-NIGHT SNACK

Neapolitans consider this dish a sure cure for insomnia! No need to count sheep when you can sup on the fluffy white clouds of this satisfying dish. A good night’s sleep is guaranteed.

Creamy, but made without cream, potato and garlic dissolve into velvety delight. The pasta cooks right in the sauce like risotto, a technique called
risottare
. This dish is traditionally made with a mix of all sorts of different pasta shapes, which is nowadays sold ready-mixed in one package. Of course, you can use just one type, like broken-up spaghetti, if you prefer.

I learned to make this dish from my friend Sonia Piscicelli, whose blog, Il Pasto Nudo, is one of my favorites. I love her tip to use
all
the parsley when cooking, including the flavorful stems!

1 pound (455 g) potatoes, any type, peeled and diced

Olive oil

3 garlic cloves, crushed

8 ounces (225 g) spaghetti, broken into bite-sized pieces

Grated pecorino or other aged cheese

⅓ cup (30 g) finely minced fresh parsley leaves and stems

1 small dried red chile pepper, minced

Salt

Freshly ground black pepper

In a medium saucepan over medium heat, combine the potatoes, ¼ cup (60 ml) oil, and the garlic and cook, stirring occasionally, until the potatoes start to break up a bit, about 10 minutes. Add about 2 cups hot water, just enough to cover the potatoes by ½ inch (12 mm). Raise the heat, bring everything to a boil, then lower the heat and simmer until the potatoes are very soft, about 10 minutes more. Add the pasta and stir until combined; simmer until the pasta is almost al dente. Stir in ⅓ cup (40 g) of cheese, the parsley, and the chile pepper to taste, and cook for another minute, adding hot water or olive oil if needed. Season to taste with salt.

Serve topped with more cheese and an additional sprinkle of parsley, chile, and pepper.

PASTA & POTATOES

You might think that combining two starches—pasta and potatoes—is a little weird, but in Italy it’s actually quite common. In fact, pesto Genovese, Liguria’s famous basil and pine nut pesto, is traditionally served with pasta cooked with string beans and sliced potatoes.

KAMUT SPAGHETTI WITH BEAN “MEATBALLS”

{
Spaghetti di kamut con polpettine di fagioli borlotti
}

SERVES
4
|
REGION:
Calabria, Abruzzo, and southern Italy

In southern Italy, beans often used to be called “poor man’s meat.” Nowadays, we’ve come to realize just how healthy and delicious all those so-called “poor” foods can be.

I love these “meatballs,” which are made from mashed beans seasoned with grated cheese and breadcrumbs. The nice grain flavor of the bread mixed with the rich creaminess of the beans makes an amazingly light, healthy, and delicious “meatball” that pairs especially well with the nutty flavor of kamut-flour pasta. Use fresh beans or good-quality dried beans and many of your guests won’t even recognize they aren’t eating meat!

1 heaping cup (about 250 ml) shelled fresh
borlotti
or cranberry beans

3 tablespoons homemade breadcrumbs, toasted

Grated Parmesan cheese

1 large egg

1 teaspoon dried oregano

½ teaspoon garlic powder

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Olive oil

1 onion, very finely minced

1 (28-ounce/800-g) can tomato puree

1 pound (455 g) kamut or whole-wheat spaghetti

A few fresh basil leaves, shredded

Cook the beans in boiling, salted water until tender, about 5 minutes. Once cool, use a spoon to press them through a mesh strainer to remove the skins and form a creamy paste. Mix the paste with the breadcrumbs, 3 tablespoons Parmesan, the egg, oregano, garlic powder, and salt and pepper to taste until combined. Wet your hands with water and roll 1-inch (2.5-cm) meatballs, adding more breadcrumbs or grated cheese if the mixture is too loose. You should get about a dozen meatballs.

Meanwhile, in a sauté pan large enough to hold the meatballs in one layer, heat 2 tablespoons oil and cook the onion until very soft. Add the tomato puree and salt and pepper to taste and simmer for 10 minutes. Finally, add in the meatballs, cover, and cook for 5 minutes without stirring, so as not to break apart the meatballs.

Boil the spaghetti in salted water until it is al dente. Drain and top with the sauce, meatballs, basil, and more grated Parmesan.

{
Spaghetti al Nero d’Avola
}

SERVES
2
*
|
REGION:
Sicily

Instead of boiling the pasta in water until al dente, in this time-honored Sicilian recipe you will finish cooking it in red wine. The result is spaghetti with splendidly fruity tartness and lovely mahogany color. The trick to this dish is to add the wine only a few tablespoons at a time, so that it thickens into a glorious, deliciously fruity sweet glaze.

Chef Maurizio Botta, of Vecchia Cantina Baroni in Siracusa, adds a modern twist and serves it topped with ricotta, garnished with crisp frizzled leeks and sliced almonds for crunch.

¼ cup (60 g) ricotta, preferably sheep’s milk

Olive oil

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Freshly grated nutmeg

8 ounces (225 g) spaghetti

1 small leek, finely sliced

1 cup (240 ml) dry red wine, preferably Nero d’Avola, plus more if needed

2 teaspoons sugar

Grated pecorino cheese

Sliced almonds

*
If you’d like to serve four, double the ingredients and use two pans, because the sauce becomes velvety only when cooked in small batches
.

In a bowl, mix the ricotta, 1 tablespoon oil, and salt, pepper, and nutmeg to taste until combined. Set aside.

Boil the spaghetti in salted water for just 3 minutes, then drain.

Meanwhile, in a sauté pan large enough to hold the pasta, fry half the leeks in 2 tablespoons oil on high heat until dark golden, about 4 minutes. Remove them with a slotted spoon and set them aside on paper towels.

Add the remaining leeks to the pan, lower the heat to medium, and cook until they are very soft, about 5 minutes. Add half the wine and the sugar and stir to combine. Toss in the parcooked spaghetti, raise the heat, and stir constantly, adding the remaining wine only a few tablespoons at a time. Toss the spaghetti frequently, keeping the heat high, so the wine is absorbed into the pasta. Cook until the pasta is al dente, adding more wine if needed. Stir in 2 tablespoons pecorino until it is fully incorporated, then taste and season with salt and pepper if needed.