Pasta Modern (17 page)

{
Spaghetti con avocado e gamberi
}

SERVES
4
|
REGION:
Sicily and southern Italy

Avocados aren’t indigenous to Italy, but as with tomatoes and corn, when these New World ingredients got there, the Italians did magical things with them.

Lemons and red onions, classic southern Italian ingredients, here combine with this creamy newcomer to the Mediterranean for an alluring fusion of textures and aromas. The avocado is used raw, and creates a healthier, more flavorsome “cream” in the sauce. The shrimp add briny tang and the lemon brightens the dish.

1 large red onion, finely sliced

¼ cup (60 ml) dry white wine

8 ounces (225 g) small shrimp, shelled and deveined

Olive oil

Salt

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

1 avocado

Zest and juice of 1 lemon

Freshly ground black pepper

In a skillet large enough to hold the pasta, combine the onions and wine over medium heat and simmer until the onions are soft, about 10 minutes. Add the shrimp and raise the heat to high to evaporate any remaining wine; cook until the onions are caramelized and the shrimp are cooked, about 5 minutes. Off the heat, add 1 tablespoon oil and salt to taste.

Boil the pasta in salted water until it is al dente. Drain and toss with the onions.

Meanwhile, peel and pit the avocado and puree it with the lemon juice in a blender or small food processor until very smooth. Stir the mixture into the pasta and add half the lemon zest until well combined; re-season the dish with salt, if needed. Top the pasta with the remaining zest and pepper.

FISH HEADS, FISH HEADS

{
Mezzi rigatoni risottati con sugo scarti
}

SERVES
4
|
REGION:
Southern Italy

This sauce is made from fish heads, an underappreciated part of the fish that infuses the sauce with light, briny flavor. The pasta cooks right in the sauce, like risotto, permeating it with deep taste.

I like this dish so much, and make it so often, that my local fishmonger has taken to saving fish heads for me each week. I freeze them until I want to make another batch of pasta.
Grazie
to francesca D’Orazio Buonerba for teaching me this economical yet deliciously gourmet dish.

Olive oil

1 onion, finely minced

1 small carrot, finely minced

1 celery stalk, finely minced

2 pounds (910 g) heads from monkfish or any large fish

1 cup (240 ml) dry white wine

1 garlic clove, minced

1 (26-ounce/750-g) container strained tomatoes, preferably Pomi brand

1 pound (455 g) mezzi rigatoni or other short tube pasta

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

A few fresh basil leaves

In a large saucepan, heat 2 tablespoons oil and cook the onion, carrot, and celery until they are soft, about 3 minutes. Add the fish heads and cook for a few minutes. Pour in the wine and scrape up any browned bits, then add 1 quart (960 ml) hot water. Bring to a boil, turn down the heat, and let simmer for 20 minutes. Strain the fish broth. If you like, pick through the heads for the tasty cheek meat to add to the broth; discard everything else. Keep the broth hot.

In another pot, large enough to hold the pasta, heat 2 tablespoons oil with the garlic, then add the tomatoes and bring them to a boil. Stir in the pasta, turn down the heat to medium-low, and simmer. Add the hot broth, a ladleful at a time, stirring occasionally, until the pasta is al dente and most of the sauce has been absorbed. If it is still too liquidy, raise the heat at the end to cook down some of the sauce. Season the pasta with salt and pepper and serve topped with torn basil leaves.

Quinto quarto

Fifth quarter
AN ITALIAN EXPRESSION
referring to dishes made up of the
figurative fifth quarter of the animal, the
usually discarded parts: organ meats,
hooves, testicles, heads, and the like

ZITI WITH OCTOPUS & ORANGE-ALMOND PESTO

{
Ziti al pesto di agrumi
}

SERVES
4
|
REGION:
Sicily and southern Italy

Like summer on a fork! Oranges and almonds add delicate sweetness to this pesto, perfectly balanced with the zesty, salty tang of capers. It can be served with hot or room-temperature pasta, so it’s great for buffets and picnics. In Sicily, they often top this fabulous citrus pesto with fish—like tuna, salmon, or shrimp—making a main-course dish. Here it’s served with octopus, which you can boil or grill yourself or buy ready-cooked at a gourmet shop. It’s even great with canned octopus, available at most supermarkets.

⅔ cup (100 g) blanched almonds

About 25 large fresh basil leaves

2 navel oranges

⅓ cup (45 g) salted capers, rinsed

Olive oil

Salt

1 pound (455 g) ziti or any pasta

12 ounces cooked octopus, sliced into bite-sized pieces

Finely grind the almonds in a small food processor, mortar and pestle, or clean coffee grinder. Add the basil and grind into a paste.

Using a very sharp knife, and working over a plate to collect the juices, cut off the skin and white pith of the oranges and discard. Separate the orange sections, cutting or peeling off the membranes between the sections. Add the orange sections, any collected orange juice, the capers, and 3 tablespoons oil to the almond mixture and grind into a paste, adding more oil if it is too thick. Season to taste with salt.

Boil the pasta in salted water until it is al dente. Drain and toss with the pesto. Serve hot or at room temperature, topped with cooked octopus.

BEHIND THE SHAPE

Ziti, a pasta shape originating in southern Italy, gets its name from the dialect word for “bride and groom,”
i zit
. There’s another legend in Naples that claims this pasta got its name from the word
zite
, spinsters. Supposedly the women were single because of pasta! They’d stay home making pasta for the family’s Sunday meal instead of attending church services and keeping on the lookout for a husband.

In Italy, ziti refers to short or long tube pasta, with the long sometimes called
zitone
and cooked either whole or cut into bite-sized pieces. Here in the States, we usually think of ziti in only the short version.

Meat

FARE LA SCARPETTA
.

DOING THE LITTLE SHOE.

This very popular Italian expression is said when mopping up sauce with a piece of bread, as it leaves an empty track in its wake. There’s even a cute joke in Italian that references this saying: The prince offers Cinderella the glass slipper but she says, “No thanks, I’m full.”

The saucy recipes in this chapter include a wide variety of meats, from duck, rabbit, and goat to beef and pork, and use them in every way possible, as Italians are apt to do, from the bones to the prime cuts. These hearty, satisfying dishes are guaranteed to have you
fare la scarpetta!

{
Sugo al ragù Piceno
}

SERVES
8
to
10
|
REGION
:
le Marche

This dish is special because it’s a combination of two sauces served at once. One is made with an assortment of bones simmered in tomatoes, then strained. The second sauce is a dense mix of minced beef, pork, and chicken, slow cooked in wine. The pasta is tossed with the first sauce, then plated and topped with the minced-meat sauce. The result is multiple levels of flavor.

It’s generally served with
maccheroni di campofiglione
, special egg pasta that really absorbs the first sauce, making a rich base for the second sauce on top.

Here are two tips I learned in Italy for meat sauces: Stick whole cloves into a chunk of onion at the start of the sauce to infuse it with a hint of aromatic spice, and serve the pasta accompanied by a small plate holding scissors and whole dried chile peppers so everyone can add a pinch of heat.