MY NEW FAVORITE TOMATO SAUCE

Posted in Pasta & Noodles, Vegetarian-friendly by sallybr

Strange things happen in my kitchen. Countless recipes wait in an imaginary line, that most will stay in for years, until I finally get around to making them. But occasionally a recipe casts a spell on me, forcing a menu change, a search for exotic ingredients, the abandonment of seasonal cooking, and my personal resolve to drop everything else and cook it right away, as soon as humanly possible. I bring this up because it happened last weekend, when the Barefoot Contessa’s guest chef, Joseph Realmuto, shared the recipe for his restaurant’s favorite tomato sauce (for the past 22 years). It involved vodka, slow roasted tomatoes and onions, and was finished with heavy cream. I stopped in my tracks, slowly turned, headed to the kitchen, and made it. And that, my friends, was the right move… 😉

PENNE A LA VECCHIA BETTOLA
(adapted from Joseph Realmuto, original recipe from La Vecchia Bettola, Firenze)

1/4 cup olive oil
1/2 yellow onion, diced
1 clove garlic, diced
1/2 T dried red pepper flakes
1 T dried oregano
1/2 cup vodka
1 can best quality whole tomatoes (28 ounces)
salt and black pepper to taste
1/4 cup heavy cream
fresh herbs of your choice (oregano, basil)
parmiggiano reggiano cheese, grated

Heat the oven to 375 F.

Heat the olive oil in a skillet, add the onions, cook for about 8 minutes over medium heat, add the garlic, red pepper flakes, and dried oregano, and saute for a couple of minutes, mixing constantly. Add the vodka and simmer until the mixture is slightly reduced. Drain the tomatoes and add them to the skillet, crushing them slightly with your hands or a large wooden spoon (careful, they will splatter!). Season lightly with salt. Cover the skillet and place in the oven for one and a half hours. Remove the skillet from the oven, let it cool for 15 minutes, then place the contents in a blender. Puree until smooth.

While you cook the pasta in plenty of salted boiling water, finish the sauce back in the skillet, setting over medium heat, and adding heavy cream. Adjust seasoning with salt and pepper. Simmer for about 5 minutes, add the cooked pasta, and allow them to gently simmer for a few more minutes. Add fresh herbs and parmiggiano cheese right before serving.

ENJOY!

to print the recipe, click here

Comments: In this day and age it’s hard to believe I’d even bother with another recipe for tomato sauce. I usually alternate between my two favorites: the first involves a quick saute of onions in olive oil, a can of tomatoes, salt, pepper and some herbs; the second is a very popular recipe from Marcella Hazan, worth all the butter it calls for. 😉

With the addition of this recipe I have my own tomato trilogy. It’s a breeze to prepare, but the combination of vodka and slow roasted tomatoes makes it taste complex. I reduced the cream because 1 full cup of heavy cream seemed excessive; feel free to do as your heart (and palate) desires. The vodka provides a background of heat that’s perfect with the intense flavor of tomatoes, concentrated by roasting. It’s a delicious sauce that may be prepared in advance and blended right before finishing.

5Mar2010

IMPROMPTU PASTA DINNER

Posted in Pasta & Noodles, Vegetarian-friendly, Veggies by sallybr

It was a dark and stormy night… no, not really, but it was a busy day at work and we wanted to go home, get some comfy clothes, kick back and relax. My night to cook: I pulled out a cookbook, but even browsing for recipes seemed like an herculean effort, so I opened the fridge searching for inspiration. Voila’: half a bunch of asparagus! In the pantry, I spotted a can of Muir fire-roasted tomatoes (love that stuff!). It was all that I needed. Dinner took shape in less than 20 min, resulting in two happy humans and an enjoyable evening ahead of us.

PASTA WITH ASPARAGUS COINS and TOMATOES
(from the Bewitching Kitchen)

1 shallot
1 T olive oil
fresh asparagus
1 small can Muir fire-roasted tomatoes
salt and pepper
grated parmiggiano-reggiano cheese
pasta of your preference

Set a large pot with salted water to boil.

Using a sharp knife, cut the asparagus into small coins, trying to get them in similar sizes, about 1/4 inch thick. Dice the shallot. Open the can of tomatoes.

Heat the olive oil in a large skillet, saute the shallots until translucent, immediately add the asparagus coins, and cook them in medium-high heat, moving them around. Season with salt and pepper, and try a bite after a couple of minutes. They should be still very firm. Add the tomatoes, cook for a few more minutes, adjust seasoning.

Meanwhile, cook the pasta until al dente. Drain and add to the skillet with the asparagus/tomato sauce. Cook them together for a minute or so, add parmiggiano on top and serve.

ENJOY!

to print the recipe, click here

Comments: Slicing asparagus in little coins is a fun way to enjoy it. In Secrets of a Restaurant Chef, Anne Burrell made a salad of raw asparagus cut this way – I’ve been saving the recipe to try it when Spring comes. Time for a little disclaimer: we understand that buying asparagus in mid-winter is politically incorrect. Yes, they traveled a long distance. But, we needed an asparagus-fix. It might even speed the arrival of Spring! 😉

11Dec2009

TRIED AND… TASTY!

Posted in Pasta & Noodles, Seafood by sallybr

This recipe comes from “Closet Cooking” – I first printed it when I saw it on Kevin’s blog, and as usual, it sat on my pile of “soon to make” recipes, waiting and waiting. Then, a couple of weeks ago I learned that that the Closet Cooking blog will be featured in a net-event called “Tried and Tasted”, so it was the perfect opportunity to make the dish and join the party!

BAKED SHRIMP AND FETA PASTA
(adapted from Closet Cooking)

1 cup orzo
1 tablespoon oil
1 shallot, finely chopped
1 clove garlic, chopped
1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes
1/4 cup white wine
1 1/2 cups canned tomatoes, diced
1 teaspoon oregano
salt and pepper to taste
1/4 cup fresh herbs (parsley, basil, mint… your choice!)
2 green onions, sliced
1/2 pound shrimp, peeled and deveined
1/2 cup feta cheese (crumbled)

Cook the orzo in boiling water until al dente. Do not overcook.

Heat the oil in a pan, saute the shallots until translucent, add the garlic and red pepper flakes, and saute for 30 seconds more. Add the white wine, tomato and oregano, season with salt and pepper, and simmer until the sauce thickens, about 5 minutes. Remove from the heat, stir in the herbs and green onions. Mix the sauce, cooked orzo and shrimp, place them in a baking dish and top with the feta cheese. Bake in a 425F oven until the shrimp is cooked and the sauce is bubbly, about 15 minutes. If you want, run the dish quickly under the broiler before serving.

ENJOY!

to print the recipe, click here

Comments: Shrimp and feta are perfect together. I often make a similar dish, in which I saute the shrimp, add them to a baking dish with diced tomatoes, herbs, and sprinkle feta on top. However, I like Kevin’s approach better for two reasons: first, the shrimp is not sauteed beforehand, so it finishes with a more pleasant texture. Secondly, the addition of orzo makes this recipe a complete meal. We ate it with a simple salad.

The original recipe called for green onions and fresh herbs – I thought I had some green onions in the fridge, but I didn’t, so I skipped them. And, since I’m making this dish in December, I had no fresh herbs, so I used dried oregano and thyme instead. I’m sure that the dish will be even better when made as originally posted. 😉 …Give it a try!

As I mentioned before, I always soak the shrimp in a light brining solution before cooking, a trick learned from Chinese cookbooks that ensures a plumper texture. Since the only shrimp we have are frozen, this step makes a huge difference.

So, with this post I participate for the first time in the Tried and Tasted event, which was launched by Zlamushka in April 2008. You can read more about it by clicking here.

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4Dec2009

DINNER IN A HURRY

Posted in Pasta & Noodles, Seafood by sallybr

I made this in “desperation-mode”, when there was very little available in our fridge: a bunch of Swiss chard harvested from our garden, and a little over half a cup of tomato puree leftover from another recipe. All I needed was to defrost a bag of large shrimp, and a quick, tasty dinner arrived at the table!

FETUCCINE WITH SHRIMP, SWISS CHARD AND TOMATOES

dried fetuccine (enough for two)
1 Tbs olive oil
1 shallot, finely diced
big bunch of Swiss chard
12-15 large shrimp
zest of a lemon
tomato puree
salt and pepper

Place a large pan with salted water to boil.

Shred the chard leaves after removing the central, tough stem. If you have extra time, dice the stems and start sauteing them a few minutes before adding the rest of the leaves; otherwise send them to your compost bin.

Heat the olive oil, add the diced shallots, cook for a couple of minutes, add the chard, season lightly with salt and pepper, and cook in medium heat until it starts to get soft, about 5 minutes. Increase the heat to high and add the shrimp. Cook until they turn opaque, add the tomato puree, lemon zest to taste, simmer a couple of minutes, adjusting the seasoning with salt and pepper.

Meanwhile, cook the pasta until al dente. Reserve a little of the pasta cooking water, drain the pasta and add it to the skillet with the shrimp mixture. Simmer everything together to perform the beautiful marriage of sauce and pasta, adding some of the pasta cooking water if necessary.

ENJOY!

to print the recipe, click here

Comments: Normally I don’t add Swiss chard to a tomato based sauce, but this worked so well, I intend to do it again. Amounts are all very flexible, of course. Most people will enjoy sauteing some garlic with the shallots, so go right ahead…

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10Nov2009

PASTA WITH ZUCCHINI STRANDS AND SHRIMP

Posted in Pasta & Noodles, Seafood by sallybr

The pasta of my childhood was all about the sauce, either a heavy red sauce, or an equally heavy white sauce, often loaded with cheese. I loved them both, and I still make slightly lighter versions every once in a while. But, over the past few years my taste buds gravitated more and more towards pasta with veggies. Now the sauce plays a secondary role, formed in part by a simple ladle of the pasta cooking water, full of the starch released during cooking.

The possibilities for this kind of dish are nearly endless. I’m fond of cutting zucchini to match long stranded pasta, like spaghetti or fettuccine. This recipe, which I threw together in minutes the other day, is perfect for weeknights: quick, simple to make, not too heavy, but substantial enough to leave you satisfied and happy at the end of a busy day.

PASTA WITH ZUCCHINI STRANDS AND SHRIMP

(serves two, amounts are pretty flexible)

dried spaghetti, fettuccine or any long strand pasta
12 large shrimp, peeled and deveined
2-3 medium size zucchini
1 shallot, finely diced
1 T olive oil
1/2 ounce goat cheese, crumbled
lemon zest
salt and pepper

Place a large pot with water to boil.

Prepare the zucchini by cutting off both ends and using a mandolin or food processor to cut it lengthwise into fine strands. Ideally, you want the dimensions of the zucchini to match the pasta, but don’t worry too much about it, just make sure to have long, even-sized strands.

When the water boils, add the pasta: while it cooks, heat a little olive oil in a large saute pan, add the diced shallot, season lightly with salt, and cook for a couple of minutes in medium heat. Add the shrimp and cook on both sides until opaque, do not overcook. Remove the shrimp to a plate and add the zucchini to the pan, increasing the heat to high. Season with a little salt and pepper, and when the zucchini cooks down return the shrimp to the pan. Cook it together with the zucchini for a minute.

When the pasta is cooked al dente, remove 1/2 cup of the cooking water and set aside; drain the pasta and add it to the zucchini/shrimp mixture. Add some of the pasta water to get the consistency you like, immediately sprinkle the goat cheese and mix everything gently to allow the cheese to slowly melt and incorporate into the dish. Right before serving sprinkle lemon zest on top of the pasta, and adjust seasoning if necessary.

ENJOY!

to print the recipe, click here

Comments: Zucchini strands or ribbons are a busy cook’s best friends! If you have a food processor, it takes just seconds to cut, but if you prefer not to deal with washing the processor, a mandolin or a box grater, which is what I used, works well too.

The amounts are flexible: the higher the proportion of zucchini, the lighter the dish will be. It’s is a wonderful way of “stretching” the pasta, by shaving off some calories without compromising flavor.

I like the combination of goat cheese with zucchini and shrimp. Some people find that seafood and cheese don’t go well together, but in this case I beg to differ.

You can make many variations on this basic dish – omit the shrimp, add black olives, sun dried tomatoes, fresh herbs such as oregano, mint, or basil. Zucchini is very “social”, enjoys playing with all sorts of flavors, so let’s profit from it 😉

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