Recipes
Simple Tomato Sauce
I don't call this sauce "simple" because it is dull in any way. It is a wonderful sauce, lightly textured but richly flavored, sweet and tangy like good tomatoes, and so versatile that I consider it a kitchen staple, one of the sauces that I always have in the freezer. All you need are canned tomatoes; a small amount of onion, carrot, and celery; and salt, peperoncino, and two bay leaves. Then the sauce should mellow for a few hours if possible before using.
Good with...
pastas
gnocchi
baked pastas
Yield: 7 to 8 cups of sauce
- 8 cups canned San Marzano or other Italian plum tomatoes, with juices (two 35-ounce cans)
- 2 cups of water
- 6 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
- 1 cup onion, chopped in small pieces 1/2 cup carrot, chopped in small pieces
- 1/2 cup celery, chopped in small pieces
- 1 teaspoon salt plus more to taste
- 1 teaspoon peperoncino flakes
- 2 bay leaves
- 1/2 teaspoon honey, optional, after tasting
Recommended Equipment:
A rotary food mill with a medium pureeing disc
A heavy bottomed sauce pot, 6 quarts or larger, with cover
Put the tomatoes through a food mill using the medium blade or a colander or sieve set over a bowl. If you're sieving the tomatoes through a sieve or colander, push the flesh through, scraping against the sieve to extract all the pulp and juice.
Put chopped onion, carrot and celery pieces into the food processor and pulse several times until you have very finely chopped small shreds. Or, chop the pieces by hand into tiny bits.
Pour the oil into the sauce pot, stir in the chopped vegetables, and set over medium-high heat. Sprinkle on the salt. Cook for 3 minutes or so, stirring frequently, as the vegetables start to sizzle and soften; don't let them brown.
Pour the milled tomatoes and juices into the pan and stir with the vegetables. Rinse out the bowl and the tomato cans with the water and pour this into the sauce pan as well. Stir in the bay leaves and peperoncino, turn up the heat, cover, and bring the sauce to a boil, stirring and checking it frequently.
Adjust the heat to maintain an active simmer, with lots of small bubbles all over the sauce. Cover and cook for about 45 minutes, stirring occasionally.
Remove the cover, raise the heat so the sauce is still bubbling energetically and gradually reducing. Cook for another hour or, stirring frequently to make sure nothing's sticking to the bottom of the pot. Turn down the heat as the sauce thickens (and if the bubbles are bursting out of the pot). Taste for salt near the end of cooking and add more if needed. When the sauce has reduced by about 1/4 and is concentrated but still pourable, remove from the heat.
Let the sauce cool; remove the bay leaves. Allow the flavors to mellow, for an hour or 2, then taste for acidity and sweetness; balance with honey if needed. Use however much sauce you need immediately; refrigerate or freeze the rest.
Spaghettini Aglio Olio
(Spaghettini with Oil and Garlic)
It doesn’t get any simpler than this classic Italian dish that has found a permanent spot in the cuisine of the Italian-Americans.
Makes 6 servings
- Salt
- 1 pound spaghettini or vermicelli
- 5 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
- 10 garlic cloves, peeled and sliced
- 1/2 teaspoon (or more to taste) crushed red pepper
- 1/2 cup chopped fresh Italian parsley
- 1 cup freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese or Pecorino Romano (optional)
Spaghettini is very similar to vermicelli, and both are somewhere between cappellini and spaghetti when it comes to thickness. Because they cook quickly, it’s best to remove them from the boiling water when they are still undercooked, and to let them finish cooking in the sauce. I find this pasta very delicate but zesty and wouldn’t serve it with cheese. But if you love cheese in your pasta, have it.
Bring 6 quarts of salted water to a boil in an 8-quart pot over high heat. Stir the spaghettini into the boiling water. Return to a boil, stirring frequently. Cook the pasta, semi-covered, stirring occasionally, until tender, but still very firm, about 6 minutes.
Meanwhile, heat 3 tablespoons of the olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the garlic and cook, shaking the skillet and stirring, until pale golden, about 2 minutes. Remove from the heat and add 1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper.
Ladle about 1 1/2 cups of the pasta cooking water into the sauce. Add the parsley, the remaining 2 tablespoons olive oil and salt to taste.
If the skillet is large enough to accommodate the sauce and pasta, fish the pasta out of the boiling water with a large wire skimmer and drop it directly into the sauce in the skillet. If not, drain the pasta, return it to the pot and pour in the sauce. Bring the sauce and pasta to a simmer, tossing to coat with sauce. Cook until the pasta is coated with the sauce and done, about 1 minute. Remove the pot from the heat and toss in the grated cheese, if using. Check the seasoning, adding salt and crushed red pepper if necessary. Serve immediately in warm bowls.
Al Dente
The literal translation of al dente is ‘to the tooth,’ but it means much more than that to an Italian. Al dente is a sensation of slight resistance, generated by the pressure of chewing, and it is a very important part of the overall enjoyment of food, especially pasta and rice.
Al dente is as hard to describe as it is easy to recognize. Pasta and rice cooked al dente will be tender and not at all raw tasting, but with a firm texture and even a little ‘snap’ at the center. It is easy to tell pasta and rice that has been cooked al dente by looking at it: In long pasta shapes, like spaghetti and linguini, there will be a dot of white at the center, in round pasta shapes, like ziti or penne, there will be a faint but clear ring of white that runs around the center of the pasta. (If you are going to simmer cooked pasta together with a sauce, as I do most of the time, then the pasta should be slightly less cooked than al dente. It will finish cooking in the sauce.) Rice for risotto that has been cooked al dente will have a pure white dot at the center.
The more we address all of our senses, the more we will enjoy food. Professional chefs pay keen attention to that fact. They know it is important that the food looks beautiful and is presented well. Aroma, and hence the last minute addition of aromatic herbs and spices, is also very important. Our senses tell us a lot about what we are to eat, and prepare us in anticipation with the stimulation of saliva and gastric juices. Then of course the cavity of our mouth and throat are lined with papillae ready to give us the taste sensation.
Chewing our food not only starts the digestion process, but this pressure also generates a tactile sensation that gives another dimension to food enjoyment. Think of the crispness of a fresh stalk of celery, the movement of Jell-O on our tongue, or the crustiness of bread. These are all qualities in certain foods that we expect and anticipate before we even eat them; if they are not there we are disappointed, just as an Italian would be who has been served a mushy plate of pasta or risotto.
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