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Posts Tagged ‘Pasta’

Vodka Penne – with Fusilli

While looking up Vodka Penne, I discovered the interesting factoid that the recipe did not originate from the kitchen of a little Italian grandmother but rather from the bastions of Big Vodka.  Yes, this recipe was the brainchild of marketing specialists who wanted to do one thing only… sell more vodka.  (Was it really that hard to sell more vodka?  But I digress.)    A couple of trendy restaurants later, Vodka Penne is now here to stay.  Fortunately, the vodka marketers did us all a favor – the combination of cream, vodka and tomatoes really makes for a potent and delicious combination.

Although I have a checkered history with vodka, when used in cooking, I’m a big fan.  The cooking really tempers the flavor, so it’s not too sharp, but still gives sauces and dishes a unique kick.

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Simple Tomato Sauces: Pepperoncini, Salami and Mozzarella

Here’s another great tomato sauce that is a bit more work than using a jarred Prego, but is well worth the effort.  Much like my previous effort, using basil, rosemary and bacon, this recipe calls for strong robust ingredients to counteract the acidity of tomatoes.   The key here is the spicy pepperoncini.  The pepperoncini is a pickled banana pepper.  I usually recognize it from antipasto salads or in the giant muffuletta sandwiches in NOLA (fantastic, but not for pre-sleeping consumption) .   The peppers pack a little bit of heat and really enhance the flavor of this sauce.  If anything, I probably used too few pepperoncini in this recipe, so I would recommend using more than what I include in the recipe below.  I was worried that it’d be too spicy, but it definitely wasn’t!

For the mozzarella, you can probably get away with shredded mozzarella – it’d make a more consistent pasta.  However, I really recommend fresh mozzarella balls – I love the milky, concentrated cheesy flavor.  When you’re eating your pasta, it’s kinda like playing a slot machine – it’s entertaining, and you don’t know what you’ll get, but forking some mozzarella is like hitting the jackpot!

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Simple Tomato Sauces: Bacon, Rosemary, Basil

I am a fan of quick and simple pasta sauces that let me avoid the mundane and oversalted flavors of Prego, Ragu, or other store-bought sauces without requiring 3 hours of slow cooking.  This is going to be the first in a series of pasta sauces that can be put together quickly but are relatively varied.

One of the best ways to prepare tomatoes for pasta sauces is to simmer them in a skillet with garlic and olive oil.  With a large cooking surface, the excess moisture evaporates and you’re left with this delicious thick, hearty tomato sauce.  You don’t need a particular variety of tomato for this sauce – all the ones I’ve tried work well.  Add in some potent herbs, flavorful meats, and aggressive cheeses and you get a sauce that can stand up to the potent tartness of the tomato sauce itself.  This time, I used rosemary and smoked bacon to add some gusto to the sauce.  However, as in all things- keep things in balance.

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Cacio e Pepe: Pasta with Pecorino & Fresh Black Pepper

A friend from Hong Kong recently sent me an article about the growing number of restaurants in the NY East village area focused on Roman food.  I’m not sure why someone is monitoring the restaurant scene 10,000 miles away, but I’m glad he is!  Although I can’t claim to be an expert on Italian cuisine, two lines in the article caught my eye.  The first is that the hallmark of roman food is simplicity.  If I were to write down my cooking philosophy,  it would be fresh ingredients cooked simply.

The other thing that caught my eye was that Cacio e Pepe is like Rome’s mac and cheese.  How could I resist trying to make it?  There are many variations on this recipe – you can change the type of pasta and the ingredients many different ways.  However, in my opnion, there are really only two things that matter: a) how good is your cheese and b) how fresh is your pepper.  I went with button mushrooms and swiss chard.  If you’re in the mood for some meat, I highly recommend some Italian sausage.

Also, as I am now officially on a little Roman kick, stay tuned for other adventures.

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Fennel and Sausage Tomato Sauce + Rotini

This recipe is a variation on something I saw on the Food Network during one lazy winter day.  The fennel gives the dish an aromatic, earthy taste similar to anise or to licorice.   Fennel can be unsettling at first, and is a bit of an acquired taste.   But the more you use it, the more you come to appreciate its unique flavor.  Some people use fennel in dried spice form.  I prefer the large bulbs with the celery-like protrusions and frond it’s definitely more interesting to use!  The bulb is used most often in cooking, the frond for garnish.

In this dish, I use a pecan-smoked sausage not only because I love sausage, but also because I didn’t have time to defrost  a thick cut pork loin.  If you do use other meat, use a heavy pan to first sear the thick chops to provide some animal fat to fry in the fennel, shallots, and mushrooms.  The meat can then be added back in to finish the sauce.  I do a similar thing here with the sausage.

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Chicken Tenderloin Meunière (Sauteed in Butter) w/ Side of Broccoli and Rotini

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I’ve recently been spending some time with Julia Child (I just saw Julie and Julia, and am perusing My Life in Paris.)  And while working on DailyChef, I was  recommended The Way To Cook, Mrs. Child’s second tome for home chefs.  The layout of this book is fantastic; the cookbook is organized around a series of Master Recipes which teach basic techniques.  Then, each master recipe is followed by a series of variations that employ the same skills but with different ingredients.  This is a spin on one of her variations called “Chicken Breasts Meuniere”.  I employ tenderloin rather than chicken breasts because I find them jucier, use whole wheat flour instead of white flour, and more olive oil than clarified butter.  I also found that the additional lemon-butter sauce was unnecessary, although I am sure more butter is usually more delicious.  Generally, this is a more “cardiac conscious” version of her recipe.

This recipe moves fast, so be prepared.

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