Posted by Blake Royer, May 1, 2008 at 4:15 PM
I'd never eaten a ramp before in my life. But there I found myself week after week, trolling greenmarkets, unable to wait for something other than root vegetables. My own obsession was mysterious, but the general public excitement over ramps is remarkable. Ignored as nuisances for years, they are also called wild leeks and have flat, floppy leaves and a beautiful purple stem. The flavor is an earthy pungent combination of scallions and garlic, and is usually served simply grilled, in pastas or risottos, or baked into gratins and frittatas. The prices are quite fetching—up to $20/pound—for what is essentially a weed. When they first came, ramps were often sold out at the market by 9 a.m.
Continue reading »
Posted by Ed Levine, December 24, 2007 at 4:05 PM
- serves 4 as a main pasta course -
Ingredients
1 pound linguine
1/2 medium red onion, finely minced
1/4 pound pancetta, cut into 1/8th inch dice (or mole salame)
4 cloves garlic, peeled and thinly sliced
6 Tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1 teaspoon crushed red chiles
1 pound Manila clams, scrubbed and rinsed
2 cups dry white wine
4 Tablespoons unsalted butter
1 bunch Italian parsley, finely chopped, to yield 1/4 cup
Procedure
1. Bring six quarts of water to boil and add 2 tablespoons salt.
2. In a large sauté pan, sauté red onion, pancetta, and garlic over medium heat until onion is very soft and pancetta is translucent, about 10 minutes. Add hot chiles, clams, white wine, and butter and bring to a boil. Cook until all clams have opened, and then set aside.
3. Boil linguine according to package instructions. While softened but still firm, drain in colander over sink and toss into plan with clams and stir gently to mix. This should still be a little brothlike. Add chopped parsley, pour into warm serving bowl and serve.
Posted by Nick Kindelsperger, October 26, 2007 at 4:30 PM
I’ve done this before. Not with the same ingredients, or procedure, but with the unlikely combo of pasta and seemingly inappropriate vegetable. It would seem to be too much starch for any one human to take on. But cooked correctly, the vegetable makes a creamy sauce without all the, well, cream. In other words: It works.
My experience has been with what the Silver Spoon calls linguine al pesto genovese, or potatoes and linguine with pesto. It must be some kind of a classic dish. But this one isn’t, which comes from the Real Simple and replaces the potato with squash. It also adds some bacon—always a welcome addition—and goat cheese. The effect is the same. After cooking with the chicken stock, the squash breaks apart and becomes part of the pasta instead of its own separate entity. Every noodle is coated with this fall-appropriate dish. Oh, and did I mention the bacon?
Continue reading »
Posted by Ed Levine, April 9, 2007 at 12:30 PM
On Top of Spaghetti
is the second cookbook by Johanne Killeen and George Germon, the owners of Al Forno in Providence, Rhode Island. I've eaten at Al Forno many times over the years, and the pastas, grilled pizza, and desserts (most are made to order, which means you have to order them before the end of the meal) are the must-haves on the menu.
So I for one eagerly awaited the publication of On Top of Spaghetti. In what is not an uncommon story in cookbook publishing, the editor who bought the book, Susan Friedland, left Morrow right before it came out. On Top of Spaghetti was left without a champion, a surefire death knell for any title—and that might be why you've never heard of it.
Continue reading »
