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.
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Posted by Lucy Baker, April 28, 2008 at 2:45 PM
Today's Cook the Book recipe, the first to be excerpted from Lidia's Italy, is for Gemelli with Smothered Cauliflower and Saffron. Distinctly Sicilian, this fragrant pasta dish combines traditional ingredients such as pine nuts, fresh basil, golden raisins and...anchovies.
While my first experience with anchovies was less than savory (it involved, at the tender age of six, a wayward topping on a slice of Papa Gino's cheese pizza) I've since learned to appreciate the salty, hairy little fish. I'd still never eat one whole or unadorned, but I love the briny flavor they impart in Caesar salads, olive tapenades, and puttanescas. In this recipe, just one tablespoon of chopped fillets is enough to enhance the entire dish.
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Posted by Robin Bellinger, April 25, 2008 at 12:45 PM
Since the thought of another pile of paper to manage makes me cringe, I don’t keep a file of recipe clippings for the future. I can’t remember, then, what prompted me to pull this recipe from Mark Bittman’s column in the New York Times a few years ago, but some part of me must have known that his baked ziti would become my most popular dish.
Unsophisticated and absurdly easy to whip up, baked ziti presents difficulty only to those of us who have trouble managing our greed. Since the measurements are so round, I don’t even have to check the recipe before I go to the store: 1 pound sausage, 1 pound pasta, 1 pound cheese, 1 can tomatoes. It freezes beautifully, which makes it the nicest of emergency dinners for nights when you’re too busy to cook but want something nicer than a tangle of sad pad thai.
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Posted by Blake Royer, April 22, 2008 at 4:30 PM
Sometimes I find myself in a rut when it comes to quick pasta tomato sauces. The usual canned tomatoes, a few herbs, garlic and onions—it's good, but it's a little boring. I thoroughly enjoy Batali's marinara on a regular basis, which grates carrots into the sauce, but I've been eating it all winter out of the freezer. When it's the middle of summer, I can chop up some juicy market heirloom tomatoes, marinate them with garlic, basil, and olive oil, then serve uncooked with hot linguine. But what about when tomatoes still suck and I'm out of ideas?
This recipe suggests simmering pork sausages in white wine, then using the resulting fat-infused liquid to flavor the sauce. I was further convinced by the use of butter instead of olive oil to begin the onions and garlic, which adds a little richness and creaminess to everything. And finally, freshly shelled peas are appearing at my farmer's market, and this recipe calls for those, too. Once again, Diana Seed's The Top One Hundred Pasta Sauces came through in a clutch.
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Posted by Gina DePalma, April 22, 2008 at 8:30 AM
The markets of Rome are always ablaze with color, but as the weather gets warmer and the variety of produce grows, the vivid hues have intensified. This past Saturday at the Campo de’Fiori was a riot of spring colors, but it was the reds that leapt out and grabbed my attention.
Locals elbowed wide-eyed tourists for space and the usual Italian cluster mobs had formed, but the hand-to-hand mortal combat wasn’t enough to distract me from seeing red at every turn, bright and deep, from pink to purple. The last of the apples were being nudged by baskets of tiny fragole di bosco, or wild forest strawberries, delicate, variegated Radicchio di Castelfranco nodded to me in the breeze, and tomatoes of every shape and size from Sicily screamed of juicy ripeness.
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Posted by Blake Royer, April 8, 2008 at 4:00 PM
I'm usually suspicious of any alterations to traditional basil pesto—those fancy, misguided ideas like trading out pine nuts for pistachios. "Don't mess with perfection," is my feeling. Except in many cases, these other pestos aren't trying to mess up a good thing—they're traditions of their own. Pine nuts, basil, Parmesan, and olive oil may be the most popular and arguably the most sublime of these concoctions (known officially as pesto Genovese), but there are others great ones, like this one from Sicily: pesto Trapanese.
Other than replacing pine nuts with almonds, it's not a sweeping change. But the recipe also adds cherry tomatoes, and they offer a little sweetness. Their crushed juices also help counteract the relative dryness of the almonds, which, unlike softer pine nuts, refuse to give themselves up to the pesto—they remain distinct and crunchy, adding a wonderful textural interest to the dish that pesto Genovese sometimes lacks. I found that a little pasta water was the essential step to keep it from drying out too much and helping to bind everything together.
What are your favorite non-Genovese pestos?
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Posted by Blake Royer, March 25, 2008 at 3:45 PM
I've been on the lookout lately for pasta dishes which require no cheese or butter to make them delicious. My girlfriend is off eating dairy for a while, so we've had to get creative. And it's not easy—it seems like ninety percent of pasta recipes finish with "sprinkle freshly grated Parmesan and serve." It's been a good challenge to make the ingredients taste wonderful without the usual shortcuts. I've heard before that vegetarians are more creative in the kitchen, because they have to be—as a current faux-vegan, that seems even more true.
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Posted by Lucy Baker, March 18, 2008 at 2:15 PM
When I have a craving for a really decadent dish—macaroni and cheese, say, or rice pudding—I prefer to make it for myself as opposed to ordering it in a restaurant. This is for two reasons: first, I think that rich, comforting foods are best enjoyed at home; second, when I am the cook, I am in control of the specific ingredients and the portion sizes. The end result is, I believe, always a little bit healthier.
For this week's magazine recipe review I made the orecchiette carbonara with leeks from the April issue of Bon Appétit. Spaghetti carbonara is something I would never eat out, for fear of popping a button off my pants in public. There is just no way to tell how much butter, oil, and bacon fat is being used. I was drawn to the version in Bon Appétit because it didn't use heavy cream (unlike some less traditional carbonaras), and because it called for fresh, seasonal leeks. Also, I happened to have a lot of eggs on hand.
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Posted by Blake Royer, March 13, 2008 at 4:30 PM
It's probably some kind of shill to say that one of Mario Batali's own recipes is itself proof that making his Basic Tomato Sauce is worth your time. But the sauce has become a freezer ingredient that I couldn't do without, especially when it comes to quick, simple pastas on weeknights. With little effort, a simple recipe goes from ordinary to superb. Sure, a can of good whole tomatoes will work instead, but a cupful of homemade sauce makes all the difference. It doesn't need to be Batali's—Serious Eaters have their own ideas, too.
This recipe is an exceptional fish pasta, which aren't all that common. The monkfish fillets are an inspired choice—they have a meaty, dense texture that holds up well to cooking. This recipe simmers half-inch chunks of the monkfish in a liquidy, winey broth—almost equal parts wine and tomato sauce. Beforehand, red onion and zucchini are cooked golden brown in olive oil to give it a sweet base. The result is a light yet substantial meal.
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Posted by Robyn Lee, March 12, 2008 at 12:00 PM
The following recipe is from the March 12th edition of our weekly recipe newsletter. To receive this newsletter in your inbox, sign up here!
In My Last Supper by Melanie Dunea, 50 of the best-known chefs around the world share the recipes of their final meals. Jamie Oliver chose spaghetti all'arrabiata, a dish of spaghetti in a tomato, chili, garlic and onion sauce he learned in Tuscany and has since become his favorite comfort food.
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Posted by Robin Bellinger, March 5, 2008 at 2:00 PM
As an undergrad, I spent a semester studying in Russia. Our host mothers urged hot kasha (referring to any kind of porridge) on us in the sub-zero mornings, and they served a different kind of kasha (buckwheat groats) as a side dish in the still-freezing evenings. When the time came to leave, one of the most pressing questions for many of us was, “Will I be able to find kasha in the United States?” Obviously, none of us had ever lived in cities with large Eastern European immigrant populations or been members of health-food co-ops, or we would have known that buckwheat groats aren’t hard to find at all.
Cooking them properly is a different matter. The first time I tried, I got it just right: the grains were separate, firm, and nutty. Since then I have tended to produce mushy messes that are edible but not appetizing. The Joy of Cooking recipe for kasha varnishkes yielded very nicely cooked buckwheat groats, but also the realization that I don’t particularly like this particular dish, which is kasha with mushrooms, onions, and bowtie pasta.
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Posted by Lucy Baker, March 4, 2008 at 11:30 AM
After a night out drinking delicious beer and feasting on succulent Coca-Cola braised baby back ribs, I was in the mood to cook something healthy. So when it came time to choose a dish for this week's magazine recipe review, I selected the Vegetable Couscous Pilaf from the March issue of Food & Wine.
I love the complex spiciness of Moroccan-inspired food, and I liked the fact that it was a one-pot (minimum cleanup) meal. But what really sold me on the recipe was that no fancy equipment—food processors, microplanes—was needed. I was going to be making dinner at my boyfriend's apartment, in a kitchen devoid even of measuring spoons.
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Posted by Robin Bellinger, February 8, 2008 at 11:30 AM
This week UPI reported that sales of boxed macaroni and cheese increased by 10% in 2007 (story via Jezebel). Furthermore, “half of the country's children will feast on macaroni and cheese at some point during the next two weeks.” Wow! This news will be welcomed by my sister, whose favorite way to tease me about my efforts to buy organic and/or responsible groceries is to describe what she’ll feed her hypothetical nieces and nephews when they come to visit her someday—Kraft Macaroni and Cheese, Cheetos, doughnuts, soft drinks—and how much they’ll love her for it. She’s 27, the same age I was when I made a pot of Kraft Mac & Cheese on a lark and realized I had finally outgrown it. The blue box had served me well during my first few years in New York, but my experiments with homemade macaroni and cheese eventually robbed it of its appeal.
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Posted by Nick Kindelsperger, January 25, 2008 at 3:30 PM
I’ve explored a few recipes from The Silver Spoon
with varying degrees of success. The ricotta and spinach gnocchi were delicious, but a roast chicken with apples was a complete disaster. I’m not sure why I was trying these recipes, when what I really wanted to do was rampage through the pasta section. That was, in fact, the main reason why I ever wanted the book.
And what a section it is. It is stuffed with unique ideas, which seem at once exotic and also incredibly simple. That’s exactly where this recipe falls. The rosemary and tomato seemed harmless enough, but the addition of flour and water felt a little like cheating to add body. But is actually just the perfect vehicle to help that rosemary sauce cling to every single noodle. It makes what looks like a little bit of sauce stretch over an entire box of pasta. Scoring some great pasta to coat with that sauce also helps. I picked mine up at a local Italian importer and can’t see myself ever going back to the old pasta again.
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Posted by Robin Bellinger, January 24, 2008 at 2:00 PM
Marcella Hazan, who introduced an America familiar with red sauce joints to true Italian food, is a teacher and writer with whom every home cook should spend some time. She was born in Italy but immigrated to the United States as a bride. Though she had never cooked before, she had to learn to feed her husband (hey, it was the 1950s), and luckily for all of us it turned out that she was no slouch. She began teaching Italian cooking in New York City and eventually published several books of her beautifully simple, authentic recipes.
Essentials of Classic Italian Cooking
combines two books Hazan published in the 1970s. The food here is, for the most part, straightforward and homey, and the instructions are detailed and clear. I often turn to this book when I’m not sure what to do with a vegetable or need new ideas for saucing pasta, but there are lots of big meaty dishes as well.
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Posted by Blake Royer, January 17, 2008 at 5:00 PM
The name itself—singsongy and alliterative—was enough to convince me. Then I noticed it had 7 ingredients, which includes salt and pepper—so let's say 5 ingredients. Little chance for anything superfluous to get between the two main acts—just a little Parmesan for creaminess, olive oil to soften the citrus, and basil for color and freshness. Along with Spaghetti with Oil and Garlic, this is comfort food, out-of-the-pantry cooking, with no ingredients left to be taken out of the dish. There would be nothing left.
After searching for a couple recipe variations (I decided against Paula Dean's approach, which adds a carton of sour cream), Giada De Laurentiis seemed the most sensible: while the pasta cooks, a little emulsion of lemon juice, olive oil, and Parmesan is whisked in the serving bowl, seasoned with salt and pepper, then tossed with the cooked pasta and some of its water. Lemon zest is sprinkled on top, along with some chopped basil. This lets you adjust the sauce right in the serving bowl before adding the pasta, so that the puckery lemon doesn't overwhelm.
If a bowl of pasta without much else doesn't appeal, this would make a nice bed for a piece of seared chicken, or tossed with a couple sautéed shrimp.
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Posted by Jenn Sit, January 4, 2008 at 1:00 PM
At school, we make massive pasta dishes to feed our whole house and I've become addicted to adding heavy cream and bacon to every sauce I whip up. Even if we use a jar of alfredo sauce, I can't help but go the semi-homemade route and add even more cream. With Ellie Krieger's recipe for fettuccine with creamy red pepper sauce from The Food You Crave, I may be convinced to kick the cream habit and even resist the temptation to add bacon. There's been talk amongst my housemates about eating healthier as an entire house and this could be the first step in that direction. Her recipe is not only cream-free and healthy, but super quick to put together. To make it even more filling, but without ruining its nutritious spin, I'd add chicken and some more veggies.
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Posted by Blake Royer, January 3, 2008 at 4:00 PM
The lore of Pasta alla Puttanesca, which translates as "Whore's Pasta," varies: some say it refers to the spicy, pungent aroma produced by its ingredients that enticed passing customers; others claim pragmatically that this out-of-the-larder dish was the easiest thing workers could prepare between customers, and cheap to boot. People cook it today because it has a remarkable flavor, is easy, and is made of ingredients easily kept on hand.
A soffrito of garlic, chili flakes, and anchovy sautéed in oil introduces a sharp, nutty taste to the base of the dish, which is richened with tomato sauce, then speckled with piquant capers and black olives, which give it a sweet brine. Three strong flavors are competing for attention on the palate—anchovies, olives, and capers—so restraining each is essential (so is avoiding salt altogether: there's plenty of it in the ingredients already). The taste should be vibrant, yet smooth, the epitome of balance. A tip on Chowhound recommends the rule of halves, which worked perfectly when I used it: Start with a full amount of olives (say 1/2 cup per pound of pasta) then use half the capers, and half again as many anchovies as capers. Most recipes call for a can of whole tomatoes, which is the simplest and fastest option, but a little homemade frozen tomato sauce is even better. I had some of Batali's Basic Tomato Sauce on hand, which added instant depth. Parsley can also be added for freshness, but i don't find it necessary—I like the silky texture without it.
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Posted by Ed Levine, December 30, 2007 at 8:37 AM
This Mario Batali pasta recipe for Linguini alle Noce (with Walnut Sauce) is so delicious, so simple, and so inexpensive it is the perfect Sunday dinner (or brunch for that matter) for everyone, from college students looking to rustle up a little grub to avoid eating at the dining hall, to harried urbanites like me looking to produce a satisfying meal for their family quickly and easily, Of course most college students are home now for the holidays, so I told my 20 year-old son Will that he should make this for his friends on New Year's Eve. The walnuts and the bread crumbs are an inspired combination. Mario says in the headnote in Holiday Food that when the noodles are cooked and then dressed just right they taste great even at room temperature.
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