Everyday Italian (16 page)
Authors: Giada De Laurentiis
4 MAIN-COURSE SERVINGS
| 3 | tablespoons pine nuts |
| Salt | |
| 1 | (11-ounce) package fresh wild mushroom ravioli |
| ½ | cup (1 stick) unsalted butter |
| ¼ | cup fresh basil leaves |
| ¼ | teaspoon freshly ground black pepper, plus more to taste |
| Pinch of freshly grated nutmeg | |
| ⅓ | cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese |
Preheat The Oven
to 350 degrees F. Place the pine nuts on a heavy baking sheet, and toast in the oven until the nuts are fragrant and light golden brown in the center, about 7 minutes. Let cool.
Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add the ravioli and boil until they are just cooked through, stirring occasionally, about 5 minutes. Drain.
Meanwhile, in a large, heavy frying pan, melt the butter over medium-high heat until pale golden, about 4 minutes. Add the basil leaves and cook until crisp, about 2 minutes. Stir in ½ teaspoon of salt, ¼ teaspoon of pepper, and the nutmeg. Season the sauce with more salt and pepper to taste. Add the cooked ravioli, and gently toss to coat. Divide the ravioli among 4 plates and sprinkle with the Parmesan cheese and pine nuts, and serve.
“SAUCELESS” PASTAS
In the United States, we eat a lot of heavily sauced pastas. But in Italy, you’re just as likely to find pasta in a light dressing as swimming in a pool of sauce; Italians like pasta dishes in which the texture and flavor of the pasta are just as important as the accompaniment.
The key to most of these “sauceless” dressings is the pasta cooking water. Do not pour it all down the drain! The following recipes all use the salty, slightly starchy cooking liquid as a base and binder for other simple ingredients to create a highly flavorful sauce that lets you really enjoy what can be best about pasta dishes: the pasta.And even a lot of tomato-based sauces could use a little thinning. I think one of the most common mistakes made by home cooks is to serve their sauces too thick. The answer is to reserve a little of the pasta cooking liquid, and to add that liquid to whatever sauce you’ve made. Try it, and you’ll be amazed at what a difference this simple trick makes.
Peas, and Mushrooms
Traditionally, this dish is made with pork sausage. But in an effort to lighten things up, I use turkey sausage, which in general is a great, healthy alternative to pork. I promise that you won’t be able to tell the difference.
4 MAIN-COURSE SERVINGS
| ½ | cup extra-virgin olive oil |
| 1 | pound Italian-style turkey sausages, casings removed |
| 10 | ounces cremini mushrooms, sliced |
| ¾ | teaspoon sea salt, plus more to taste |
| ¾ | teaspoon freshly ground black pepper, plus more to taste |
| 1 | (10-ounce) package frozen peas, defrosted slightly |
| 1 | pound dried farfalle pasta (bow-tie pasta) |
| ½ | cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese |
in a Large Sauté pan,
heat 2 tablespoons of the oil over a high flame. Add the turkey sausage and sauté until golden brown, breaking up any large clumps, about 5 minutes. Using a slotted spoon, transfer the sausage to a plate and set aside. Heat 2 more tablespoons of oil in the same pan. Add the mushrooms and ½ teaspoon each of salt and pepper. Sauté until all the liquid from the mushrooms has evaporated, about 8 minutes. Add the peas and sauté for 2 minutes. Return the sausage to the pan and cook until the sausage is heated through and the flavors have blended, about 3 minutes.
Meanwhile, bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add the farfalle and cook, stirring occasionally, until al dente, about 8 minutes. Drain the pasta, reserving ½ cup of the cooking water. Return the pasta to the pot and add the meat mixture. Toss over medium heat to combine and heat through, adding enough of the reserved cooking water to moisten, about 5 minutes. Drizzle in the remaining oil. Season the pasta with more salt and pepper to taste. Remove the pan from the heat. Add the Parmesan cheese and toss to combine. Transfer the pasta mixture to a large bowl and serve.
and Broccoli Rabe
This recipe is a prime example that you don’t need tomato sauce to make a great-tasting pasta dish. And here’s a bonus: It tastes great at room temperature, so it’s perfect for picnics and casual buffet lunches.
4 MAIN-COURSE SERVINGS
| Salt | |
| 2 | bunches of broccoli rabe, stalks trimmed and quartered crosswise |
| 12 | ounces dried orecchiette pasta or other small shaped pasta, such as farfalle or penne |
| 3 | tablespoons olive oil |
| 1 | pound spicy pork sausage, casings removed |
| 3 | garlic cloves, minced Pinch of dried crushed red pepper flakes |
| ¼ | cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese |
| ½ | teaspoon freshly ground black pepper |
Bring a Large Pot
of salted water to a boil. Add the broccoli rabe and cook until crisp-tender, about 1 minute. Strain the broccoli rabe, reserving all the cooking liquid. Set the broccoli rabe aside. Cook the orecchiette in the same pot of boiling salted water until tender but still firm to the bite, stirring occasionally, about 8 minutes. Drain, reserving 1 cup of the cooking liquid.
Meanwhile, in a large, heavy skillet, heat the oil over a medium flame. Add the sausage and cook, breaking up with a spoon, until the sausage is brown and juices form, about 8 minutes. Add the garlic and red pepper flakes, and sauté until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Add the broccoli rabe and toss to coat. Add the pasta and enough reserved cooking liquid, ¼ cup at a time, to moisten. Stir the Parmesan cheese, salt to taste, and pepper into the pasta mixture. Transfer to pasta bowls and serve.
Primavera
is Italian for “spring,” and that’s what this dish tastes like. It was created at Le Cirque, New York’s famed restaurant, in the 1970s because some high-flying and health-conscious patrons complained that they wanted lighter and healthier dishes. The original version was labor-intensive because you had to not only dice all the vegetables, but also blanch them in different pots. My version cuts out the blanching, and instead you roast the vegetables and end up with a sweet, caramelized, intensely flavored bite. Consider doubling the recipe; it only gets better the next day.
6 FIRST-COURSE SERVINGS
| 3 | carrots, peeled |
| 2 | medium or 1 large zucchini |
| 2 | yellow summer squash |
| 1 | yellow bell pepper |
| 1 | red bell pepper |
| 1 | onion, thinly sliced |
| ¼ | cup olive oil |
| 1 | tablespoon dried Italian herbs or herbes de Provence |
| 2 | teaspoons kosher salt, plus more to taste |
| 2 | teaspoons freshly ground black pepper, plus more to taste |
| 1 | pound dried farfalle pasta (bow-tie pasta) |
| 15 | cherry tomatoes, halved |
| ¾ | cup shredded Parmesan cheese |
Preheat the Oven
to 450 degrees F. Cut the carrots, zucchini, squash, and bell peppers into thin 2-inch-long strips. On a large, heavy baking sheet, toss the vegetable strips, onion, oil, dried herbs, and 2 teaspoons each of salt and pepper to coat. Transfer half of the vegetable mixture to another large, heavy baking sheet, and arrange the vegetables evenly over both sheets. Bake, stirring after the first 10 minutes, until the carrots are tender and the other vegetables begin to brown, about 20 minutes total.
Meanwhile, bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add the farfalle and cook, stirring occasionally, until tender but still firm to the bite, about 8 minutes. Drain, reserving 1 cup of the cooking liquid. In a large bowl, toss the pasta with the cooked vegetables to combine. Add the cherry tomatoes and enough of the reserved cooking liquid to moisten. Season the pasta with more salt and pepper to taste.
Transfer the pasta to bowls. Sprinkle with Parmesan cheese and serve.
Smoked Mozzarella, and Prosciutto
This is not merely everyday Italian, but Italian food in a
flash.
This dish would also work with penne, but definitely try to use one of these short tube shapes, which mimic the shape of the asparagus pieces and make for a beautiful presentation; with spaghetti, it’s just not the same.
4 FIRST-COURSE SERVINGS
| Salt | |
| 8 | ounces dried ziti or other tubular pasta |
| 1 | pound asparagus, trimmed and cut diagonally into 1-inch pieces |
| 2 | tablespoons olive oil |
| 2 | garlic cloves, minced |
| ½ | teaspoon freshly ground black pepper, plus more to taste |
| 3 | ounces smoked mozzarella cheese, diced (about ½ cup) |
| 3 | ounces thinly sliced prosciutto, cut crosswise into strips |
| 3 | tablespoons thinly sliced fresh basil |
