James Called Me "Beautiful Spaghetti Genius"

This might be my new favorite dinner.
Somehow tonight I just didn't want to work too hard. I didn't want to wash too many dishes. I didn't want to stand at the stove.
But we were in the mood for spaghetti.
Now when I was young and impressionable I lived in Italy for a little while. That sunny year or two left me with the melodic, poetic Italian language and the vague feeling that no day is truly complete without strong coffee and pasta. I quickly adapted to a daily pasta "primo" (sometimes two) and never got the least bit bored.
Here in the states (a couple of decades later), dinners are one plate, spaghetti is the only course, and reasonable eating dictates that carbs are limited and vegetables take center stage. So, spaghetti isn't every day -- it's a special day.
I started out to make lemon chicken pasta -- kind of a scallopini on spaghetti -- but the panko bread crumbs called my name and I quickly butterflied the chicken breasts, coated them in seasoned, beaten egg, rolled them in panko and pan fried them in olive oil until crunchy golden brown. For the spaghetti I still wanted simple, but with hearty, assertive flavor. No fade into the background filler but a garlicky duet with the crispy chicken.
When the chicken was browned and tucked into a 200º oven to wait for the pasta, I cleaned out the skillet and poured in about 1/2 cup of olive oil and 8 chopped cloves of garlic and half a small lemon very thinly sliced. The garlic and lemon simmered on medium low heat for about a minute -- maybe 2 -- you don't want the garlic to brown just flavor the oil. Then I added in 1 tsp of red pepper flakes, 2 TB of capers, 8 chopped anchovy filets, a pinch of salt and a good quantity of black pepper and let the oil cook for just another 30 seconds or so.
When the pasta (17 oz package) was cooked and drained (with a bit of the pasta cooking water reserved) I returned the spaghetti to the pot along with the oil mixture, the juice of half a small lemon, about 1/4 cup of chopped parsley, a splash of pasta cooking water and a chunk (maybe 1 1/2 TB) of butter.
Everything got a good stir, until the butter melted and the noodles were fully coated with sauce.
This might be my new favorite sauce. Easily pulled together with pantry ingredients. Super fast -- the whole thing can be whipped up while the pasta water boils, and crazy delicious.
The only way it could have been better -- if I say so myself -- was if we'd had a tiny bit of parmesan in the house. Yes, so sad -- we are trying to cut down on cheese too. Sigh. I hate being an adult. But we love spaghetti.

Our House Favorite Made Even Better

Not just cake, James' birthday nearly always calls for his favorite -- spaghetti and clam sauce. Though I make this favorite throughout the year for a special birthday dinner I slip in a little smoky bacon.
While the spaghetti is cooking I sauté 3 slices of chopped bacon in about 1/4 cup of hot olive oil. Next I add 2 chopped garlic cloves and a pinch of chile flakes to the pan followed (after about a minute) by the juice of one lemon, a good sized handful of chopped parsley and about 3/4 cups of white wine. After the wine cooked down by about half I tossed in about 4 pounds of very small little neck clams.
Honestly I prefer manilla clams which are small and sweet and James and I both think are perfect for spaghetti but so hard to find these days.
With the pan tightly covered it takes about 7 minutes for all the clams to open.
Meanwhile the pasta is cooking and when it's ready and drained I add it and about 3 TB butter to the pan with the clams, give everything a good toss around, add in another small bunch of fresh parsley and bring dinner to the table.

Spaghetti Genius

Maybe I hedge my bets, but I like a surefire winner when I make it home to make dinner.
Spaghetti.
James loves spaghetti and if I have to be completely honest I rarely miss when I start off with his favorite brand.
But why settle for the home run when a grand slam is fully in reach? Combine two favorites, hamburgers and spaghetti. I decided to make a meaty ground beef ragú barely held together by slow cooked tomatoes and serve it with plenty of parmesan cheese.
True Italian? Italian American? Who cares! It's delicious.
I started with a chopped onion in olive oil over medium high heat and then tossed in 4 cloves chopped garlic and a couple chili peppers fresh from our neighbor's garden. After about 4 minutes I added in 1 1/2 lbs ground beef (and S&P) and let it brown all over until almost cooked through. Next step was pouring in a bit of red wine -- about 3/4 cup and letting it cook until just about evaporated. Then I poured in one 28oz can of puréed tomatoes, about 6 oz of tomato paste and about 1 cup of water and let everything simmer away on top of the stove at a slow bubble for about 2 hours.
Confidence was high as I mixed a portion of the sauce into the drained pasta along with a healthy dose of grated parmesan.
My new name around here? Spaghetti genius! And today I think I deserve it.

Sunday Spaghetti on a Thursday

With just a few days at home I had some real kitchen business to get to right away. I put up a few jars of tomatoes and apples, stocked the shelves and freezer for James to eat while I am gone and took advantage of my day at home with some super slow family style cooking.
One of my favorite hang around the house recipes is an old fashion Neapolitan style ragú -- the kind of Sunday gravy Tony Soprano might favor.
First I use a combination of meats -- something flavorful with bones -- like short ribs (4), shanks (2) or meaty pork ribs (a half rack of baby backs cut horizontally into shorter pieces) combined with stewing veal (not today) or Italian sausage (2 links).
I sear the well seasoned meat (except for the sausage -- that goes in later) along with 1 chopped onion in hot olive oil until it's nice and brown. Then I toss in a couple cloves of chopped garlic and a pinch of dried chili flakes. Traditionally sauce in Naples is either onions or garlic, not both. But I can't resist a little garlic flavor, so that tradition goes out the window in favor of Italian American flavor. Next I pour in about a third of a bottle of red wine and cook everything down until the liquid is just about evaporated.
In goes two large 28 oz cans of crushed tomatoes, the sausage, and today since I've got a big pot going a large can of tomato purée or passata and bring everything up to a simmer. That's it. That's the hardest part. Then it's all over but the waiting. For the next 2-3 hours I stir about every 15 minutes, sometimes skimming a little of the fat off the top if it seems excessive.
The sauce cooks down to a rich meaty red. I toss some with butter, spaghetti, parmesan, and parsley for dinner and offer James the cooked meats as a "secondo." There is always meat left over which I pop in the freezer to grind for ravioli filling, meat pies or Northern Italian style meatballs made with cooked meat, mortadella, and plenty of flavorful breadcrumbs.
A dinner I can feel good about over and over again.

Kale Pesto

There are days -- as much as I like to grocery shop that I just don't want to go. Sometimes those days turn into a week.
Part of it I suppose is that I enjoy the challenge of making a dinner James likes from seemingly nothing or ingredients that don't seem to go together. Kind of a home version of the Food Network's Chopped where I am the only contestant and James the only judge.
Tonight James wanted spaghetti. Okay pasta I had but what to do for the sauce. I found some kale -- maybe a bit past it's prime and some parsley. Searching through my baking ingredients I came upon about 3/4 cup of walnuts. Pesto!
I put the kale, parsley, a couple cloves of garlic, a few pardon peppers I found in the veggie drawer, parmesan cheese, and the walnuts into the food processor. After I gave everything a good chop I poured in the olive oil to form a nice chunky pesto paste.
All I had to do was add a good dollop of pesto to the drained pasta -- along with about 1/2 cup of the pasta cooking water -- and a bit more parmesan, give everything a good stir and serve topped with crisped prosciutto.

Real Italian Home Cooking

Italians as a habit and societal necessity put their best face forward. They call it "bella figura." It's the unspoken rule that keeps Italians from running to the supermarket in pajama pants and flip flops and makes sure every guest is treated as visiting royalty.
There are dishes you make for company and there are cozy one pot suppers you might eat with just the family at home  -- people with whom you can completely relax.
Way down in Pulgia, the heel of the boot, one of those simple dishes you'll never find on a restaurant menu or even as an invited guest in a friend's home combines potatoes and squash with spaghetti in a rustic, quick, comforting dinner.
I dress it up a little with olive oil, herbs, and chili peppers but even with just cheese, pasta water and pepper this dish is a quick meal favorite. To the salted water boiling for your spaghetti add two large handfuls of diced potatoes, after they boil along for 2 minutes add the spaghetti and diced zucchini. Cook according to the package directions. Reserve 1 cup of pasta cooking water and drain the spaghetti mixture. In the same pot -- I could do this in a skillet and make dinner even quicker but it's nice to have less dishes to wash -- heat a glug of olive oil with chopped garlic and crushed red pepper. As the garlic just starts to color add in the drained pasta with potatoes and squash, 2 TB (or more) each chopped parsley and basil, the reserved pasta water (as much as you need to make a bit of a sauce), and a large handful of grated parmesan (or pecorino which we prefer) cheese. Toss everything together for a minute or two and serve with a bit of grated cheese on top.
No, it's not fancy but with potatoes and tromboncino squash from our backyard garden it felt just right for just the two of us.

One Last Project Before I Go

I came home to a rainbow of tomatoes waiting, some just ready (above) and some a little past ready. I hate to let anything go to waste, especially not my beautiful homegrown tomatoes. I could have canned up jars for winter (I usually do a dozen jars or so --we're not big canned tomato eaters -- each summer)  but inside today I was dreading all that blanching and peeling.
Last year I put up a few jars of sauce and they came in handy over and over again adding flavor to soups and stews and braises and sauces. I decided on an easy cook batch of Sicilian style tomato sauce.

First I chopped up my beautiful tomatoes, not too small just enough to get them all into the pot. I added in dried parsley and basil along with oregano, crushed red peppers and 4 bay leaves, then sprigs of fresh rosemary and thyme. Usually when I can sauce I make a less herby more basic version but today a little extra flavor felt right. I poured in 1 cup of olive oil and 3/4 cup of red wine and brought everything to a boil, pressing down the  tomatoes slightly to start them breaking down.  The pot simmered for 2 1/2 hours until I could see a thick sauce forming. I removed the rosemary, thyme, and bay leaves then passed the remaining sauce through a food mill to separate the tomato skins and seeds.

I was feeling pretty lazy by the time my sauce was ready to jar. I thought about just pouring some into freezer containers and tucking them away. But my sauce was so thick and beautiful (and tasty), I knew I would miss seeing the filled jars on the pantry shelf and hearing the satisfying thunk of a hot jar's seal setting. Out came the canning pot.

I processed the jars for about 10 minutes, wiped them clean and tucked them away for future meals. I had just a bit of sauce left in the pot with dinnertime on the way. I started a pot with olive oil, garlic, onions, and finely chopped peppers (there were fresh ones calling my name in the garden). As the aromatics sautéed I mixed up some easy meatballs. Ground pork and beef, eggs, breadcrumbs, parmesan cheese, chopped garlic, chopped shallots, basil, parsley, oregano, S&P and crushed red peppers, rolled around fresh cubes of mozzarella. A plain meatball with a surprise. I browned the meatballs in the pot with the onion mixture, poured in a little red wine and the leftover sauce and let everything simmer for about 30 minutes. The sauce was thick and rich and meaty. Just right for a cool fall evening. A perfect last meal at home (for a while).

Three Peppers and Potatoes

 Scrounging through the fridge, water already heating on the stove, I searched for something a little different for James' spaghetti. I was thinking just a plain aglio e olio (garlic and olive oil) but veered when I saw the beautiful chili pepper our neighbors sent over. Sure I still started with olive oil and plenty of garlic but I added in chopped fresh chiles, 2 super pickled hot sport peppers I brought home in a jar from a trip to Chicago, and for some color a roasted jarred red pepper hanging out on the fridge door. As the peppers bubbled in the saucepan I started to think about the leftover braised potato slices and tossed in a few along with some shredded basil to round out the spice. After I drained the pasta I tossed in the oil mixture, about 1/2 cup of reserved pasta cooking water and a handful of parmesan cheese -- mixed everything together quickly to let the cheese start to emulsify with the cooking water and oil and brought dinner to the table.

Fast And Easy Lazy Night Spaghetti

Tonight I just started throwing ingredients in a pan. Half working on making spaghetti half thinking about clearing out the fridge.
First I browned some cubes of spicy salami with rounds of yellow squash and a fresh hot chili pepper. After about 5 minutes in a covered pan the squash was starting to brown and I had to make a decision. Should I mix up some eggs and parmesan and make a sort of squash carbonara or should I reach for the leftover lettuce mint pesto waiting in the fridge? I always like a hint of mint with summer squash so when the pasta was drained and back in the waiting pot I mixed in the sautéed squash, a splash of cooking water, a sprinkle of parmesan cheese, and a healthy sized spoonful of fresh-tasting, flavorful pesto.

Squash Carbonara

Squash from the neighbors. Squash from the farmer's market. Squash is piling up.
James wanted spaghetti for dinner so I decided to make a little twist on the usual carbonara, a traditional specialty of Rome. Instead of just sauteíng onions, garlic and pancetta with a sprinkle of chili flakes and lots of black pepper. I added in squash rounds after the pancetta was mostly crisp and covered the pan to let the squash cook through. I mixed the vegetables along with eggs beaten with shredded Romano cheese into the drained spaghetti and let the residual heat from the past combine the eggs and oils into a creamy sauce.
Summer carbonara.

Ground Beef Spaghetti

I don't think there is anything in the least bit authentic about this spaghetti. It's more Women's Day" than Mario Batali. But there is something homey and comforting about it and James requests the dish often.
All I do is sauté ground beef  in olive oil with onions, garlic, chile flakes, fennel seeds and oregano. From there I improvise. When I have tomato paste I use a bit. Sometimes I mix in chopped bacon or prosciutto. Tonight I deglazed the pan with wine (well okay it was champagne I had in the fridge from the other day's dinner). Since James loves broccoli and since I am trying to eat less pasta these days I cooked broccoli in the pasta cooking water and mixed it into the drained spaghetti along with the sauce, a good sized pat of butter and a handful of shredded parmesan.
Nothing fancy, but a popular dish around here.

Zucchini Season Starts Early

Our neighbors built a green house this year. Our plants are barely above ground while they are already searching for willing squash eaters. James stopped in for a visit and while driving home found a couple bright green marrows on the back seat.
Tonight I turned those early (and I must say delicious) zucchini into James' spaghetti dinner. For our simple sauce I sautéed sliced zucchini, red onion and garlic for a couple minutes and then covered the pan to let the vegetables cook down to a soft purée. I stirred in some thinly sliced salami and finished with a bit of diced mint from our garden. After a quick toss in the pot with the drained pasta, a bit of the cooking water and parmesan cheese James' greenhouse garden fresh dinner was ready to serve.

House Favorite A New Way

James loves spaghetti and clam sauce. It's a house specialty. if guests are coming or we need a night feeling special it's our go to meal. It's the same recipe -- clams, butter, parsley, garlic, chili peppers -- but  it's always a little different. Sometimes I start with a bit of cubed pancetta. Tonight I used a hearty red wine instead of white. Always delicious, a house specialty that's ever changing.

A New Spaghetti Dinner

James loves spaghetti. James loves bacon. James loves brussels sprouts. This dish had to be a winner. I started chopped pancetta and rosemary in a hot pan with olive oil and tossed in several chopped cloves of garlic, black pepper and a pinch of red chili flakes. Next I added in about 1/2 lb thinly sliced brussels sprouts and a bit of water and let the sprouts sauté until just about softened. When the spaghetti was cooked I added the drained pasta to the sauté pan along with a good sized hunk of butter (about 2 TB) a dash of lemon zest, grated pecorino cheese and a splash of pasta cooking water. A couple tosses in the hot pan and dinner was served.

Spaghetti Pie

I don't remember when I made the spaghetti that produced the leftovers for this dish. I do remember James thought it was too spicy and shied away from the remainder in the fridge. I knew I could save it. Though it may seem like a homespun recipe from Betty Crocker or Taste of Home (not that there is anything wrong with that) spaghetti omelettes are  100% authentic Italian, a common home dish especially in the South.
Basically any leftover spaghetti will do -- with sauce or without. I prefer the sauced versions. Take your  leftovers and add eggs (as many as you need to give substance and structure to your batter) and grated cheese. Parmesan is a good choice but so is pecorino or any hard cheese you may like. Heat olive oil in a pan and layer in half of your spaghetti mixture. Top the spaghetti with sliced melting cheese (mozzarella or fontina) and bits of salami or prosciutto if you like and fry until crisp on the bottom. It is a bit of a maneuver to turn these heavy omelettes but with an extra plate and a little determination you can slide or flip your omelette (a frittata they would say in Italy) and return t to the skillet to cook through.
I've seen plenty of recipes where the melting cheese goes on top and the frittata is finished in the oven. At our house the cheese is a surprise in the middle and the outside edges are crispy and delicious. Viva Italia!

Me And Mario

A couple weeks ago, trapped in some distant hotel room on a snowy day I happened to catch a couple minutes of ABC's The Chew on what I assume was a particularly Italian day. Mario Batali was making a version of aglio olio spaghetti. A simple preparation with olive oil and garlic -- an easy dinner dish James always likes. Batali's version had not just chili pepper flakes but chopped, jarred hot peppers. James has been liking a little heat in his dinner lately so I carefully tucked that recipe away thinking I could improve on the classic and make James' dinner even better. Well either Mario or I got carried away. For the first time ever James declared me a bit heavy handed with the spice -- he politely kept eating between coughs. I'd like to blame Batali but for now I'll stick with tried and true just a while longer.

Spaghetti 2013

First spaghetti of 2013.
Spaghetti is a staple around here. The sauce is never quite the same. Unless I am making James' favorite spaghetti and clam sauce -- I try not to mess with that.
Tonight I took all the little ends of pancetta and salami in the meat drawer, chopped them up and tossed them in a frying pan to render out a little tasty fat. I helped out with a little extra olive oil. I sprinkled in some salt and chili flakes and then added about 1/3 head of very thinly sliced cauliflower to cook in the tasty oil. While the spaghetti was boiling I tossed a little cooking water into the cauliflower and covered the vegetable loosely to cook through.
When the pasta was drained I mixed in the cauliflower, a pat of butter, and a splash more of the cooking water and gave everything a good stir. Topped with grated parmesan cheese that was our first pasta 2013. many, many more to come.

A New Spaghetti Dish

I'm embarrassed by it but I kind of like Mario Batali. Let me clarify. I kind of hate the orange clogs,  the party boy chef attitude, the over-enunciated Italian, and the occasionally supercilious manner. But, more often then not, I find his recipes are worth trying.
With our home tomato season having come to an end, even after a hefty green tomato cake, we still have a wealth of green tomatoes, ready for recipes.
James, you probably know by now, does not love (or some days even tolerate) tomatoes. I love them. I love to eat them. I love to grow them, I love to cook with them. But mostly I love to serve James vegetables from our own garden. I thought, the texture being so different, that maybe green tomatoes could slip by and that he'd probably like their tangy flavor. I zeroed in on Batali's recipe for spaghetti with green tomatoes.
Basically a nut free pesto this simple dish combines 1/4 cup each of fresh mint, dill, basil and arugula with1 clove of garlic, 5 green tomatoes, and 2 TBs of parmesan cheese (don't forget salt and pepper). I ground everything to a paste in the food processor and then -- just before the spaghetti was fully cooked -- added in about 1/4 - 1/2 cup olive oil and pulsed until the mixture formed a vibrant green paste. I tossed the drained pasta and the sauce (about 1/3 of it -- I froze the rest for future green tomato dinners) in the hot pot to heat the sauce through and served James his dinner without a word about the tomatoes. green or otherwise.

Game 4 Too Close To Call

It's not ballpark but sometimes a man wants spaghetti. I started a skillet with plenty of olive oil, chopped garlic, chili peppers and 2 anchovy filets. While the pasta boiled I cooked that down to a smooth sauce. two minutes before I was ready to drain the spaghetti I added in a big bunch of chopped collards (and kind of hearty green would be good here -- kale, mustard greens, chard) from our garden. I added the drained pasta with the collards to the skillet along with 3/4 cup of pasta cooking liquid and a handful of shredded parmesan. After a few quick turns with my tongs dinner, and a tied game, was served.

Zucchini For Dinner

Squash, squash everywhere. In the garden and in our pasta. Tonight was a super easy sauté of sliced light green and yellow zephyr and cocozelle striped zucchini with garlic, chile peppers and thin slices of Calabrese salami. I mixed the cooked squash into the drained pasta along with a handful of parmesan cheese and a splash of pasta cooking water. After a couple turns in a warm pot James had a light cheese sauce flavored with vegetables from our busy garden.