Pasta al Pomodoro

pasta pomodoro

I don’t know if anyone subscribes to Bon Appetit, but May’s issue had a KILLER cover picture. It was just a simple pasta pomodoro, but it looked A-MAY-ZING. After wiping the drool from my chin, I decided I had to make it. I really think I’m the only person who loves a simple spaghetti with red sauce… However, since my kitchen was in pieces at that time, I marked the recipe page and went along with my life. A couple of days ago, I was cleaning and was elated to stumble upon that magazine again. Realizing I already had all of the ingredients it called for, I immediately got to work.

The May issue was packed with all kinds of “secrets” to making perfect pasta. Things most people know, like adding salt to your pasta water, reserving some of the pasta’s cooking water for your sauce, and adding cheese to your sauce (not just on top of it). It also had some new tips, like using a skillet instead of a large pan, adding butter when you toss the pasta, and finishing the pasta for the last couple minutes in the sauce, so that it absorbs the flavor of the sauce while it finishes cooking.

 

The recipe isn’t anything mind-blowing, just another simple (but enjoyable) pasta sauce recipe. It actually doesn’t vary a whole lot from my current pasta sauce recipe, but I just couldn’t help myself.

We used bowtie pasta (per BF’s request) instead of spaghetti or bucatini. I also feel bad whenever I eat an entree that is void of protein, so I seared some chicken breasts, chopped them up, and added them to the sauce while it simmered. Topped with freshly-grated parmesan and pecorino, this pasta was easy to make and a delight to eat.

Pasta al Pomodoro – from Bon Appetit

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  • 1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
  • 1 medium onion, minced
  • 4 garlic cloves, minced
  • 1 pinch crushed red pepper flakes
  • 1 28 oz. can peeled tomatoes, puréed
  • Kosher salt
  • 3 large fresh basil sprigs
  • 12 oz. pasta
  • 2 Tbsp. cubed unsalted butter
  • 1/4 cup finely grated Parmesan or Pecorino (I used both)
  • 1 – 2 cooked chicken breasts, cubed or shredded* (optional)
  1. Heat extra-virgin olive oil in a 12″ skillet over medium-low heat. Add minced onion and cook, stirring, until soft, about 12 minutes. Add garlic and cook, stirring, for 2-4 minutes. (Make sure it doesn’t burn- burned garlic is bitter!!) Add crushed red pepper flakes and continue to cook another minute.
  2. Increase heat to medium and add puréed tomatoes and season lightly with kosher salt; cook, stirring occasionally, until sauce thickens slightly and the flavors meld, about 20 minutes.** (see tips) Remove pan from heat, stir in basil sprigs, and set aside.
  3. Meanwhile, cook your pasta! Bring water to a boil in a 5-qt. pot. Season with salt; add pasta and cook. Remove 2 minutes before tender and drain, reserving 1/2 cup pasta cooking water.
  4. Discard basil and heat skillet over high heat. Stir in reserved pasta water to loosen sauce and bring it to a boil. Add pasta and cook, stirring, until sauce coats pasta and pasta is al dente, about 2 minutes. Remove pan from heat; add butter and cheese; toss until cheese melts

*Tips

*Purchase canned, whole tomatoes and puree them before adding them to your sauce. You can puree your tomatoes in the food processor, with a food mill, or an immersion blender.

*You can add your chicken at step 2 (while it simmers) or step 3 (when you add the pasta). Adding it earlier will result in it absorbing more of the flavor from the sauce, though.

*While my pasta simmers, I cover it with aluminum foil or parchment with a hole cut out- allowing the sauce to be able to reduce without making a huge tomato-y mess on my stove and counter.

simple red sauce

red sauce main
This isn’t about the meatballs, or the pasta, or the cheese. This, my friends, is about the sauce. You know all those complicated recipes for red sauce that you’ve read over the years? With secret blends of secret spices, with food mills, sugar, someone’s grandmother’s “secret ingredient”? Simmer for 40 hours, stirring constantly, standing on one leg while humming an authentic Italian tune? Smoke and mirrors, my friends, smoke and mirrors. Continue reading

Teriyaki Chicken with Momofuku’s Ginger-Scallion Noodles

teriyaki chicken noodles

“Teriyaki” hails from Japan and is just a general term that applies to pretty much any type of sweetened soy sauce mixture. The sweetener can be anything from honey, to pineapple juice, to plain old sugar (which is what this recipe uses). Feel free to experiment and find what you like.

While teriyaki is extremely popular in the US, I’m not sure how “authentic” it is to asian cuisine. Nevertheless, it shows up on menus nationwide for us to enjoy at asian and non-asian restaurants alike (even ‘Jack in the Box’ has a teriyaki bowl). Once you see how simple it is to make, you’ll understand why.

I made Momofuku’s ginger-scallion noodles with quick-pickled cucumbers to accompany our chicken tonight, which I was fortunate enough to experience in person on my NYC trip last year at Momofuku Noodle Bar. I received the cookbook from mom this past Christmas and had yet to actually make anything from it.

Despite sounding fancy, the sauce comes together rather quickly, and ends up looking like a pile of wet scallions. The noodles are very ginger-y, so if you’re not big on ginger, you may want to scale it back a bit. You could also use Megkat’s noodle recipe (at the end of this post), which is super tasty as well.

Teriyaki Chicken Adapted from Megkat

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  • 2 large boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut into thin strips
  • 1 Tbsp cornstarch
  • 1 Tbsp water
  • 1/3 C soy sauce
  • 1/3 C sugar (I’m sure you could substitute honey, agave nectar, or pineapple juice to taste)
  • ¼  C cider vinegar
  • ½  tsp garlic powder
  • ½  tsp powdered ginger (There was plenty of ginger in the noodles, so I left it out of the sauce this time)
  • ¼ tsp ground pepper (couple grinds)
  • ¼ – ½ tsp red pepper flakes (optional)
  1. Preheat oven to 425F and line a 9×13 baking pan with aluminum foil (this will make clean up much easier). Place chicken strips in pan.
  2. Mix water and cornstarch into slurry and add to saucepan over medium heat. Whisk in remaining ingredients and simmer until thickened, whisking to avoid burning.
  3. Once sauce is thick and syrup-y, pour over chicken and toss to coat. Bake in preheated oven 20-25 minutes, stirring about halfway through.

*Alternatively, I think it might taste even better if you saute the chicken in a pan and pour the thickened sauce over it, toss and serve, since baking the chicken results in a different texture than sauteeing does. Just be sure not to over-crowd the pan, saute in batches if you have to.

Ginger-Scallion Noodles From Momofuku Cookbook

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  • 6 oz cooked noodles (ramen, yakisoba, or in a pinch- thin spaghetti)
  • 6 Tbs ginger scallion sauce (recipe follows)
     

ginger-scallion noodles with quick-pickled cucumbers

Ginger Scallion Sauce –Makes about 3 cups

  • 2 1/2 C thinly sliced scallions, greens and whites (1 to 2 bunches)
  • 1/2 C finely minced peeled fresh ginger
  • 1/4 C grapeseed or other neutral oil
  • 1 1/2 tsp usukuchi (light soy sauce)
  • 3/4 tsp sherry vinegar
  • 3/4 tsp kosher salt, or more to taste

Mix together. Good from the time its made for 2 days. (It will look like a bowl of wet scallions)

Quick-Pickled Cucumbers

  • 1 large seedless (“English”) cucumber
  • 1 Tbsp Sugar
  • 1 tsp salt

Slice cucumber thinly (I used my mandolin), toss with sugar/salt and let sit for 20 minutes. Serve with ginger-scallion noodles

Garlic NoodlesAdapted from Megkat

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1 lb cooked noodles
4 TBS butter
6 garlic cloves, minced
1 1/2 C green onions, chopped (more for garnish, if desired)
2 1/2 tsp fish sauce (her’s calls for Tbsp, but that seems a bit much)
2 Tbs soy sauce
1 Tbs brown sugar

1. Melt 2 Tbs butter in large skillet. In small bowl, mix fish sauce, soy sauce, and brown sugar.

2. Add garlic and green onions, saute until fragrant. Add soy sauce mixture to pan, along with 2 more Tbs butter, melt while stirring. Once sugar is dissolved and butter is melted, toss with pasta & serve.

Healthy(er) Bolognese

healthy bolognese

Bolognese is one of my favorite pasta sauces. The best bolognese I’ve had comes from one of my favorite restaurants—Café Bink! One thing that always puzzled me was just how they achieved such a fine texture with their sauce, I just assumed it came from grinding their own meat. Then BF had a great idea- why not try my shiny, new immersion blender to grind my chunky meat sauce into something finer! (duh) It worked like a charm! I’m sure it’s much healthier for me than Bink’s, anyway, using turkey sausage and extra lean ground beef as its main components.

That’s my Penzey’s “Sandwich Sprinkle” in the background, I used it to help season my toasty garlic bread. I used Farfalle for this particular occasion, because it’s cute. See how cute the little bow-ties are? I should’ve bought the mini farfalle, everything is even cuter when it’s mini… maybe next time…

So here’s a relatively quick & easy Bolognese, make sure to read all the way to the end for helpful tips!

Pasta Bolognese

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  • 1/2 pkg sweet or spicy Italian sausage (I use turkey), casings removed
  • 1 lb ground beef (I use 97% lean)
  • 1 medium onion, finely diced
  • 1 medium carrot, finely diced
  • 1 stalk celery, finely diced
  • 3-4 cloves garlic, minced
  • 1 c red wine (or 1 c beef stock, or ½ c each)
  • 1 tsp Italian seasoning (or 1/2 tsp each dried oregano, basil, and parsley)
  • ½ – 1 tsp red pepper flakes (optional)
  • 1 28 oz can whole or crushed tomatoes
  • Splash of heavy cream & very small dash of ground nutmeg (optional, but strongly recommended)
  • 1 box pasta (or desired amount), cooked in salted water
  • Salt & Pepper
  • Olive Oil (or other neutral oil)

1. In a large sauté pan or dutch oven heat oil over medium/med-high heat. Add both meats and cook until well-browned, breaking up into small pieces. If necessary, drain excess fat.

2. Add onion, carrot, celery, and a dash of salt and pepper. Cook until soft, but not quite browned. Add garlic & red pepper flakes and cook until fragrant (just about a minute).

3. Add red wine and/or beef stock and deglaze pan, scraping up all the brown bits and mixing well. Simmer until wine is reduced by half.

4. Reduce heat to low and add tomatoes, breaking up with spatula or spoon if necessary (be careful- they squirt!) Allow to simmer, covered, for 30 minutes or several hours, checking occasionally to stir and add broth or water if it’s drying out (it shouldn’t be). It should be simmering, not boiling, so be sure the heat is low.

5. About 10 minutes before serving, add a splash of heavy cream, stir to incorporate. Adjust seasonings as necessary (sometimes, a splash of balsamic vinegar can brighten the sauce if it’s tasting a bit flat). Cover with lid slightly ajar and allow to simmer 10 minutes longer.

6. Toss with cooked pasta, top with fresh basil and fresh-grated parmigiano-reggiano cheese.

Tips

* Using an immersion blender, slightly puree the sauce to an even consistency—be careful not to go too far, or the sauce will resemble baby food and be much less appealing

-A food processor is a messier, less-safe way to accomplish the same task

*You can substitute 1 Tb ea fresh basil and parsley in place of the dried Italian seasoning or 1/2 tsp ea parsley, basil, and oregano.

*I recommend an enameled pan since stainless steel can sometimes make the sauce taste “tinny”- I will admit I made this batch in my AC Stainless Steel Saute and it was delish though 🙂

*As always, feel free to add more veggies if you like to stretch the sauce, though you may need to add more canned tomatoes (or a small can of ‘tomato sauce’ or ‘crushed tomatoes’)

*If the sauce tastes a little “flat”, try adding a teaspoon of sugar or a dash of balsamic vinegar to brighten the flavor.

*Since I’m usually only cooking for two, and this makes a lot of sauce, I usually freeze the extras in 2-person portions in Ziploc bags, which makes it easy to take out and re-heat on those nights when I just don’t have the time or energy to cook.