Ahead-of-time note You can fry the eggplant a day or two in advance of making the sauce, or make the entire sauce in advance and refrigerate it for up to 3 or 4 days before reheating.
Eggplant and Ricotta Sauce, Sicilian Style
For 6 servings
About 1 to 1½ pounds eggplant
Salt
Vegetable oil
⅓ cup extra virgin olive oil
½ cup onion sliced very thin
1½ teaspoons chopped garlic
2 cups fresh, ripe Italian plum tomatoes, skinned with a peeler, split lengthwise to pick out the seeds, and cut into narrow strips
Black pepper, ground fresh from the mill
3 tablespoons freshly grated romano cheese
3 tablespoons fresh ricotta
8 to 10 fresh basil leaves
1 to 1½ pounds pasta
Freshly grated parmigiano-reggiano cheese for the table
Recommended pasta I love this sauce with ruote di carro, “cartwheels,” and it is also good with fusilli or rigatoni. Nor can you go wrong with plain old spaghetti.
1. Cut off the eggplant’s green spiky cap. Peel the eggplant and cut it into 1½-inch cubes. Put the cubes into a pasta colander set over a basin or large bowl, and sprinkle them liberally with salt. Let the eggplant steep for about 1 hour so that the salt can draw off most of its bitter juices.
2. Scoop up a few of the eggplant cubes and rinse them in cold running water. Wrap them in a dry cloth towel, and twist it to squeeze as much moisture as possible out of them. Spread them out on another clean, dry towel, and proceed thus until you have rinsed all the eggplant cubes.
3. Put enough vegetable oil in a large frying pan to come ½ inch up the sides of the pan, and turn on the heat to medium high. When the oil is quite hot, slip in as many of the eggplant pieces at one time as will fit loosely in the pan. If you can’t fit them all in at one time, fry them in two or more batches. As soon as the eggplant feels tender when prodded with a fork, transfer it with a slotted spoon or spatula to a cooling rack or to a platter lined with paper towels to drain.
4. Pour off the oil and wipe the pan clean with paper towels. Put in the olive oil and the sliced onion and turn on the heat to medium high. Sauté the onion until it becomes colored a light gold, then add the chopped garlic and cook for only a few seconds, stirring as you cook.
5. Add the strips of tomato, turn up the heat to high, and cook for 8 to 10 minutes, stirring frequently, until the oil floats free from the tomato.
6. Add the eggplant and a few grindings of pepper, stir, and turn the heat down to medium. Cook for just a minute or two more, stirring once or twice. Taste and correct for salt.
7. Toss the cooked and drained pasta with the eggplant sauce, add the grated romano, the ricotta, and the basil leaves. Toss again, mixing all ingredients thoroughly into the hot pasta, and serve at once, with the grated Parmesan on the side.
Spinach Sauce with Ricotta and Ham
For 4 to 6 servings
2 pounds fresh spinach OR 2 ten-ounce packages frozen leaf spinach, thawed
¼ pound butter
2 ounces unsmoked boiled ham, chopped
Salt
Whole nutmeg
½ cup fresh ricotta
½ cup freshly grated parmigiano-reggiano cheese, plus additional cheese at the table
1 to 1 ½ pounds pasta
Recommended pasta Ridged penne, maccheroncini, or rigatoni.
1. If using fresh spinach: Pull the leaves from the stems, and discard the stems. Soak, rinse, and cook the spinach and gently squeeze the moisture from it. Chop it rather fine and set aside.
If using thawed frozen spinach: With your hands, squeeze the moisture from it, chop it fine, and set aside.
2. Put half the butter in a sauté pan and turn on the heat to medium high. When the butter foam begins to subside, add the ham, turn it two or three times, then add the spinach and liberal pinches of salt. Bear in mind that aside from the ricotta, which has no salt, the spinach is the principal component of the sauce and must be adequately seasoned. Sauté the spinach over lively heat, turning it frequently, for about 2 minutes.
3. Off heat, mix in the nutmeg, grated—no more than ⅛ teaspoon.
4. Toss the cooked and drained pasta with the contents of the pan, plus the ricotta, the remaining butter, and the ½ cup grated Parmesan. Serve at once, with grated Parmesan on the side.
Peas, Bacon, and Ricotta Sauce
IN MOST of Italy, bacon is not used as commonly in cooking as its spicier, unsmoked version, pancetta, except for the northeast of the country, where it prevails. In the same territory, the ricotta is very mild, the fresh peas from the farm islands of the Venetian lagoon are very sweet, and the sauce they make together has considerable charm.
For 4 servings
1 pound fresh, young peas, unshelled weight, OR ½ of a 10-ounce package tiny frozen peas, thawed
¼ pound bacon, preferably lean, slab bacon
Salt
¼ pound fresh ricotta
1 tablespoon butter
⅓ cup freshly grated parmigiano-reggiano cheese, plus additional cheese at the table
Black pepper, ground fresh from the mill
1 pound pasta
Recommended pasta First choice goes to conchiglie for the deftness with which its hollows catch the sauce, but both fusilli and rigatoni are excellent alternatives.
1. If using fresh peas: Shell them, discard the pods, rinse them in cold water, and cook them in a small amount of simmering water until they are just tender. The time varies greatly depending on the freshness and youth of the peas.
If using thawed frozen peas: Begin the sauce at Step 2.
2. Cut the bacon into short, narrow strips. Put it into a small sauté pan, and turn on the heat to medium. Cook until it becomes very lightly browned, but not crisp, and the fat melts. Pour off all but 2 tablespoons of bacon fat from the pan.
3. Put the cooked fresh peas or the thawed frozen peas in the pan with the bacon. Cook at medium heat for about 1 or 2 minutes, stirring to coat the peas thoroughly.
4. Put the ricotta in the bowl the pasta will subsequently be tossed in, and crumble it with a fork. Add the butter.
5. Cook and drain the pasta, and put it in the bowl, tossing it immediately with the ricotta and the butter. Rapidly warm up the peas and bacon, and pour the entire contents of the pan onto the pasta. Toss thoroughly, add the grated Parmesan and 2 or 3 grindings of pepper, toss once or twice again, and serve at once, with more grated cheese on the side.
Peas, Peppers, and Prosciutto Sauce with Cream
PEAS AND PROSCIUTTO make one of the most light-handed pasta sauces with cream. In the version below, peppers are added, increasing the vivaciousness of the sauce with their aroma, their texture, their ripe red color.
For 4 to 6 servings
3 meaty, ripe red bell peppers
3 tablespoons butter
A ½-inch-thick slice of prosciutto OR country ham, OR plain boiled unsmoked ham, about 6 ounces, diced very fine
1 cup tiny frozen peas, thawed
1 cup heavy whipping cream
Salt
Black pepper, ground fresh from the mill
1 cup freshly grated parmigiano-reggiano cheese, plus additional cheese at the table
1 to 1½ pounds pasta
Recommended pasta There is no more appropriate sauce than this one for garganelli, or handmade tubular macaroni. It would also go quite well with short, tubular factory-made pasta such as maccheroncini or penne.
1. Roast and skin the peppers, and remove their seeds. When you have thoroughly dried them, patting them with paper towels, cut them into ¼-inch squares and set aside.
2. Put the butter and diced prosciutto into a sauté pan and turn on the heat to medium. Cook for a minute or less, stirring frequently.
3. Add the thawed peas, and cook for another minute, stirring to coat them well.
4. Add the little squares of peppers, stirring for half a minute or l
ess.
5. Add the cream, salt, and several grindings of pepper, and turn up the heat to high. Cook, stirring constantly, until the cream thickens.
6. Toss the sauce with cooked, drained pasta, swirling in the grated Parmesan. Serve immediately, with additional grated cheese.
Roasted Red and Yellow Pepper Sauce with Garlic and Basil
ROASTING PEPPERS is one way of separating them from their skin, but in this magnificent Neapolitan sauce the peeler is the better way. When roasted, peppers become soft and partly cooked, but to be sautéed successfully, as they need to be here, the peppers must be raw and firm, as they are when skinned with a peeler.
For 4 servings
3 meaty bell peppers, some red, some yellow
16 to 20 fresh basil leaves
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
4 garlic cloves, peeled
Salt
2 tablespoons butter
⅔ cup freshly grated parmigiano-reggiano cheese
1 pound pasta
Recommended pasta Ridged rigatoni would be best here, but other tubular pasta, such as penne, ziti, or maccheroncini, would also be good.
1. Wash the peppers in cold water. Cut them lengthwise along their crevices. Scoop away and discard their seeds and pulpy core. Peel the peppers, using a swiveling-blade peeler and skimming them with a light, sawing motion. Cut the peppers lengthwise into strips about ½ inch broad, then shorten the strips, cutting them in two.
2. Rinse the basil leaves in running cold water, and gently pat them dry with a soft towel or paper towels, without bruising them. Tear the larger leaves by hand into smaller pieces.
3. Choose a sauté pan that can subsequently accommodate all the peppers without crowding them. Put in the olive oil and the garlic cloves, and turn on the heat to medium high. Cook and stir the garlic until it becomes colored a light nut brown, then remove it and discard it.
4. Put the peppers in the pan, and continue to cook at lively heat for another 15 minutes, stirring frequently. The peppers are done when they are tender, but not mushy. Add an adequate amount of salt, stir, and take off heat. Gently reheat when you’ll be getting ready to toss the pasta.
5. When you are nearly ready to drain and toss the pasta, melt the butter in a small saucepan at low heat. It should be just runny, not sizzling.
6. Toss the cooked drained pasta with the contents of the sauté pan, then add the melted butter, the grated Parmesan, and the basil and toss thoroughly once more. Serve at once.
Zucchini Sauce with Basil and Beaten Egg Yolk
For 4 servings
1 pound fresh zucchini
Vegetable oil for frying
3 tablespoons butter
1 teaspoon all-purpose flour, dissolved in ⅓ cup milk
Salt
1 egg yolk, beaten lightly with a fork (see warning about salmonella poisoning)
½ cup freshly grated parmigiano-reggiano cheese
¼ cup freshly grated romano cheese
⅔ cup fresh basil leaves torn by hand into several pieces OR equal amount of chopped parsley
1 pound pasta
Recommended pasta The clinging zucchini strips and the creamy consistency of the sauce make it particularly suitable for curly shapes, such as both kinds of fusilli—the short, stubby ones and the long, corkscrew strands.
1. Soak the zucchini for at least 20 minutes in cold water, then wash it free of all grit. Drain it, trim away both ends, and cut the zucchini into sticks about 3 inches long and ⅛ inch thick. Pat them thoroughly dry with paper towels.
2. Put enough oil in a frying pan to come ½ inch up the sides of the pan, and turn on the heat to medium high. When the oil is hot enough that a zucchini strip sizzles when dropped in, put in as many strips at one time as will fit without being crowded. If all the zucchini do not fit in at one time, cook it in two or more batches. Fry the zucchini until it becomes colored a light brown, but no darker, turning it from time to time. As each batch is done, transfer it to a cooling rack or a plate lined with paper towels to drain.
3. When the pasta is nearly ready to drain and toss, pour out the oil from the frying pan, wipe it clean and dry with paper towels, put in 2 tablespoons of the butter, and turn on the heat to medium. When the butter foam begins to subside, turn the heat down to medium low, and stir in the flour-and-milk mixture, a little bit at a time. Cook, stirring constantly, for half a minute. Add a pinch of salt, all the fried zucchini strips, and cook for about 1 minute, turning the zucchini over to coat thoroughly.
4. Off heat, vigorously swirl in the remaining tablespoon of butter and the egg yolk.
5. Toss the cooked drained pasta with the sauce, add both grated cheeses, toss thoroughly once again, add the torn-up basil leaves, toss once more, then serve immediately.
Ahead-of-time note You can fry the zucchini several hours in advance of cooking the pasta and completing the sauce.
Fried Zucchini Sauce with Garlic and Basil
For 4 servings
1½ pounds fresh, young zucchini
Salt
10 to 12 fresh basil leaves
½ cup all-purpose flour
Vegetable oil for frying
3 garlic cloves, peeled
4 tablespoons (½ stick) butter
½ cup freshly grated parmigiano-reggiano cheese, plus additional cheese at the table
1 pound pasta
Recommended pasta Fresh pasta’s flavor seems to be particularly congenial to this sauce. Fettuccine would be the preferred shape. Such boxed pasta shapes as fusilli or spaghetti would also work well here.
1. Soak the zucchini for at least 20 minutes in cold water, then wash it free of all grit. Drain it, trim away both ends, and cut the zucchini into sticks about 2½ inches long and no more than ¼ inch thick.
2. Put the zucchini in a freestanding pasta colander set over a large bowl, and sprinkle liberally with salt. Toss the zucchini 2 or 3 times to distribute the salt evenly, and let stand for at least 2 hours. Check the bowl occasionally, and if the liquid that collects in it comes up high enough to reach the zucchini, empty the bowl.
3. When 2 or more hours have elapsed, remove the zucchini and pat thoroughly dry with paper towels. Rinse and dry the colander, which you will need again.
4. Rinse the basil in cold water. Pat dry with paper towels and tear the leaves by hand into smaller pieces. Set aside.
5. When you are ready to fry, set the colander over a platter, and put the zucchini back in it. Dust the zucchini with the flour, shaking the colander to coat them evenly and to shed excess flour.
6. Put enough vegetable oil in a frying pan to come ¼ to ½ inch up its sides. Add the garlic and turn the heat on to high. When the oil is quite hot, put in as many zucchini sticks at one time as will fit loosely in the pan. Check the garlic and as soon as it begins to turn brown, remove it and discard it. Turn the zucchini sticks, cooking them until they become colored a golden brown all over, then transfer them to a cooling rack to drain or to a platter lined with paper towels. Continue adding zucchini to the pan in as many batches as necessary until it is all done to a golden brown.
7. When the pasta is nearly ready to be drained, melt the butter in the upper part of a double boiler and keep it warm. If you are using soft, freshly made pasta, melt the butter before dropping the pasta in the pot.
8. Toss cooked drained pasta with the warm melted butter, add the fried zucchini, the basil, and the grated cheese and toss thoroughly again. Serve at once with additional grated Parmesan on the side.
Ahead-of-time note The sauce may be prepared several hours in advance up to this point, but do not refrigerate the zucchini.
Smothered Onions Sauce
THE SWEET PUNGENCY of onion is the whole story of this sauce. To draw out its character, the onion is first stewed very slowly for almost an hour, until it is meltingly soft and sweet. Then it is browned to bring its flavor to a sharper, livelier edge.
If you have no problems in using lard, it will considerab
ly enrich the sauce. You may, however, use butter as a substitute.
For 4 to 6 servings
Either 2 tablespoons lard OR 2 tablespoons butter with 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1½ pounds onions, sliced very thin, about 6 cups
Salt
Black pepper, ground fresh from the mill
½ cup dry white wine
2 tablespoons chopped parsley
⅓ cup freshly grated parmigiano-reggiano cheese
1 to 1½ pounds pasta
Recommended pasta Spaghetti is an excellent choice, but an even better one may be homemade tonnarelli. This is a rather dense sauce and if using homemade pasta, which is more absorbent than spaghetti, you should start with ½ tablespoon more lard or 1 tablespoon more butter when making the sauce.
1. Put the lard or butter and olive oil, and the onions with some salt in a large sauté pan. Cover and turn on the heat to very low. Cook for almost an hour until the onions become very soft.
2. Uncover the pan, raise the heat to medium high, and cook the onions until they become colored a deep, dark gold. Any liquid the onions may have shed must now boil away.
3. Add liberal grindings of pepper. Taste and correct for salt. Bear in mind that onions become very sweet when cooked in this manner and need an adequate amount of seasoning. Add the wine, turn the heat up, and stir frequently while the wine bubbles away. Add the parsley, stir thoroughly, and take off heat.
4. Toss with cooked drained pasta, adding the grated Parmesan. As you toss, separate the onion strands somewhat to distribute them as much as possible throughout the pasta. Serve immediately.
Ahead-of-time note You can cook the sauce entirely in advance up to the point where you add the parsley. When you are nearly ready to toss it with the pasta, reheat the sauce over medium heat and add the parsley just before draining the pasta.
Essentials of Classic Italian Cooking Page 19
