Recipes from AN ITALIAN AFFAIR
The key to Italian cooking is finding the tastiest, freshest ingredients that are in season, and using good-quality olive oil (meaning extra virgin, something with a strong but light, slightly peppery taste), and fresh hard Italian cheese for grating. Always cook your pasta al dente ("to the teeth," or fairly firm) and don't skimp on the salt.
Italian cooking is basically simple, and not too precise, which is why I haven't always included exact measurements.
Penne ai pomodori crudi
Penne with raw tomatoes
(Lunch with Nina in Florence)
The time to make this is when tomatoes and basil are in season. You'll want about a pound of tomatoes and a handful of basil for 3-4 people.
Dice the tomatoes. Shred the basil. Finely chop a few cloves of garlic. Stir together with some very good olive oil, about 3 T. Add a teaspoon of salt or so. Let the sauce sit for awhile.
Meanwhile, boil some water, add a couple tablespoons of salt, and then cook the penne until it is al dente, still quite firm. Then rinse off and cool. When the pasta is cool, add the sauce. Serve at room temperature. Add some shaved parmigiano if you like on top.
P.S. NEVER refrigerate tomatoes.
Insalata alla rucola
Arugula salad
(From the restaurant on Ischia)
Wash, dry, and tear a bunch of fresh, bright green arugula. Dress with good extra virgin olive oil, a squeeze of lemon, and salt. You can add some thinly-sliced fennel, if you like, or some shaved parmesean, or whatever else your heart desires.
Nothing, really, is better than arugula.
Pasta al pesto
Pasta with pesto sauce
(From the restaurant on Forio with the professor)
Take a nice bunch of fresh basil--about a cup of leaves--and either chop it, crush it with a mortar and pestle (thus the name), or put it in a food processor. Add some extra virgin olive oil, about 1/4 cup. Then throw in a half cup of pinenuts, four or five garlic cloves, and 1/2 cup parmesean or pecorino cheese. Taste, add salt and pepper, and adjust the ingredients to your liking. Serve over pasta.
My friend Lucia, who is from La Spezia, which is famous for its pesto, adds a few pieces of potato to the water when she's boiling the pasta, which she adds to the dish, which is the traditional way they eat pesto there. Don't overcook the pasta!!
Pasta allo Scoglio
Pasta with oysters, clams, and other crustaceans
(Lunch with the professor on Procida)
Pasta allo "scoglio" literally means from the rock or reef--using the shellfish that grow on rocks, from mussels and clams to tiny snails and other creatures that seem to only live in Italian seas.
Buy whatever mussels, clams, etc. that are available to you, maybe about two pounds total. Scrub the shellfish very well, or the dish can become gritty. Boil and salt some water for pasta. Then heat two or three tablespoons of olive oil in a big skillet with a crushed clove of garlic. When the garlic has browned, throw it away, then add the crustaceans. Cover and cook over a medium-high heat, shaking the pan every now and then, until the shellfish have opened. Cool, then remove and throw away the shells of most of them (saving a few for the top for decoration). Throw away any shells that failed to open when they heated, because that's a sign of a potentially nasty shellfish. Reserve the shellfish broth, and strain it.
Make the sauce: Saute a clove of garlic, then add some 3 or 4 ripe, sliced tomatoes. Then throw in several shredded basil leaves (about 1/4 cup), a little salt, and maybe some little hot chili peppers (but go easy!). Simmer the sauce for about five minutes.
Cook the spaghetti al dente. Drain the spaghetti, add the sauce, then add the shellfish meat, and then add about two tablespoons chopped up parsley. Decorate with those whole shells on top. Dribble a little olive oil on the dish to finish.
Note: NEVER add grated cheese to a pasta dish with fish or shellfish in it!
Patate al rosmarino
Roasted potatoes with rosemary
(Dinner in St. Angelo with the professor)
Take some new potatoes, halve them, and wash them. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. In a large bowl, toss the potatoes and
A couple garlic cloves with some sprigs of rosemary. Toss with olive oil to coat lightly and sprinkle on some salt and pepper to taste. Lightly oil a sheetpan and spread the potatoes out onto one layer, cut side down. Roast for 30 to 45 minutes or until golden brown and tender. Remove from oven and let cool for 20 minutes before removing with a spatula. Serve hot or cold.
Insalata caprese
Salad with mozzarella, tomatoes, and basil
(Naples lunch with the professor)
Find some good-quality, fresh mozzarella. Slice. Find some fresh, in-season tomatoes. Slice. Tear up a little handful of basil. Toss over the mozzarella and tomatoes. Salt. Drizzle with olive oil. Serve with crusty bread and a nice light white Italian wine. Heaven.
Orecchiette pasta with cauliflower
(Pasta I made for the professor in San Francisco)
Take a head of cauliflower and cut into bite-sized florets. Boil these until they are al dente, then drain.
Soak 1/4 cup currants in 1/2 cup fry white wine.
Toast 2 tablespoons of pine nuts, set aside.
Toast 1/4 cup bread crumbs, set aside.
Boil some salted water and cook the orrechiette ("little ears") until it is al dente.
Meanwhile, heat 3 tablespoons of olive oil in a large pan. Chop up four anchovies and add to the olive oil, stirring until they dissolve. Toss in a few red pepper flakes. Add the currants and white wine, and simmer down for a couple of minutes. Add the al dente cauliflower and coat. Salt as needed. Add the pasta. Toss in the bread crumbs and pine nuts. Sprinkle 1/2 cup of parmesean or reggiano on the top and serve.
Pasta con le sarde
Pasta with sardines
(Served at the rose-colored restaurant on Filicudi; I asked the signora for the recipe)
First, sautee a finely-chopped onion and a small tin of anchovies in olive oil, dissolving the anchovies. Toss in some fresh sardines (heads and tails cut off). Meanwhile, boil some salted water, parboil a sliced bulb of fennel, and then reserve the water and mash the fennel. Add the fennel to the sardine mixture, and cook for ten minutes or so. Then you add a few sultanas and pinenuts, as well as a smidge of saffron. Cook some bucatini in the boiling fennel water, al dente, then you mix it into the sardine mixture, and let it rest a few minutes before serving.
Pasquale's pasta
(Pasquale made this for me on Stromboli)
Roast some red peppers over a flame, peel them, and chop them. Cook some spaghetti. Sautee a chopped onion in 3 T. olive oil, add the peppers, add salt, and cook a bit longer. Pour the sauce over the spaghetti and add some chunks of fresh ricotta salata, and stir it around.
Fabio's salad
(Fabio made this simple salad on Stromboli)
Soak 1-2T capers packed in salt for a few minutes, and rinse. Cut a red onion into thin slices. Add some sliced cherry tomatoes. Add the capers. Drizzle on in some olive oil, sprinkle some salt, and add a drained can of tuna fish (of course, you can use fresh, broiled tuna, too). Serve with ample amounts of white wine, and then suggest a nap.
