Pasta Modern (18 page)

FOR THE FIRST SAUCE:

1 onion, quartered

6 whole cloves

Olive oil

2 pounds (910 g) mixed beef and pork bones

2 celery stalks, roughly chopped

1 carrot, roughly chopped

2 (26-ounce/750-g) containers strained tomatoes or
passata di pomodori

1 bay leaf

Freshly grated nutmeg

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Make the first sauce:
Stud the onion quarters with the cloves. In a large saucepan, heat ¼ cup (60 ml) oil over medium heat. Add the onions, bones, celery, and carrot and sauté until the vegetables are very soft, about 30 minutes. Add the tomatoes, bay leaf, and nutmeg to taste and bring them to a boil. Reduce the heat and simmer, covered, for at least 3 hours. The sauce should not be thick, more like stock, so add a little water if needed. Strain the sauce, discarding the bones and vegetables. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

FOR THE SECOND SAUCE:

1 celery stalk, very finely minced

1 small carrot, very finely minced

Olive oil

2 garlic cloves, very finely minced

1 sprig fresh rosemary

12 ounces (340 g) chicken livers and gizzards, finely minced

12 ounces (340 g) ground lean pork

12 ounces (340 g) ground lean beef

1 cup (240 ml) white wine

Make the second sauce:
In a medium saucepan, combine the celery, carrot, 5 tablespoons oil, the garlic, and rosemary and cook over medium-high heat until soft, about 5 minutes. Add the chicken liver and gizzards and cook just 1 minute, until they are no longer red inside. Stir in the pork and beef, breaking up any large pieces with a wooden spoon, and cook until browned. Add the wine, turn down the heat to low, and simmer for about 30 minutes, until the flavors have melded. Add 1 cup of the first sauce to the pot, and simmer for another 5 minutes. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

FOR SERVING:

2 pounds (910 g) thin egg pasta such as
maccheroni di campofiglione
, preferably Spinosi brand

Parmesan cheese

Dried whole chile peppers

To serve
: Boil the pasta in salted water until it is al dente. Drain and toss with the first sauce until the sauce is well absorbed. Using a large fork, twirl portions onto the serving plates. Top each portion with a ladleful or two of the second sauce and sprinkle it with grated cheese. Accompany the pasta with a plate of dried chile peppers and small scissors so guests can help themselves.

UNDISCOVERED ITALY: ASCOLI PICENO

I first tasted this dish in the charming medieval town of Offida, in the Ascoli Piceno province of the le Marche region, at the restaurant Cantina del Picchio. I left so impressed with this jewel of a province and its fabulous foods and wines that I decided to feature Ascoli Piceno in a series of talks I give in New York called “Undiscovered Italy.” The president of the province got wind of the upcoming talks and arranged for the restaurant’s chef, Mr. Pasqualini, to come to New York to cook for the various audiences I’d be addressing. In addition to teaching me the nuances of this stand-out dish, he wowed the audience at each event with his delicious creation!

“GUITARS” & RABBITS

{
Ragù di coniglio e vino bianco
}

SERVES
6
|
REGION:
Abruzzo

Rabbit, slow-roasted until buttery and melting off the bone, is the base of this outstanding sauce, created by two–Michelin star chef Niko Romito. “Guitars” refers to the four-sided
pasta alla chitarra
shape that is traditionally served with this dish, which is made on a stringed pasta cutter called a
chitarra
.

You’ll love the delicate touch of lemon zest and the full, rich flavor produced by the slow cooking. Plus, the sauce only takes a few minutes of hands-on preparation, as most of the work is done in the oven.

1 carrot, roughly chopped

1 onion, roughly chopped

1 celery stalk, roughly chopped

1 garlic clove, roughly chopped

Olive oil

One (2 ½-to 3-pound/1.2-to 1.4-kg) rabbit, cut into 6 pieces

2 cups (480 ml) dry white wine, preferably Trebbiano d’Abruzzo

A few sprigs each fresh thyme, rosemary, and marjoram

Salt

1 lemon

1 pound (455 g)
spaghetti alla chitarra
or other long pasta, preferably Rustichella d’Abruzzo brand

Parmesan cheese

Preheat the oven to 200°F (90°C).

Put the carrot, onion, celery, and garlic into a Dutch oven or ovenproof pot on the stove with 3 to 4 tablespoons oil. Cook for about 20 minutes on medium heat, until the vegetables are soft.

Add the rabbit, raise the heat to high, and sear the meat on all sides. Pour in the wine, scraping up any brown bits with a wooden spoon. Add the thyme, rosemary, and marjoram and season with salt. Using a vegetable peeler, peel off only the yellow zest of the lemon in large sections and stir them into the pot. Place aluminum foil close to the surface of the meat, then cover the pot with a lid and put it into a roasting pan half filled with hot water. Bake for 4 hours, stirring occasionally.

Remove the rabbit from the pan and discard the bones and skin. Pass the vegetables and pan juices through a strainer. Put the pan juices and the meat back into the pan and keep warm; discard the vegetable solids.

Boil the pasta in salted water until it is al dente. Drain the pasta, toss it into the sauce, and serve it topped with grated cheese.

{
Spaghettini glassate ai porri
}

SERVES
2
*
|
REGION:
Abruzzo

Flame-charred leeks are juiced and then combined with bits of smoky pancetta and a touch of wine. The pasta cooks right in these delicious liquids, creating a silky, glossy sauce. An outstanding dish!

This masterpiece is by Michelin-star chef Niko Romito, who introduced me to Verrigni pasta, made by pressing the dough through solid gold extruders. For this dish he uses their “super spaghettini,” well worth searching out, as it is exceptionally thin yet with a nice toothsome consistency. Of course, you can substitute any good-quality, long, thin pasta, like angel hair.

4 pounds (1.8 kg) leeks

2 ounces (60 g) pancetta or bacon, finely minced

½ cup (120 ml) white wine

Salt

Cayenne

8 ounces (225 g) spaghettini, vermicelli, or other thin pasta, preferably Verrigni brand

Olive oil

Parmesan cheese

*
If you’d like to serve four, double the ingredients and use two pans, because the sauce becomes velvety only when cooked in small batches
.

Preheat the broiler or a grill to medium-high heat.

Wash the leeks and cut off the root ends, but keep the leeks whole. Broil or grill them until the outer leaves are charred and the insides soft, turning to char all sides, 30 to 40 minutes. Once they are cool, process the leeks through a juicer or vegetable extruder. Discard the pulp; reserve the juice.

In a skillet wide enough to hold the raw pasta horizontally, cook the pancetta over medium heat until crisp, about 3 minutes. Pour in the wine, scraping up any brown bits with a wooden spoon. Add ¼ cup (60 ml) of the leek juice, season with salt and a pinch of cayenne, and bring to a boil. Add the pasta and stir, adding additional leek juice a few ladlefuls at a time as needed, until the pasta is al dente, about 6 minutes. At the end, stir in 1 or 2 tablespoons oil and toss over high heat until all the leek juice is absorbed and the pasta has a pretty glaze.

Twirl forkfuls of pasta onto a plate and serve immediately. Sprinkle on finely grated cheese, ideally grated on a Microplane.

{
Maccheroni con le rigaglie
}

SERVES
4
|
REGION:
Lazio, especially the Romano-Castellana areas, but also popular in the Veneto

Full disclosure:
rigaglie
, a word that comes from the Latin for “royal gift,” in fact means “chicken giblets” in Italian. The sauce, even though it is made of poultry parts often discarded, is actually a delicacy, very refined and with deep, rich flavor. Be brave and add cockscombs, too! They not only have a nice texture and lovely flavor, but are very pretty on the plate.

I love the tip I learned in Italy about infusing the cooking wine with herbs and garlic for an hour before cooking with it—a trick that adds lots of extra flavor to any recipe!

½ cup (120 ml) red wine

Several sprigs fresh marjoram

1 garlic clove, crushed

Olive oil

1 pound (455 g) assorted chicken giblets such as gizzards, liver, heart, and cockscomb

1 cup (250 g) strained tomatoes or
passata di pomodori
, or 3 tablespoons tomato paste

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

1 pound (455 g)
spaghettoni
or other long pasta, preferably Benedetto Cavalieri brand

Aged pecorino cheese

1 tomato, diced

Combine the wine, 2 sprigs marjoram, and the garlic in a cup and let them infuse for 1 hour.

Mince the giblets, but leave the cockscomb whole, if using. In a large skillet, heat 3 tablespoons oil over high heat. Add the giblets and cockscomb and cook until they are browned, about 2 minutes. Pour in the wine, garlic, and marjoram and scrape up any brown bits with a wooden spoon. Stir in the tomatoes (or if using tomato paste, mix with 1 cup water until smooth, then stir in), reduce the heat to very low, and simmer until the sauce thickens, about 1 ½ hours. Season with salt and pepper, and remove the garlic and herb sprigs.

Boil the pasta in salted water 1 minute shy of al dente. Drain and toss into the sauce to finish cooking, adding a few tablespoons of cooking liquid. Serve the pasta topped with grated cheese, sprigs of marjoram, and diced tomato.

{
Bigoli co’ l’arna
}

SERVES
4
|
REGION:
Veneto

Bigoli
are a long, thick pasta specialty of the Veneto. In the past, this dish was made by cooking the pasta in broth made from a whole duck, then topping it with the duck giblets sautéed in butter and sage. But even Venetian grannies don’t make it that way anymore. Nowadays, this lighter version, still very luscious and rich, uses just one duck breast instead of the entire bird—you can ask your butcher to grind it for you, or do it yourself by rough chopping it or putting it through the meat grinder attachment on your food processor.