Kitchen3N

Recipes and food fun from Apt 3N

Salsa all’Amatriciana

IMG_2587It’s Ramadan. The days are long. Brain cells hardly get enough glucose to function throughout the day. You would think after breaking our fasts in the evening, we get a second wind and can be productive. Not the case here. Usually after iftar, my husband and I try to make the most of the 20 or minutes we have together post-kids-bedtime and pre-taraweeh (nightly prayer). Yet even after he leaves for the masjid, I find myself completely unable to do ANYTHING productive. That includes the dishes. I don’t know why this year’s fasts has left my brain and body completely depleted (any md’s/rn’s/nutrionists feel free to chime in). IMG_2538But my dear friend Amreen has been requesting this recipe from the very first time I made it for her back in college. And I, being the jerk friend that I am, have neglected to share it until now. So, on Friday, with bacon, tomatoes and sidekick Moury in hand, whipped up this old favorite.  IMG_2546This recipe is actually from my very first cookbook purchase in high school: Giada’s Everyday Italian. I know I’m always singing Ina’s praises and yes, her show really informed my current culinary outlook. But it all started with Everyday Italian. From Giada, I learned how to make my very first marinara sauce. Shrimp Fra Diavolo. Balsamic Roasted Chicken. Eggplant Caponata. Favorites that I use time and again – and they all come from this book. I can’t say as much for her follow up cookbooks, but this is definitely one I can vouch for. IMG_2557Any Roman reading this will gasp at my bastardization of their beloved Amatriciana sauce – a pancetta/onion/garlic/tomato sauce  except with halal beef bacon in place of the pancetta. I’m sorry! This is just the best we can do! The fat from the bacon balances well with the sweetness/acidity of the tomatoes. So you neither feel like you’re eating a really greasy pesto, nor a flat lined marinara (let’s face it, marinara just isn’t that exciting unless doctored up with some crushed red chili flakes). 
IMG_2576My old, and I mean old (seriously, friends for 13 years now?), friend Moury was with me in the kitchen. And contrary to our last cooking experience, I wasn’t a total tyrant. She took all these photographs for you guys. And since I haven’t been doing any day time eating, these are the only photographs I could manage for this post. IMG_2586So, bacon and pasta lovers rejoice! The perfect marriage of the two is in this dish.

Recipe from Giada De Laurentiis’ Everyday Italian

Ingredients

  • 2 tbsp olive oil
  • 6 ounces pancetta or slab bacon, diced
  • 1 yellow onion, finely chopped
  • 2 garlic cloves (I used 3), minced
  • pinch of dried crushed red pepper flakes (I would go with a generous pinch)
  • 1 (28 oz) can tomato purée (I used just over 1.5 lbs fresh tomatoes, blanched then peeled)
  • 1/2 tsp salt plus more to taste
  • 1/2 tsp black pepper plus more to taste
  • 1/2 cup grated Pecorino (I had none, so I just added some julienned basil)

Directions

  1. In a large, heavy skillet heat the oil over medium high heat. Add the bacon or pancetta and cook until the fat is rendered – about 8 minutes. Add the onion and cook for an additional 5 min. Add garlic and red pepper flakes and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds.
  2. Add the tomatoes, salt and pepper and reduce the heat to medium-low. Allow the sauce to cook, uncovered for 15 minutes. Stir in the cheese (if you have) and salt and pepper to taste.
  3. Serve with 1 pound of cooked pasta (spaghetti or bucatini).

Olio, Aglio & Peperoncino

IMG_1153For most people, the holy trinity means the Catholic theological doctrine of the Father, Son and Holy Ghost. For those in the culinary world, it usually means carrots, celery and onion. But for me, it really is olio, aglio & peperoncino (oil, garlic and pepper). On busy weeknights, it is your best friend. Heat up some garlic and crushed red pepper flakes in a pool of extra virgin olive oil and you have the base for a flavorful, fast meal in minutes. Throw in cooked spaghetti, spinach, green beans, or broccolini. Or use it to dress up fish or chicken breasts before grilling. Remember to filter out the pieces of garlic and pepper, of course, otherwise it burns. Once you do that, the whole thing becomes a super versatile garlic and pepper infused oil.

IMG_1143I first came across it in one of my first cookbooks, Giada’s Everyday Italian. I didn’t even take a second glance until my semester abroad in Rome. Seriously, a protein-less meal? But restaurants actually had it on their menu. And the prospect of a home cooked meal for basically the price of a box of spaghetti was more than appealing to my broke college student self.

But even after Rome, after getting married, when I found myself cooking for a guy with the overstimulated palette of a south asian, the combination of these three ingredients amped up the flavor of just about any meal.

I made this most recently the classic way. I think it’s a dish best served simply, with basil or parmigiano (though, to be honest, I haven’t tried it with the medley of herbs that Giada tops it with). Mangia bene!

IMG_4694Here it is doing its thang on some roasted shrimp.

Adapted from Giada De Laurentiis.

Ingredients

  • 1 pound dried spaghetti
  • 1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
  • 3 cloves garlic, peeled and sliced thinly
  • 1 tablespoon red pepper flakes (1 tsp if you can’t take the heat)
  • fresh parmigiano reggiano and/or basil chiffonade to top

Directions

  1. In a large pot, bring six quarts of water to a boil. Add a handful of salt and add pasta. Cook six to eight minutes, stirring occasionally.
  2. Meanwhile, heat olive oil over low heat. Add garlic and pepper and cook until fragrant, about a minute. Remove from heat.
  3. In a large bowl, add the pasta using a pair of tongs, keeping the cooking liquid in the pot. Add the oil, a ladle of the pasta water and toss to combine. Top with Parmigiano Reggiano, Basil, Pecorino Romano, Parsley – whatever you like!

Spaghettini with Cherry Tomatoes

By now you all know that consistency is NOT my middle name. I offer, not as an excuse, but as a simple explanation for my long absence the fact that I am just about to pop this baby out (of course that means posts will become even more intermittent once I am a fully sleep deprived zombie/mother of two). I have been relying on a combo take-out, mom’s cooking and trader joe’s prepared meals to get by.

Nowadays, when I do find pockets of time when the stars align (I’ve got energy, the grandparents have taken the little one out), I look for recipes that are less involved, requiring fewer dishes to clean. I’ve seen many permutations of the thin-pasta-with-cherry-tomato-based sauce, including some from my favs (Giada’s linguine with shrimp, cherry tomatoes and asparagus or Ina’s summer garden pasta). I try not to be as pour-happy with the olive oil as Ina, and compensate the sparseness of the ingredients with the slow, careful nurturing of the complimenting flavors: garlic and red pepper flakes. Come to think of it, it is really a twist on the italian classic spaghetti con aglio, olio e peperoncino (spaghetti with garlic, olive oil and red pepper flakes).

Whatever it resembles, wherever it came from – it’s good. Try it.

Ingredients:

  • 1 pound spaghettini (or any other long, thin pasta)
  • 1/4 cup olive oil
  • 3 garlic cloves
  • 1/2 tsp chili pepper flakes
  • 1 lb cherry tomatoes
  • 1 tsp salt (or more, to taste)
  • 1/2 cup grated parmesan
  • handful of basil

Directions

Cook pasta al dente according to package directions. Set aside in a big bowl while reserving some pasta water.

In a large skillet, heat up the olive oil over low heat. Slice the garlic and add to the oil, letting it infuse. Discard when the garlic becomes fragrant, but not brown. Increase the heat to medium and add the cherry tomatoes, red pepper flakes and salt to the garlic infused oil. Cook until the tomatoes are just bursting (about 5-7 minutes). Add in the cooked pasta, parmesan and julienned (rolled up like a cigar and sliced thinly) basil all into the skillet. Give it a big toss. Add a ladle or two of the pasta water to help bring everything together.