Archive

ITALIAN RECIPES

And after Easter?

Spaghetti with Squid Ragu

Ingredients:

2 pounds (1 k) small totani
1 pound (450 g) spaghetti
1/3 cup (80 ml) olive oil
A small onion, chopped
3 fresh basil leaves
2 cloves garlic, whole
1 tablespoon tomato sauce
Sugar
Salt & Pepper to taste

Preparation:

Clean the totani if need be, rinse them, and then cut their bodies into rings using a pair of scissors; if the tentacles are small leave them as is. Otherwise, cut each set of tentacles in two.
Put the squid in a terracotta pot over low heat and salt them lightly; when the water they give off has been reabsorbed, sprinkle the oil over them, and then the chopped onion and the garlic.

Sauté until the squid are golden and the onion is well wilted, then stir in the tomato sauce (or an equivalent volume water), the basil, and a pinch of sugar.
Reduce the heat and simmer until the liquid draws away from the oil in the pot; add more hot water and continue simmering until the fish are done (about an hour in all).

Cook the pasta in lightly salted boiling water, drain it, and serve it with the sauce from the totani. What to with them? Serve them as a second course, with a tossed salad, and a Ciró rosato.

Lemony Pasta Salad

Ingredients:

14 ounces (350 g) butterfly pasta
4 carrots, peeled
12 ounces (300 g) drained tuna packed in oil, crumbled
2 cloves garlic, finely minced
3 tablespoons minced parsley and basil
The juice of 2 lemons
The grated zest of an organic lemon
1/2 cup olive oil
Salt & pepper

Preparation:

Grate the carrots directly into a bowl. Crumble the tuna into the bowl as well, add the garlic, the lemon juice and zest, stir in 5 tablespoons of the oil, season lightly with salt, dust with a healthy grating of pepper, mix well, and chill the mixture, covered, for at least an hour in the fridge.

Bring pasta water to a boil, salt it, and sprinkle 2 tablespoons of oil over it before cooking the pasta.
Drain it when it's still fairly firm (you want it to be al dente when you serve the salad, so you don't want it too soft to begin with) and spread it over a cloth to cool. Stir the pasta into the tuna mixture, season the pasta with the minced herbs, and sprinkle the remaining oil over it if necessary.

If you don't plan to serve it immediately, cover it and keep it chilled in the refrigerator.

Note: You can also use fresh tuna; you'll need 2 8-ounce tuna steaks, which you will want to grill 3-4 minutes per side (season them with salt, pepper, and lemon juice), and then skin, bone, and dice.
Serves 4.

Onion Frittata

Ingredients:

6 eggs
3 small white onions
3/4 cup whole milk (you can use lowfat if you must)
1 heaping tablespoon flour
1 tablespoon grated Parmigiano
A walnut-sized piece of butter
Olive oil, Salt and pepper

Preparation:

Peel and slice the onions, and heat them in a skillet with a little oil until they wilt, without letting them brown. When they are cooked and translucent, remove them from the flames.
Lightly beat the eggs in a bowl, then slowly stir in the milk, the flour, and the cheese.

Add the onions, mix well, and season everything with salt and pepper.
Heat the butter in a skillet (10 inch or so), and when it begins to crackle and brown stir in the egg mixture. Cook one side, then flip the frittata and cook the other side too.
This can be served hot or cold and if served as part of a meal will suffice for 4, with a tossed salad and a bottle of Soave. One can also slice it more finely and serve it as an antipasto.
A wine? White, perhaps a Sauvignon Blanc from Friuli's Collio.

Bowties With Chicken and Beans in a Spicy Sauce

Ingredients:

3/4 pound (320 g) bowties
A chicken breast, grilled (leftover will be fine)
An 8-ounce (200 g, drained weight) can cranberry or pinto beans
6 sweet small green peppers (you'll want mild thin-walled peppers, not thick-walled bell peppers)
2/3 pound (300 g) ripe plum tomatoes, blanched, peeled, seeded, and chopped
Half an onion, peeled and finely chopped
A fresh hot pepper, seeded and slivered
Half a lime
A sprig of coriander, finely minced
Olive oil
A pinch of sugar
Salt and pepper to taste

Preparation:

Combine the tomatoes, onion, and hot pepper in a bowl, seasoning the mixture with the juice of the lime, salt and pepper to taste, and a pinch of sugar. Add the coriander to the bowl, together with 6 tablespoons olive oil, and mix well.
Cover the bowl and chill it in the refrigerator for a half hour.
In the meantime, set pasta water to boil, and when it does, salt it and cook the pasta, draining it when it's still al dente, and running it under cold water before transferring it to a bowl.

And while the water it heating, remove the skin from the chicken breast, bone it, trim away any fat it may have, and slice it fairly thinly. Stem, seed, rib, and sliver the green peppers too. Drain the beans.
When the pasta is cooked and cooled, combine it with the chilled tomato sauce, the chicken breast, the slivered green peppers, beans, and mix well. Chill lightly before serving. Serves 4.

Buon appetito!

10631 Vinedale Street, Sun Valley, CA 91352 - Phone (818) 767-3413 - Fax: (818) 767-1410