This is really the most basic of recipes for cooking Italian food. Some purists might disagree with some of my methods, but this is what I've found works the best for me given the constraints of working with ingredients available in Utah.
For this recipe you need:
- 2 Cloves of Garlic
- 1 Tbsp Olive Oil (sorry, butter won't cut it this time)
- Some meat (I used ground Italian Sausage for this one)
- A vegetable (a red pepper would be great)
- A 14.5 ounce can of tomato sauce (I used diced tomatoes, but only because Costco switched to "Organic" tomato sauce for twice the price (yes, those quotation marks are appropriate. I have little respect for "Organic" produce)). You could use two cans if you'd like. Maybe you should.
- A box of pasta (I used bowtie, but would have preferred to put penne rigate in this one--really, though, any pasta will do). Put in two boxes if you'd like; it'll feed twice the people (just be sure to add at least one more can of tomato sauce).
- Salt, pepper, crushed red pepper, basil, oregano, parsely, vegetable boullion, a little cooking wine.
Well, that should be close to everything you'll need. You'll want to start with the olive oil and brown the garlic in it (you could use half an onion in place of the garlic, but whichever you use, don't burn it!)
After you've transferred the garlic flavor to the oil, add the meat.
Salt and pepper the meat. Salt it good. Really. Salt it more than you think you should. Add the crushed red pepper. How much? As much as you'd like; you're the one eating it. Oh, and add the vegetable boullion cube.
When the meat's pretty well cooked (but not quite) add it the vegetable (if you diced up a pepper, good for you!) Add a bit more salt (you heard me) and sprinkle some parsley over everything, a little less basil, and a quarter tsp of oregano. If you're using italian sausage, add in a little rosemary, too, but not very much.
When the meat's fully cooked and the vegetables are getting pretty soft, pour in some cooking wine (or don't) and burn off the alcohol (if you did). Then add the tomatoes.
Mmm... Looks good, doesn't it? Now you just want to cook it. Ideally, you should cook it for a couple hours, adding water every now and then. If your time is short, though, as mine always is, try to cook it at least 20 minutes (until the tomatoes stop tasting like tomatoes).
While it's cooking you can put some water in a pot and get it boiling (you could have been doing this already if you had read ahead). Add salt to the water. And not an "American" pinch of salt. Throw in an Italian handful:
The pasta is made without any salt at all. You have to cook it with some salt to make it taste good. And, really, if you worry that ALL that salt will be in your pasta, taste the water when you strain the pasta (don't burn yourself, though). You have to really salt the water to get the pasta to taste right (don't worry, salt's still pretty cheap).
When the water comes to a boil, "boot" the pasta (the Italian verb 'buttare'). Give it a stir. Then go wash the cutting board and wipe off the countertops while you wait. Or read a good book (but not a really good one or you'll forget about dinner).
When the pasta is "al dente" (meaning "to the tooth", which doesn't translate really well, but means when it's still a little firm (you don't want your pasta to dissolve into its original ingredients)) strain out the water (I don't care how you do it) and either put the pasta in with the sauce, or the sauce in with the pasta. 
Stir it up good, add a bit of pecorino romano (or parmesan) cheese, and serve it hot. Then, if all went well, 2 minutes later it should look like this:
4 comments:
It looks amazing! I'm gonna try it. I tried your risotto recipe last week. It was good. And with the pictures and easy instructions, you make it easy to do! Thanks for the new recipe!
You had me with Itallian sausage. I heard recently that salt aggravates heartburn, not to mention the health aspect of too much sodium. The pictures look wonderful, I'm already salivating.
Salt really brings out the flavor in things, especially meat. Up to a certain point, adding salt doesn't make things taste salty; it just increases the flavor. Pass that point, though, and it's salty. Eating too much salt definitely has some drawbacks, but even with all the salt I put into my meals, it's less than you'll get in a frozen dinner, or meat pie, or even Lynn Wilson Burrito.
My point with the salt is that you can't just add a pinch of each spice and expect it to make a difference to the taste. You have to be a little bold and experiment a bit, until you learn the right amounts to use. Of course, that means that from time to time you'll ruin a dish, but you'll be a better cook for it.
I remember you telling me that a while ago, so I started putting more salt in my pasta. James still thinks I never put enough, but...! I thought I was putting enough in, but I started putting your "Italian handful" and it's perfect! Thanks for the advice!
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