Category: Pasta

Great ingredients can make a simple recipe delicious. The fresh clams with cherry tomatoes and parsley add so much flavor to the olive oil and Prosecco. Such a elegant and satisfying dish.

Ingredients:

15-20 Little neck clams in their shells

75-100 ml of Prosecco

4 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil

2-3 garlic cloves, peeled, chopped

1/2 tsp of red pepper flakes

15 cherry tomatoes, halved

4-5 tablespoons of freshly chopped flatleaf parsley

1 package of fresh linguine or dry linguine

Salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

Bring a pot of water to boil with a tablespoon of salt for the pasta.

Wash the clams under cold water, discard any that are broken.

Place a stainless steel or ceramic sauce pain on high heat, add the clams and pour the prosecco over them. Cover the lid and let it cook for 3-5 minutes until the clams have opened. Discard any clams that remain closed. Pour the clams and prosecco though a colander with a pyrex bowl underneath to catch the liquid, set aside.

Use the same saucepan and heat the oil on medium heat, add the garlic until sizzling, add the red pepper flakes, tomatoes and parsley. Then add the liquid from the clams. Cook for 5 minutes and season with salt and pepper.

Meanwhile cook the linguine until al dente. Drain the linguine and add it to the saucepan. Add the clams and cook over low heat for 30 seconds allowing the sauce to thicken and coat the linguine. Add some parsley for plating and enjoy.

Sundays are great for slow cooking recipes. This ground pork bolognese is perfect for low simmer cooking while enjoying the lazy summer day. Enjoy.

 

 

Ingredients:

3 tablespoons olive oil

1 onion, finely sliced

2 celery sticks, finely sliced

2 carrots, finely diced

1 lb organic ground pork

1 lb Italian mild sausage

2 oz red wine

2 oz  milk

4 tablespoons tomato paste

200ml of tomato passata or San Marzano tomatoes (puree in a food processor)

300 ml of chicken stock                                                                                     

Handful of fresh basil                                                                                                                 

Pasta can be tagliatelle, orecchiette, pappardelle

Parmigiano-Reggiano- grated to desire

Method:

Mix the ground pork and sausage with 1 tablespoon of olive oil in a small bowl. Heat a Dutch oven over medium-high heat and add the meat, crumbling it as you add it to the pan. Break up the meat with a wooden spatula and stir minimally for 5 minutes until it is almost browned. Remove from the heat and place the meat in a separate bowl.

Using the same Dutch oven, add 2 tablespoons of olive oil and add onion, celery and carrot for 5 minutes until soft and starting to become translucent. Once the vegetables are translucent, add the browned ground meat, stir for 3 minutes.

Deglaze the pan with the red wine and keep it on medium heat for a couple of minutes to burn off the alcohol, and then add the milk to soften the meat. After 2 minutes stir in the tomato paste. Once incorporated then add the tomato passata and chicken stock. Add basil leaves and simmer gently for 1-2 hours until reduced and thickened.

Add salt and pepper to taste and cover with a lid and leave for 20 minutes off the heat.

Meanwhile make your pasta al dente, then after straining the water, add the pasta to the sauce, mix well and plate. Add Parmigiano grated over the top as desired. Add some fresh basil for presentation.

Spaghetti aglio, olios e peperoncino is a traditional rustic recipe from Naples. This simple and flavorful recipe is easy to prepare and perfect for a weeknight dinner. I used fresh linguine instead of traditional spaghetti. Buon appetito.

 

Ingredients

1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil

1 packet of fresh or dry linguine

5 garlic cloves, thinly sliced

1/2 cup fresh Italian parsley, minced

6-8 small cherry tomatoes, halved

1 red chile pepper, thinly sliced

Salt to taste

Aged parmigiano-reggiano (optional)

1. Chop parsley and garlic separately at first and then mince them together to flavor the garlic. Thinly slice the red chile pepper. Add the parley, garlic, and chile with extra-virgin olive oil to a cold pan.
2. Meanwhile in a large pot of boiling salted water, add the linguine, cook al dente.
3. Heat the olive oil, parsley, chile and garlic on medium heat until it start to sizzle and then turn it off. Add the linguine straight from the pot to the sauce, mix well covering all the noodles. Add the cherry tomatoes, sliced in half.
4. Serve immediately, optional grated parmigiano-reggiano and salt to taste.

Savory, quick marinara sauce with onions and garden carrots.

Ingredients

2 tablespoons olive oil
1/2 vidalia onions, finely chopped
2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
4 carrots, peeled and finely chopped
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt, fresh black pepper
1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes
1-28oz can organic crushed tomatoes
2 dried bay leaves

1. In a large stainless steel pan heat the olive oil over a medium-high flame. Add the onions and garlic and saute until the onions are translucent, about 10 minutes.
2. Add the carrots, salt and pepper. Saute until soft, about 10 minutes.
3. Add the tomatoes, red pepper flakes and bay leaves, simmer covered for 30 minutes. Add 2 large spoons of pasta water to sauce. Remove and discard the bay leaf.
4. Add the egg pappardelle to the sauce and serve with parmigiano-reggiano.

When the Spanish came to the New World in search of spices and treasures they found three new crops: corn, white potato and the sweet potato. The sweet potato was originally cultivated by the Incan and pre-Incan races for thousands of years, named a “batata”. This recipe is a sweet potato puree used as a pasta sauce, perfect for the winter months.