Enjoy the Delicious

I have to say, this was a doozy of a dinner.  It was unbelievably good!  It all came together pretty organically and was rounded out with an amazing bottle of wine.

I spent this blustery and cold New York City day running errands and catching A Single Man with my BFF Kim.  If you haven't seen this mastery of a film yet, you need to run yourself over to The Angelika and buy yourselves some tickets.  It is a completely beautiful and heartbreaking and charming and intelligent and at times, funny film.  You will spend 2 hours in grace, style and longing and it will be time extremely well spent.

Anyway, I digress...back to food.  On way my home, walking through SOHO back to the Lower East Side, I talked to my son on the phone.  We talked about food and how we are going to make homemade marshmallows on Christmas Eve for hot chocolate and I got motivated to cook something interesting for dinner.  I stopped off at Whole Foods and picked up a package of shrimp, capers and whole cream.

I had in my cupboard some Delverde tagliatelle nests that I bought upstate over Thanksgiving and figured I would throw it all together and create a luxurious cream sauce to pair with the shrimp and pasta.  I stopped by September Wines and picked up a bottle of Castel Venus Grillo and I was in business.

The final result was so amazingly delicious and so incredibly simple!

Pasta with Garlic Cream Sauce and Shrimp.  Serves 2.

Ingredients:

• 8 oz. heavy cream
• Splash of white wine, maybe 1/2 a cup
• 5 cloves of garlic, smashed
• 1 shallot, finely chopped
• Capers and their brine
• 3 star anise
• 1tsp chili flakes
• Olive oil and a knob of butter (demonstrated below)
• Salt to taste
• 4 nests of tagliatelle pasta
• 1 ladle of pasta water
• 1 lemon
• 1/2 lb of shrimp

Preparation:

Begin by swirling some olive oil and a dollop of butter into your pot.  When the butter has melted and is bubbling throw in your garlic and shallots.  Cook them on medium heat for about 5-7 minutes.  Then add your wine and the juice of half the lemon and cook for another 15 minutes.  Take off the heat and allow to cool for a few minutes and add all 8 oz. of cream, the chili flakes, star anise, a splash of the caper brine and a sprinkling of salt.  Return to a very low heat and let simmer until it's reduced.  About 30-40 minutes.  Stir and taste often adding salt as necessary.

When the sauce is nearly done, begin your pasta and shrimp.  Cook the pasta simply in salted water until al dente.  For the shrimp, cook in a swirl of olive oil, a splash of the wine and a squeeze of the other half of lemon.

If you need to thin out the sauce, use a small amount of the pasta water.

After draining the pasta, combine it all together and add the capers when tossing.  I forgot to add the capers and could kick myself.  I'm sure it would taste incredible though that's why I'm telling you to do it.

The result is a completely luxurious and comforting meal.  Pair it with a glass of the Grillo and there you have it.  Perfect weeknight dinner!

Pasta and caramelized onions.  Nothing is better.  What happens if you combine the two?  A taste explosion!

Carmamelize two red onions and several shallots.  Flavor with salt, pepper and thyme.  Boil up some pasta and toss it all together with the best olive oil you can find, a squeeze of lemon and a splash of pear infused white balsamic vinegar.  Dig in.

Or, as my son calls it, catch me pepe.  Literal translation: cheese and pepper.  This Roman pasta dish's roots are peasant food and it is very, very easy and very, very cheap.  Anyone will tell you that this dish is not reinventing the wheel, it's just plain good.

Cacio e Pepe is a perfect weeknight dinner, so quick and simple, the only time it takes is the time for the pasta to cook!  When I am utterly exhausted and can't wait for delivery or fathom processed foods this is what I make.  If you have kids, get them in on it too.  My son loves cooking this dish but he loves eating it more!

Cacio e Pepe

Ingredients:

1 lb of long pasta.  Please use the best quality pasta that you can find.  Fresh is best!

1 cup of freshly grated Pecorino Romano cheese

1/4 cup of freshly cracked black pepper.  You can do this in a coffee grinder or put kernels in a sandwich bag and smash them with something!

1 cup of reserved pasta water

1 large nob of butter

Preperation:

Boil the pasta in salted water to al dente.  Once cooked, drain but keep it as wet as possible.  Return the pasta to the empty hot pot and add the butter, half the reserved pasta water, the cheese and pepper.  Stir together adding more water if necessary.

Serve this creamy concoction immediately with a sprinkle of finely chopped flat leaf parsley.  I like to also add a squirt of lemon to mine but I don't know how the purists would react to that!

There is nothing in this world that gives me more pleasure than a big bowl of pasta with meat sauce. It's what I'm having for dinner tonight.

Bolognese Sauce with Pasta

Ingredients:
1lb ground beef or veal (depends on your taste)
1lb ground pork
1 cup of mirepoix, equal parts carrots, celery and onion - exceedingly finely chopped
3-5 cloves of garlic smashed
6 strips of bacon
1 cup red wine
1/2 cup beef stock
1 large can San Marzano whole tomatoes
6 oz.tomato paste
4 sprigs of thyme
2 teaspoons sea salt
1 teaspoon freshly cracked black pepper
1 large pat of butter
Olive oil
1 lb of Tagliatelle

Garnish:
Parmesan cheese
Handful of finely chopped flat leaf parsley

Preparation:
Coat the bottom of a large pan with olive oil and cook the mirepoix over medium heat for 7 minutes. Add the garlic cloves and bacn and cook another 2 minutes. Add the ground meat, stirring to break up the pieces until it is cooked. Drain out all of the cooking juices from the pot.

Add in the wine and a large pat of butter and simmer for 5 minutes. After this simmer add the stock, can of tomatoes, tomato paste, salt, pepper and thyme. You can add the thyme sprigs whole and just fish out the stems later. Break up the tomatoes with a spatula and fold all the ingredients together, stirring from the bottom of the pan up.

Simmer over medium to low heat, uncovered, for about an hour. As always, do your taste test to see if you need any more salt and pepper.


If you are so inclined you may also add ¼ cup of half and half to this sauce when you are adding the stock. I do this because I like the creaminess it gives but the sauce is just fine without it.

Presentation:
Cook up the pasta, spoon it out into big bowls. Top with a generous serving of sauce, freshly grated cheese, the chopped parsley and you’re in business.