Category: Pasta

Linguine with Crab

, Valentina Rice

 

I’ve become slightly obsessed with linguine and clams lately – scouring restaurants with my friend Kate in search of the perfect version.  Top of the list so far was one we had in Florence last year at a restaurant called Trattoria dei 13 Gobbi (13 hunchbacks). I’m also a fan of Frankies linguine and clams for something closer to home. I’m embarrassed to admit that I have an irrational fear of trying to recreate this even though I’ve been collecting recipes for years. For some reason, I worry that the clams won’t magically open as they do for everyone else.

 

Until I get over that fear, I will continue making this wonderful and simple recipe that my friend Nina gave me years ago. It has many of the same flavors and none of the fuss! It’s completely fail proof, exceedingly fast and utterly delicious. Most importantly, it makes me think of summer even when it’s freezing outside!

 

Linguine with Crab

Serves 4

Ingredients:

2 cloves of garlic (peeled)
1 tablespoon of sea salt flakes
1 large red chile (seeded and finely chopped)

3/4 lb of crab meat (I used Peekytoe)

1/2 cup of good extra virgin olive oil
Zest and juice of 1 lemon
1 lb of linguine
1 large handful of Italian parsley (coarsely chopped)

Red pepper flakes (optional)

 

Method:

1. Bring a large pot of salted water to the boil and add the pasta. Boil the pasta till al dente (approximately 9 minutes).
2. Meanwhile, smash the garlic and salt together using a mortar and pestle until you create a paste.
3. Add the chile and keep grinding until you have a wonderful red mixture.
4. Pour into a medium-sized bowl and add the olive oil, lemon zest, lemon juice and crab meat.
5. Mix well with a fork.
6. Drain the pasta when it’s done making sure to first reserve a cup of the water from the pot.
7. Pour the pasta into a large (warmed) serving bowl and mix well with the crab sauce.
8. Add the parsley and stir again.
9. Serve immediately using the reserved water to loosen the pasta if it feels too dry. You can also add red pepper flakes for heat.

Rigatoni with Ham, Peas and Cream Sauce

, Valentina Rice

 

I pretty much lived off this at university so I can make it in my sleep. The sauce is ready even before the pasta which means it takes under 15 minutes to make (half that if using fresh pasta)! It’s so comforting and easy to make that I always want it on cold nights when I can eat it in front of the TV after a long day. Minimum effort but maximum pleasure!

 

Rigatoni with Ham, Peas and Cream Sauce

Serves 4 people

 

Ingredients:

1 lb of rigatoni

1/2 tablespoon olive oil

1 cup frozen peas

1 tablespoon cream cheese

1 cup light cream

3 thick slices of ham (cubed)

1/3 cup gorgonzola (optional)

Grated Parmesan cheese for serving

 

Method:

1. In a large pot, bring plenty of salted water to the boil and add pasta.

2. Meanwhile, in a frying pan on a low heat, add oil and frozen peas.

3. When the peas are melted, add the cream cheese and light cream.

4. At this stage, you can also add the gorgonzola if you like it (I do!) Mix in the ham.

5. When everything is melted and warmed through turn off the heat until the pasta is ready.

6. Before draining the pasta, scoop out a cup of the salty water to use with the sauce if it’s too thick.

7. Drain pasta and add to the frying pan with the sauce. Turn heat back to medium and mix well. If the sauce is too dry, add some of the water from the pasta.

8. Serve warm with grated Parmesan cheese.

 

Risotto alla Milanese with Asparagus and Red Wine Sea Salt

, Valentina Rice

 

When Francis and Vanessa of Gustus Vitae Condiments first sent me samples of their amazing spices and salts, I didn’t know which one I wanted to try first. I decided on the red wine sea salt as it sounded so original as well as ingenious (sea salt and red wine being two of my favorite flavors).

 

I’ve often had red wine risottos and liked them but found them a little overpowering especially paired with an actual glass of red wine so the idea of being able to sprinkle some over the top of a classic saffron risotto seemed like the perfect solution. I’m going to try Taste of the Southwest on some skirt steak next!

 

 

Risotto alla Milanese with Asparagus and Red Wine Sea Salt

Serves 6

Ingredients

1 bunch of fresh asparagus, ends discarded (slice into ½“ diagonal slices and steam or boil for about 3 minutes until tender)

4 cups of homemade chicken broth, or for vegetarians use vegetable broth (heat in a saucepan on low, ladling from there)

1 medium yellow onion, finely chopped

4 tablespoons of butter, divided in two

2 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil

2 cups of risotto rice (I like to use Carnaroli but Arborio is often easier to find)

1 teaspoon of powdered Saffron

2/3 cup of freshly grated parmesan cheese

Red Wine Sea Salt to taste

 

Method

1. In a dutch oven or heavy saucepan, add 2 tablespoons of butter, olive oil and onions. Sweat until translucent – about 5 minutes.

2. Add the rice and cook on medium-high for 2 minutes. Stir continuously so the rice is coated with the fat and onions.

3. Lower the heat and slowly begin to add the stock; one ladle at a time.

4. Stir continuously and only add another ladle of stock once last ladle is absorbed.

5. After about 15 minutes, add the saffron and stir until the entire risotto turns a bright yellow. (If you run out of broth, you can add hot water)

6. Turn the heat off just before you think the risotto is ready (about 20 minutes after you’ve added the rice) – rice should still have a slight bite to it.

8. Stir in the asparagus, the rest of the butter and the parmesan cheese and cover for a few minutes to let everything blend together.

9. Serve in warmed bowls and sprinkle a little red wine sea salt and extra grated parmesan on top for a pop of flavor.

 

Sting Came Back For Seconds

, Valentina Rice

 

Sting Came Back For Seconds. These are the words I want printed on a T- Shirt (and possibly my grave). Due to a bizarre set of circumstances last fall, I found myself cooking for Sting (yes, THAT Sting!). My friends were hosting a dinner party but were stuck in traffic coming back from a wedding in Baltimore and called to see if I could help which I was only too happy to do.

 

With no time to spare, I decided we should go with some very easy starters; a platter of mozzarella and tomatoes as well as one of Bresaola and Fennel. Then, I decided on a classic pasta that always goes down well; orecchiette with homemade pesto, green beans and ricotta. As a side note, it has always astounded me that I have never been able to find a good pesto in the city. How is this possible when all the ingredients are so readily available and can be whizzed up in a blender in no time at all. Budding artisans take note!

 

 

While my friends’ was one of the most beautiful of New York apartments, it was pretty clear no one had ever cooked a meal in it. So with 15 minutes to go before guests arrived, my friend and I found ourselves raiding their neighbor’s apartment, prying open shelves, digging through the pantry, and basically grabbing anything we could get our hands on. Everything from plates to chairs to pots and pans was pilfered and later returned (I hope). My accomplice then busied herself tidying while I started slicing the tomatoes and finding a pot big enough to boil pasta for 12 people. We were still running around when suddenly, out of nowhere, Sting appeared in the kitchen. He came right over and kissed me on the cheek and introduced himself. The furthest thing from a cool New Yorker, I tried desperately to remain calm and chat casually while slicing tomatoes. In reality, I was terrified that I would slice off a finger or that he would somehow inherently know that I had a poster of him on my wall throughout my teenage years.

 

 

Before I knew it though, with all my digits intact, the other guests had arrived and everyone was eating, chatting and having a wonderful evening thanks to the relaxed charm of our hosts. I have always believed that you can put on a dinner with minimal effort and time if you just have a few good ingredients. To paraphrase another of my heroes, Nigel Slater, the focus of a dinner should not be on the food but the people. The key to a successful evening is to stick a big vat of something delicious and unpretentious in the middle of a table and let everyone dig in. Serve plates that are impressively complicated culinary works of art and all anyone will be thinking is “how can I possibly have these people over to dinner and top this?”

 

 

I think Nigel would have been proud as large bowls of pasta were passed around the table never deterring from the chatter. But of course MY proudest moment was when Sting took a break from talking to a glamorous playwright to get up and serve himself a second bowl and declared the pasta delicious! So here’s a recipe for orecchiette with pesto, green beans and ricotta – if it’s good enough for Sting…

 

Orecchiette with Pesto and Green Beans

Serves 4 (as a starter)

Ingredients
1lb of Orecchiette

¼ green beans (trimmed)

1 tablespoon ricotta

2 cups of fresh basil leaves

½ cup of extra virgin olive oil

2 tablespoons of pine nuts

1 clove of garlic (peeled and lightly crushed)

½ teaspoon of salt

¼ cup of grated pecorino

½ cup of grated parmesan

2 tablespoons of butter (softened)

 

Method

1. Put a large pot of salted water on to boil.

2. Blend the basil, pine nuts, oil, garlic and salt in a blender until smooth.

3. Transfer to a bowl and fold in the 2 cheeses and butter.

4. Add the orecchiette to the boiling water.

5. 5 minutes before the pasta is ready, add the green beans to the water.

6. Remove a cup of water from the pasta before draining.

7. Drain the pasta and beans and return to the pan.

8. Add the pesto and the ricotta and mix well.

9. You may need to add some of the reserved water if it feels to dry and bring to the table to rehydrate for seconds (if there are any!)

Rigatoni with Sausage Sauce

, Valentina Rice

 

It’s raining outside, AGAIN! We keep getting glimpses of summer and then another monsoon seems to hit New York. I should be writing about light salads and summer cocktails but my stomach (where my brain generally resides) seems to be stuck on hearty pastas. For those who know me, there’s nothing very new about that.

 

Of all the pasta sauces that I make, this is the one that is most requested and my go to recipe when feeding a large group of people. The recipe comes from the original River Café cookbook and has two versions made by a husband and wife respectively. I could never figure out which one I preferred so I merged the two together and have been making it for so long that I don’t think it resembles either one anymore. The amounts below are just a guideline as you can’t really go wrong. As with so many meat sauces, the longer you cook it, the better it gets. As I write this, the pot on my stove has been slowly simmering away for the last 4 hours and I’ve barely checked on it.

 

Rigatoni with Sausage Sauce

Serves 8

Ingredients

2 lbs. of Rigatoni

1 large onion finely chopped

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 tablespoon butter

1 tablespoon finely chopped fresh rosemary

8 sausages removed from their casing (5 sweet and 3 hot – this can be switched if you prefer it spicier)

1 cup red wine

2 (28 oz. cans) of whole peeled San Marzano tomatoes

½ cup of heavy cream

½ cup grated fresh Parmesan cheese

 

Method

1. Sweat the onions and rosemary in a heavy cast iron Dutch oven on medium heat until translucent for about 10 minutes.

2. Add the sausages and mix well with the onions. I use a potato masher to break up the sausages.

3. Cook until the sausages are no longer raw – about 5 minutes.

4. Add the wine and cook for another 5 minutes until most of the wine has evaporated.

5. Add the cans of tomatoes and again, use the masher to break up the tomatoes.

6. Reduce to a simmer and let it bubble slowly away for a minimum of 3 hours.

7. Fill a large pot with water and salt generously.

8. Cook pasta as per instructions on the box and then drain.

9. Add the drained pasta to the sauce and then add the cream and cheese and stir well over low heat for a couple of minutes.

10. Serve with extra grated parmesan cheese.

I like to add a handful of (defrosted) frozen peas to the sauce but have recently discovered some real pea haters out there so have left out for their benefit.

 

Tagliolini al Tartufo

, Valentina Rice


This recipe is so simple it takes 5 minutes to put together. It is both delicate and decadent as well as being delicious. You should be able to find all the ingredients in a good Italian delicatessen and hopefully soon on Many Kitchens!

 

Tagliolini al Tartufo

Makes 4 servings


Ingredients

1lb of fresh tagliolini

1 (3oz tub) of Truffle Butter (either white or black)

Parmesan

Tiny amount of black truffle, shaved thin

 

Method

1. Bring a large pan of heavily salted water to the boil. 

2. Meanwhile, melt the tub of butter in a large saucepan being careful not to brown. 

3. When the water comes to a rolling boil, add the fresh pasta and cook for 3 minutes. 

4. Before draining the pasta, reserve a cup of the salted water.

5. Add the pasta to the saucepan with the butter and gradually start adding the water to loosen the sauce. The finished sauce should be creamy not runny.

6. Serve on warm plates and top with grated parmesan and a few shavings of truffle.

 

 

The Perfect Tomato Sauce

, Valentina Rice

 

WHY THIS ENGLISH GIRL’S CUP OF TEA

IS A BOWL OF PASTA

 

Growing up in England, it seemed like someone somewhere was always putting the kettle on. Major life events from childbirth to funerals seemed to always solicit an offer of a cup of tea as if that would somehow make everything ok. Having an Italian mother, my childhood version of a cup of tea was a bowl of pasta. If a friend was mean to me or later if a boy broke my heart, a steaming bowl of spaghetti would always make things seem a little better. And it was always spaghetti with tomato sauce. I must have watched my mother make that sauce a thousand times but when I grew up and moved into my own place in NY, I could never get it to taste quite the same. But I finally figured out where I was going wrong. The trick to a good sauce is that it MUST leave an orange ‘sheen’ of oil on your plate after you’ve hoovered up the pasta. The answer was simple; more olive oil…. A lot more olive oil. So here’s the basic recipe which can then be used as a base for a hundred different dishes from Bucatini all’Amatriciana to meatballs and which I hope to package and one day sell on Many Kitchens.

 

Spaghetti al pomodoro 

Serves 4 people


Ingredients

5 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil

1 (28oz can) of plum tomatoes

2 garlic cloves

1 teaspoon sugar

pinch of oregano

1 bay leaf

salt and pepper.
1 lb pasta (feeds 4 people as a starter)

 

Method

1. Use a bigger saucepan than you think you’ll need (splattering is key!), heat the olive oil.

2. When hot, add the tomatoes so you’re essentially frying them. It’s just as important to use a good brand of tomatoes as it is to use a good brand of pasta. I can blind taste the difference between Barilla and De Cecco in a second. For tomatoes, I like to use Cirio or Mutti and for pasta, De Cecco or if you’re going artisanal, then pasta from Gragnano is the best. As sacrilegious as this may sound, I think dried pasta is better for this dish than fresh.

3. Next, add garlic cloves cut in half, sugar, oregano, bay leaf and generous amounts of salt and pepper.

4. Turn up the heat and let it splatter away. This stage can take as little as 15 minutes or you can leave it as long as 40 mins having reduced to a very low heat.

5. Discard the garlic pieces and the bay leaf. I then use a potato masher to smooth out the sauce but if you don’t have one, the back of a wooden spoon works too.

6. Boil plenty of salted water (my mother’s friend, Anna del Conte, says it should be as salty as the Mediterranean) and cook spaghetti according to packet. I estimate 5ozs per person (we still insist my mother cooks at least 7ozs per person as there never seems to be enough). Always scoop out a cup of the salty water before you drain whenever making pasta, it can be used to rehydrate leftovers or, more likely, second portions.

7. Now the important part is to add the spaghetti to the sauce and cook for another minute or two so the sauce begins to infuse the pasta.

8. Serve on warmed plates and then at the table, add all the extras; tear some fresh basil, grate some fresh parmesan and then pour some good olive oil to ensure you get that special orange sheen!

 

Spaghetti al Pomodoro

, Valentina Rice

 



Spaghetti al pomodoro 

Serves 4 people


Ingredients

5 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil

1 (28oz can) of plum tomatoes

2 garlic cloves

1 teaspoon sugar

pinch of oregano

1 bay leaf

salt and pepper.
1 lb pasta (feeds 4 people as a starter)

 

Method

1. Use a bigger saucepan than you think you’ll need (splattering is key!), heat the olive oil.

2. When hot, add the tomatoes so you’re essentially frying them. It’s just as important to use a good brand of tomatoes as it is to use a good brand of pasta. I can blind taste the difference between Barilla and De Cecco in a second. For tomatoes, I like to use Cirio or Mutti and for pasta, De Cecco or if you’re going artisanal, then pasta from Gragnano is the best. As sacrilegious as this may sound, I think dried pasta is better for this dish than fresh.

3. Next, add garlic cloves cut in half, sugar, oregano, bay leaf and generous amounts of salt and pepper.

4. Turn up the heat and let it splatter away. This stage can take as little as 15 minutes or you can leave it as long as 40 mins having reduced to a very low heat.

5. Discard the garlic pieces and the bay leaf. I then use a potato masher to smooth out the sauce but if you don’t have one, the back of a wooden spoon works too.

6. Boil plenty of salted water (my mother’s friend, Anna del Conte, says it should be as salty as the Mediterranean) and cook spaghetti according to packet. I estimate 5ozs per person (we still insist my mother cooks at least 7ozs per person as there never seems to be enough). Always scoop out a cup of the salty water before you drain whenever making pasta, it can be used to rehydrate leftovers or, more likely, second portions.

7. Now the important part is to add the spaghetti to the sauce and cook for another minute or two so the sauce begins to infuse the pasta.

8. Serve on warmed plates and then at the table, add all the extras; tear some fresh basil, grate some fresh parmesan and then pour some good olive oil to ensure you get that special orange sheen!