The Recipe

Source: A Cook’s Tour of Italy by Joe Famularo

1 pound cremini or button mushrooms
1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
6 tablespoons butter
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/4 cup Marsala wine
1 1/2 cups heavy cream
sea salt and freshly ground pepper
1 pound pasta bows
4 cups finely shredded fresh spinach leaves
1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese

Wipe the mushrooms with damp kitchen towels, cut off and discard the tough stem ends and slice the mushrooms thinly. Put in a bowl with the lemon juice and toss well.

Melt the butter in a large skillet and add the garlic and Marsala. Cook for about 3 minutes and add the mushrooms. Stir well and cook 8 minutes longer. Add the cream and bring the mixture to a boil. Season with salt and pepper. Keep this sauce at a simmer for about 5 minutes and then remove from the heat.

Cook the pasta until al dente according to directions on the package. Drain and return the pasta to the pan in which it cooked. Add the spinach, reserving about 1/3 cup, and the cream sauce. Toss lightly but well. To serve, apportion the pasta and add a heaping tablespoon of Parmesan over the top of each serving. Arrange the reserved spinach over the cheese. Serve right away.

The Recipe

Source: Cucina del Sole: A Celebration of Southern Italian Cooking by Nancy Harmon Jenkins:

1 cup dried white beans, soaked for 6 hours or overnight
1 large bunch of escarole (about 1 pound)
1 or 2 garlic cloves, coarsely chopped
1 crisp green celery stalk, coarsely chopped
5 or 6 flat-leaf parsley sprigs, coarsely chopped
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, plus oil for serving
12 cherry or grape tomatoes, halved
1 dried red chili (optional)
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
toasted slices of bread, for serving

Drain the beans, put them in a saucepan, and add fresh water to cover by about 1 inch. Bring to a simmer over low heat, cover, and cook for 40 to 60 minutes, or until the beans are tender. Drain the beans, reserving the bean liquid.

Measure the bean liquid and add enough water to make 2 ½ cups.

Rinse and core the escarole. Chop the leaves into pieces about 1 inch long. Add them to the saucepan in which you cooked the beans, cover the pan and cook the escarole over gentle heat in the water clinging to its leaves until it is tender. Be careful not to let it scorch, adding a little boiling water to the pan if it starts to burn. When it is tender, set it aside with any liquid remaining in the pan.

Chop together the garlic, celery, and parsley to make about ½ cup finely minced aromatics. In a small skillet, cook the aromatics gently in the olive oil for about 10 minutes or until they give off fragrance but are not brown. Stir in the halved tomatoes and continue cooking until the tomatoes have shriveled somewhat and given off lots of juice.

The Recipe

Source: A Taste of Southern Italy by Marlena de Blasi

1 small head white or green cauliflower
2 tablespoons fine sea salt
1 pound cima di rape [Hard-to-find Italian turnip greens] or dandelion greens, beet greens, or red chard
2 ounces anchovies, preserved under salt
2/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil
1 tablespoon fennel seeds
1 small, dried red chile pepper, crushed, or 1/3 to ½ teaspoon dried chile flakes
3 fat cloves garlic, peeled, crushed, and finely minced
3 ounces dried black olives, stones removed (optional)
12 ounces orecchiette
coarse sea salt for the pasta water
1 cup just-grated pecorino
1 cup just-made fine bread crumbs, sautéed in ¼ cup extra-virgin olive oil

Trim the cauliflower of its leaves and place it, whole, in a pot, covering it with cold water, adding 1 tablespoon of the fine sea salt and poaching it until tender. Drain the cauliflower and set it aside. Wash and trim the rape and place them in a pot, covering them with cold water, adding the remaining table of salt and poaching them for 3 minutes. Drain the rape very well, transferring them to absorbent paper towels. When the rape are cooled a bit, squeeze each piece, extracting as much water as you can before chopping them coarsely and placing them in a bowl. Add the poached cauliflower, breaking it up and blending it lightly with the rape.

Rinse the anchovies and remove their heads and bones. Dry them on paper towels and crush lightly with a fork.

In a sauté pan over a medium flame, warm the olive oil, scenting it with the fennel, crushed chile, and garlic, taking care not to color the garlic. Add the anchovies and the olives, if you wish to use them, stirring and blending the components. Add this hot mixture to the bowl with the rape and the cauliflower, smashing the whole against the sides of the bowl, permitting the vegetables to inhale the hot, spicy bath.

Cook the orecchiette in abundant, sea-salted water until al dente, draining the pasta but leaving it somewhat wet. Reserve ½ cup or so of its cooking liquids. Transfer the pasta to a large, shallow, warmed bowl. Add a few tablespoons of the cooking liquids and the pecorino to the sauce, thinning it only slightly. Add a few drops more of the cooking liquids only if the sauce is still extremely thick. Add the sauce to the pasta, tossing it and coating each little ear.

Dust the pasta with the browned bread crumbs and present the dish with a rough but honorable red wine.

The Recipe

Source: A Taste of Southern Italy by Marlena de Blasi

4 fat cloves garlic, peeled and crushed
zest of 1 large orange, removed in strips with a potato peeler
2/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil
4 ounces blanched almonds, coarsely chopped
1 small, dried red chile pepper, crushed, or 1/3 to ½ teaspoon dried chili flakes
1 cup good red wine
4 ounces sun-dried tomatoes, drained of their oil and thinly shredded
4 ounces dried black olives, stones removed
12 ounces bucatini or other dried string pasta
coarse sea salt for the water
1 handful of torn basil leaves

With a mezzalune or a very sharp knife, mince the garlic and the zest to a paste.

In a sauté pan over a medium flame, heat the olive oil and add the almonds, sautéing them a minute or two in the oil, taking care not to let them get too dark. Remove from the flame and add the garlic/orange paste and the crushed chile, stirring them about and permitting them to scent the oil and the almonds. Set the pan aside.

In a small saucepan, heat the wine and add the sun-dried tomatoes and the dried olives, bringing the mixture just to a simmer. Remove the pan from the flame, cover it, and permit the tomatoes and the olives to plump up a bit for 10 minutes. Remove the tomatoes and the olives with a slotted spoon and add them to the sauté pan with the almonds. Reduce the remaining wine over a lively flame to a tablespoon or so and add it to the sauté pan.

Cook the pasta in abundant boiling, sea-salted water to al dente, draining it but leaving it somewhat wet. Transfer the pasta to a large, shallow, warmed bowl, tossing it with the just rewarmed sauce, coating each strand. Strew the pasta with a few torn leaves of basil and present it with good red wine.

The Recipe

Source: A Ligurian Kitchen: Recipes And Tales from the Italian Riviera by Laura Giannatempo

For the pesto (my recipe):

Bunch of basil
tbsp of pine nuts
tbsp of walnuts (optional)
freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano and/or Pecorino cheese
Good extra-virgin olive oil

For the minestrone:

10 cups (2 ½ quarts) cold water
2 teaspoons salt, plus more for seasoning
1 small carrot, peeled and cut in 1/2-inch dice
1 small Italian eggplant, cut 1/2-inch dice
½ large onion, chopped
1 small Savoy cabbage, cut in 1/4-inch strips
1 Yukon gold potato, cut in 1/2-inch dice
4 ounces green beans, trimmed and cut in 1/2-inch pieces
1 small Parmigiano-Reggiano rind
2 zucchini, cut in 1/2-inch dice
1 medium leek, cut in 1/2-inch dice
3 plum tomatoes, peeled, seeded and coarsely chopped
1 cup dried cannellini or borlotti beans, presoaked (or use canned beans)
1 cup coarsely chopped spinach leaves
3 tablespoons fruity extra-virgin olive oil
freshly ground black pepper

Make the pesto:

See my quick recipe here

Make the minestrone:

Bring the water to a boil in large pot, add 2 teaspoons of salt, and reduce to a slow simmer.

Add the carrot and eggplant, and simmer for about 5 minutes.

Add the onion, cabbage, potato, green beans, and the Parmigiano rind and simmer for another 10 minutes.

Add the zucchini, leeks, tomatoes, beans (only if the beans were dried and presoaked; hold them if they were canned), and a pinch of salt and continue simmering, uncovered, for 1 ½ to 2 hours.

Add the spinach and beans (if canned) and simmer for another 5 minutes. At this point the vegetables should be very soft and the liquid should have reduced a bit.

Remove the rind, stir in the olive oil, adjust the seasoning with salt and pepper and let the minestrone cool off the heat. Serve the minestrone warm, at room temperature, or cold, topped with a generous dollop of pesto. (Use any leftover pesto to make pasta or for another batch of minestrone).

The recipe

Source: Cucina del Sole: A Celebration of Southern Italian Cooking by Nancy Harmon Jenkins

1 ½ pounds broccoli rabe (rapini), or 1 pound cauliflower or broccoli
1 medium red onion, thinly sliced
3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, plus a little more oil if using cheese
1 dried red chili, crumbled
sea salt
15 to 20 cherry or grape tomatoes, halved
15 to 20 black olives, pitted and coarsely chopped
1/3 cup grated hard aged cheese: pecorino, caciocavallo, or parmigiano reggiano (optional)

Rinse and trim the broccoli rabe and discard any yellow or wilted leaves. Cut into 2-inch lengths. If you’re using broccoli or cauliflower, rinse and cut into florets.

Combine the onion with the olive oil in a pan that will not suffer when put under the broiler. Set over medium-low heat. As the onions start to sizzle, add the chili and salt to taste. Stir in the vegetable pieces, halved tomatoes, and black olives. Add about ¼ cup boiling water, then cover the pan, lower the heat, and cook for about 10 minutes. Check the vegetables for tenderness, piercing the thick parts with the point of a knife. If they need to cook a little longer, you may wish to add a little more boiling water to keep the vegetables from scorching.

Meanwhile, if you’re using the cheese topping, turn the broiler on to high. When the vegetables are done, sprinkle the cheese over the top, dribble on a little more olive oil, and run under the broiler just long enough to melt the cheese. Remove and serve immediately.

The Recipe

Source: The Babbo Cookbook by Mario Batali

4 shallots, trimmed and peeled
2 tablespoons plus ¼ cup extra-virgin olive oil
kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 head of escarole, cored and roughly chopped

Preheat the oven to 400 F. Drizzle the shallots with 2 tablespoons of the olive oil, season with salt and pepper, and place in a small roasting pan. Roast until very soft and golden brown, about 25 minutes. Remove from the oven and, when cool enough to handle, cut each shallot in half. Do not worry if the shallots start to come apart a little.

In a 12- to 14-inch saute pan, heat the remaining ¼ cup of olive oil over high heat. Add the escarole and shallots and saute over high heat until tender, about 7 minutes. Season with salt and pepper and serve immediately.

The Recipe

Source: Pasta Improvvisata : How to Improvise in Classic Italian Style by Erica De Mane

Peperonata Sauce – For One Pound of Pasta

5 or 6 bell peppers (red, yellow, or orange)
olive oil
1 onion, thinly sliced
3 or 4 garlic cloves, lightly crushed
3 ripe plum tomatoes, peeled, seeded, and chopped
a handful of basil leaves, chopped
a handful of flat-leaf parsley leaves, chopped
salt
freshly ground black pepper

Roast the peppers over a gas flame until charred on all sides. Place in a paper bag to steam. When cool enough to handle, remove the charred skins, wiping off excess black spots. Seed the peppers and cut into thin strips.

In a large skillet, heat about 3 tablespoons olive oil over medium heat. Add the onion and saute until soft, about 4 minutes. Add the roasted peppers and saute a minute to blend the flavors. Add the garlic and cook about 1 minute longer, just to release its aroma. Add the tomatoes, basil, and parsley; season with salt and pepper; and simmer over low heat for 10 minutes, just until all the ingredients begin to thicken and the flavors come together. You can cover the pan if you like a sauce to have a little more liquid. Check the seasonings. The peppers should have a touch of sweetness but also a pleasant acidity.

Ziti with Peperonata, Almonds, and Green Olives

Ingredients for 1 recipe Peperonata Sauce
a generous handful of blanched almonds, lightly toasted
about 1/2 cup pitted green olives, cut in half
a splash of balsamic vinegar
salt
freshly ground black pepper
a pinch of cayenne pepper
1 pound ziti

Prepare the peperonata sauce and add all the remaining ingredients except the ziti. Heat gently over medium-low heat in a large skillet for 2 or 3 minutes to warm through and blend the flavors. Check the seasoning.

Cook the ziti until al dente, drain, and add to the pan. Toss well and check the seasoning. Serve hot. This dish also tastes wonderful at room temperature.

The Recipe

I didn’t follow a recipe for this dish, but here is a basic recipe I wrote just now:

3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
2 cloves garlic, thinly sliced or minced
1/2 pound asparagus, blanched until just tender, then shocked in ice water
1/2 pound fava beans, shucked and peeled
1 28-oz can Italian plum tomatoes, sent through a food mill
a few slices of prosciutto, diced
1/2 cup heavy cream (optional)
some Pecorino and/or Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese, for grating
salt and black pepper

Heat the olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the garlic and saute until lightly toasted.

Add the blanched asparagus, and saute for a minute to heat.

Add the pureed tomatoes, the fava beans, and prosciutto. Simmer for about five minutes to cook the beans.

Add the heavy cream, if using, and simmer for a few minutes to reduce.

Cook the pasta until al dente, and toss with the sauce. Add the grated Pecorino/Parmigiano cheese to the pan and toss well.

The Recipe

Source: Pasta Improvvisata : How to Improvise in Classic Italian Style by
Erica De Mane

about 1 tablespoon unsalted butter
a few tablespoons olive oil
4 large, ripe red bell peppers, charred over a flame until black, peeled, seeded, and roughly chopped [or roasted in the oven - see here]
2 or 3 thyme sprigs
salt
cayenne pepper
4 or 5 heads of roasted garlic, cloves squeezed into a bowl
1 pound green pasta, cut for tagliatelle
a handful of flat-leaf parsley leaves, coarsely chopped
a few tarragon sprigs, leaves chopped

In a large skillet, heat the butter and 1 tablespoon of the olive oil over medium-low heat. Add the roasted peppers and thyme sprigs (butter lends a sweet taste to red peppers, which can sometimes be bitter). Season with salt and a pinch of cayenne and cook until very soft, about 10 minutes. Remove the thyme sprigs and puree the peppers in a food processor until smooth. Add the roasted garlic and blend until very smooth. If the sauce seems stiff, add a bit of olive oil (you can also add cream or pasta cooking water to thin it out).

Cook the tagliatelle until tender. Drain, leaving a bit of water clinging to the pasta, and transfer it to a large bowl. Toss it well with the sauce, adding the parsley and tarragon. I like this dish without cheese, but a freshly grated sweet, mellow cheese like Parmigiano-Reggiano tastes very good on it.