Fresh Tomato Sauce a la Scarpetta and Smitten Kitchen

I have been richly blessed this summer to get an abundance of lovely fresh produce, both from people's garden and from various farmer's markets.  This has necessitated new and different ways to utilize the goodies!  The other day, Smitten Kitchen posted a fresh tomato sauce inspired by Scarpetta's Spaghetti with Tomato and Basil, a much-beloved dish.  It sounded heavenly!  I set out to make the stuff...

SK's recipe calls for plum tomatoes, as does Scott Conant's (Scarpetta is his baby).  I decided that I have seen such exquisite tomatoes around that I would use what I could get fresh here in my town.  This ended up being about half heirloom tomatoes and half plum tomatoes, both of which looked perfect!  I can tell you from the outcome that this dish is a keeper.  I melded SK's version with the Scott Conant versions I found online, tweaking to my liking.

You can do much of this ahead of time, refrigerating the unfinished sauce until you're ready.  It seems to me that you could get it two-thirds of the way finished and then freeze, but I haven't tried that yet.  In any case, the recipe quantities say that this makes 4 smallish portions.  If you're serving it for company, I'd recommend either using this as a true pasta course, or supplementing with a lovely salad.

Fresh Tomato Sauce a la Scarpetta and Smitten Kitchen:

• 3 pounds fresh, ripe tomatoes (if using plum tomatoes, Conant says you'll have about 20)
• 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt (This is lighter than the recipes I saw, but Conant recommends going lights as the salt will concentrate as the tomatoes cook.)
• 1 large clove garlic, thinly sliced, or a couple of smaller ones, thinly sliced
• Pinch of crushed red pepper flake
• Small handful fresh basil leaves, with a couple of extras for garnish
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 1/2 cup or so grated good quality parmigiano (Reggiano if you've got it, but I used an artisanal one that was nice, and it was shredded.  It was a little different in texture than the grated would have been, but still quite good.)
• 1 tablespoon butter (or 2, if you're feeling like a richer sauce)
• freshly cracked black pepper to finish
• enough pasta for 4 servings (I used whole wheat spaghetti-- Ronzoni Healthy Harvest)

Bring a large pot of water to boil.  While waiting on this, take each tomato and cut a small "x" in the bottom.  When the water has come to a boil, immerse each tomato for 10-30 seconds (you should see the skin begin to crack), then either immerse it in a bowl of ice water or run it under very cold tap.  Peel the tomatoes, discarding the skins.  If you're cooking the sauce and pasta all in one fell swoop, Smitten Kitchen recommends keeping your pot of water to use for cooking the pasta later, which is an excellent way to save water.

Cut each tomato in half lengthwise, then get the seeds out.  I use a combination of squeezing gently, then scooping.  Do this over a strainer set in a small bowl so that you'll have the juices for the sauce.

Put your tomatoes and salt into a good-sized saucepan (non-reactive, of course).  You can either add the pasta to this later, which means you'll need a larger one, or later use a large skillet.  In any case, put the heat on medium-high and start breaking the tomatoes down.  Conant does this with a potato masher, but you can use an immersion blender or whatever tool you like, getting it as chunky or smooth as you like.

Bring the sauce to a boil, then turn the heat to medium-low, simmering for about 35-45 minutes.  If they need to be broken down more, now is the time.  Add some of your reserved tomato juices if the sauce starts to look too thick.  [If you're making the sauce ahead of time, I'd stop here after about 35 minutes of cooking.  Place your sauce into a container, then refrigerate until you're ready to finish.]

Add your garlic, most of the basil leaves,  and the red pepper flake (crushed in the palm of your hand to release more heat, and use more than a pinch if you want more heat) to the 1/4 cup of olive oil in a small saucepan.  Have your burner on the lowest possible setting so that the flavors slowly infuse into the olive oil as it comes to a simmer.  You should begin to smell everything a bit before it simmers.  Remove it from the heat as soon as it does.  Strain the oil into a vessel to use shortly.

[If you've prepared the sauce ahead of time, pull it out of the fridge now.] Boil water for your pasta, adding salt for flavor.  Once the water is boiling and the pasta has been added to the pot, I put the tomato sauce into a skillet on low heat, stirring occasionally.  Cook the pasta until it is al dente (or "very firm" as my package said), then drain it, reserving a half cup of cooking water.

When the sauce is your preferred thickness, add your flavored olive oil a bit at a time, checking for seasonings as you go.  Use as much or little of the olive oil as you prefer.  Add your pasta and 1/4 cup of the cooking water, tossing them together with tongs and cooking for 1-2 minutes.  Toss in the butter (if using), letting it completely incorporate into the sauce, then the cheese (if using).  Plate each portion, topping with some basil and some freshly cracked black pepper.

Enjoy!

Lamb Stew

St. Patrick's Day just came and went again for another year, and I repeated a successful lamb stew from last year. I found a basic recipe on Closet Cooking (well-suited for my NYC kitchen as that was microscopic) and tweaked it. The basics? Begin with good looking lamb (yes, this is a bit of a beauty contest) and select your veggies. Make sure to have good-quality beef stock on hand if you don't make your own. You'll want a good sized pot for this as well.

This recipe calls for Guinness or another stout beer, but you can use more beef stock if you do not want to use the beer. The original recipe called for adding the potatoes and carrots later in the cooking so they're not as cooked, but I like to add them earlier on. It's a preference thing so go with whatever you want. As for the lamb, I was fortunate enough to have gone to a store with a real butcher so I asked for lamb stew meat and got some of the best looking lamb I'd ever seen. The meat will flavor the whole stew so you want it to be good.

After making it once, you might see some tweaks you'd like to make. Go for it! Here's the recipe so you can get started:

Lamb Stew (modified by Anne Lane)

Ingredients:
1 tablespoon oil
1.5 pounds lamb, give or take (cut into bite sized pieces)
2 onions (roughly chopped)
3 cloves garlic
2 tablespoons flour
1 Guinness (or other dark stout)
* beef stock
1 tablespoon rosemary (chopped)
1 tablespoon thyme (chopped-- pull it off of the woody stem first!)
1 bay leaf
salt and pepper to taste
4 white potatoes (cut into bite sized pieces)
8 carrots (cut into bite sized pieces)
1 handful parsley (chopped) garnish-- optional

Heat the oil in a large pot. Add the lamb and brown on each side. I remove the browned pieces from the pan and place them on a plate so as to avoid crowding.

Add the onions and saute until tender, about 5-7 minutes. It will take less time for this if you're using a cast iron pot. Add the garlic and saute until fragrant, about 1 minute.

Sprinkle in the flour and stir. Add the Guinness and enough beef stock to cover.

Add the rosemary, thyme, bay leaf, salt and pepper, plus the potatoes and carrots if you want them more done. Add more beef stock if you add the veggies now.

Bring to a boil, reduce the heat and simmer uncovered until the lamb is fork tender, about 1-2 hours. Check it every so often for seasoning.

If you haven't already, add the potatoes and carrots and some more beef stock to cover. Bring to a boil, reduce the heat and simmer until they are tender, about 20-60 minutes depending on cut.

Serve in bowls with parsley (if using) and Irish soda bread on the side or some other good bread. Enjoy!!

Sugo alla Bolognese (Bolognese Sauce)

While I'm a huge fan of meals that can be quickly and easily prepared while still tasty, there are some culinary delights that cannot be rushed. A good Bolognese is one of them. I made this for the first time on a snowy Manhattan day and have been playing with the recipe ever since. It's comforting, warming, and delicious. Have this one in your repertoire, and you'll make a lot of friends.

This recipe requires some up front work as well as some babysitting along the way. You can multiply it very easily, freezing what you don't eat right away. As with all the recipes on this blog, play with it and make it yours. I changed the original recipe to use ground beef and ground pork, adding lots of flavor.

This is adapted from a recipe by Kyle Phillips, which I found on About.Com. Since I've moved from an area in which I had access to butchers, I recognize that the ground beef and pork will most likely have to be bought in one pound minimum packages. If you don't want to double the recipe, take half a pound of each and place them together into a freezer bag, leaving you with just the right amount of ground beef and pork for the next time you make the sugo!

And now, without further ado:

Sugo alla Bolognese

- 6 ounces (half a pound) ground beef-- not too lean!

- 6 ounces (half a pound) ground pork (if you can't find ground pork, then go for a full pound of ground beef)

- 6 ounces (half a pound) pancetta, minced-- look for the pancetta cubetti, which is already minced for you and is not too fatty; if you can't find pancetta at all, then increase the ground meat

- 1 1/2 tbsp olive oil (eyeball this as you might not need this much, depending on how fatty your pancetta is)

- half a medium onion, minced

- one carrot, minced

- one large (about 10 inch) stalk of celery, minced

- 1/2 cup dry red wine-- I use Chianti

- 3/4 cup crushed tomatoes

- 1 carton beef stock or broth (Kitchen Basics makes a really good one, which you can also get unsalted and have no loss of flavor)

- A pinch of kosher salt

- freshly ground black pepper

- A pound of pasta (penne rigate or farfalle work very well)

- Grated parmigiano

If your pancetta is not already minced, mince it and the veggies. Heat the olive oil on medium heat in a Dutch oven, then add the veggies and pancetta. Saute until the onion is translucent.

Add the ground meat and brown. Add the wine, scraping to deglaze the pan. Simmer everything until the wine has reduced.

Add the tomatoes and about a cup of the beef stock. Add the pinch of salt and some black pepper. Reduce the heat to low (as low a flame or setting as you can get and still be cooking) and cover.

I check it roughly every 30 minutes, stirring and adding more stock (or water if you use your full carton of stock) if the sugo starts looking as if it's drying out.

It needs to cook for at least 2 hours. It will have thickened significantly when it's done, and its color will have gone from bright red (from the tomatoes) to a brownish red. You can taste when it's done. Don't worry about letting it cook for more than 2 hours as it will get richer and tastier. I let my last batch cook for 4 1/2 hours.

As a main course, this will serve about 4; as a first course, it will serve about 6.

Enjoy!!

***This sauce is also perfect for making lasagna.***

Strata!

A couple of weeks ago, I was invited to a ladies' brunch. I thought, "What can I bring? Ah! Strata!" This is from a recipe given to me by my friend Stevie Toepke when I was providing Easter breakfast food for the parish choir. I am trying really hard to resist calling it something like Erik Egg-Strata (which obviously worked so well that I was able to resist putting it into the blog post...or not). Whatever you call it, it's easy and delicious and adaptable to healthier eating, too. Add veggies or another type of breakfast meat. You can use egg substitute, etc., to tweak for healthier eating. You can also go whole hog (pardon the pun). Whatever you do, make it yours and make it often. You'll thank me.

Without further ado...

Strata

-5 – 6 slices of bread (cubed)—I used a Tuscan style boule

-1 pkg ground sausage (I used Gunnoe’s Mild, but use one that tastes good to you!)

-2 c. grated cheddar cheese (I used Cabot’s Seriously Sharp White Cheddar, put in the freezer for a couple of hours, then cut into chunks and pulsed in the food processor)

-11 eggs (egg substitute works fine!)

-2 ½ c. milk (I used skim)

-1 ½ t. dry mustard

-1 t salt (and I added freshly ground pepper, so feel free to add some spices of your choice)

Cook sausage, drain and crumble.

Grease 9x13 inch pan and line pan with the bread cubes.

Layer w/ sausage and cheese.

Beat eggs with salt, milk, and mustard until foamy and pour over sausage/cheese/bread. (I sprinkled some shredded parmigiano reggiano on top.)

Refrigerate overnight. Remove 30 minutes before cooking and bake uncovered for 45 – 60 minutes at 350 degrees. It will be bubbly and beautiful.