Katty’s Tapenade Pasta

Hot summer days scream for meals you can pull together quickly without heating the house too much. So I share with you (ta-da!): tapenade pasta. I serve it warm, but you can eat it cold as suggested in the original video recipe I found on ItalianFoodNet.com. How can you not love their site for its tagline alone: “Italians do eat better.” We sure do. So can you.

KATTY’S TAPENADE PASTA
inspired by Chef Alessandro of ItalianFoodNet.com

Serves 4

1 pound pasta*
1 pint grape tomatoes—leave half whole, cut remainder in half
4 oz. Kalamata olives, pitted
2 tablespoons capers
1 tablespoon anchovy paste (please trust me–you won’t taste a hint of fish in this dish!)
1 clove garlic
basil (handful of leaves)
1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil
1 lemon (organic is nice if you can find)—juice and zest

*I made it with penne rigate, but also love it with Sclafani’s double elbows (a.k.a “bouble elbows”). Typos are fun.

Cook pasta in salted water according to package directions. While the pasta is cooking, put half of the tomatoes (the whole ones) in your food processor along with the basil, Kalamatas, anchovy paste, garlic, capers and lemon juice.

Chop/grind, then blend in add olive oil.

Drain pasta; transfer to a large bowl (or pot), add the olive dressing, remaining tomatoes and lemon zest and toss well. Transfer the pasta to a serving dish, top with fresh basil leaves and Pecorino Romano.“It’sa so delish, everybody come capisce…”

Buon appetito, amici!

 

Roasted Tomato Vodka Sauce with Hot Chicken Sausage

Remember the roasted grape tomatoes we made last summer? Well, though winter has felt more like spring of late, this is a much more practical time to make and enjoy them–not to mention they’re about the only tomatoes of tastiness this time of year…and they get even tastier when vodka joins the party. CENT’ANNI!

Here in the Land of Steady Habits, grape tomatoes keep popping up buy one/get one free, so no time like the present! Let’s heat things up in the kitchen!

ROASTED TOMATO VODKA SAUCE WITH HOT CHICKEN SAUSAGE

For the tomatoes
2 pints grape tomatoes
3 large (or 6 small) garlic cloves
olive oil to coat the bottom of your baking dish
1 teaspoon kosher salt
freshly ground pepper

For the vodka sauce
1 pound hot chicken sausage, cooked/crumbled (I love Stew Leonard’s–try it if you’re local and like it hot!)
1/3 cup vodka
1 cup half-and-half (equal parts milk and cream)
zest of 1 lemon
juice of half the lemon
extra ½ teaspoon Kosher salt

First, get the tomatoes going!
Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Drizzle olive oil to coat 9 x 13″ glass baking dish. Roll the tomatoes around in the olive oil to coat. Sprinkle with kosher salt. Gently smash the garlic cloves with the side of your knife–or use a garlic press–and add to baking dish. Make sure all the tomatoes are in an even layer.

Let ‘em roast for 10 minutes, give ‘em a shake, then 10 more minutes of roasting and you’re done! Here’s a Yankee housewarming tip: when you’re finished, leave the oven door open and enjoy the extra warmth. Ma, this one’s for you for all the times you have reminded me to do this–now EVERYBODY knows! HA HA!

While the tomatoes are roasting…
Now’s a good time to get a BIG pasta pot boiling so you can make a pound of penne. Or rigatoni. Penne rigate is my pasta of choice.

Coat a large saute pan with olive oil and cook the sausage—squeeze it from the casings and break into small pieces. Once you’ve completely cooked and crumbled the sausage, drain the excess oil and leave the sausage in the pan.

Once the tomatoes are done…
Use a potato masher to give the tomatoes a squeeze right in the baking dish. Be careful–they’re hot little devils and have a tendency to squirt where you don’t want them to go. Add 1/3 cup vodka. You’ll hear it sizzle. Sizzling is good! Squeeze half the lemon.

Now back to the pan with the sausage in it. Keep the pan on a low heat, just to simmer. Add the tomatoes, garlic and all the liquid from the baking dish to the sausage. Add the half-and-half. As it all simmers, the sauce will thicken just a bit. You’ll see. Don’t forget to add the lemon zest.

Magically–or at least when I’ve made it–by the time the penne were ready to drain, the vodka sauce was ready. Toss the drained pasta with the sauce. You should have no trouble getting six servings out of this recipe. I like to sprinkle Pecorino Romano over mine. Hope you LOVE!

Update: went to sleep in spring and woke up in winter. Take a look!

The Queen is bird-watching from the safety of her snow shelter!

 

Bolognese a la Katty

This one’s for ma famiglia. All our collective years in the kitchen at home and on Bridge Street, and I don’t recall any of us ever making Bolognese. Given our love of all that is delicious–and Italian, for that matter–it’s just not right.

Since I couldn’t learn to make this dish from anyone in the fam, I found someone named Marie of Food Nouveau, Anne Burrell and the fine folks at Fine Cooking to guide me. With their help, I made the richest, meatiest sauce EVAH! I just know you’d love it. If only you were here so we could have Sunday dinner in the kitchen as we did when we were kiddos. I think it would taste much better with a bottle of wine than it did with a glass of milk back in the day on 216. CENT’ANNI!

BOLOGNESE A LA KATTY
as taught to Katty’s Kitchen by Marie of Food Nouveau, Anne Burrell and Fine Cooking

1 large sweet onion, finely diced
2 large carrots, finely diced
2 stalks celery finely diced
4 cloves garlic, pressed
Extra virgin olive oil for the pan
Kosher salt
2.5 pounds ground beef/veal/pork combo
1/3 “ thick slice of pancetta, diced (about ¼ pound)
1 cup dry white wine (I used Chardonnay)
1 cup milk
1 cup heavy cream
1 28-oz can whole San Marzano tomatoes (give them a quick chop in the food processor–you will use both the liquid and the tomatoes)
1 cup beef stock
fresh basil (for serving)
Pecorino Romano (for serving)
1 pound hearty pasta–I picked up something fancy from Public Market, of course!

Let’s check out the ingredients first. I don’t think I ever bought this much meatloaf mix in my life–and yes, for those of you who don’t make meatloaf or meatballs this way, it’s a mixture of ground beef, pork and veal that Middletown’s Public Market will gladly grind for you on request. That’s a generous 2.5 pounds, amici! MEATY!

Now about that fancy pasta. You’ll often see Bolognese served over tagliatelle or pappardelle, but I was drawn to these lovely shapes at Public. I researched a bit and was tickled to see mafaldine is also known as reginette (Italian for little queens). Won’t Queenie be honored to know there’s a pasta shape named for her?

All right, let’s get cookin’! Marie’s recipe calls for a fine dice to make a basic soffritto, but I used Anne’s technique. Chop the carrot, celery and onion, run the garlic through a press, add ½ teaspoon salt and don’t worry about your knife skills ’cause a food processor will do the work for you. I had to process in batches using the mini food processor, but no problem. Puree to form a coarse paste like this. Transfer to a separate bowl because you’ll need the food processor one more time to give the San Marzanos a quick buzz.

Now the pancetta!

Dice like so!

Coat the bottom of a Dutch oven (or large pot) with olive oil, bring to medium-high heat and add the vegetable puree. Cook until all the water has evaporated and the mixture becomes nice and brown. Stir frequently–this step takes about 5-10 minutes.

Next, add the pancetta and cook 10 minutes, until vegetables are softened and pancetta is golden.

Now it’s time to add the ground meat mix. Season with 2 teaspoons Kosher salt and add to the pot in thirds. Turn up the heat to medium high and brown the meat, cooking another 15 to 20 minutes (helpful to set a timer). Stir and stir and stir and stir so it browns, but doesn’t burn. Marie says you want your meat to caramelize and even become crispy in spots. Lower heat to medium toward the end of your 15-minute sautéing time (check after about 8-9 minutes). Anne Burrell says not to rush, so I took about 5 extra minutes for a total of 20 minutes as Anne suggested!

Add white wine and use it to help you scrape the brown pieces at the bottom of the pot. Stir and stir and stir. By the time you’ve gotten everything incorporated (about 2-3 minutes), the wine will have evaporated. Be careful not to let the meat stick again; lower the heat if necessary.

Add milk, cream, diced tomatoes (with liquid), beef stock, 1 teaspoon Kosher salt and some freshly ground pepper. Bring to a boil, then lower heat so it can simmer, half-covered, for about 4 hours. Here’s where my new friend the pot moose was very helpful.

Mr. Moose perches on the edge of the pot to vent the lid.

See?

Everyone should have a pot moose! Mine was handmade just for me. I ♥ him.

Give the pot an occasional stir. I cooked this batch in just under 4 hours total. Toward the end of your cooking time, boil the pasta, reserve some of the water when you drain, and toss pasta with a few pats of butter and some of the pasta water, then the Bolognese. I snipped fresh basil over the top and added Pecorino Romano as well.

BUON APPETITO! Enjoy a Sunday dinner with your family! As always, wishing you were here, Nanny and Poppy. Love and miss you, Hopey

 

Julia della Croce’s Capellini with Parsley Sauce–Katty-style!

Hey, hey, Julia…your parsley sauce has been a favorite of mine since this kat first had her own kitchen. I stay true to the very basic ingredients, but along the way, I’ve adapted the prep a bit.

As I attempted to run my knife through a board of parsley, it crossed my mind:  someone smarter than you would use a food processor. So I became that smarter person. Really slick idea unless maybe you have a mezzaluna, which I do not. I’ve always kinda wanted one–not just for the tool itself, but because I like to say mezzaluna.

My beloved blue pasta bowl bit the dust in a freak no-knead bread accident earlier this year–DOH/DOUGH! However, I was lucky to find a hot, red replacement from Italy (of course!). It is IMMENSE and provides plenty of space to toss the pasta and distribute everything evenly. Be sure you have a good-sized serving bowl for this recipe. Here’s a cool pic of my new bowl from this winter. Note the snow in the background and think cool thoughts! I hope we’ll make many beautiful meals together in the years to come!

For the first time, I added crumbled sausage to this dish. I wanted some meat to go with, and Public Market’s finest chicken sausage sounded good to me, as it always does! The original recipe is meatless. If you do add sausage, half a pound or so, cooked and drained, is plenty. So, shall we? Andiamo!

CAPELLINI WITH PARSLEY SAUCE
adapted from Julia della Croce

2 sticks butter
3 cloves garlic, pressed
3 egg yolks
1 pound capellini (DeCecco and Delverde are my favorites)
about 2 cups or so fresh parsley, chopped
½ cup Pecorino Romano, grated

Melt butter in small saucepan. Add minced garlic and allow to infuse, slow and low.

Beat egg yolks in large bowl, where you’ll eventually toss the pasta and pull this all together.

Cook capellini according to directions on package. When you drain the pasta, quickly transfer it to the bowl with eggs while still dripping and toss with garlic and butter immediatemente to coat the pasta. Add cheese and parsley. If you’re adding sausage, get that in there, too.

Bonus points for you if you can think of a name for parsley sauce in Italian that starts with “p” besides prezzemolo. Anyone? Anyone? Bueller?

It sure is HOT, in and out of Katty’s Kitchen. Hope you’re staying cool. Ciao for now!

 

Roasted Grape Tomatoes

NO VAMPIRES. That’s right. There were no vampires anywhere near my neighborhood when I roasted grape tomatoes not once, but twice, last week. Even when it’s hot outside, you can pull this off with just 20 minutes in the oven.

How delicious roasted tomatoes taste over your favorite ravioli! A trip to Franklin Avenue netted me some nice meat ravs from Di Fiore and freshly-filled cannoli from Mozzicato DePasquale. But let’s get going on dinner first–it’s quick ‘n easy and oh-so good!

ROASTED GRAPE TOMATOES
adapted from Food & Wine

2 pints grape tomatoes
3 large (or 6 small) garlic cloves
olive oil to coat the bottom of your baking dish
1 teaspoon kosher salt
freshly ground pepper
1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper
fresh basil

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Drizzle olive oil to coat 9 x 13″ glass baking dish. Roll the tomatoes around in the olive oil to coat. Sprinkle with kosher salt, pepper and crushed red pepper. Gently smash the garlic cloves with the side of your knife and add to baking dish. Make sure all the tomatoes are in an even layer.

Let ‘em roast for 10 minutes, turn ‘em over, then 10 more minutes of roasting and you’re done with the oven!

I used a potato masher to give the tomatoes a squeeze. Be careful–they’re hot little devils and have a tendency to squirt where you don’t want them to go: walls and windows and clothes, oh my! Got fresh basil? I snipped some lemon basil with scissors.

Spoon over your ravioli, or pasta, or you can just eat them plain, so I’m told. I’d definitely find some good bread if I had no ravs, that’s for sure. Buon appetito from Hartford’s Little Italy and Katty’s Kitchen!

 

Sicilian Pesto

Got basil?

Adding tomatoes makes this pesto different and especially summery good! Small disclaimer: this kat’s not Sicilian. But I was born and raised in Melilli’s sister city, and many of those closest to me are–at least in part–so let’s say I’m Sicilian by association, thereby qualified to share this particular recipe with you.

San Marzanos from the deck

With basil blowing up outside and too many tomatoes, this recipe perfectly combines what’s fresh and plentiful in a variation on the pesto you already know and love.

Bountiful basil: lemon, cinnamon and Genovese

SICILIAN PESTO
adapted from Cooking Light

¼ cup pine nuts
3  garlic cloves
4  cups  loosely packed basil leaves (about 2 ounces)
¼  cup  extra-virgin olive oil
½  teaspoon salt
freshly ground black pepper
¼  teaspoon  crushed red pepper (I use Penzey’s Aleppo)
½  cup grated Pecorino Romano
2  cups  chopped seeded tomato (I used a combo of San Marzanos and Cherokee Purples)

Heat a small skillet over medium heat. Add nuts to pan; cook until lightly toasted, about 4 minutes, shaking the pan constantly.

Add nuts and garlic to food processor; process till minced.

Feline supervision is key!

Add basil, oil, salt and peppers; process until blended, scraping sides as needed. Add cheese; process until smooth. Spoon into a bowl; fold in tomato. Toss with pasta of your choice.

Dinner is served--dig in!

Makes about 2.5 cups of pesto. Be sure to save at least a few tablespoons ’cause I’ll be back with another way to use the pesto later this week. Till then, ciao for now!

 

Katty’s Summer Pasta

Remember my Capellini Caprese, inspired by Giada? Well, now that tomatoes are ready for the pickin’ right on my deck, I revisited this recipe and came up with yet another tasty twist–featuring native yellow pear and grape tomatoes, ricotta salata and chunks of avocado.

KATTY’S SUMMER PASTA

8 ounces capellini
3 garlic cloves, pressed (quite honestly, I think 2 cloves would be plenty next time!)
2 cups grape and yellow pear tomatoes
8 to 10 fresh basil leaves (I used cinnamon basil, do you love it, too?)
handful of fresh parsley, coarsely chopped
2 sprigs fresh oregano (leaves only)
2 sprigs fresh thyme (leaves only)
freshly ground black pepper
3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1/4 cup ricotta salata, cut into 1/2-inch cubes
1 avocado, cubed

"Let me be your blender, baby, honey, I can whip, chop and puree..."

Combine all ingredients (except pasta and avocado) in a food processor. Right, not a blender, but I can’t throw Bonnie Raitt in if I say food processor! Pulse until the tomatoes are coarsely chopped. Do not puree.  Like this! Mind you, I added the pasta water here–so it looks “saucier!”

Ready for pasta!

Cook the capellini according to package directions (just two minutes for De Cecco, my favorite in a box)–also handy for summer dining as it’s quick to cook. Reserve 1/4 cup of pasta water and add to tomato/avocado mixture. Toss the pasta with the tomato/avocado sauce in a large mixing bowl.

Summer pasta is served–enjoy!

 

Rigatoni Spinach ‘n Sausage Aglio e Olio

I almost feel guilty posting this as a recipe as it’s just something I’ve been throwing together lately, but if you need an idea for a quick ‘n tasty dinner, here is one! And as part of my ongoing effort to increase my iron intake, it’s a great way to cook a bag of spinach in the iron skillet.

Sadly, no more native spinach in my neck o’the woods till September, so says the man at the farm stand. Like yours truly, spinach doesn’t care much for extreme heat (understatement!), so I had to pick up a bag at the store this time.

SPINACH ‘N SAUSAGE AGLIO E OLIO

2 cloves garlic, pressed
oil for the bottom of your cast iron pan (who measures?!)
1 bag spinach, rinsed (or native if you have it)
2 sausage patties (my local favorite is Public Market’s chicken sausage)
1/2 pound of your favorite pasta
1 tablespoon (or less) of butter

Set a pot of water to boil so you can get your pasta cookin’. Meantime, sautee garlic in a cast iron skillet. Add sausage, breaking up into bite-sized pieces.

When sausage is cooked, add spinach to skillet and cover till it wilts.

Toss cooked pasta with spinach/sausage mixture and add a pat of butter or so ’cause, as always, butter makes it better! Serve with pecorino romano and crushed red pepper.

Oh, and now for a little lesson in Italian dialects. I know it’s not book Italian, but this dish is–in my mind, anyway–phonetically ah lee ohl. That’s how I always heard it said here in my hometown–sister city of Melilli, Sicily–where we drop final vowels and order gabbagoal in the deli and make manigawt at home. My guess is if you’re anywhere in New England, you know EXACTLY what I’m talkin’ about. Eh, cumpari! Tippity-tippity-ta!

 

Capellini Caprese–and a thank you note to Giada!

A thank you note to Giada De Laurentiis for inspiring a new dish in Katty’s Kitchen!

Capellini Caprese--everybody wants some!

Dear Giada,   

I’ve seen so many variations on your checca sauce pop up of late, I thought I’d look into how you do it. You see, caprese and I are old friends. Adding pasta to the mix only makes it better in my book.   

Now that I’ve found your original recipes, I took parts from each of them…

SPAGHETTINI WITH CHECCA SAUCE
and
PENNE WITH BABY MOZZARELLA, TOMATOES AND HERBS

…to create a delicious pasta dish featuring locally-made, fresh mozzarella from Liuzzi’s in North Haven, CT…  

 

 

 

 

…along with some fresh oregano and thyme from my own deck.

The Italian flag of fresh produce right heah!

 
CAPELLINI CAPRESE ALLA KATTY

8 ounces capellini
3 garlic cloves, pressed
1 pint grape tomatoes
1 ounce piece of Pecorino Romano, coarsely chopped
8 to 10 fresh basil leaves
handful of fresh parsley, coarsely chopped
2 sprigs fresh oregano (leaves only)
2 sprigs fresh thyme (leaves only)
salt and freshly ground black pepper
3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
4 ounces fresh mozzarella cheese, cut into 1/2-inch cubes

Combine all ingredients (except pasta!) in a food processor. Pulse until the tomatoes are coarsely chopped. Do not puree.  

Like this!

 Cook the capellini according to package directions (just two minutes for De Cecco, my favorite in a box). Reserve 1/4 cup of pasta water, then drain. Toss the pasta with the tomato mixture and fresh mozzarella in a large bowl with the 1/4 cup of pasta water. Serve immediamente!

Freshly-made sausages from your favorite local Italian market (this is mine below!) pair beautifully with this dish. 

Public Market (Middletown, CT)

 

Clams Casino Cappellini alla Speranza

Clams Casino Cappellini alla Speranza

Clams Casino Cappellini alla Speranza is my partially Italian (like me!) way to describe my spin on fresh clam sauce, casino-style, over cappellini. Believe it or not, I couldn’t find a single recipe for this dish when it crossed my mind last year. Now that I’ve come up with one, I’m happy to share it with you.

CLAMS CASINO CAPPELLINI ALLA SPERANZA

4 cloves garlic
1 small shallot
extra-virgin olive oil
2 pounds littlenecks in shells
fresh parsley, coarsely chopped (a generous handful)
1 cup white wine (I use Meridian chardonnay)
1 cup water
½ fresh lemon, squeezed
1 cup matchstick-sliced green and red bell peppers, roasted
4 pieces bacon
1 teaspoon capers

BAKIN’ BACON
Prepare 4 slices of bacon any way you see fit. I like to bake it in the oven on foil so it’s easy to clean up. Some say I’m lazy—I say I’m practical. Just about 10-12 minutes per side at 350 degrees F will do the trick. And you can roast the peppers simultaneously. Pat the excess grease with a paper towel and chop the bacon to bits!

Cookin’ clams

COOKIN’ CLAMS
So easy, really. Give the clams a serious rinse in cold water. Place them in a stockpot (or a fairly deep pan), cover them with water, wine and a handful of coarsely chopped parsley. Cook ’em till they open (this takes maybe 3-4 minutes), then remove them from their shells and coarsely chop them. Save that zuppa–it’ll become part of the sauce.

Ready to chop!

Pour the zuppa into a separate bowl. Now you can use the same stockpot or pan to sauté the garlic and shallot in some olive oil. You know the drill—don’t brown it!

Zuppa time!

Put your favorite lemon reamer to use to bypass the seeds and get all the fresh juice from ½ a lemon. Squeeze directly into the zuppa, which by now, has joined forces with the garlic and shallot you didn’t burn.

Everybody into the pool now—shallots, peppers, capers! But save those clams for last. Have a taste. Prepare to be impressed. Add clams back just to warm them. And now it’s time to eat!

Buon appetito!

I didn’t have to tell you to get the water boiling for pasta, did I? Dinner is served–over capellini, of course–with pecorino Romano and fresh parsley on top! Don’t forget the crushed red pepper (I love Penzey’s Aleppo), too! Buon appetito! Now, that’s Italian!

Wanna bite?