Pasta Alla Caprese

No, I'm not making this today, or tomorrow, or this week, or the next week. I just want to share it with you because it's so fresh and delicious that keeping it to myself would just be naughty and selfish. Oddly enough, I don't like the sad attempt at authentic mozzarella for this recipe (the kind you find in tubs of water at the store: soft and squishy balls of counterfeit). For this recipe, I like the even MORE pathetic excuse for mozzarella (the solid block kind you find next to monterey jack; Polly-O is my favorite and has the best flavor of these little fakers). The reason is, the fake block version melts better against the hot pasta, while the squishy ball kind just sits there and has a flavor too mild to compete against all the other elements of the dish. Hence, I'm using Polly-O. Use what you want, but don't come complaining to me when you can hardly taste it in here.

Ingredients

-1 lbs pasta, either penne or spaghetti
-4 fresh, juicy tomatoes, ideally homegrown but if you must buy the vine type from the store. You can also use a large can of diced tomatoes and even reserve some of the juice in the can.
-a generous handful of fresh basil (about 20 leaves), chiffonade
-10 Kalamata olives, pitted and halved
-2 large cloves garlic, put through the crusher
-1/2 block of Polly-O mozzarella
-3 tbs of the olive juice (I like this better, but you can use lemon juice if you want)
-about 1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil (use extra virgin for fresh sauces as it has so much more flavor) and a bit more to coat the pasta

While you're boiling your pasta, in a bowl, place your minced garlic and olive juice in the bottom, then whisk in the olive oil, carefully emulsifying the liquids. Add the tomatoes, olives, basil and toss. If you used canned tomato, let some of the juice from the can get in with everything. Chopped your mozzarella into half-inch cubes. Once your pasta is cooked al dente, drain it and give it a good douse of olive oil to coat it well and toss in your mozzarella (I like to put the cheese in before the cold ingredients so it starts to melt a bit). Finally, mix your tomato mixture into the pasta, salt and pepper it to taste, and serve it up presto.

Olignese (Bolognese Olivia Style)

This is my version of ragu di bolognese, a red(ish) sauce originating in the region of Bologna, Italy. Many recipes turn this into a red sauce, using tomato puree, etc., but in authentic recipes very little tomato is used. Traditionally, the sauce is served with "tagliatelle," like fetuccine only wider, or green lasagne noodles. Generally, I eat it with spaghetti or bucatini (hollowed out spaghetti that look like long straws) because your everyday grocery store doesn't always carry tagliatelle. I have heard, though, that if you want to serve it with those nice, flat lasagne noodles, just break the long pieces into thirds and they will almost be like eat unfolded wonton squares. This is certainly one of my favorite recipes, and I hope you enjoy. Buon appetito!


Ingredients

-2 tbs extra virgin olive oil
-4 strips bacon, cut into ½ inch strips
-1 lb lean ground beef
-2 medium yellow onions, finely chopped
-2 carrots, finely chopped
-2 stalks celery, finely chopped
-1/2 package white mushrooms, finely chopped
-3 cloves garlic, minced
-1 tbs dried basil (if you’d like to use fresh, do about ½ cup basil chiffonade)
-1 tbs dried oregano (if you’d like to use fresh, do about 2 tablespoons chopped fresh oregano; it’s a much stronger flavor than basil)
-1/2 tsp garlic powder
-1 tbs salt
-1 tsp pepper
-1/2 cup red wine
-2 cans tomato paste, with two cans water

In a sauce pot, heat the olive oil and saute the chopped bacon until it begins to brown. Add the ground beef and break it up well—you don’t want any huge chunks in the sauce. When the beef begins to brown a bit, add the onions, carrots, celery, mushrooms, and garlic. Stir to coat the vegetables and allow the flavor to marry. Add the herbs, garlic powder, and salt and pepper and stir, then add the wine and stir well. Finally, add the two cans of tomato paste with the water and let the sauce simmer for about 30 minutes on low heat. If it is too thick, add a little more water until you achieve the consistency you want.

Generous amounts of parmesan cheese is definitely Cubby-approved.

Tomato Pesto Cream Sauce

This sauce is my own creation. I thought it'd be neat to have pesto and cream sauce get hitched. I imagine you could probably do it with a regular basil pesto, or a cilantro pesto. I am a pesto-holic and will post more super simple recipes eventually. When you look at the ingredients you may ask "why no nuts?" Usually pesto contains either walnuts or pine nuts. Well, I never use walnuts because Zach is allergic, and I used to use pine nuts, despite how expensive they are, until one day I didn't have any and made a pesto without them. I honestly couldn't taste any difference, so I decided to stop wasting $3.50 on 1/4 cup of pine nuts when I could just leave them out.

The first time I made this it was kind of like stars aligning. The pasta went on the fork, the fork went to Zach's mouth, and suddenly his eyes teared up and all he could say was "Wow." I had tasted the sauce before I gave it to him and thought it was good, but I honestly hadn't expected that reaction. He immediately decided he wanted it to be a regular around here, and I've made it three or four times since developing it a month and a half ago. I hope you like it as well. I will stress the fact that sun dried tomatoes packed by themselves (as opposed to in olive oil) are much, much better in this recipe. It is a noticeable difference. You can find the dry, sundried tomatoes usually where they keep the tomatoes and garlic in the grocery store. Buon appetito!


Ingredients

-1 package sundried tomatoes (not packed in oil, preferably. If you cannot find the dry kind, use the ones packed in oil and omit the added olive oil)
-1 large handful of basil leaves, about a 1 – 1 ½ cups
-3-4 medium cloves garlic
-about ¼ cup of olive oil, or more depending on consistency. You want the pesto to look like a squishy paste.
-1/3 cup of parmesan cheese
-about ½ - ¾ cup light cream.
-1 lb penne pasta (I prefer Barilla)

Bring a pot of salted water to boil on the stove. As soon as it starts to boil, pour in the penne, stir once, and cook with the l id off for about 8 minutes for “al dente” consistency. Meanwhile, combine all the ingredients (except cream and pasta) one by one in a food processor, blending each one before adding the next ingredient. When it makes a fragrant, sticky paste, scoop into a small saucepan and heat thoroughly. When the pesto is steamy, slowly add in the light cream, stirring to combine. The sauce will have a “bisque” consistency.

Drain the pasta. I leave a tiny bit of pasta water in the bottom of the pan to help the sauce spread. Pour the pasta back into the pot then add the sauce. Stir to coat. I think a slightly sweeter wine tastes good with this and counters the acidity of the tomatoes. A favorite white or rose wine would be perfect.