CityMama™

Penne with raw tomato-pepper sauce

This sauce is completely raw and probably not like anything you've ever had on pasta. I first had it when I was visiting my family in Rome. My aunt made a version of it (I hope I am doing it justice) and it blew me away. I had never tasted anything like it and as soon as the explosion of flavors hit my mouth, I knew I had to learn to make it.  Thankfully, it's easy.  Easy but tastes hard. And sometimes that's what it's all about, right?

I've never seen this on any menu in any Italian restaurant in the States, or even in Italy for that matter. It also doesn't appear in my numerous Italian (as in, written in Italian) cookbooks.  I hope you enjoy it.

Here is our cast of characters, and aside from olive oil, basil, salt and pepper, this is pretty much it:

Very Green Veggie Stir-Fry with Soba

This is one of those meals, I swear, that's ready in about five minutes.  There is no excuse for heating anything up in the microwave or toaster oven when you can make this. Trust me, trust you, you can make this.

I used to think that my stir-fries needed to contain a colorful array of vegetables, but not so anymore. I love every green vegetable and love to make all green stir-fries, pizzas, frittatas...you get the idea. And green veggies are usually what I have on hand. Plus, they are usually the cheapest.

I started the prep for this at lunch time.  Since I was already tied up in the kitchen making lunches, I took and extra 5 minutes to cut up the veggies for our dinner.  They sat on a bowl in the counter all afternoon mainly because I forgot to stick them back in the fridge. They were fine, and in hindsight, probably helped the stir-fry to cook faster since they were at room temperature.

I make a very simple sauce for my stir-fries because I prefer to let the flavor of the vegetables shine through.

Here's the recipe:

Herbed Fresh Mozzarella (or from "boring" to "something")

You take some of this (drained, quartered if the balls are large):

Add some of this (fresh basil, oregano, parsley; chopped):

And a drizzle of this (your best, most-fanciest olive oil):

Two of these:

Crushed (please give up the pizza flakes in favor of crushed whole dried chilies, I wouldn't steer you wrong on this one, promise):

Toss with a little salt (it needs it) and serve:

The herbed mozzarella is delicious on its own as an appetizer or antipasto, or you can add it to cherry tomato salads or pasta salads or sandwiches.

Tutorial: Basic Tomato Sauce

This is my recipe for the most basic tomato sauce in my pasta-making repertoire. Sometimes called marinara, this is a simple sauce of tomatoes, wine,  garlic, and onions, with a hint of basil flavor.  The only thing missing from above is the salt. No pepper goes into this until it's served , but you could add a dried red chili. Once made it can go straight onto pasta or—if you look at the end of the recipe—can be used for any number of things.

Since the recipe is already linked, I'll now bring it to life with photos. My special helper pretty much made the sauce her help with just a little help from me.

Pasta alla Carbonara: A tutorial

Pasta alla Carbonara (which comes from carbone or coal/charcoal) is one of those dishes that is in my 10 ten list of favorite comfort foods. Because what's not to love about breakfast for dinner, which essentially this "bacon and egg" pasta is?  It is high on my family's list of favorite dishes as well, and makes a perfect last-night snack—especially after (shhh!) drinking too much.

If you google or flip through Italian cookbooks you will find that there are many variations on this theme, but the recipe I am sharing is how I grew up eating and then helping to make this pasta. And it is of my Italian-side-of-the-family's opinion that Pasta alla Carbonara should never contain cream. It's the cheese along with the eggs that gives this pasta sauce its creamy texture. My Italian aunt also doesn't put garlic in hers, but I like it with mine.

In Italy you would use guanciale (cured, unsmoked bacon made from the pig's jowls) to make this, but as that is difficult to find in the states unless you have a good Italian deli near you (or you make it yourself). You can use pancetta or Italian cured but unsmoked bacon (which is available at most large grocery stores or Trader Joe's already pre-diced) or, heck, even regular ole bacon as long as it is not hickory smoked and not maple-flavored.

I now present, some of your ingredients:

3-4 good handfuls or at least 2 cups of grated pecorino romano (my pref) or parmiggiano reggiano cheese, fresh ground pepper (the black "charcoal") and really excellent imported spaghetti. (Not pictured: the pancetta.)

First things first, put a large pot of salted water on to boil.  Be generous with the salt—you are seasoning the pasta.

Fettuccine Alfredo

Now that you've made all that pasta what do you do with it? If you were me on Easter, you make Fettuccine Alfredo, that's what!

This is not one of those Alfredo recipe that is swimming in heavy cream. It's a light recipe (well, as light as anything containing one stick of butter can be) that lets the silky-lightness of the pasta shine through.

FETTUCCINE ALFREDO CITYMAMA-STYLE

For this recipe you'll need:

• one recipe of fresh fettuccine (or equivalent for six people)
• one stick of unsalted butter
• 1 cup of heavy cream
• 1/4 nutmeg
• 3 cups of grated parmigiano or pecorino romano (reserve half cup for passing at the table)
• salt and pepper to taste
• truffle salt (optional)

Put pasta water on to boil. Salt generously.

Cut up butter and place in a large bowl. (I bought this bowl in Deruta, Italy and hand-carried it back on the plane with me. It is my favorite pasta bowl.):

Put cream and nutmeg into a small saucepan and warm through on med-lo heat:

Add the cheese to the butter:

When pasta water is boiling, add the fresh pasta slowly and stir well. Fresh pasta cooks very quickly and should be done in 1.5 to 2 minutes. Do not over cook or pasta will be mushy.

Drain and add to pasta bowl and stir quickly and well. Slowly add in warmed cream until desired sauciness is achieved, you may not need all the cream (you can save the unused cream and add it to a veggie soup or tomato pasta sauce). Salt and pepper to taste. Serve at once passing cheese and truffle salt at the table (if you really want to gild the lily).

My girls will eat anything if it has truffle salt on it: hard-boiled eggs, crudités, pasta, polenta, risotto...for that reason, it's a great investment.

Making fresh pasta: A tutorial

Welcome to the next post in my tutorial series: making fresh pasta.

If you can boil water, then you can make fresh pasta.  If you have a few essential tools—a food processor and a hand-crank or electric pasta machine—then it's super-duper easy. Those tools are helpful but aren't necessary. I've made pasta by rolling out the dough and cutting it with a knife.  It never comes out as thin as when I make it with my pasta machine, but that's okay.  It's still yummy.

The first thing you need to do when making fresh pasta is to make the dough. You can use AP flour or semolina, but I like to use this stuff:

Don't worry, this isn't the only picture. There are 24 more to go!

It's called "00" (double zero) flour and is sold in well-stocked Italian markets, gourmet shops, or online. I think it makes the pasta especially silky and light, but regular flour works fine, too. Once you have your flour of choice, get ready to make the dough. You'll need:

• 4 cups of "00" or unbleached AP flour (whatever you prefer)
• 6 eggs (+ up to 2 egg yolks if you want a richer, eggier pasta)
• a pinch or two of sea salt
• about a 1/2 tsp of olive oil
• room temp water (just in case you need it)

This recipe serves 6 hungry eaters, but make it all anyway, you can freeze the pasta once it's cut.

Spaghetti "Fauxs"

Patti makes these which is where I got the idea. I bought the ring-shaped pasta from Trader Joe's (a place from which I try not to buy pasta because, despite its cheap-ness, I just don't dig the quality of most of the brands they carry.)

I keep pastina shapes on hand for soups and don't usually serve them as a meal in themselves unless I am making orzo salad. The girls request broth with alphabets or stars or acini di pepe (which looks like buck shot) when they are sick.

I tossed the O's with marinara and, after the photo was taken, a grating of pecorino. I try to always have a box of Pomí marinara around for short-cuts and/or quick meals. It tastes a lot like homemade to me. (Make sure you get the marinara and not the strained or chopped tomatoes because the boxes look very similar and I've made that mistake before.)

My kids are the weird kids who have never tasted bottled Ranch dressing and who don't know what real (canned) Spaghetti-O's are.  I was calling this dish Spaghetti-O's as I was serving it, but they insisted on calling it "Cheerios." Works for me. And I hope, for you.

The girls both liked this dinner, and we had enough leftover that Bunny took it twice to school for lunch. I warmed up a serving then packed it in her Thermos and sent her off with a little container of cheese and a spoon.

I served the Spaghetti-O's with buttered peas which "someone" apparently tried to outsource to Ugly Doll.

Spaghetti Bolognese (Meat Sauce)

During our Tahoe vacation, every family took turns cooking dinner for the other families.  I made penne with bolognese sauce because it can be easily done ahead and because it's a hearty, satisfying dish. (And penne works better for a crowd than spaghetti, I think.) This recipe can be easily adjusted so it's perfect for two people or twelve.

Bolognese sauce the way I make it is not tomatoey and red. The emphasis is on the meat and the tomato comes in only as an accent. Some recipes call for long simmering, which you can do, but I think it tastes great even after 30 minutes. If you want to simmer the sauce for longer, make sure you wait until the end to add the milk or cream.

BOLOGNESE SAUCE

You can also use this sauce to make a classic lasagne. Serves 4-6

• 2-3 glugs olive oil (or an oil/butter combo)
  
• 1/3 pound each: ground veal, ground pork, ground beef
• 1 mild Italian sausage (uncooked), remove meat from casing
• 4 oz. pancetta, chopped (or bacon works, too)
• 1 carrot, diced
• 1 stalk of celery, diced
• 1 small onion, diced
• 3-4 cloves of garlic, minced
• 1 bay leaf
• 1-2 glugs of dry white wine (or stock)
• 1-2 tomatoes, seeded and chopped (or 1-2 whole canned tomatoes, chopped)
• 1 cup of whole milk, half-and-half, or heavy cream (my pref)
• salt and pepper to taste

Heat olive oil in large pot over medium-high heat. Add meats, sausage, pancetta, carrots, celery, onion, and garlic and saute together until meat is well-browned. Add in wine and tomatoes and bay leaf. Reduce heat and simmer over med-low heat at least 30 minutes and up to 2 hours. Salt and pepper to taste. Add in milk or cream and warm through, do not let it boil. Remove bay leaf. Serve sauce over hot cooked spaghetti (or tagliatelle or penne or whatever you like). Pass freshly grated cheese.

"Spag Balls" or another stoopidly easy pasta sauce

I'm half-way through making the carnitas enchiladas when the kids go, "Noooooo, we want spaghetti and meatballs." I guess they're being extra cute today because I wasn't immediately inclined to say, "Are you kidding me? No way."

So I finished up the enchiladas and started the spaghetti sauce and my girls showered me with hugs and kisses, the little stinkers. By the time the enchiladas were covered and tucked into the fridge for tomorrow night's dinner (I'm still making the soup cuz I've been thinking about it for a week), I was done with the sauce. The girls like it because, well, it's full of "balls." Seriously, it doesn't get any easier than this.

SPAG BALLS

A play on "spag bol." Which reminds me, I need to post my recipe for that, soon. This sauce is chunky.

Note: I didn't think any additional salt was necessary since the tomatoes + olives + meatballs + the pasta cooked in lightly salted water + the cheese made it salty enough. I did apply a liberal amount of dried chilis (broken up) over my serving, however.

• 3-4 glugs of olive oil
• 1/2 a large yellow onion, diced
• 3-4 cloves of garlic, minced
• a splash of white wine
• 1 large 28 oz. can of diced tomatoes + their juice
• 1 can of medium black olives, drained (olive-haters can just pick em out, it's not that hard)
• 1 package of Aidell's sun-dried tomato meat balls (turkey or veggie meatballs are fine, too.)

In a saute or braise pan, heat olive oil over medium heat. Add garlic and onion and let it do its thing. When it starts to go goldeny-brown, splash in some white wine and scrape up any brownish bits, then let it cook off. Dump in the tomatoes and let the whole thing simmer on medium-low uncovered for about 20 minutes until it reduces some. Dump in olives and meatballs, warm those through according to package directions, about 10 minutes. Do not over cook the meatballs or they get mushy. Serve over al dente spaghetti with plenty of grated parmigiano or pecorino romano cheese.