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Message started by mpescatori on 06/26/12 at 02:20:18

Title: Pasta Recipe
Post by mpescatori on 06/26/12 at 02:20:18

A looong time ago I promised a recipe or two, but then ran aground... :P

So, here's PASTA ALLA NORMA

Legend has it, this recipe was invented to celebrate composer Vincenzo Bellini's latest opera, "La Norma"

http://diariodicucina.myblog.it/media/01/00/414a277e3e4a42d149eedb585f235ef6.jpg

The fundamental ingredients are eggplant (aubergines), sliced tomato sauce and ricotta salata, a thick, compact cheese which started out as something similar to cottage cheese, but was salted and seasoned until hard.
If you can't find ricotta, try pecorino romano or grana or parmigiano.

For 4 servings, your ingredients will be:
- 2 cloves garlic
- 12 leaves of basil
- 2 average sized aubergines (what's average ?  :-? 2 softball-sized aubergines  ;) )
- extra-virgin olive oil (or at least olive oil from Chile or Spain, NOT peanut oil or palm oil !  >:( )
- black pepper
- 16-20 oz can of sliced tomatoes for the sauce
- 8 oz. ricotta
- salt
- 16 oz. spaghetti or other pasta by Barilla, Buitoni or another REAL Italian brand (please avoid "MammaMia, Giuseppe's or any wannabe Italian) consider 4oz. per person.

INSTRUCTIONS

http://www.giallozafferano.it/images/ricette/2/223/pastanorma_1.jpg

1. Wash and nip the aubergines (never mind they look like squash, there's long and there's ball aubergines...)

2. Slice your aubergines lengthwise, slices about 1/8th in. thick

3. Place the sliced aubergines in a colander or strained and salt generously, then cover with a dish and place a weight on top; this will draw out the excess bitter juices (1 hour or more)

http://www.giallozafferano.it/images/ricette/2/223/pastanorma_2.jpg

4. In the meantime, prepare the tomato sauce: pour oil in the pan and brown the garlic (I leave it in, others may want to pluck it out) Do NOT fry it until brown/black!

5. Pour the sloced tomatoes and allow to simmer

6. Simmer the tomatoes over a low flame
http://www.giallozafferano.it/images/ricette/2/223/pastanorma_3.jpg

7. Allow the tomatoes to cook (they should "blip and burp", not fry) until the become very soft

8. If you have a strainer, strain the tomatoes; if not, simply stir gently with a wooden spoon until they become creamy

9. Once creamy or strained, return the tomato sauce to the pan on the stove and allow to settle and condense (evaporate excess moisture) When the sauce is reasonably firm, turn off the fire and sprinkle about half the basil

http://www.giallozafferano.it/images/ricette/2/223/pastanorma_4.jpg

10. Remember the aubergines ? Oh, yeah, them !  :D

11. Rinse the sliced aubergines under gentle cold water, dry with a cloth

12. Fry the aubergines in oilive oil until golden (not brown overdone, just blonde  ;))

http://www.giallozafferano.it/images/ricette/2/223/pastanorma_5.jpg

13. Place the fried aubergines on paper towels to catch the oil as it drips away

14. Boil the pasta of your choice in 1 gal. salty water (hint: bring to a boil, then salt, 3 teaspoons/gal.) boil 1 minute lESS than it says on the label, set alarm

15. Grate the salted ricotta (if you couldn't find salted ricotta, try pecorino romano or just plain grana or parmigiano)

http://www.giallozafferano.it/images/ricette/2/223/pastanorma_6.jpg

16. As you wait for the pasta to boil, slice the fried aubergines in strips (or just dice them in 4ths)

17. Pour the sliced aubergines in the pan with the tomato sauce and bring to a very gentle simmer

18. When the alarm rings, check the pasta, it should be firm enough to bite into  :), not mushy like a boiled marshmallow  >:(
Strain the Pasta and pour into the pan with the sauce; stir gwently until it's all amalgamated

Serving suggestion: do NOT ladle out servings in the kitchen; rather, take the whole pan to the dinner table and dish out helpings there.
MOUTH WATERING as you wait !

Sprinkle whatever cheese of your choice, a dash of black pepper and enjoy !

VARIANT

If Ricotta, pecorino and even grana/parmigiano are too strong flavored for your palate, you can try finely diced mozzarella.
In this case, make sure you use the round, marble or tennis ball sized mozzarella which is sold in its own milky liquid, not the vacuum-packed brick-like stuff made from recycled longlife milk  :P

Just cut the mozzarella into small, raisin-size bits and sprinkle generously.

Similarly, you can use zucchini instead of aubergines (in this case, you can avoid steps 3 and 11 (they're sweet, not bitter)

It's a great way to get kids to eat veggies without telling them at all.  ;D

WINE : If a Man's Home is his Castle, what's a castle without a Dungeon (i.e., a Wine Cellar) ?
If you're a no-alcohol family, ok, just avoid milk or fruit juice as it will not go well with the tomato sauce.
Vintage water from Granpa's well or a bottle of fizzy water is great.

But if you DO drink wine, a bottle of chilled dry white will be the perfect companion.  8-)

http://www.theworldwidewine.com/Wine_and_Food/Wine_and_Veal/california_pinot_grigio.jpg

(...even though the Wine Companion insists on a full red like a Chianti or a Burgundy... I find them much too strong for this dish)

Title: Re: Pasta Recipe
Post by mpescatori on 06/26/12 at 03:19:42

I had a quick browse through a certain "Wine Expert" website, I don't know who made up some matches...

http://www.theworldwidewine.com/Wine_and_Food/wine-and-pasta.php

For those of you who like... spicy hot tomato sauce, for example... it's called "ARRABBIATA"  in Italian, meaning "fuming angry"

It's a typical Roman recipe, the wine they drink here in Rome with this dish is dry white, how on earth could they come up with Shiraz, which is one of the most potent reds ?

Red wine becomes BITTER when paired with chili peppers or anything spicy...  :P

Same applies to... Barolo, a $100 wine you'd compare to a 20+y.o. single malt scotch.

Who would use a 20+y.o. single malt to mix cocktails?

How can you suggest a $100 wine with pasta ? That wine is for a hearty roast...

Anyway... lunchtime... Iìm getting hungry, and smelling food where there isn't any...

Am I imagining things ?  :D

http://www.lanazione.it/pisa/cronaca/2012/06/22/733470/images/1331124-sordi-spaghetti.jpg
(frame from comedian Alberto Sordi's film "An American in Rome")

Title: Re: Pasta Recipe
Post by justin_o_guy2 on 06/26/12 at 03:48:55

Sounds like a fine meal,

Title: Re: Pasta Recipe
Post by arteacher on 06/26/12 at 05:19:34

Sounds, and looks delicious.
My Great Grandmother and mother, who taught me to cook, would say to use a clove of garlic for everyone at the table. My grandfather, who used to make 250 gal of wine a year, would say "white wine is like sex with a condom- it's still very good, but your missing something." ;D

Title: Re: Pasta Recipe
Post by mpescatori on 06/26/12 at 10:30:30

A true poet  ;)

Title: Re: Pasta Recipe
Post by arteacher on 06/26/12 at 12:38:59

The Merlino recipe for spaghetti sauce.
This makes a lot of sauce (50L), and I freeze it.
In the pot put one giant can and one medium can of crushed tomatoes. Add: 5 396ml cans of tomato paste.
       one whole bunch of garlic, finely chopped.
       5 small cooking onions, coarsely chopped.
       3 large green peppers, coarsely chopped.
       2 double handfuls (packages) sliced mushrooms.
       5 tablespoons oregano.
       3 tablespoons basil.
       5 bay leaves.
       2 tablespoons rosemary seeds, ground with a mortar and pistil to
       crack the seeds.
       3 tablespoons salt.
       Pepper to taste.
         1 cup pitted olives, green or ripe, whole or sliced, as you like it.
       1 cup red wine.
       1 cup water. (more or less to get the sauce to the thickness you like.)
Simmer on medium low heat, stirring frequently, until it boils, then put it on low.
The meat balls:
       In a large mixing bowl put:
       3/4 cup bread crumbs.
       2 tablespoons oregano.
       1 tablespoon basil.
       4 tablespoons dehydrated onion.
       1 tablespoon garlic powder.
Blend the dry ingredients together. Add one whole egg, and blend again.
       Add 2 1/2 pounds of refrigerated lean ground beef.
       1 1/2 pounds of refrigerated ground pork.
Mix it all together with your hands, squishing between your fingers to thoroughly mix. Roll into 1"- 1 1/2" meatballs.

A little aside here: Before the advent of nuclear submarines, with their ability to distill fresh water, fresh water was strictly rationed on submarines. No washing was allowed. One day a cook showed up with clean hands and was put on report, for using fresh water to wash his hands. He could not figure out how his hands got clean, until he remembered...he had made meatballs for supper earlier that day.

I nuke the meatballs, for two reasons: to ensure they are cooked, and to solidify them so they don't break apart in the sauce when you stir it.
Put the meatballs, along with the juices, in the sauce and simmer on low for an hour or so, stirring periodically. The pot should be nearly full now.
Oh and you must be sipping on some red wine during the entire process.
Serve on your favorite el dente ITALIAN pasta. ( mine happens to be bucatini) with grated Romano cheese and a sprinkle of fresh chopped basil.
Enjoy with a nice Chianti or Valpolachella.
       The next day put the remaining sauce into freezer bags and freeze it. If you do this while the sauce is still hot, or even warm, the quantity of sauce will melt everything in your freezer. ;)

Title: Re: Pasta Recipe
Post by arteacher on 06/26/12 at 12:55:40

To go with the spaghetti sauce I usually make a tomato salad the day before.
You need: 5 vine ripened tomatoes cut into aprox. one inch pieces.
               2 or 3 small zucchini cut into 1" pieces.
               1/2 large red onion, or more if you like onion, cut into     large pieces.
The dressing:
1/2 cup balsamic vinigar.
1/2 cup good quality olive oil.
1/2 cup water.
1 tablespoon prepared mustard.
1 teaspoon oregano.
1 teaspoon basil.
1 clove garlic finely chopped.
Stir it up and pour over the tomatoes and stuff. Refrigerate for a day before serving. I put it in a freezer bag so the solid ingredients are covered by the dressing. Pull it out of the fridge and heat it up just till the olive oil melts.
Delicious!

Title: Re: Pasta Recipe
Post by prechermike on 06/26/12 at 14:42:21

Thank you sir!

Title: Re: Pasta Recipe
Post by Pine on 06/26/12 at 14:58:24

I just drooled on my keyboard!!!


cheese is going to be hardest part of this...

Title: Re: Pasta Recipe
Post by arteacher on 06/26/12 at 21:17:59

I will never forget my first traditional Italian Christmas dinner. There must have been more than 30 people there. I had been confirmed into the church and was therefore considered to be an adult, and was allowed to eat at the men's table, (The women and children ate at a different table close by and served the men). We sat down to eat at noon. There were many courses including soups and salads, several pasta dishes, and of course, turkey and goose, with fruit and nuts nibbled between courses. And pitchers and pitchers of home made wine. There was also a sweetened iced lemon drink between courses to cleanse the palate. We got up from the table at around 8 o'clock, when the men retired to the living room for sambouca and or grappa and cigars, and the women did the dishes.

Title: Re: Pasta Recipe
Post by mpescatori on 06/27/12 at 00:23:43


373C3C353936372D2C580 wrote:
I will never forget my first traditional Italian Christmas dinner. There must have been more than 30 people there. I had been confirmed into the church and was therefore considered to be an adult, and was allowed to eat at the men's table, (The women and children ate at a different table close by and served the men). We sat down to eat at noon. There were many courses including soups and salads, several pasta dishes, and of course, turkey and goose, with fruit and nuts nibbled between courses. And pitchers and pitchers of home made wine. There was also a sweetened iced lemon drink between courses to cleanse the palate. We got up from the table at around 8 o'clock, when the men retired to the living room for sambouca and or grappa and cigars, and the women did the dishes.


And that's when they start gossiping on the men and you hear them giggling and you KNOW they're on to something... ::)

Fine meal. I've always said "food is a form of art, a means to express your culture".

An 8 hour meal does not mean you start munchin away at noon and finish 8 hours later with the checquered flag, it isn't an "all you can eat" contest, it's a family gathering.

Why men at one table and women at another table ? It isn't to relegate the women to a lesser environment, quite the opposite.

Women have important things to discuss: the teenage daughter to set up with a nice boy; the new house and can we afford another mortgage? Why can't Rita have any babies, and why can't Susan stop having even too many?
AND
Often, there's just no way you can physically sit 30+ people at one table, so you need two tables.

So the men have the responsibility over wine and meats and the knives, women have the responsibility to whatever's cooking (except for the roasts/BBQ) the bread and the children.

So everybody can discuss "important matters", such as "which girl do you like, son? You can tell me now, you're a grown up"
but also "which boy do you like, my dear? You can tell me now, we're among women"  ;)

Title: Re: Pasta Recipe
Post by photojoe on 06/27/12 at 07:58:57

Thank you for the recipe, and wonderful post/responses.

The family lived in 2 houses when I was growing up. I would wake up to the smell of garlic and the sound of meatballs sizzling at 5AM Sunday morning. Grandma would set me out a fried meatball before she put them all in the gravy, along with other meats. Some of my fondest memories.....Some of those recipes are gone forever. Thank God my Mom learned some of the basics; Grandma's gravy and Marinara.

Sunday's were a time when we all got together for the entire day into the night. Women all in the kitchen, children playing and men talking and drinking. I had my first taste of anisette while sitting on my uncle's lap. Still remember my eyes watering....perhaps a lesson eh?

Title: Re: Pasta Recipe
Post by Stimpy - FSO on 06/28/12 at 01:26:52

Nice, simple recipe, catchy name,

I'll place it as "Dish of the Week"
at my restaurant, serious, thanks.

Pictures soon.

;)

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