Linguine with Tomato, Pancetta, and Capers

It's Arrabiata!  It's Amatriciana!  No, it's - damn, I don't even have a catchy name for this tasty tomato-based sauce that marries the flavors of penne all'arrabiata and bucatini all'amatriciana.   

It all started yesterday at approximately 4:45pm.  I received a text from a friend:  "What should I make for dinner?"  He explained that he had no discernable food cravings.  I started to think about what I was going to make for dinner after I ran my errands and went to the gym.  After a long, tiring day at work, I was barely motivated to pour milk into a bowl of cereal.  The longer I thought about it, the more I realized that what I really wanted wasn't to complete my "To-Do list," but to sit down with a large bowl of pasta and a glass of Chianti.  Library books can be returned late; I don't mind paying a small late fee.  The world won't end if someone else buys the last purple corduroy 3/4 sleeve jacket at Ralph Lauren.  Living on a 2nd floor walk-up on the top of a massive hill guarantees that my glutes won't atrophy if I skip the gym for a day (OK, week...).  I can ignore anything except a food craving, and I'm not opposed to procrastinating except when doing so delays dinner. 

My decision was final.  I picked up the ingredients at the store, headed back to my apartment, uncorked the Chianti, cranked up the Frank, and got down to business slicing and stirring to create this savory, spicy tomato sauce with a perfectly balanced piquancy achieved by throwing in a few salt-packed capers just before adding the pasta to the pot.  Try this one sometime, and make sure to sing along with Sinatra while you cook!

Linguine with Tomato, Pancetta, and Capers

1 pound dry linguine
splash olive oil
1/2 pound pancetta, sliced into 1/2" x 1" strips
1 large or 2 small shallots, minced
1 garlic clove, halved
2 pounds fresh tomatoes, diced
1/2 cup dry white wine
generous amount coarsely ground black pepper
1/4 - 1/2 t. crushed red chile flakes
2-3 T. salt-packed capers (do not rinse)
1 teaspoon chopped fresh oregano

Cook the pasta.  In the meantime, heat the olive oil over medium-high heat in a large, heavy-bottomed pot.  Add the pancetta and cook until it begins to crisp, approx. 6-8 minutes.  During the last minute of cooking, add the minced shallots and the garlic clove halves.  Cook until the shallots become translucent, 1-2 minutes.  Do not let them burn. 

Add the tomatoes, wine, pepper, and crushed red chile flakes.  Cook for approximately 10-15 minutes, stirring frequently, until tomatoes have softened and just barely hold their shape.

Now, remove the garlic clove halves and add the capers and oregano to the tomato sauce.  Cook for 1-2 more minutes, stirring once or twice.  Next, reduce the tomato sauce to low heat and add the hot cooked pasta to the tomato blend, stirring until each strand of pasta is coated with sauce. 


Serve immediately, garnishing with a few fresh oregano leaves. 

Linguine Carbonara with Bacon, Butter and Booze

Before I begin the discussion of my latest recipe, let me explain why I’m not profiling Italy in my Around the World in Eighty Bites project – definitely not because I don’t want to honor my Italian readers, but it seems redundant, considering that 90% of my culinary knowledge centers around Italian food and 80% of my recipes are either Italian or Italian-inspired.  I wouldn’t even know where to begin!  Making me choose one recipe to represent Italy would be like making me choose between The Rolling Stones and Led Zeppelin, so instead of cooking one representative dish, I’ll just give one big grazie to my Italian readers and express my envy that they get to live where pecorino and prosciutto are made! 

This weekend, I made biscotti, which requires egg whites.  In turn, I had egg yolks left over.  Not one to waste food, I needed to come up with a recipe using those egg yolks, and I decided on Linguine Carbonara.    

Carbonara is a very popular, very rich dish characterized by the presence of cured pork, eggs, cheese, and lots and lots of black pepper.  It is traditionally made with spaghetti, but any long pasta can be used.  Some versions use cream, some do not.  The type of pork used varies; some cooks use pancetta, some use guanciale, and some use plain old all-purpose bacon.  Americanized versions of the dish tend to feature other ingredients, such as grilled chicken, mushrooms, or peas, but these are not used in the Italian version.  My version stays closer to the traditional Italian recipe, and it includes Italian bacon (pancetta), butter, and booze!  Where I stray is in the addition of the egg at the end – in the traditional version, the raw egg is added at the last minute and cooked no further, letting the heat from the pasta cook the egg.  In my version, the egg and wine are added together, which requires an extra minute of cooking to guarantee that the egg cooks through.  You do not have to use only the eggs’ yolks for this recipe; I did so because I had them.  Whole eggs also work fine, and using whole eggs will result in a lighter texture than using mainly yolks.  Because this dish is extremely rich, a small serving goes a long way. 

Linguine Carbonara

1 pound linguine

½ stick butter

4 oz. pancetta, sliced into small strips

1 small onion, minced

1 whole egg + 2 egg yolks (you can substitute two whole eggs)

2 T. dry white wine

2 T. coarsely ground black pepper

½ cup grated parmesan cheese

Salt to taste

Cook the pasta.  In the meantime, melt the butter over medium-high heat in a large, heavy bottomed pan large enough to accommodate all the cooked pasta.  Once the butter has melted, add the pancetta and cook, stirring frequently, for about 2-4 minutes.  Once the edges begin to crisp, lower the heat, and add the onion and cook for another minute or so until the onion turns translucent. 

While the pancetta and onion cook, place the egg and yolk in a small bowl.  Add the wine and pepper, and beat with a fork or a small whisk until the ingredients are completely blended.  Set aside. 

Once the pasta has cooked, drain it and add it to the pan with the pancetta and onion.  Add the cheese and salt, and stir until the cheese is melted.  Now, slowly add the egg/wine mixture, constantly tossing the pasta, until each strand is coated with the mixture.  Cook for 1-2 minutes, or until the egg begins to firm up and adhere to the pasta.  Serve immediately.

Bacon and Butter and Booze, Oh My!

Bacon and butter and booze, oh my! Don’t forget cream, olive oil, and radicchio, one of my favorite vegetables. Yes, this recipe contains a lot of dieting no-nos, but calories are not a valid reason to miss out on something this delicious. Deprivation is not the key to anything, except maybe bingeing and unhappiness. If you’re really concerned about calories, keep in mind that this recipe makes four servings, so each portion only contains a teaspoon or so of the high-fat ingredients. Also keep in mind that our bodies need fat to function, and it’s much better to get your fat from a beautiful, flavorful pasta dish than from some chopped, formed deep-fried by-product garbage procured from a drive-thru. This dish is not one to miss!

The bacon, butter, cream, and wine make this a very, very rich dish, but the richness is balanced out by the bitterness of the radicchio. When choosing radicchio, select firm heads with white stems and tightly packed leaves. This tasty and versatile vegetable can be eaten raw or cooked, and is delicious quartered, grilled, and dressed with olive oil and lemon juice.

Linguine with Radicchio and Cream

12 oz. linguine
Splash olive oil
6 oz. Uncured bacon or pancetta, sliced
1 small onion, minced
1 head radicchio, quartered and shredded into ¼” strips
¼ c dry white wine
½ c grated pecorino romano
½ c heavy cream
2 T butter
Salt & pepper
Chopped parsley

Cook the pasta. In the meantime, prepare the sauce.

In a heavy-bottomed pan, heat the olive oil over medium-high heat. Add the bacon and the onion, cook until the bacon is starting to crisp and the onion is translucent, stirring occasionally.

Next, add the radicchio and the wine. Reduce the heat to low, cover, and cook until the radicchio is wilted. Stir once or twice.

Add all the remaining ingredients, stirring constantly until the butter an cheese have melted. When the pasta is cooked, drain it and add it to the pan with the radicchio, stir, and cook for 1-2 minutes more. Divide among 4 plates and serve.