Cooking
Conventional wisdom says a good cookbook is one that allows you to reproduce a given recipe with consistently successful results. Another opinion is that the recipes should be really special, not run-of-the-mill or the best versions of classics. I may be in the minority, but I most appreciate a cookbook that inspires me, gives me good ideas, and points the way. Adventures of an Italian Food Lover is such a cookbook.
Italian food is probably my favorite cuisine. I learned to cook Italian food when I lived in Italy but I've never stopped learning. What I understand best is that Italian cuisine is about balance. It's about just the right amount of sauce and just the right texture to the pasta. It's about high quality ingredients combined, often simply, to create something magical. It's this elegant simplicity and balance of flavors and textures that appeals to me. The perfect combination of ripe tomatoes, luscious mozzarella and basil leaves. No balsamic vinegar, no embellishment. Or melon draped with slices of prosciutto. It's like the well-dressed woman who takes off one thing before she leaves the house. Sophisticated and refined but restrained.
This past weekend I made enchiladas. Roasting and shredding the chicken, making the sauce, stuffing then assembling the enchiladas in baking dishes took the better part of a day. But another meal I made this weekend was equally satisfying and took a fraction of the work and the ingredients. It was Spaghetti with Walnuts and Anchovies, from Adventures of an Italian Food Lover.
It was the second time I made the dish, and I tweaked it a little bit. The combination of ingredients is most important, after that, as with all recipes, find the balance that works for you. Just a few other recipes from the book that I find intriguing include Campari Cocktails with Salami and Figs, Pasta and Bean Salad with Celery Pesto, Leek and Sausage Orzotto, Risotto with Almonds and Broccoli and Baked Cherry Tomatoes.
Spaghetti with Walnuts and Anchovies (adapted from Adventures of an Italian Food Lover)
Serves 2 as a main course, or 4 as a first course
Ingredients
2 Tablespoons olive oil
2 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
3-4 filets of oil packed anchovies
2 Tablespoon chopped walnuts
pinch of chili flakes
3 Tablespoons minced parsley
8 ounces spaghetti
Instructions
Heat the olive oil over low heat and cook the garlic until it softens and barely begins to color. Add the anchovies and mash until they dissolve into the oil. Add the walnuts, chili and parsley, stir and remove from the heat. Cook the pasta in boiling water until it is 3/4 of the way done.
Drain the pasta and reserve some cooking water. Toss the pasta with the sauce and cook over high heat, adding about 1/3 cup cooking water. Cook, adding more cooking liquid as needed, until the pasta is al dente.
Enjoy!
- Sea Urchin Spaghetti Recipe
Sea urchin or uni is rich and creamy. It tastes very briny and yet sweet. Emulsified with some extra virgin olive oil and lemon juice, it makes a wonderful sauce for pasta. The type of pasta you use is up to you of course, but isn't it gorgeous on...
- Red Wine Pasta With Walnuts: Recipe For World Pasta Day
Pasta is my comfort food. It makes me happy to eat it, to cook it and even to look at it. I love all kinds of noodles from Italian to Japanese, Chinese, Vietnamese and even Spanish noodles. I love the texture and the way noodles are chameleon-like, absorbing...
- Penne With Rapini & Italian Sausage Recipe
I know there are other things to do with rapini but I am stuck in a happy rut. I always eat it exactly the same way. Rapini also called broccoli rabe looks like a leafy miniature broccoli and has a slight bitterness to it that marries well with the richness...
- Radish Penne: Recipe
I'm not a Winter person. I love the Summer. But when Winter comes around I look forward to coaxing root vegetables into something special. Like radishes. Radishes may be available all year round, but their cool, spicy, crunchiness makes them seem...
- Spaghetti Salad: Recipe
I think you can argue that it isn't really Summer until tomatoes are juice-down-your-chin ripe. When a tomato is at it's sweet peak, I'm not alone in believing it should be eaten raw. In countries where tomatoes are grown, there are lots...
Cooking
Spaghetti with Walnuts and Anchovies: Recipe
Conventional wisdom says a good cookbook is one that allows you to reproduce a given recipe with consistently successful results. Another opinion is that the recipes should be really special, not run-of-the-mill or the best versions of classics. I may be in the minority, but I most appreciate a cookbook that inspires me, gives me good ideas, and points the way. Adventures of an Italian Food Lover is such a cookbook.
Italian food is probably my favorite cuisine. I learned to cook Italian food when I lived in Italy but I've never stopped learning. What I understand best is that Italian cuisine is about balance. It's about just the right amount of sauce and just the right texture to the pasta. It's about high quality ingredients combined, often simply, to create something magical. It's this elegant simplicity and balance of flavors and textures that appeals to me. The perfect combination of ripe tomatoes, luscious mozzarella and basil leaves. No balsamic vinegar, no embellishment. Or melon draped with slices of prosciutto. It's like the well-dressed woman who takes off one thing before she leaves the house. Sophisticated and refined but restrained.
This past weekend I made enchiladas. Roasting and shredding the chicken, making the sauce, stuffing then assembling the enchiladas in baking dishes took the better part of a day. But another meal I made this weekend was equally satisfying and took a fraction of the work and the ingredients. It was Spaghetti with Walnuts and Anchovies, from Adventures of an Italian Food Lover.
It was the second time I made the dish, and I tweaked it a little bit. The combination of ingredients is most important, after that, as with all recipes, find the balance that works for you. Just a few other recipes from the book that I find intriguing include Campari Cocktails with Salami and Figs, Pasta and Bean Salad with Celery Pesto, Leek and Sausage Orzotto, Risotto with Almonds and Broccoli and Baked Cherry Tomatoes.
Spaghetti with Walnuts and Anchovies (adapted from Adventures of an Italian Food Lover)
Serves 2 as a main course, or 4 as a first course
Ingredients
2 Tablespoons olive oil
2 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
3-4 filets of oil packed anchovies
2 Tablespoon chopped walnuts
pinch of chili flakes
3 Tablespoons minced parsley
8 ounces spaghetti
Instructions
Heat the olive oil over low heat and cook the garlic until it softens and barely begins to color. Add the anchovies and mash until they dissolve into the oil. Add the walnuts, chili and parsley, stir and remove from the heat. Cook the pasta in boiling water until it is 3/4 of the way done.
Drain the pasta and reserve some cooking water. Toss the pasta with the sauce and cook over high heat, adding about 1/3 cup cooking water. Cook, adding more cooking liquid as needed, until the pasta is al dente.
Enjoy!
- Sea Urchin Spaghetti Recipe
Sea urchin or uni is rich and creamy. It tastes very briny and yet sweet. Emulsified with some extra virgin olive oil and lemon juice, it makes a wonderful sauce for pasta. The type of pasta you use is up to you of course, but isn't it gorgeous on...
- Red Wine Pasta With Walnuts: Recipe For World Pasta Day
Pasta is my comfort food. It makes me happy to eat it, to cook it and even to look at it. I love all kinds of noodles from Italian to Japanese, Chinese, Vietnamese and even Spanish noodles. I love the texture and the way noodles are chameleon-like, absorbing...
- Penne With Rapini & Italian Sausage Recipe
I know there are other things to do with rapini but I am stuck in a happy rut. I always eat it exactly the same way. Rapini also called broccoli rabe looks like a leafy miniature broccoli and has a slight bitterness to it that marries well with the richness...
- Radish Penne: Recipe
I'm not a Winter person. I love the Summer. But when Winter comes around I look forward to coaxing root vegetables into something special. Like radishes. Radishes may be available all year round, but their cool, spicy, crunchiness makes them seem...
- Spaghetti Salad: Recipe
I think you can argue that it isn't really Summer until tomatoes are juice-down-your-chin ripe. When a tomato is at it's sweet peak, I'm not alone in believing it should be eaten raw. In countries where tomatoes are grown, there are lots...