Italian-American Summer Treats

'First Lady' Lidia Bastianich Shares Recipes Of Some Favorites

(CBS)  Lidia Bastianich is an award-winning cookbook author, host of public TV's "Lidia's Italian-American Table," and owner of a restaurant empire. She's often called "the first lady of Italian-American cooking."

Her Web site is visited by as many as 45,000 people each month. There are more than 55,000 subscribers to her monthly recipes newsletter. Plans are in the works to expand the e-commerce side of the site.

RECIPES

Sauce of Small Shrimp and Scallions
(a 5-minute sauce)

Small shrimp make a lovely addition to skillet sauces, because they cook so quickly, barely two minutes in the skillet. The trick is to make sure you don't overcook the shrimp. If you can, start your pasta before the sauce, so they finish at the same time. But if your pasta isn't ready when the shrimp and sauce are, take the skillet off the heat.

1 pound of pasta
1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil
1/2 cup sliced garlic
1/4 cup Tuscan-style peperoncini in vinegar, drained, seeded and thinly sliced (about 12 whole pickled peppers)
teaspoon salt
1 pound (about 2 dozen) small shrimp, washed, peeled and de-veined
4 tablespoons soft butter
Hot water from the pasta cooking pot
1/3 cup chopped fresh Italian parsley
1 bunch scallions, sliced on diagonal

Bring a large pot of salted water to boil. If you are using dry pasta, start cooking the pasta 5 minutes before; if you are using fresh, start the sauce and then put on the pasta to cook at the same time. Pour the olive oil into the big skillet, scatter the garlic slices in and set over medium-high heat. Cook for 1 minute, until the garlic is sizzling. Scatter the slices of peperoncino in a hot spot; cook for 1 minute; shake the pan now and then. Push the garlic and peppers to the side, turn the heat to high. Drop the shrimp in the center of the skillet and spread them so they're not crowded. Sprinkle on the salt and let them sizzle for 1/2 minute. Flip the shrimp over, giving the skillet a good toss or stirring and turning them; and cook another 1/2 minute or so, until the flesh is just turning opaque. Scatter the scallions into the skillet; toss and stir in with the shrimp, for 20 to 30 seconds, just until they're sizzling. Stir in the butter and cook until it is melted and starts to simmer, 10 to 20 seconds. Ladle in 2 cups of boiling pasta water. Stir up everything in the skillet and let the sauce boil for only a moment. If the pasta is ready to add turn down the heat to very low. If the pasta is not ready, remove the skillet from the heat immediately; set it back over low heat when you do add the pasta.

When the pasta is done al dente, scoop it up and drop into the shrimp pan. Toss briefly, sprinkle on the parsley, and toss again. Remove from the heat and drop the remaining 2 tablespoons butter on top of the pasta and toss in. Serve right away.

Scallion and Asparagus Salad

This is a great spring salad with two long lovely green vegetables that have a real affinity for each other. Try it with Asparagus and Scallion pasta sauce, antipasto or as a side dish to grilled meat and fish. You can serve this salad chilled, but I like it at room temperature.

If you haven't poached scallions before, be sure to note how nicely it brings out the flavors in a mellow way. And here's a thrifty cooking tip: Scallion trimmings are some of the most useful scraps in the kitchen. A handful of leaves and the root ends can make an instant broth, as a substitute for stock.

IT'S EASY TO MAKE A HARD EGG!

Here's my simple method for cooking hard eggs with nice color and good texture: Put the eggs in a saucepan that doesn't crowd them together. Add water to cover the eggs by 2 to 3 inches. Bring the water to a boil, then turn off the heat. Leave the eggs in the water until they've cooled to room temperature. To peel, crack the shells a few minutes before you need the eggs by rolling them on a flat surface. Let them sit in cold water for a few minutes before peeling.

Yield: 6 servings
1-1/2 pounds fresh asparagus
3/4 pound scallions
1-1/2 teaspoons salt or more if needed
3-1/2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1-1/2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
Freshly ground pepper to taste
3 hard eggs, peeled

Cooking the Vegetables

Snap off the hard stubs at the bottom of the asparagus stalks; they'll break naturally at the right point. With a vegetable peeler, shave off the skin from the bottom 3 inches or so each stalk so they cook evenly. Save the stubs and peelings for a soup base or Asparagus Stub Sauce. Trim the root end of the scallions and the wilted ends of the green leaves. Peel off the loose layers at the white end, too, so the scallions are all tight, trim, and about 6 inches long. In a wide deep skillet bring one quart of water (or enough to cover the vegetables) to a boil and add the asparagus and scallions. Adjust the heat to maintain a bubbling boil and poach the asparagus, uncovered, for about 6 minutes, or more, until they are tender but not falling apart and cooked through but not mushy. To check doneness, pick up a spear in the middle with tongs: it should be a little droopy, but not collapsing. As soon as they are done, lift out the vegetables with tongs and lay them in a colander (any fat asparagus spears may take a little longer so leave them in a few minutes more). Hold the colander under cold running water to stop the cooking. Drain briefly, then spread on kitchen towels and pat dry.

Making the Salad

Slice the asparagus and the scallions into 1-inch lengths and pile them loosely in a mixing bowl. Drizzle over the oil and vinegar over, sprinkle on 1/2 of the teaspoon salt and several grinds of black pepper. Toss well but don't break up the vegetables. Quarter the eggs into wedges and slice each wedge into 2 or 3 pieces; scatter these in the bowl and fold in with the vegetables. Taste and adjust the dressing. Chill the salad briefly, then arrange it on a serving platter or on salad plates.