How to make more authentic Italian dishes
Have you ever wondered how real Italians make pasta?
Adam Rapoport, editor in chief at the brand new Bon Appetit magazine, has devoted his first issue to everything Italian. On "The Early Show" Tuesday morning, he shared how to make your Italian cooking authentic with the following 10 easy steps:
Enjoy all our "Early Show" recipes!
1. Forget the Pot, Use a Pan. They key to preparing a silky pasta sauce lies in using a sauté pan. Grab a sauté pan that is 10" in diameter or more.
2. Build The Foundation. A transcendent pasta sauce requires a few basic ingredients layered together. Heat olive oil, sauté garlic, and add your vegetables of choice and then - the most important part - a generous amount of pasta water.
3. You're Not Using Enough Salt. Drop a small handful of kosher salt into a pot of boiling water. The pasta absorbs the salt and flavor as they cook, so using a generous amount of salt means that you are seasoning an otherwise bland starch.
4. Don't Dump the Pasta Water. The pasta water is the secret ingredient in most sauces. Scoop out some of the cloudy water and add a few splashes to the sauce, thinning or thickening to your preference.
5. Trust The Tongs. Basic metal tongs are an indispensable tool, perfect for testing a noodle for doneness and then transferring from pot to pan.
6. Now, Work That Pan. It's Where the Magic Happens. Bringing the pasta with the sauce together in the sauté pan is as easy as it is important. Slightly undercook your pasta by about two minute - a little al dente - and then add to the sauté pan with the flame still on underneath it. Allow the pasta to cook a few minutes with the sauce.
7. Everything Is Better With Butter. The other secret to rich, silky sauces is a little extra butter - and yes, all the restaurants use it. Add a few tablespoons of cold butter to the pasta and sauce in the pan, off the heat.
8. Cheese is Not Just A Garnish. Restaurants enrich pasta sauces with cheese even before grating it tableside. Add a little bit of freshly grated Parmesan or Pecorino to the sauce where it will melt and become a stealth ingredient that lends texture and flavor.
9. It Should Look As Good As It Tastes. A well-chosen pasta bowl makes for beautiful presentation but also serves a purpose. A broad bowl with wide sides keeps food warm and white one makes colors pop. Use your trusty tongs for plating.
10. Practice Makes Perfect Pasta. Once you've learned the principles of great pasta, you can master the technique by experimenting with your own combinations of seasonal vegetables, grated cheeses, and fresh herbs.
Recipes:
Fettuccine with peas and mint
Bon Appetit May 2011
SERVES 2
Master this classic springtime pan sauce of peas and mint, and you'll be ready to take on any vegetable-and-herb combination. Be sure not to overcook the peas, and add the mint at the end so that it remains vibrant green.
INGREDIENTS
- Kosher salt
- 6 ounces fettuccine or tagliatelle
- 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
- 1 cup shelled fresh or frozen English peas, thawed
- 1 garlic clove, thinly sliced
- 1 small shallot, minced
- 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 2 ounces Parmesan, finely grated (about 1 cup)
- 14 fresh mint leaves, thinly sliced
METHOD
Bring 3 quarts water to a boil in a 5 quart pot. Season with salt; add pasta and cook, stirring occasionally, until about 2 minutes before tender. Drain, reserving 1 1/4 cups pasta cooking water.
Meanwhile, heat oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add peas, garlic, shallot, and pepper and cook, stirring, for 1 minute. Add 1 cup of the reserved pasta water; bring to a boil.
Transfer pasta to skillet with peas and shallot. Cook, stirring and tossing often, until sauce thickens and begins to coat the pasta, about 1 minute. Add butter and then Parmesan and remove pan from heat; stir and toss until melted and pasta is al dente. (Add more pasta water if sauce seems dry.) Stir and toss in mint, and season to taste with salt. Serve.
Cacio e Pepe
If one pasta dish exemplifies the complexity of pan sauce precision, it's cacio e pepe (literally, cheese and pepper). The minimalist recipe calls for only a few ingredients and doesn't even include garlic. It's a simple standard by which cooks are measured, yet no two chefs agree on how to do it right. We sorted through the variations and found it works best with a mix of Grana Padano (velvety) and Pecorino (sharp) cheeses, and freshly cracked black pepper (you should taste the heat).
SERVES 2
INGREDIENTS
- Kosher salt
- 6 ounces pasta (such as egg tagliolini, bucatini, or spaghetti)
- 3 tablespoons unsalted butter, cubed, divided
- 1 teaspoon freshly cracked black pepper
- 3/4 cup finely grated Grana Padano or Parmesan
- 1/3 cup finely grated Pecorino
PREPARATION
Bring 3 quarts water to a boil in a 5 quart pot. Season with salt; add pasta and cook, stirring occasionally, until about 2 minutes before tender. Drain, reserving 3/4 cup pasta cooking water.
Meanwhile, melt 2 tablespoons butter in a large heavy skillet over medium heat. Add pepper and cook, swirling pan, until toasted, about 1 minute.
Add 1/2 cup reserved pasta water to skillet and bring to a simmer. Add pasta and remaining butter. Reduce heat to low and add Grana Padano, stirring and tossing with tongs until melted. Remove pan from heat; add Pecorino, stirring and tossing until cheese melts, sauce coats the pasta, and pasta is al dente. (Add more pasta water if sauce seems dry.) Transfer pasta to warm bowls and serve.
Pasta al Pomodoro
SERVES 4
INGREDIENTS
- 1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
- 1 medium onion, minced
- 4 garlic cloves, minced
- 1 pinch crushed red pepper flakes
- 1 28 ounce can peeled tomatoes, puréed in a food processor
- Kosher salt
- 3 large fresh basil sprigs
- 12 ounces bucatini or spaghetti
- 2 tablespoons cubed unsalted butter
- 1/4 cup finely grated Parmesan or Pecorino
PREPARATION
Heat extra-virgin olive oil in a 12 inch skillet over medium-low heat. Add minced onion and cook, stirring, until soft, about 12 minutes. Add garlic and cook, stirring, for 2-4 minutes. Add crushed red pepper flakes; cook for 1 minute more. Increase heat to medium, add puréed tomatoes and season lightly with kosher salt; cook, stirring occasionally, until sauce thickens slightly and the flavors meld, about 20 minutes. Remove pan from heat, stir in basil sprigs, and set aside.
Meanwhile, bring water to a boil in a 5-quart pot. Season with salt; add spaghetti or bucatini and cook, stirring occasionally, until about 2 minutes before tender. Drain pasta, reserving 1/2 cup pasta cooking water.
Discard basil and heat skillet over high heat. Stir in reserved pasta water to loosen sauce; bring to a boil. Add pasta and cook, stirring, until sauce coats pasta and pasta is al dente, about 2 minutes. Remove pan from heat; add butter and cheese; toss until cheese melts. Transfer to warm bowls; serve with more cheese, if desired.
Spaghetti alle Vongole
The briny juices from the clams help to flavor this brothy sauce-the fresher the clams, the better the dish. Clams' salinity varies depending on their variety and provenance, so in this case, be sure to salt the pasta cooking water lightly.
SERVES 2
INGREDIENTS
- Kosher salt
- 6 ounces spaghetti
- 4 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, divided
- 1 garlic clove, thinly sliced
- 1 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
- 1/4 cup white wine
- 2 pounds cockles, Manila clams, or littlenecks, scrubbed
- 2 tablespoon roughly chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
PREPARATION
Bring 3 quarts water to a boil in a 5-quart pot. Season lightly with salt; add pasta and cook, stirring occasionally, until about 2 minutes before tender. Drain, reserving 1/2 cup pasta cooking water.
Meanwhile, heat 3 tablespoons oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add garlic and cook, swirling pan often, until just golden. Add red pepper flakes and continue cooking 15 more seconds. Add wine, then clams; increase heat to high. Cover skillet and cook until clams open and release their juices, 3-6 minutes, depending on size of clams. As clams open, use tongs to transfer them to a bowl.
Add 1/4 cup of the reserved pasta water to skillet; bring to a boil. Add pasta to pan. Cook over high heat, tossing constantly, until pasta is al dente and has soaked up some of the sauce from the pan. Add clams and any juices from bowl to pan, along with parsley, and toss to combine. (Add more pasta water if sauce seems dry.) Transfer pasta to warm bowls and drizzle with remaining oil.