Sumptuous Italian On A Shoestring

Growing up in a large Italian family, Chef Don Pintabona quickly learned that food can bring people together.

His second cookbook, "The Shared Table," is full of photographs, as well as stories about his childhood, his extensive travels, and his 13 years as the executive chef of New York's highly-regarded Tribeca Grill. It's also loaded with creative recipes designed to help the home cook prepare casual meals for friends and family.

And, as Chef Pintabona shows us, many of those meals can be prepared on The Saturday Early Show's shoestring budget of $40.

The Italian meal he's preparing is based on family recipes. It includes Stuffed Calamari with Pine Nuts and Raisins, Homemade Cavatelli with Sausage, Onions and Peas and a Sicilian Lemon-Lime Tart.

Pintabona was at Tribeca Grill from its inception in 1990 until 2003. Recently, he opened a new restaurant, Trina, in Fort Lauderdale, Fla.

FOOD FACTS

Calamari is another name for squid and is related to the octopus. Squid range in size from 1 inch to 80 feet. The smaller versions are sold frozen in most supermarkets, but they also come in fresh, canned, sun-dried and pickled forms. Squid should always be cooked quickly, as it becomes tough and rubbery when overcooked. Squid meat is firm and chewy and has a mild, slightly sweet flavor.

Pine Nuts actually do come from pine trees. They are nestled inside pine cones. Removing them is a labor-intensive process, which makes the nuts fairly expensive. Pine nuts have a high fat content, which means they go bad quickly and can only be kept in the refrigerator for up to three months or frozen for up to nine. Pine nuts are well known for their flavorful addition to classic Italian pesto.

Cavatelli is pasta is shaped like a short, narrow shell with a rippled edge. In Chef Pintabona's homemade version of the pasta he uses semolina flour, which is a coarsely-ground wheat flour.

Concasse is any mixture that is coarsely chopped or ground, commonly referring to tomato concasse.RECIPES

Stuffed Calamari w/ Pine Nuts & Raisins
Serves 4

Ingredients:
4 large calamari bodies, cleaned ( heads & tentacles reserved)
1/3 cup Italian breadcrumbs, toasted
6 Tbsp olive oil
1 Tbsp soft butter
2 Anchovy fillets, finely chopped
2T grated parmesan cheese
2T fresh chopped parsley
2T fresh basil, sliced
1T lemon zest
2T lemon juice
2T toasted pine nuts
2T raisins or currants
1/4 tsp dried oregano
2 tsp minced garlic
1/4 cup onion, chopped
1 cup Italian crushed tomatoes
1 bunch broccoli rabe
to taste crushed red pepper flakes
to taste salt &pepper

Method:
1. Finely chop up the reserved heads and tentacles from the squid and set aside. Wash and pat dry the bodies, removing any fine backbone inside the body.
2. In a large frying pan, add 1 T of olive oil with the breadcrumbs over a medium flame, and toast them, tossing often, until golden brown. Remove from heat, transfer to a plate to cool down.
3. Wipe out the pan, then return to the flame and add 2 T of olive oil, 1 tsp garlic, chopped anchovies and the chopped squid. Sauté over a low flame for about 3 minutes, or until garlic is golden, then add the lemon juice, zest, pine nuts, raisins, 1/2 the parsley and 1/2 the basil. Toss all to mix well. Season with salt and pepper.
4. In a mixing bowl, add the squid mixture form the pan to the toasted breadcrumbs and mix together well. If too dry, drizzle with 2 T olive oil. (the mixture should be moist, but not wet) Season with the oregano and grated cheese, and mix again.
5. Stuff each calamari body evenly with the mixture, and then secure the stuffing by closing the top of each calamari with a toothpick. Set aside
6. In a heavy bottom shallow saucepan , large enough to hold all stuffed calamari , add remaining 1 T olive oil and 1 T soft butter, and heat over medium flame. Add the stuffed calamari with the chopped onion and remaining garlic and sauté quickly on both sides about 2 minutes total, just to lightly brown or sear the calamari, carefully turning each one. Quickly add the crushed tomatoes to the pan.
7. Season with salt and pepper. Add 2T of water to the pan then cover and let simmer for five minutes. Then uncover the pan and simmer for 5 more minutes. Season the sauce with crushed red pepper flakes to taste, and finish sauce with remaining fresh chopped parsley and basil.
8. Toss broccoli rabe with olive oil and red wine vinegar to taste and salt and pepper. Garnish each calamari serving with greens. Serve with lemon wedgesHomemade Cavatelli w/ Sausage ,Onions & Peas
Serves 4

Ingredients:
1 lb homemade Cavatelli (recipe follows), or dried store-bought Cavetelli
1 lb Italian sausage, sweet or hot
4 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
4 Tbsp unsalted butter, softened
1 large onion diced
1 Cup fresh frozen bagged peas, defrosted
1/2 Cup freshly grated Pecorino Romano cheese
1 Cup tomato concasse ( 1 large beefsteak tomato diced)
2 Cups marinara sauce (recipe follows)
1/4 Cup fresh parsley, chopped
Salt and Fresh Cracked Black Pepper to taste

For Sausage Mixture
Method:
1. Put a large pot of salted water on to boil.
2. In a heavy bottom frying pan, add 2 T of oil and brown the sausage well on all sides. Lower the flame, cover the pan and let sausage cook on a low flame until no longer pink inside, turning often, for about 12 to 15 minutes. Remove from pan to cool.
3. In a medium non-stick pan over medium flame, add the onions and 2T oil. Sauté for about 3-4 minutes, just until the onions take on some color.
4. Add in the peas and toss all to mix well, season with salt and pepper.
5. Cook the peas with the onions for about 1 - 2 minutes until tender, then add 2T soft butter, toss well, and remove from the heat.
6. Cut the cooled sausage links in slices, on a slight bias, about 6 - 7 slices per link.
7. Add the marinara sauce to another pot and bring to a simmer, stirring.
8. Meanwhile, when the water comes to a boil, drop in the fresh Cavatelli , bring back to a boil , and when all the pasta floats to the top, cook for 3 minutes and drain. (if using dried pasta, follow package cooking instructions) While still steaming, transfer to a mixing bowl, season with salt and pepper and toss with 2 T of soft butter.
9. Toss the sliced sausage and the tomato concasse in the pan with the pea mixture and reheat over a medium flame just to warm thru, then add to the mixing bowl with the pasta and taste to check seasoning again.
10. Line a large serving platter with a layer of hot tomato sauce and add the Cavatelli mixture on the top of the sauce. Garnish with the parsley and 2 Tbsp of grated cheese, and serve with extra cheese and any extra sauce on the side.

For The Cavatelli
(recipe makes 1 lb. of pasta)
Ingredients:
1 1/2 C All Purpose Flour
1/2 C Semolina
1 large Egg , beaten
1/2 lb Ricotta Cheese
1/2 tsp. Salt

Method:
1. Sift together the flour, semolina and salt.
2. Add all ingredients to a bowl of a mixer with a dough hook attachment.
3. Knead the dough in the mixer on medium speed until the dough forms a ball .
4. Remove the dough from the bowl, wrap the ball in plastic wrap and refrigerate.
5. Follow procedure for using Cavatelli machine and cook as directed above.

Fresh Cavatelli is perishable , because of the ricotta and eggs in it , but will last 3-4 days in the fridge. Cavatelli freezes well. Wrap tightly in zip lock bags and freeze for up to three months.

For the Marinara Sauce
Recipe (makes about 2 cups)
Ingredients:
1 can whole peeled plum tomatoes (recommended: San Marzano/Italy packed- 28 oz. each)
1 medium white onion, very small diced
3 garlic cloves, slivered (thinly sliced)
3 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1 tsp sugar ( optional)
1/4 cup fresh basil , Chiffonade (thinly shredded)
1/4 cup fresh parsley, chopped
To Taste salt & Freshly Cracked Black Pepper

Method:
1. Open can of whole peeled tomatoes and drain them, reserving the juice. Place peeled tomato in a large bowl and crush them by hand until evenly crushed and slightly chunky. Add the crushed tomatoes back to the juice and set aside.
2. In a heavy bottom sauce pot over medium heat, add the onions and oil and simmer about 2 minutes until onions are softened. Add the slivered garlic and sauté until garlic starts to brown, about 1 more minute.
3. Quickly add the crushed tomatoes to stop the garlic from browning, season with salt and pepper to taste , then bring to a low simmer.
4. Simmer slowly for about 30 - 40 minutes, stirring often with a wooden spoon , and sweeten with the teaspoon of sugar, if you desire.
5. About 5 minutes before turning off the flame, stir in the fresh basil and parsley and taste the sauce for seasoning .
6. If you prefer a hot sauce, add some crushed red pepper flakes to taste.

In the summertime, when the garden is full of ripe tomatoes , we make this sauce in big batches and bottle it . Replace the canned plum tomatoes w/ 8 lbs of red, ripe plum tomatoes, drop them in boiling water for 3 minutes, just until skin blisters, shock them in ice water, then peel skins and proceed with same recipe as for canned, except you may need a touch more sugar to sweeten.Sicilian Lemon/Lime Tart - Crostata Di Limone
Makes 1 - 9" inch torte

Ingredients:
1 batch pastry dough (recipe follows)
4 egg yolks
4 egg whites, whipped stiff
1/2 C plust 2T sugar
2 lemons, zested & juiced ( or ¼ cup juice)
2 limes, zested & juiced ( or ¼ cup juice)

For The Pastry Dough
1 3/4 Cups All Purpose Flour
1/2 Cup Ground Almonds, toasted
1/2 Cup Sugar
1 stick sweet butter, cut up
1 egg, beaten
Dash of salt

Method:
* Preheat the Oven to 400.
1. Grease a 9-inch pie pan well with 1 Tbsp butter, set aside. In the bowl of a food processor fitted with a dough hook, toss together the flour, almonds and sugar and pulse to combine. Cut the butter into the dry mixture by pulsing on and off quickly until the mixture resembles fine crumbs .
2. Add in the egg and salt, and pulse quickly, on and off, just until a soft dough forms. Do not overmix or mixture will form a paste. Form pastry into a ball, flatten down a bit and wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate, up to 2 hours.
3. Meanwhile, make the filling. Cream the egg yolks and the sugar together with a beater until very thick - about 5- 7 minutes - then beat in the lemon and lime juice, and the 2 zests.
4. Transfer the mixture to a double boiler, set over barely simmering water. Cook, stirring constantly, until the mixture becomes thick - about 10 - 12 minutes. Remove from the heat and set aside to cool .
5. Unwrap the ball of dough, flatten it down a bit, and roll the dough out evenly between two sheets of parchment paper. Press it into the greased pie pan, fitting it in up the sides, and cut off any excess.
6. Prick the dough with a fork all over, and weigh it down with dried beans before baking in the oven. Cook for 10 minutes in the oven, then remove from oven and remove the dried beans. Continue to cook until golden, about 5 more minutes.
7. Lower the oven to 325 F degrees.
8. Fold the whipped egg whites into the cool lemon/lime mixture, do not over mix.
9. Spread the filling into the pie shell evenly, and bake at 325 for about 15 minutes or so until set well. Cool. Refrigerate until ready to serve. Serve with whipped cream and strawberries if you wish.