Pasta is easy. It
really is however there are a few unbreakable rules. The first is that you have to understand the
noodle that you are using. Generally,
pasta has a neutral, pleasant grain flavor.
The flavors derived from carrot, spinach or squid ink are also
understated. Those ingredients are mostly
there to contribute orange, green or black color. I’ve never been a big fan of multicolor
pasta, although there was a chef in Lambertville who served white and black
angel hair with his zebra chops. That
seemed to be more of a laugh than a culinary breakthrough.
Shape matters. Those
ridges on your penne will hold the sauce.
That’s why rigatoni should be baked with sauce and messy cheeses (always
plural), because it is smooth on the outside and will not sauce well. Size is also important. You should match the size of the flavoring
ingredients with the size of the pasta.
That’s why bowties, farfalle, makes such great salad when combined with
celery, red onion, pepperoncini, provolone and big hunks of salami.
Since it is such a simple thing to prepare, if it is not
done correctly, the dish will be a complete disaster. It’s rare that I will cop out and tell you to
follow the manufacturer’s advice, but with pasta, their cooking directions are
usually right on. Again, you won’t hear
me recommending avoidance of store brands often. Name brand pasta, in my experience at least,
tends to cook up more evenly and taste better than store brand. It also only costs a quarter more, so this
might not be a place to count pennies.
Pasta’s greatest contribution to a dish, much like tofu, is
that it has a subtle, delicate taste and will soak up the flavors of whatever
it is paired with. That’s why tomato
sauce and any of the cream sauces work so well with noodles. Additionally, something simple like olive
oil, garlic and basil, all strong flavors, elevate pasta to greatness. I lived on that in college.
Today’s recipe is designed to show off a few things. Pasta that is hot when combined with the
sauce will soak it up more readily that cold noodles. You’ll be making the sauce as the pasta
boils. Don’t worry. It is a simple process. We’ll also play with flavor, doing a spin on
Carbonara, the classic egg yolk, onion, garlic and bacon sauce by instead using
a whole egg, fennel, garlic and Italian sausage. Using the same technique, while making a few
substitutions creates a new dish that I hope you’ll like.
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Spaghetti with Fennel and Italian Sausage (serves 4 as
an appetizer, 2 as a main course)
½ pound spaghetti
4 oz. Italian sausage, hot or sweet
2 eggs
1 c. fresh fennel, thinly sliced
1 c. heavy cream
½ c. Locatelli or Parmesean cheese, grate your own*
1 clove garlic, chopped
salt and black pepper
Following the directions on the package, boil a large pot of
salted water and cook the spaghetti al
dente, so that is cooked through, but still firm. Begin making the sauce when the spaghetti goes
in the pot.
Remove the sausage from its casing and brown it on a high
heat in a large sauté pan. Drain 2/3 of
the grease from the pan. Break the egg into
the pan. Scramble it, add the garlic and
fennel. Sauté these aromatics until the
fennel has wilted. Pour in the cream and
2/3 of the grated cheese. Reduce the
sauce by half.
By this time, the spaghetti will be properly cooked. Drain it, then immediately add it to the
sauce. Stir it together, blending the
sauce and the spaghetti. Plate immediately,
topping with the remainder of the grated cheese.
*Yes, grate you own.
Read the packaging on the pregrated stuff. Unless you think that eating “powdered
cellulose,” sawdust, is a good thing, you should take the 30 seconds it’ll take
to grate up some cheese.
