Pasta with Vodka Sauce

This is a recipe I've been making for years. I put this recipe together by combining what I thought was the best of a few recipes I found online and in my cookbooks. This recipe makes a ton and it's what I use when I'm cooking for a crowd. It can easily be halved or make it all and freeze half of it (before adding the cream).





Michele's Vodka Sauce

Ingredients:

2 onions, chopped

1 bunch scallions, chopped, (separate light and dark green parts)

5 cloves of garlic, chopped

Extra virgin olive oil

¼ lb Prosciutto di Parma, sliced into strips

1 ¼ cup vodka

2 - 8 oz cans tomato paste

4 - 28 oz cans crushed tomatoes

1 Qt heavy cream

Kosher salt

Black pepper

Directions:

In a large saucepan, sauté onions, garlic and light parts of scallions until soft on medium heat. Add Prosciutto and let cook for about one minute. Add vodka; turn up heat to medium high and cook until alcohol burns out about 4 minutes. Lower heat and add tomato paste and crushed tomatoes; stir. Add green parts of scallions, kosher salt and black pepper. Turn up heat until boiling, then lower heat. Let cook for 1 hour. Add cream; let simmer until starts bubbling and turn off heat.

        

This is enough sauce for about 4-5 lbs of pasta or more.

       

I forgot to take a picture after adding the cream.  I will update this post the next time I make it with that pic.

Pasta with Vodka Sauce

This is a recipe I've been making for years. I put this recipe together by combining what I thought was the best of a few recipes I found online and in my cookbooks. This recipe makes a ton and it's what I use when I'm cooking for a crowd. It can easily be halved or make it all and freeze half of it (before adding the cream).





Michele's Vodka Sauce

Ingredients:

2 onions, chopped

1 bunch scallions, chopped, (separate light and dark green parts)

5 cloves of garlic, chopped

Extra virgin olive oil

¼ lb Prosciutto di Parma, sliced into strips

1 ¼ cup vodka

2 - 8 oz cans tomato paste

4 - 28 oz cans crushed tomatoes

1 Qt heavy cream

Kosher salt

Black pepper

Directions:

In a large saucepan, sauté onions, garlic and light parts of scallions until soft on medium heat. Add Prosciutto and let cook for about one minute. Add vodka; turn up heat to medium high and cook until alcohol burns out about 4 minutes. Lower heat and add tomato paste and crushed tomatoes; stir. Add green parts of scallions, kosher salt and black pepper. Turn up heat until boiling, then lower heat. Let cook for 1 hour. Add cream; let simmer until starts bubbling and turn off heat.

        

This is enough sauce for about 4-5 lbs of pasta or more.

       

I forgot to take a picture after adding the cream.  I will update this post the next time I make it with that pic.

Angela's Pasta with Kale

Last week I bought the October issue of Bon Apetit Magazine and loved the article I read about Kale. I never had Kale before and it made me really curious. I posted this on facebook and I got a reply from Angela to try her Pasta with Kale recipe. I've known Angela pretty much my entire life, you see, we used to live across the street from each other in Brooklyn and then a few blocks from each other in Staten Island. Angela and John have 4 children and their ages all coincide with the ages of my brother, sister and I. So we are all very close. My parents are very good friends with Angela and John and Marie their youngest is my best friend. I can't begin to tell you about the memories that she and I have. We grew up together and have been through it all. I think I may have mentioned that growing up I was a very picky eater. Poor Angela. All the weekends (and weeks in the summer) that I spent at her house, being a picky brat. If only I knew all the things I was missing by being afraid to try things! Looks like this dish was one of them! Too bad it took me 29 years to figure that out. Better late than never, right?

I am so excited that I tried this dish and loved it. It gave me so many ideas for future recipes. Normally when I make soup I start with chicken stock and add some tomato product (sauce, paste, fresh chopped tomatoes, etc.) to give it a little pink color and some rich tomato flavor. Angela does it a little different. She starts with a marinara sauce and then adds pasta water until it's the consistency she likes. I've used pasta water before to make sauces or as a thickner but never like this. I thought that it would taste great with an addition of canellini beans, using any green you have on hand, as the base of a minestrone, etc. Thanks Angela for teaching me something new and opening me up to endless possibilities. Isn't it great that I'm no longer a picky eater?

Next time I will use two bunches of kale because I loved the flavor, I think that's what you should do too. Angela uses broken spaghetti in this dish which is great. I love making lentils like that too. Most Italian stores now carry bags of broken spaghetti so you don't have to do it yourself. If you'd like you can use any soup pasta such and tubettini, ditalini, small shells, etc.

To remove kale from the stem Angela says, "Take kale off the stem by placing your hand at the bottom of stalk,hold firmly, and with the other hand cupped around the bottom push to the top of the stem. The kale comes off easily." She's right, it was very easy!




Angela's Pasta with Kale

Ingredients:

2 bunches kale, washed and leaves removed from the stems
1 pound broken spaghetti
Marinara Sauce, see below

Directions:

1. Prepare Marinara sauce in a large pot. Later on you're going to add the kale and pasta to this pot so make sure it's big enough.

2. In another large pot boil kale for about 15 minutes in boiling salted water. Kale is ready when you can easily pierce it with a fork. Remove kale with a slotted spoon and put on a baking sheet to cool. Once it's cool, chop cooked kale into bite sized pieces and add it to the sauce. Stir to combine.

3. In the same pot that you cooked the kale, cook broken spaghetti until al dente. Ladle pasta plus some water into the sauce until it becomes a thick soup like consistency. Once you have all the pasta water you want to use already in the pot you can drain the rest of the pasta and add it to your sauce and kalem stir to combine. (Another way you can do this is drain the pasta and reserve some of the water and add it to the sauce - but I suggest the other way until you are familiar with how much water you want. You don't want to run into not having enough starchy pasta water)

4. Sprinkle in a couple of tablespoons of your favorite cheese (I love Romano) and mix it in. Dish into bowls and pass around more cheese if you like. (I like lots of cheese in my soup)





Marinara Sauce

Ingredients:

1 28oz can crushed tomatoes
4 cloves minced garlic
1 medium onion, diced
3 tsp chopped basil
1-2 tsp dried Italian seasoning
crushed red pepper flakes, to taste
salt and pepper to taste
1 tsp sugar
extra virgin olive oil

Feel free to use fresh frozen or dried herbs. Sometimes I use the Italian Seasoning but this time I didn't because I didn't want it to overpower the flavor of the kale. It's a preference, it will be good either way.

Directions:


Sweat onions in extra virgin olive oil and then add garlic in oil. Let it cook for a minute or to and then add crushed red pepper and frozen or dried herbs. Add tomatoes, salt, pepper and sugar. If using fresh herbs add now. Let it come to a boil and then lower heat. Cook on medium for 30-40 minutes. Taste it and adjust seasoning as needed.

Angela's Pasta with Kale

Last week I bought the October issue of Bon Apetit Magazine and loved the article I read about Kale. I never had Kale before and it made me really curious. I posted this on facebook and I got a reply from Angela to try her Pasta with Kale recipe. I've known Angela pretty much my entire life, you see, we used to live across the street from each other in Brooklyn and then a few blocks from each other in Staten Island. Angela and John have 4 children and their ages all coincide with the ages of my brother, sister and I. So we are all very close. My parents are very good friends with Angela and John and Marie their youngest is my best friend. I can't begin to tell you about the memories that she and I have. We grew up together and have been through it all. I think I may have mentioned that growing up I was a very picky eater. Poor Angela. All the weekends (and weeks in the summer) that I spent at her house, being a picky brat. If only I knew all the things I was missing by being afraid to try things! Looks like this dish was one of them! Too bad it took me 29 years to figure that out. Better late than never, right?

I am so excited that I tried this dish and loved it. It gave me so many ideas for future recipes. Normally when I make soup I start with chicken stock and add some tomato product (sauce, paste, fresh chopped tomatoes, etc.) to give it a little pink color and some rich tomato flavor. Angela does it a little different. She starts with a marinara sauce and then adds pasta water until it's the consistency she likes. I've used pasta water before to make sauces or as a thickner but never like this. I thought that it would taste great with an addition of canellini beans, using any green you have on hand, as the base of a minestrone, etc. Thanks Angela for teaching me something new and opening me up to endless possibilities. Isn't it great that I'm no longer a picky eater?

Next time I will use two bunches of kale because I loved the flavor, I think that's what you should do too. Angela uses broken spaghetti in this dish which is great. I love making lentils like that too. Most Italian stores now carry bags of broken spaghetti so you don't have to do it yourself. If you'd like you can use any soup pasta such and tubettini, ditalini, small shells, etc.

To remove kale from the stem Angela says, "Take kale off the stem by placing your hand at the bottom of stalk,hold firmly, and with the other hand cupped around the bottom push to the top of the stem. The kale comes off easily." She's right, it was very easy!




Angela's Pasta with Kale

Ingredients:

2 bunches kale, washed and leaves removed from the stems
1 pound broken spaghetti
Marinara Sauce, see below

Directions:

1. Prepare Marinara sauce in a large pot. Later on you're going to add the kale and pasta to this pot so make sure it's big enough.

2. In another large pot boil kale for about 15 minutes in boiling salted water. Kale is ready when you can easily pierce it with a fork. Remove kale with a slotted spoon and put on a baking sheet to cool. Once it's cool, chop cooked kale into bite sized pieces and add it to the sauce. Stir to combine.

3. In the same pot that you cooked the kale, cook broken spaghetti until al dente. Ladle pasta plus some water into the sauce until it becomes a thick soup like consistency. Once you have all the pasta water you want to use already in the pot you can drain the rest of the pasta and add it to your sauce and kalem stir to combine. (Another way you can do this is drain the pasta and reserve some of the water and add it to the sauce - but I suggest the other way until you are familiar with how much water you want. You don't want to run into not having enough starchy pasta water)

4. Sprinkle in a couple of tablespoons of your favorite cheese (I love Romano) and mix it in. Dish into bowls and pass around more cheese if you like. (I like lots of cheese in my soup)





Marinara Sauce

Ingredients:

1 28oz can crushed tomatoes
4 cloves minced garlic
1 medium onion, diced
3 tsp chopped basil
1-2 tsp dried Italian seasoning
crushed red pepper flakes, to taste
salt and pepper to taste
1 tsp sugar
extra virgin olive oil

Feel free to use fresh frozen or dried herbs. Sometimes I use the Italian Seasoning but this time I didn't because I didn't want it to overpower the flavor of the kale. It's a preference, it will be good either way.

Directions:


Sweat onions in extra virgin olive oil and then add garlic in oil. Let it cook for a minute or to and then add crushed red pepper and frozen or dried herbs. Add tomatoes, salt, pepper and sugar. If using fresh herbs add now. Let it come to a boil and then lower heat. Cook on medium for 30-40 minutes. Taste it and adjust seasoning as needed.

Skillet Pasta Forno - Another use for leftovers

These days we are all trying to stretch a buck and for me that means using up leftovers. Sometimes I am appalled at the amount of food I throw away. It's wrong and I'm really trying hard not to do that anymore. I don't know about you but I always make way more sauce than I need. Most of the time I make enough to freeze but sometimes it's just not enough to take up space in my freezer. It's times like these that using up the sauce for a skillet pasta works well. I had some leftover meat sauce and some fresh mozzarella. If you had some ricotta you could through that in too and make some baked ziti, any veggies you have would also be a lovely addition but you don't have to have anything special. Sauce, pasta and some mozzarella is all you need.


There isn't a recipe, it's very easy. Heat up your sauce in an oven proof skillet. Cook your pasta to al dente, drain, toss with sauce. Add diced or shredded mozzarella (and anything else you want to through in), toss again. You'll see the mozzarella is starting to melt from the hot sauce. Sprinkle some romano cheese on top and stick it in a 375 degree oven until cheese is melted and bubbly. If you want the cheese to brown turn your broiler on for a few minutes until the desired color is achieved.


Is that easy enough? No more throwing away leftovers!

Skillet Pasta Forno - Another use for leftovers

These days we are all trying to stretch a buck and for me that means using up leftovers. Sometimes I am appalled at the amount of food I throw away. It's wrong and I'm really trying hard not to do that anymore. I don't know about you but I always make way more sauce than I need. Most of the time I make enough to freeze but sometimes it's just not enough to take up space in my freezer. It's times like these that using up the sauce for a skillet pasta works well. I had some leftover meat sauce and some fresh mozzarella. If you had some ricotta you could through that in too and make some baked ziti, any veggies you have would also be a lovely addition but you don't have to have anything special. Sauce, pasta and some mozzarella is all you need.


There isn't a recipe, it's very easy. Heat up your sauce in an oven proof skillet. Cook your pasta to al dente, drain, toss with sauce. Add diced or shredded mozzarella (and anything else you want to through in), toss again. You'll see the mozzarella is starting to melt from the hot sauce. Sprinkle some romano cheese on top and stick it in a 375 degree oven until cheese is melted and bubbly. If you want the cheese to brown turn your broiler on for a few minutes until the desired color is achieved.


Is that easy enough? No more throwing away leftovers!

Eggs in Purgatory - Uova in Purgatorio

The summer has come to an end but there are still an abundance of tomatoes left at the farmer's markets or if you're lucky, in your own yard. If you're looking for a unique way to eat them aside from the obvious caprese salad or sauce for pasta, give this a try. Eggs in Purgatory which is a strange way of saying eggs poached in tomato sauce. It sounds weird, I won't lie, but, it is delicious. Eat this on a slice of crusty toasted bread and it is incredibly satisfying. Have a salad on the side if you like and you have a great light meal.

I made this sauce with 10 fresh plum tomatoes but you can make this with a 28 ounce can of crushed tomatoes or the equivalent in diced tomatoes. You can jazz this up by adding olives to the sauce or shredding some fontina cheese on top. I just used my standard, pecorino romano.


Eggs in Purgatory

Serves 4-6 (2 eggs per person)

Ingredients:

4-6 large eggs
1 28 ounce can of crushed tomatoes (diced or fresh plum can be used)
1 onion, diced
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 tsp sugar
salt and pepper
bunch of fresh basil (or 2-3 cubes frozen Dorat)
extra virgin olive oil
1 loaf thick italian bread such as ciabatta or a round loaf
pecorino romano cheese

Directions:

1. Clean tomatoes, remove the core and make an "X" on the opposite side. Blanch tomatoes in boiling water for 3-4 minutes until the skin starts to peel away from the flesh. Drain and chill in ice water until they are cool enough to handle. Skin will easily peel away from the flesh. Use a paring knife to grab the corner of the skin (this is why you make the "X") but you may not even need to use it, just peel it with your fingers. Slice tomatoes in half and with you finger pull out the seeds. Then slice in 4 pieces. If you have a food mill you can put them through the mill to seperate the seeds from the pulp. I got rid of mine and I just use my fingers.

2. Sweat onions in extra virgin olive oil (over low heat) and once they begin to soften add garlic. If using frozen basil add now. Add tomatoes, fresh basil, salt and pepper and cover. Let cook for 10 minutes and then begin breaking up the tomatoes with a wooden spoon or a tomatoe masher. Cover and let cook for another 20-30 minutes. Taste for seasoning and add more salt and pepper. I like to add a teaspoon of sugar for sweetness.



3. Toast 4-6 sliced thick sliced bread. You'll need one slice of bread per egg. While slices are warm rub them with a piece of garlic.


4. Crack eggs into a small bowl (in case you break the yolk or get shells in it) and then add to the sauce, spread the eggs out so they don't touch each other. (The more eggs you make the larger the skillet you will need.) Cover and let cook until whites are set but yolks are still runny.


5. Sprinkle with romano cheese and serve on toast slices.



This is a great recipe to make on fridays during Lent! I know Nanny would have certainly approved!

Nanny with tomatoes from her garden in Brooklyn, New York.

Eggs in Purgatory - Uova in Purgatorio

The summer has come to an end but there are still an abundance of tomatoes left at the farmer's markets or if you're lucky, in your own yard. If you're looking for a unique way to eat them aside from the obvious caprese salad or sauce for pasta, give this a try. Eggs in Purgatory which is a strange way of saying eggs poached in tomato sauce. It sounds weird, I won't lie, but, it is delicious. Eat this on a slice of crusty toasted bread and it is incredibly satisfying. Have a salad on the side if you like and you have a great light meal.

I made this sauce with 10 fresh plum tomatoes but you can make this with a 28 ounce can of crushed tomatoes or the equivalent in diced tomatoes. You can jazz this up by adding olives to the sauce or shredding some fontina cheese on top. I just used my standard, pecorino romano.


Eggs in Purgatory

Serves 4-6 (2 eggs per person)

Ingredients:

4-6 large eggs
1 28 ounce can of crushed tomatoes (diced or fresh plum can be used)
1 onion, diced
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 tsp sugar
salt and pepper
bunch of fresh basil (or 2-3 cubes frozen Dorat)
extra virgin olive oil
1 loaf thick italian bread such as ciabatta or a round loaf
pecorino romano cheese

Directions:

1. Clean tomatoes, remove the core and make an "X" on the opposite side. Blanch tomatoes in boiling water for 3-4 minutes until the skin starts to peel away from the flesh. Drain and chill in ice water until they are cool enough to handle. Skin will easily peel away from the flesh. Use a paring knife to grab the corner of the skin (this is why you make the "X") but you may not even need to use it, just peel it with your fingers. Slice tomatoes in half and with you finger pull out the seeds. Then slice in 4 pieces. If you have a food mill you can put them through the mill to seperate the seeds from the pulp. I got rid of mine and I just use my fingers.

2. Sweat onions in extra virgin olive oil (over low heat) and once they begin to soften add garlic. If using frozen basil add now. Add tomatoes, fresh basil, salt and pepper and cover. Let cook for 10 minutes and then begin breaking up the tomatoes with a wooden spoon or a tomatoe masher. Cover and let cook for another 20-30 minutes. Taste for seasoning and add more salt and pepper. I like to add a teaspoon of sugar for sweetness.



3. Toast 4-6 sliced thick sliced bread. You'll need one slice of bread per egg. While slices are warm rub them with a piece of garlic.


4. Crack eggs into a small bowl (in case you break the yolk or get shells in it) and then add to the sauce, spread the eggs out so they don't touch each other. (The more eggs you make the larger the skillet you will need.) Cover and let cook until whites are set but yolks are still runny.


5. Sprinkle with romano cheese and serve on toast slices.



This is a great recipe to make on fridays during Lent! I know Nanny would have certainly approved!

Nanny with tomatoes from her garden in Brooklyn, New York.