Biba's Northern Italian Cooking - Biba Caggiano [21]
Wash asparagus and cut tips off stalks. Reserve stalks for another use. Fill a medium saucepan half full with salted water. Bring water to a boil. Add asparagus tips. Boil about 1 minute or until tender but firm. Drain asparagus.
Melt butter in a large skillet.When butter foams, add onions. Sauté over medium heat until pale yellow. Add drained asparagus and ham. Sauté 1 to 2 minutes. Stir in cream. Simmer 2 minutes or until cream begins to thicken. Season with salt and pepper.
Fill a very large saucepan two-thirds full with salted water. Bring water to a boil. Add macaroni. Bring water back to a boil and cook macaroni uncovered until tender but firm to the bite, 8 to 10 minutes.
Drain macaroni and place in skillet with sauce. Add ⅓ cup Parmesan cheese.Toss macaroni and sauce over medium heat until sauce coats macaroni, 20 to 30 seconds. Serve immediately with additional Parmesan cheese.
TAGLIOLINI WITH SCALLOPS, CREAM AND SAFFRON
Tagliolini con Cape Sante allo Zafferano
If sauce reduces too much, instead of adding more cream add a bit of pasta cooking water.
MAKES 4 SERVINGS
Basic Egg Pasta Dough, page 40, made with 2¼ cups all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 pound scallops, the smallest you can get
2 garlic cloves, finely minced
1 cup dry white wine
2 cups whipping cream
Pinch of powdered saffron
Salt to taste
2 tablespoons chopped parsley
Prepare pasta dough and roll out into pasta sheets. Dry pasta sheets 10 to 15 minutes. Feed pasta sheets through the narrow cutting blades of the pasta machine to make tagliolini. Arrange noodles in soft piles on a large tablecloth.
Melt butter with the oil in a large skillet. When butter foams, add scallops. Sauté over medium heat until scallops are lightly golden, about 1 minute.With a slotted spoon transfer scallops to a plate. Add garlic to the skillet and stir once or twice. Add wine and cook until the wine is almost all reduced. Add cream and saffron. Cook, over medium heat, 4 to 5 minutes. Season lightly with salt. Return scallops to the skillet and cook 1 to 2 minutes longer. Stir in parsley.
Meanwhile fill a large saucepan two-thirds full with salted water. Bring water to a boil and add the noodles. Bring water back to a boil and cook noodles uncovered until tender but firm to the bite, 4 to 6 minutes depending on the freshness of the noodles. Drain noodles and place in skillet with the sauce.Toss noodles with the sauce over medium heat and serve at once.
STRICHETTI WITH GARLIC AND TOMATO SAUCE
Strichetti all’Aglio e Pomodoro
When I first learned to make pasta, this was my favorite one to make and eat.
MAKES 6 SERVINGS
Basic Egg Pasta Dough, page 40, made with 3 cups all-purpose flour
2 cups Tomato Sauce Bologna Style, page 203
⅓ cup olive oil
6 garlic cloves, finely chopped
2 tablespoons chopped parsley
Salt and freshly ground pepper to taste
½ cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
Prepare Basic Egg Pasta Dough. Cut a small piece of dough and work through the pasta machine until you have a thin sheet of pasta. Cut pasta sheet into rectangles 2 inches wide and 2½ inches long. Pinch the 2 long sides of each rectangle together in the center making butterfly shapes or strichetti. Repeat with remaining dough, rolling out and shaping 1 sheet of pasta at a time. Spread strichetti in a single layer on a large tablecloth to dry.
Prepare Tomato Sauce Bologna Style. Heat oil in a medium saucepan. Add garlic and parsley. Sauté 1 minute over medium heat. Just before garlic changes color, add tomato sauce and salt and pepper. Cook uncovered 5 to 8 minutes.
Fill a very large saucepan two-thirds full with salted water. Bring water to a boil. Add strichetti. Bring water back to a boil and cook strichetti uncovered until tender but firm to the bite. Drain strichetti and place in a warm deep dish or bowl. Add sauce.Toss strichetti and sauce gently until mixed. Serve immediately with Parmesan cheese.
RIGATONI WITH PEPERONATA
Rigatoni