Bottega - Michael Chiarello [44]
Wine Pairing: Zinfandel
1½ pounds rapini (broccoli rabe)
1 pound spaghettini or spaghetti
One 750-ml bottle dry red wine, preferably Zinfandel
1 tablespoon sugar
1/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil
2 tablespoons sliced garlic (about 4 cloves)
1 teaspoon Calabrian chile paste (see Resources), or ¼ teaspoon red pepper flakes
1 teaspoon kosher salt or sea salt, preferably gray salt
½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
½ cup grated Pecorino-Romano
In a large pot of salted boiling water, cook the rapini for about 3 minutes. Using a wire skimmer, transfer the rapini to a baking sheet and spread it out to cool. In the same boiling water, cook the spaghettini, stirring occasionally, for 2 minutes if fresh, 3 to 5 minutes if dried. (Cook spaghetti for 2 minutes if fresh, 6 to 8 minutes if dried.) You’ll do the second half of the cooking in the Zinfandel. Reserve 1 cup of the pasta water and then drain the pasta and set it aside. Return the empty pasta pot to the stove.
Add the wine and sugar to the pasta pot. Bring to a boil over high heat and cook to reduce by half, 8 to 10 minutes. Add the pasta to the pot and shake the pot to prevent the pasta from sticking. Gently stir with tongs until coated and boil over high heat, stirring occasionally, until most of the liquid is absorbed and the pasta is al dente (about 3 minutes for spaghettini and 4 or 5 minutes for spaghetti. Again, tasting tells you when your pasta is ready better than the clock can).
While the pasta cooks in the wine, heat a large, deep sauté pan or skillet over high heat. Add the oil, reduce the heat to medium-low, and sauté the garlic until pale golden, about 3 minutes. Add the chile paste, blanched rapini, salt, and pepper and cook, stirring occasionally, for 1 to 2 minutes. Pour in ½ cup of the reserved pasta water, or more if desired. Add the rapini mixture to the pasta, toss gently, and transfer to individual pasta bowls or one big platter. Sprinkle with the pecorino.
Tagliatelle with Bread Crumbs, Mint, and Tomato Carpaccio
SERVES 6
This is a country dish, simple to put together, but the flavors are surprisingly satisfying. A fresh carpaccio of tomato lines the serving dish, providing just the right juicy, cool complement to the buttery, garlic-bread-crumb-coated pasta. Mint sparks it up a little and gives it a fresh finish.
Taglia means “to cut,” so if you don’t have a pasta machine and just want to cut a sheet of pasta, the fact that it’s deformatta—not precise and even—is an attribute. I like pasta that has clearly been cut by hand. This is a fast, easy dish to make with dried pasta on a weeknight, so don’t turn the page just because you’re not in a pasta-making mood at the moment (just use 1 pound of your favorite dried pasta).
Wine Pairing: Vernaccia
EGG PASTA
4 large eggs, plus 3 egg yolks, lightly beaten
1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon extra-virgin olive oil
1 teaspoon finely ground sea salt, preferably gray salt
2½ to 3 cups doppio zero pasta flour or all-purpose flour, plus extra for rolling and sprinkling
6 large ripe tomatoes, thinly sliced
3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
Sea salt, preferably gray salt
Freshly ground black pepper
GARLIC BREAD CRUMBS
4 tablespoons unsalted butter
2 teaspoons minced garlic
1 ¼ cups Dried Bread Crumbs
2 tablespoons chopped fresh mint, plus 3 to 4 mint leaves, finely shredded
¼ cup finely grated Pecorino-Romano
FOR THE PASTA: In a stand mixer fitted with the dough hook, combine the eggs and egg yolks, olive oil, and salt. Add 1 cup of the flour and mix on medium-low speed. Add the remaining flour ½ cup at a time, stopping several times to scrape down the sides of the bowl, until the dough forms into a ball; don’t add any more flour after this point. Beat the dough for another 3 to 4 minutes, or until smooth and slightly misshapen. Transfer to a lightly floured surface and knead by hand for 60 seconds, until smooth. Wrap it in plastic wrap and allow it to rest in the refrigerator for at least 1 hour.
Press the dough into a disk and cut it