Essentials of Classic Italian Cooking - Marcella Hazan [81]
1. Wash the peppers in cold water. Cut them lengthwise along their crevices. Scoop away and discard their seeds and pulpy core. Peel the peppers, using a swiveling-blade peeler and skimming them with a light, sawing motion. Cut the peppers lengthwise into strips about ½ inch broad, then shorten the strips, cutting them in two.
2. Rinse the basil leaves in running cold water, and gently pat them dry with a soft towel or paper towels, without bruising them. Tear the larger leaves by hand into smaller pieces.
3. Choose a sauté pan that can subsequently accommodate all the peppers without crowding them. Put in the olive oil and the garlic cloves, and turn on the heat to medium high. Cook and stir the garlic until it becomes colored a light nut brown, then remove it and discard it.
4. Put the peppers in the pan, and continue to cook at lively heat for another 15 minutes, stirring frequently. The peppers are done when they are tender, but not mushy. Add an adequate amount of salt, stir, and take off heat. Gently reheat when you’ll be getting ready to toss the pasta.
5. When you are nearly ready to drain and toss the pasta, melt the butter in a small saucepan at low heat. It should be just runny, not sizzling.
6. Toss the cooked drained pasta with the contents of the sauté pan, then add the melted butter, the grated Parmesan, and the basil and toss thoroughly once more. Serve at once.
Zucchini Sauce with Basil and Beaten Egg Yolk
For 4 servings
1 pound fresh zucchini
Vegetable oil for frying
3 tablespoons butter
1 teaspoon all-purpose flour, dissolved in ⅓ cup milk
Salt
1 egg yolk, beaten lightly with a fork (see warning about salmonella poisoning)
½ cup freshly grated parmigiano-reggiano cheese
¼ cup freshly grated romano cheese
⅔ cup fresh basil leaves torn by hand into several pieces OR equal amount of chopped parsley
1 pound pasta
Recommended pasta The clinging zucchini strips and the creamy consistency of the sauce make it particularly suitable for curly shapes, such as both kinds of fusilli—the short, stubby ones and the long, corkscrew strands.
1. Soak the zucchini for at least 20 minutes in cold water, then wash it free of all grit. Drain it, trim away both ends, and cut the zucchini into sticks about 3 inches long and ⅛ inch thick. Pat them thoroughly dry with paper towels.
2. Put enough oil in a frying pan to come ½ inch up the sides of the pan, and turn on the heat to medium high. When the oil is hot enough that a zucchini strip sizzles when dropped in, put in as many strips at one time as will fit without being crowded. If all the zucchini do not fit in at one time, cook it in two or more batches. Fry the zucchini until it becomes colored a light brown, but no darker, turning it from time to time. As each batch is done, transfer it to a cooling rack or a plate lined with paper towels to drain.
3. When the pasta is nearly ready to drain and toss, pour out the oil from the frying pan, wipe it clean and dry with paper towels, put in 2 tablespoons of the butter, and turn on the heat to medium. When the butter foam begins to subside, turn the heat down to medium low, and stir in the flour-and-milk mixture, a little bit at a time. Cook, stirring constantly, for half a minute. Add a pinch of salt, all the fried zucchini strips, and cook for about 1 minute, turning the zucchini over to coat thoroughly.
4. Off heat, vigorously swirl in the remaining tablespoon of butter and the egg yolk.
5. Toss the cooked drained pasta with the sauce, add both grated cheeses, toss thoroughly once again, add the torn-up basil leaves, toss once more, then serve immediately.
Ahead-of-time note You can fry the zucchini several hours in advance of cooking the pasta and completing the sauce.
Fried Zucchini Sauce with Garlic and Basil
For 4 servings
1½ pounds fresh, young zucchini
Salt
10 to 12 fresh basil leaves
½ cup all-purpose flour
Vegetable oil for frying
3 garlic cloves, peeled
4 tablespoons (½ stick) butter
½ cup freshly grated parmigiano-reggiano cheese, plus additional cheese at the