Noodles are a mainstay of several world cuisines, but for most of us they're closely identified with Italy. We can probably find 15 different pasta shapes in any American supermarket, and recipes telling us what shape to use with which sauce. And I love all of them!
Here are a couple of my favorites:
Linguine alla Vongole
(from
Cook Like a Peasant, Eat Like a King)
Makes enough for 1 lb pasta, 6 to 8 servings. (That's dry pasta; if you can get or make fresh linguine a serving is more like 4 oz not 2 oz).
3 tb olive oil
3 cloves garlic, crushed
4 8-oz bottles clam juice
4 8-oz cans chopped clams
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 tsp red pepper flakes
salt and white pepper to taste
5 tb butter, cut into pieces
4 tb minced fresh parsley
Heat olive oil in a deep saucepan over medium-low heat. Saute the 3 cloves crushed garlic until golden brown. DO NOT BURN! Discard the garlic, remove from heat, let cool a few minutes.
When the oil has cooled add the clam juice and the liquid from the canned clams. Add the 2 cloves minced garlic and red pepper. Cook over medium heat, uncovered, until reduced to slightly less than half.
Cook the linguine according to package directions and drain. Toss with the butter in a hot bowl.
Add the clams to the sauce and remove from heat. Spoon half the sauce over the pasta and toss well; add the parsley and toss again. Serve in warm soup bowls and spoon the remaining sauce over each serving.
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Spaghetti with canned tuna sauce
(from
Joy of Cooking 1997 edition)
This is the dish that taught me to fully appreciate Chianti. California wines have fruit or oak flavors, which both are NASTY when combined with the complex garlic-salt-bitter of this sauce. It absolutely requires an earthy Italian wine.
For a while I made this frequently, but the store that carried the oil-cured black olives closed down. Do not use brine-cured olives such as Kalamata, the flavor is completely different, canned California black olives are a better substitute.
Makes enough for 1 lb pasta, 6 to 8 servings. I like it best with "chitarra", sort of a very narrow linguine, which I also haven't seen since that store closed.
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
3 tb chopped fresh parsley (divided)
8 large cloves garlic, halved
3 anchovy fillets, rinsed, patted dry and chopped
1 cup oil-cured black olives, pitted and coarsely chopped
1/2 cup hot water (reserve some of the pasta cooking water)
1/2 tsp fennel seeds, crushed
generous pinch red pepper flakes
1 6-oz can tuna, preferably packed in olive oil, drained and flaked
1 tb drained capers
salt and black pepper to taste
Heat olive oil in a skillet over medium-low heat. Add garlic and 2 tb parsley and cook, stirring, until the garlic is softened, about 20 min. Garlic should be no darker than blond or it will get bitter.
Stir in anchovies, olives, fennel seeds, red pepper and hot water. Cook 1 minute and remove from heat.
Stir in tuna, capers and remaining 1tb parsley; add salt and pepper to taste.
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