Tomorrow I'm attending a Luscious Lunch with the Food Network's Ellie Krieger, at Garibaldi's Restaurant in San Francisco. Her new cookbook is called Foods You Crave, and the menu will be from recipes in the book. I have to give Barbara Lane of the JCCSF a shout out for inviting me. Barbara is the JCCSF's Director of Lectures & Literature, and will be "in conversation" with Krieger.
Join us by calling 415.292.1233. Cheers.
OK, watching the Sneaky Chef on TV yesterday morning didn't really make me puke, but I was seriously sick. Sick that someone in the media spotlight feels it's okay to enslave oneself to a frickin' blender or food processor in the name of healthy eating. Or that she'd put spinach and blueberries in brownies. Wrong, wrong, wrong!
Sneaky Chef is an attractive female chef who decided to always puree veggies and other "good stuff" and sneak it into her children's food. Oh yeah, she also has a book and classes for other parents who want to be sneaky. She puts these gross looking purees in muffins, doughs, with pasta, mac-&-cheese, and other weird combos. What nutritionist feels that children should be regularly consuming meals that are nearly in a pre-digested state (she used words to this effect)? Mmmm-hmmm.
I don't have a problem with being sneaky, but find it weird that one has to go that far just to include some veggies in a meal. This sets up a host of problems: a lot of work just to hide veggies, with no end in sight. By pureeing everything, a child will never feel he or she has to try new and different vegetables. There are so many easier ways to prepare tasty and healthy food than this sneaky approach.
Sure, it's easy for me to judge because that's what I do. I don't yet have a child and in theory haven't experienced the difficulties there, but I have many family members and friends who have offered a variety of veggies (and fruits, whole grains, etc.) to their kids. Overall results are young eaters with an interest in new and different foods, no puree needed. Eating should have a sense of adventure to it, rather than be a way to cut corners and sneak things past others.
The other weird thing with the Sneaky Chef is she uses those purees all the time. That may be okay for baby food. Other exceptions: in elder care facilities, and for folks who are for medical reasons no longer able to eat firmly textured foods. Sneaky Chef is creating a generation of kids who don't know what good and healthy eating is, and who will be loathe to try and prepare things on their own. It also has a smarmy, self involved whiff of spoiled brattiness to it.
She's always made me a little suspicious and scared, but I still wouldn't turn down a chance to meet Martha Stewart. Let's blame my Mom, since she's a longtime Martha Stewart magazine subscriber and fan.
Meeting Martha Stewart in the early 1990s was fascinating. My chance to see her came via my slave work as a KPIX-5 CBS intern, in San Francisco. A producer told me she would be in studio, and that I should stop by and take any leftover props for the community affairs program (remember Bay Sunday, anyone?) I worked for. The chance to spy on Martha sounded great.
The only other folks in the studio during her taping were two male super gay assistants. I quickly introduced myself to one, and found out he was also local. "My God," he stage whispered, "Her budget for greens alone is over seven hundred dollars! After we finish, it's bye-bye, don't need the greens anymore," he promised. Yes, Martha's bounty would be mine! There was a huge and beautiful wreath, and piles of flowers and green vines. Martha was friendly yet precise when the cameras rolled. The segment was less than seven minutes. Her greens budget was probably more than Bay Sunday's entire budget.
Now it was my turn to be cheesy. I usually never bug celebrities for anything, because it seems silly. Martha was the one exception, because I knew my Mom would be so excited to have an autograph from her. When I met Martha, I lied and smiled as I said, "I'm a big fan." Martha smiled and preened a little and kept messing with her bangs. (She'd been playing with them whenever the camera wasn't on. Maybe it was time for a trim?) I held up a pen and paper and asked, "I was wondering if you would sign this. It's for my Mom. She's a huge fan. She gets your magazine, and loves all your stuff."
"Oh?" Martha said, pulling the bangs a little more. "Yes, dear. What's her name?"
"Mary Ann," I said, timidly (what the hell was wrong with me? I'm NOT a fan, my Mom is!) .
She wrote out a note to my Mom that read, "Dear Mary Ann, Here's to enjoying wonderful and beautiful things in life. Best wishes, Martha Stewart." I thanked Martha (more fidgety bang play from her) and she offered her hand. Her assistants were right there, to whisk her away to the next stop on her SF tour.
Later, my Mom and I compared the note to the signature and writing in her magazine. She is a total chicken scratcher when it comes to writing! It is not clean and dainty, the way it looks in the mag. Her cursive was compact and a little smashed together, not flowing and beautiful. Well, everyone has their quirks.
Finding good food after 10 p.m. on a Monday night can be a challenge. Last night with Anthony Bourdain, we ended up at Medjool and Doc's Clock. I wanted a Mission area cigarette friendly place that wasn't a mob scene, so we could all hear each other talk. Front Porch and Emmy's Spaghetti Shack were out since they're pretty noisy.
Drinks were our main focus. We were only going to graze on a few appetizers. Medjool's roof seemed to be a great option, so Tony could take in the city views. However, we ended up eating downstairs since they weren't serving food on the deck. Bummer that the deck was closing up when we arrived. Our Medjool picks were: lamb & fig tagine, Moroccan beef meatball, tomato, and egg tagine; grilled octopus with chick pea salad (too many greens, too little octopus); Spanish cheese plate, lamb Kefta and the Medjool sampler with hummus, tabouleh, and baba ghanouj.
One Medjool server told Anthony he was a fan of his show. Folks politely gawked, and the Doc's Clock bartender tried to give him quarters for the jukebox. He declined her offer, and was enjoying picking some songs that included Pale Blue Eyes by Velvet Underground.
Below is part of the email I sent to Tony last week.
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There are many awesome Mission eats on 24th Street or Mission that would be interesting and fun to check out. Street food may be available at one or more of the places unless they are shuttered on Monday. The 'hood can be a little dicey at night but as long as you don't wear the 2 prominent gang colors of red or blue, it's cool. We've lived here almost 4 years and never had problems. But then again, Oscar's a big guy and my flirty personality and Spanish help.
If it's not raining, we can head to Medjool's deck after eating, where ample views of the City and locals, as well as a lot of smoking happens. We also have lots of divey bars that we love and think you might, too.
Eating Option 1: Tortas made by a sweet woman in her 50s. She shares space in a liquor mart, and there are only around 10 seats in the whole place.
Eating Option 2: Tacos and of course burritos
My fork is ready. It may not be possible to top our Incanto dining experience with Tony Bourdain, but I plan on trying. He has a City Arts & Lectures (sold out) event Monday night at the Herbst Theatre. Last week, I crafted and emailed a few late-ish night meal and drink itineraries for him to peruse. The tentative plan is to eat, drink, and of course get Tony ample smoke breaks. I will let you know where we end up.
Getting up earlier than usual to watch World Cup soccer at the Valley Tavern in Noe Valley sounded like a great idea. Last night, that is. I wanted to see for myself what the hoopla is about. Show me your rabid fans, jumping up and down, yelling, and rooting for their teams. The games were Italy versus the Czech Republic and U.S. against Ghana ("The Black Stars," no joke). We were to meet up with our friends David and Anna at 7 a.m. but both Anna and I were extra groggy this morning.
Oscar and I arrived to a mostly packed bar at 7:10. The crowd was roughly 60% male, 40% female. Lots of flip flops, t-shirts, with the random jersey, full business attire, and US flag doo-rag. I felt dorky in my black dress with sassy slides, but a gal's gotta go to work eventually. Note to U.S. fans at the game: must you drape yourself in a full size flag? You look riduck-you-lous, and it seems more disrespectful than spirited to take the full step of wearing our nation's flag. Face paint is your friend-try that, instead.
It seemed important to support the Valley Tavern by ordering something, even though I craved water. The indoor temp was already very warm (it should hit the high 80s today). Some fans were drinking Guinness, others had greyhounds or coffee. I desperately needed caffeine, so Irish coffee it was. Sure, the caffeine is likely cancelled out by the whiskey, but I was up for it. David & Anna arrived and went for regular coffee, and Oscar stoically stuck to water, with an "I don't want to be dehydrated and tired today," snarky comment.
Anna observed, "I've never been a bar this early," to which I responded, "Not since college. Game day. Football. Well, that was more like eight thirty. Yeah, it's early!" We both yawned. David is an Italy fan, and reported his Mom was watching the game in Turkey, where she was the only female. The other fans showed her their support by politely clapping or yelping. David seemed to be the only Italian fan at the Tavern.
Oscar disappeared. He returned with three beautiful pastries for us to all share from Noe Valley Bakery-one cheese croissant, and two pecan morning buns. The savory croissant was my favorite, and was tart, buttery, with mild and pleasing cheese flavor notes. I won't knock the morning buns, with their sweet, rich glazey taste, and slightly crisp-tender texture. Spreading the pastries on napkins got messy, because they stuck. So I moved 'em to on top of the paper carrying bag. If it were later in the day, we might have ordered food courtesy of Le Zinc, a French bistro across the way. Mussels, cheese tart, frites, and Bavette steak all sound promising.
As the games progressed, only one fan seemed over the top in his protests, yells, and strong thumps on the bar. We almost all jumped up, high fived and cheered when U.S. scored. Otherwise, it seemed like everyone was trying to figure out how to drink, wake up, enjoy the game and then proceed to work or the rest of the day. Stepping out of the bar afterwards into the hot sun caused me to blink in shock, and shrug a bit.
I definitely can't do this every day. Cheering, watching America lose is one thing. Drinking and eating sweets for breakfast leave me zonked. I can only imbibe and enjoy like this after noon or eleven a.m.
More than a few folks wanted me to know I should feel lucky to dine with Anthony Bourdain. True that. They also had questions: did I know him through this blog or somewhere else? I wish Tony knew me via my blog!
The Incanto offal dinner came about through my husband Oscar Villalon, who is the San Francisco Chronicle Book Review Editor. He and Tony met years ago at the Book Expo in Chicago, where Tony was peddling his first book, Kitchen Confidential. Book Expo is a place for booksellers, publishers, authors, and media types to learn about new titles coming out in the next 9-12 months. It's a schmooze and booze fest with endless panel discussions, cocktails, meet and greets, and my favorite... parties.
Oscar and Tony hit it off and spent one night drinking and talking til the early morning about Graham Greene, punk rock, NYC, Vietnam and the like. While Oscar had a blast, he didn't expect to keep in touch with Tony as Tony continued to gain more fame and notoriety based on his books, TV shows and stunts like eating a still beating cobra heart.
Whenever we try to make plans to hang out with Tony on our two or three annual NYC treks, he's MIA off in Turkey, Indonesia, or some other far away spot. "If you ask for me at Les Halles," his NYC eatery, "they'll tell you 'Oh, you just missed him.' " This is true for anyone, and happens all the time.
The last time we met up with him, it was at the bar in his swanky hotel in downtown San Francisco. He was amazed that the Rolling Stones were fellow guests, and had this modest awe of the music giants. I remained quiet during our drinks, and spent time admiring Tony's thumb ring, which looked awesome on his tan, lean, elegant fingers. I was like a little kid, and wanted to get a thumb ring so I could have that same knowledgable cool-sexiness Tony has. He told us about drinking multiple rounds of strong vodka in Russia, and how they were some of the sweetest, nicest people around. He makes me want to travel more and eat adventurous food as often as possible. And that's a good thing.
He told us, "We've got an offal dinner set up at Incanto." Were we up for it? Tasting menu? Offal? But of course, darling! We are set to celebrate Oscar's 35th birthday there in August, to consume an entire pig with friends. It's within walking distance to our apartment, which also made us happy.
Incanto's chef, Chris Cosentino and his crew meticulously prepared a "Fifth Quarter" menu based on "non-skeletal meats, including the skin, head, feet and guts." In other words, just the nasty bits Bourdain consumes and enjoys so much (although he's had it with pig's head. Small or no tastes at all, if he can help it).
Chef Cosentino is working on a book that is 100% offal dishes. I look forward to seeing it in print, since it will give resources on shopping, prep and cooking offal, which remains a mystery for many Americans, including me. The bottom of the menu said, "Lips & Assholes: The Other, Other White Meat" which is an amusing and slightly shocking way of putting it.
Here's the menu with tasting notes:
Shaved tripe salad with huckleberry potatoes, parsley & lemon-my favorite. It was refreshing, bright, and lemony. No muddled flavors here. The tripe wasn't stringy or spongy, but had the look and texture of perfect pasta, soft with just the right slight firmness. Sponginess seems to give the eater pause, and for me conjures up images of brains and heads. It's not a texture to strive for with offal in most cases.
Marin mountain oysters with porcini-testicles. Balls, balls, balls (I gleefully, drunkenly chanted later). Yes, it made me giggle to be eating balls. These oysters/balls came from Prather Ranch veal, and were small enough to look like miniature sausages. The texture was smooth without any bloody or urine taste. They were my first mountain oysters, and Tony liked them because they weren't spongy like other, larger mountain oysters he's sampled. I liked that they weren't breaded and fried, either. The porcini gave the plate some umami flavor and subtle muskiness that went well with the balls. Ventresco di tonno, tonnarotti stew of tuna maw. A very delicious hot, spicy, lemony stew with tuna tripe and intestines, lemon zest and juice, garbanzo, tomato and kale. It made us sweat a little, and had interesting half moon shapes from the tuna innards. Oscar and Tony agreed that garbanzo beans somehow make it into many ethnic, country soups and stews and pairs well with offal. Fitting, because garbanzos offer a firm, nutty counterpoint to the meats and other ingredients.
Roasted lamb neck with polenta & broccoli di ciccio. This "two fork" deal blew us away. The forks work best at getting the neck to give, by pulling in opposite directions with each one. The neck is a huge hunk that stands up on the plate. Chef Cosentino's blog, quotes Tony: "the lamb neck was what Fergus Henderson talks about– the meaty, fatty and funk factor all rolled into one." Fennel accented the tender/fatty meat and had been rubbed all over. Oscar marvelled at the neck texture, "like carnitas," he swooned. If Oscar and I hadn't eaten before Tony's book reading and signing (we didn't know what was in store, clearly!), we would have been able to finish. A photo of Tony and Oscar digging in, below.
The finale was fitting: Italian toast of ciccioli brioche with chocolate blood gelato & cherry brown butter caramel. I'm adventurous, but having Chef Cosentino and his pastry chef go over the details with constant mention of blood, blood and more blood put me off. I was also really full from all the food and generous wine pours. I loved the buttery, rich brioche and cherry brown butter caramel, yet only ate a few bites of the bloody gelato.
Tony got up to smoke between every course. No wonder he works his way through 2 packs a day. What does one talk about with Tony Bourdain? Some highlights:
Food & travel, obviously. He could live the rest of his days in China, where he'd "eat my way for an eternity." He particularly loves the Sichan pepper pot dish.
Turn ons-Tony finds a woman who grew up killing chickens in Italy "so hot." Note he seems oblivious to the throngs of women of all shapes and ages who adore him. I listened to two women flirt with him during his reading at Cody's, and another two discuss his marital status, smoking habits, and handsome looks after the reading. Even Incanto owner Mark Pastore's Mom is under the Bourdain spell, and insisted that Mark tell Tony, he's "a hunk. There... I promised I would tell you," he said sheepishly.
The James Beard Foundation-although they've cleaned house, Tony won't respect the organization until they offer legal services to cooks, and maybe open up their gorgeous library and let working cooks use it, since "they're the guys who would love that," rather than a bunch of rich folks.
Chef Work & Gossip-spending 30 years in kitchens sparked friendships with Mario Batali, Eric Ripert, and many other heavy hitters. But Tony remains adamant that credit and recognition should go to the line cooks who slave away and do most of the work. His humble approach showed when he talked shop with Cosentino, the Incanto kitchen staff, as well as my brother Josh who is Executive Chef at the Paragon in the Claremont Resort. The hard work doesn't stop. Even after "losing" his "cherry" participating in an animals' death, it still deeply effects him.
Tony was curious about our local scribe Michael Bauer and despises critics that are rumored to take bribes. He doesn't mind poor reviews when they are deserved, but is skeptical when a reviewer is on the take. The latest hot trend for chefs in NYC is eating chicken sashimi style in underground Japanese hot spots. I'll pass-salmonella scares me!
Drinking-It was a relief, Tony said, to have the wine pairings given to us without "the usual" spiel from the server or sommelier. We had a printed menu with wine info in front of us to consult. He'd rather drink and enjoy it than wait around to listen to someone go on and on. Great point. He's been hungover every day for the last three weeks. I thought I had it bad partying five nights a week, but three weeks straight? We would've been able to dive into the bottle of grappa that Mark brought to the table, but Tony wanted to be sure to get up for next morning's TV appearance. He'd also be at the Sur La Table store in the Ferry Building, where I told him he had, had, had to have a Blue Bottle coffee paired with a Frog Hollow Farm pastry. Duty calls.
Incanto
1550 Church Street
San Francisco
T: 415-641-4500
"Orecchiette? They are shaped like little ears," I would say as I held my palms up near my own ears (not touching-that's gross!), to demonstrate. So it went on an almost nightly basis as I waited tables at A. Sabella's restaurant, a family run place on Fisherman's Wharf. Orecchiette are indeed shaped like little ears, and have a clingability that works great with chunky, meaty sauces. I wanted to re-try a garbanzo-tomato sauce, and had everything except fresh herbs.
Getting ready for the Sopranos, we wondered: how Tony's compadres would react to his recovery.. who would gun for the Number One position? Would the annoying dream sequences end? How would A.J. behave (or not)? Would Christopher's movie plan fly? Did Tony really want to invest in the film? Let the viewing begin.
Orecchiette in a Chunky Tomato Garbanzo Sauce
Heat olive oil in a pot. Add one finely chopped onion and cook til translucent. Add five minced garlic cloves. Cook and stir often for about two minutes. Add five large carrots cut into small dice, with one bay leaf. Cook for five minutes on medium high, until carrots begin to soften. Pour two 28 ounce cans of whole tomatoes (fire roasted add a nice smokiness), one 28 ounce drained can of garbanzo beans, and 1 1/2 Tablespoons balsamic vinegar. Stir, gently breaking up the tomatoes. Simmer uncovered for twenty minutes.
Cook one box orecchiette in boiling salted water for eleven minutes. The pasta clings, so it's important to stir every few minutes.
Add 1 large handful of roughly chopped basil. Fresh thyme adds a great peppery note, so add some if you can find it. A dash of Tabasco will keep the heat lovers happy.
Drain the pasta. Toss with the sauce. Remove bay leaf. Serve in warmed bowls. Top with fresh shavings of Parmesan.
It's been tomato overload lately-Pizza Chicago on Friday, a decadent slice of stuffed Patxi's pizza for lunch on Sunday. Eating all that red saucy stuff put the kibosh on plans for osso bucco (veal shanks in a tomato sauce) for this week's edition of Saucy Sundays at Casa VillaLadd. Carbonara sounded interesting, but we opted for a faux carbonara, without the egg.
Using porcini mushrooms was a treat, but any mushrooms will do if you're on a budget. Be sure to cook them in good butter or olive oil. The bacon was from Drewes Meats, and added warm smoky notes that played off the peas' sweetness. Tagliatelle came in a store packet, and cost almost $4, with promises of "like Momma used to make." I liked that I didn't have to chop and prep a lot of ingredients for this meal, since we were zombies from running around and adjusting to the springing forward of the clocks.
Homemade garlicky bread upped the pungent factor, causing pleasure inducing licks.
TAGLIATELLI COOKING INSTRUCTIONS:
Half an hour before cooking, place 2 ounces of dried porcinis in 1 cup water.
Cook 1 pound bacon in cast iron skillet, in batches. Dry cooked bacon on a plate with paper towels. When cool, cut into 1/2 inch pieces. Pour out some of the bacon fat, and use 1/8 cup (or more) to cook the porcinis.
While the bacon cooks, put the water on for pasta. Insider tip: the water warms up much quicker when a lid is on the pot.
Microwave one pound of peas with 1/2 cup water, covered, for 3-5 minutes, checking for doneness. Cover to keep warm.
Check mushrooms. If soft, squeeze gently and chop up. Reserve 1/3 cup of the mushroom water. Cook the mushrooms for three minutes in warm bacon fat.
In a small pan, pour one cup heavy cream, to cook at medium heat. Don't let it burn, overflow or bubble too rapidly. Grate 1/2 cup parmesan cheese. Chop finely 1/2 cup fresh Italian parsley. You can use less if you like, but it adds nice texture and flavor to the completed dish.
Egg noodles cook quickly, and become velvety and limp when done. Drain the pasta. Combine the bacon, mushrooms, reserved mushroom water, peas, parmesan, cream, and parsley. Stir. Serve immediately with garlic or other bread. You'll want bread to sop up the extra sauce.
Let's dish: don't think of pasta as peasant food. Not at these prices. How can it be peasant food, when you pay a princely sum to cook it up, as we recently did for our Sopranos Sunday viewing? You can pay $7 and up for artisan pasta, for instance.
Our ingredients this week came from Market Hall, in Oakland's Rockridge district. While shopping, we ran into Jane Goodman, who reported husband Tim (the Chron's TV Critic) was home resting from his Friday radio stint on KFOG. I'm sure Tim and Oscar will gossip about all that during lunch today, which is their standing Monday lunch.
Here's the Market Hall price breakdown: 1 buffalo mozzarella ball, $5. 2 bags rigatoni, $12. 1/2 lb. Parmesan Reggiano (the good stuff!), $7. Two Spicy Italian Sausages (close to 1 pound), $7. The smell of the sausages cooking up was wonderful-spicy, meaty, with a strong fennel note. Partnered with the other ingredients, it gave the rigatoni zesty flavors. Organic carrots (one bunch), $2. Basil, $3. Watching Tony come out of a coma, which hopefully means no more long dream sequences: worth every penny.
No guessing games for next week's Sopranos viewing. We're going to continue our exploration of meaty Italian dishes, and try some rigatoni with spicy sausage. There's even chat of tiramisu. I can't wait. Sadly, my belly is starting to look like Tony's (minus the huge wound) rather than the sexy wives and exotic dancers. My chances at the Bada Bing were a pipedream, anyway.
RIGATONI:
1 pound rigatoni
1/2 pound spicy Italian sausage, casing removed
4 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
3 cups prepared marinara sauce
1 teaspoon dried crushed red pepper
1/2 cup grated mozzarella cheese
4 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese
2 teaspoons chopped fresh Italian parsley
Extra-virgin olive oil
Cook rigatoni in large pot of boiling salted water until just tender but still firm to bite, stirring occasionally. Drain pasta.
Meanwhile, preheat broiler. Cook sausage in heavy large
pot over medium-high heat until no longer pink, stirring frequently and
breaking up with back of wooden spoon. Add garlic and sauté until soft, about 2
minutes. Drain off excess oil and return pot to medium-high heat. Stir in
marinara sauce and crushed red pepper, then pasta. Season to taste with salt
and pepper. Put pasta in a glass baking dish. Sprinkle mozzarella and Parmesan
over. Place in broiler until cheese melts and begins to brown, watching closely
to prevent burning, about 1 1/2 minutes. Sprinkle rigatoni with parsley,
drizzle with olive oil, and serve.
We didn't have a lot of time to make a huge feast for this week's Sopranos viewing party for two. No problem. Getting the ingredients for an antipasto platter solved that. To do this, pick up nearly everything at Lucca on Valencia Street. The helpful (and cute) counter staff sliced up some thin slices of soppressetta and mortadella. Oscar had to have some sliced provolone, while I fell hard and fast for Lucca's creamy, fresh mozzarella balls. Oil cured olives, crusty italian rolls and artichoke hearts rounded out the bill.
The soppressetta was garlicky and robust, with a bit of a peppery bite. Having mozzarella mellowed things since it's so mild, with a strong note of fresh dairy sweetness. Dipping bread in extra virgin olive oil adds to the extravagant feel of our peasant picnic.
Now, if only someone could explain Tony's dream sequences....
There are enough surprises in store from the final season of the Sopranos. We don't want any surprises or frou-frou food for a Sunday night meal. Our Italian themed Sopranos menu must be hearty, tasty, and relatively straightforward to prepare (this is afterall a team effort). A base of excellent ingredients from Lucca Ravioli and the Mission produce markets set us up right.
Making Baked Ziti with Turkey Meatballs didn't go smoothly. The heat sensors in our LOUD fire alarms kept going off, and we had a mess to clean up when the (as Oscar predicted) Baked Ziti boiled over in the final five minutes of cooking. Although our apartment smelled wonderful, it became smoky. Opening windows would solve that, but it was hailing and raining outside. Once we turned the fan on and opened some windows, things calmed down just in time for the show opening. It was comforting to have a steaming bowl of meaty-cheesy goodness as we made bets on the fates of the Sopranos.
The below recipes are from epicurious.com, via Gourmet magazine. We used a blend of fresh herbs rather than use dried. Expect a crispy crunchy exterior from the cheese melting and ziti drying out in the oven.
BAKED ZITI WITH TURKEY MEATBALLS
For meatballs
1 pound ground turkey
1 large garlic clove, minced
3/4 cup fresh bread crumbs
1/2 cup finely chopped onion
3 tablespoons pine nuts, toasted, cooled, and chopped
1/2 cup minced fresh parsley leaves (preferably flat-leafed)
1 large egg, beaten lightly
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon black pepper
4 tablespoons olive oil
1 pound ziti or penne
1 1/2 cups coarsely grated mozzarella cheese (about 6 ounces)
1 cup freshly grated Romano cheese (about 3 ounces)
about 6 cups winter
tomato sauce
a 15-ounce container ricotta cheese
Make meatballs:
In a bowl stir together well turkey, garlic, bread crumbs, onion, pine nuts,
parsley, egg, salt, and pepper and form into meatballs about 1 inch in
diameter. In a large heavy skillet heat 2 tablespoons oil over moderately high
heat until hot but not smoking and cook half of meatballs, shaking skillet,
until browned and cooked through, about 4 minutes. Transfer meatballs to paper
towels to drain and brown remaining meatballs in remaining 2 tablespoons oil in
same manner.
Preheat oven to 375°F. and oil a 3- to 4-quart gratin dish or other shallow baking dish.
In a kettle of salted boiling water cook pasta until just al dente, about 8 minutes, and drain well. In a small bowl toss together mozzarella and Romano.
Spoon about 1 1/2 cups tomato sauce and half of meatballs into prepared dish and spoon half of pasta on top. Spread half remaining sauce and half cheese mixture over pasta. Top with remaining meatballs and drop dollops of ricotta over meatballs. Spread remaining pasta over ricotta and top with remaining sauce and remaining cheese mixture.
Bake ziti in middle of oven 30 to 35 minutes, or until golden, and let stand
10 minutes before serving.
Serves 6 to 8.
Gourmet
February 1994
WINTER TOMATO SAUCE
1 1/2 cups finely chopped onion
1/3 cup finely chopped carrot
1/3 cup finely chopped celery
3 large garlic cloves, minced
1 tablespoon dried basil, crumbled
1 tablespoon dried oregano, crumbled
1 bay leaf
3 tablespoons olive oil
2/3 cup dry red wine
3 tablespoons tomato paste
two 28- to 32-ounce cans whole Italian tomatoes, drained, reserving juice, and
chopped
In a heavy 5-quart saucepan cook onion, carrot, celery, garlic, basil, oregano, bay leaf, and salt and pepper to taste in oil over moderate heat, stirring, until vegetables are softened and add wine. Boil wine until most is evaporated and stir in tomato paste and tomatoes with reserved juice.
Simmer sauce, covered, over moderately low heat, stirring occasionally, 35
minutes and simmer, uncovered, stirring occasionally, 15 to 20 minutes, or
until thickened. Discard bay leaf. Sauce may be made 2 days in advance and kept
covered and chilled.
Makes 6 cups.
Gourmet
February 1994
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