- Start with a quality pasta -- not all pastas have the same resulting al dente quality when properly cooked; some have no bite no matter how well prepared. I suggest you try different brands until you find the one the works for you. As I stated above, of the widely available brands, Barilla seems to perform the best on this front in my experience.
- First heat your large pasta pot full of water to a full boil
- Once boiling, add a large handful of kosher salt -- another key to success is the pasta water should have the same saltiness as sea water. A large handful is around 3/4 cup, give or take. It may seem like a lot of salt, but remember the water is discarded once the pasta is cooked -- and you will notice the improvement in pasta flavor. Keep a box of kosher salt in the pantry for salting water. Adding the salt after the water is boiling helps it dissolve better.
- Never add the pasta to the cooking water until it is at full boil and well salted. The salt should be fully dissolved in the boiling water first before adding the pasta.
- Never add oil to the pasta water -- it will prevent any sauces from properly coating the pasta
- When the pasta is cooking, stir regularly to prevent the pasta from sticking together
- It is imperative that you do not overcook the pasta and lose the al dente quality (becomes mushy). Generally cook until a minute before the suggested cooking time based on the pasta type. At this point, start checking the pasta regularly for doneness. I pull out one pasta strand or shell and tear it in half. You want the center white part to just have disappeared (meaning fully cooked) as an indicator it is done.
- When just done, strain the pasta immediately. Do not allow it to sit in the water any longer.
- Never rinse the pasta
These suggestions may seem trivial, but you will be delighted in the improvement in taste and texture of a properly cooked pasta.
Linguine and Clams
Ingredients
- A box of quality linguine pasta
- 4 shallots (peeled and sliced)
- 1/2 cup of diced pancetta (pancetta is italian bacon. Unlike standard bacon, pancetta is not smoked. Smoked bacon is a strong enough flavor that it can overtake the flavor of the clams. Pancetta is often found sliced thinly as round discs. If you can find it, this recipe works better with pancetta that is in small cubes)
- 3 cloves of garlic (peeled and sliced thinly)
- 1 tablespoon of crushed red pepper flake (adjust amount to personal taste)
- 24 littleneck clams (discard any clams that are open before cooking. Using your thumbs, scrub each clam well under running cold water)
- 1 to 1 1/2 cups of white wine (use an inexpensive Italian pinot grigio)
- 2 bay leaves
- 1 small handful bunch of Italian flat-leaf parsley (curly parsley is for decoration only; flat-leaf parsley has much better flavor. Rinse the parsley under cold water. Pick leaves and discard any large stems--small stems are okay. Coarsely chop parsley)
- 1 lemon (cut in half -- the fresh lemon juice will be used)
- 1/4 cup of quality extra virgin olive oil (there is a big differences in the taste of extra virgin olive oils. Try tasting different brands until you find one you really like. Cooking/heating olive oil dulls the flavor, so taste them uncooked)
Method
Cook the Pasta: Use the method described in the intro above to properly cook the pasta.
Cook the Clam Sauce: Heat 1 tablespoon of unsalted butter in a large skillet with an available lid over medium plus heat (60%). Once butter is melted, add shallots and pancetta to skillet. Saute, stirring occasionally, for about 4 minutes. Add garlic, red pepper flakes, and clams to skillet. Saute for another 2 minutes, carefully stirring contents. Add wine and bay leaves to skillet and turn heat up to medium high (75%). The wine should come to a light boil and begin to cook off the alcohol. Continue to cook, carefully stirring the contents (careful to not break the clam shells) to allow clams to take turns cooking in the center where it is typically hottest. Cook until all clams have opened (or most clams; clams that refuse to open should also be discarded as they were dead before cooking). During this process, after the strong alcohol smell has dissipated from the steam coming off the skillet (meaning the alcohol is mostly cooked out), cover with a lid to accelerate the process of the clams opening. Once all the clams have opened, immediately turn off the heat (over cooking clams will make them rubbery). Remove the bay leaves and stir in the parsley, 1 tablespoon of butter, and fresh lemon juice from half of the lemon.
Assemble: Using empty pasta pot, add cooked pasta and clam sauce. Carefully mix together. Add fresh lemon juice from other half of lemon and the extra virgin olive oil. Stir and serve (depending on preference, fresh cracked black pepper goes well with non-tomato based pasta dishes).
Caesar Salad
Ingredients
- 1 head of romaine lettuce or 2 - 3 heads of bibb lettuce or a mix (washed and spun dry -- lettuce that is not dry will not allow the dressing to properly coat--do not crush or bruise the lettuce when drying; torn or cut into bite sized pieces)
- About 2 - 3 cups worth of cubed bread for making croutons (pick any loaf bread that seems interesting to you. Cut into bite sized cubes)
- 1 small clove of garlic (peeled and minced)
- 1 heaping tablespoon of dijon mustard
- 1 half lemon
- 5 anchovies (the amount can be adjusted up or down depending on preference. These are incorporated in the dressing and add a great flavor. People who typically do not like anchovies do not detect/taste them in the dressing as it is a standard component of caesar dressing. Mince anchovies)
- 1 egg yolk or 1 heaping tablespoon of light mayonnaise (the egg yolk is the traditional method, as mayonnaise is made from egg yolk, oil and lemon juice--you can substitute mayonnaise if you are uneasy of the raw egg yolk or want a lighter variation. The citric acid in the fresh lemon juice chemically cooks the egg yolk)
- 1 - 2 tablespoons of balsamic vinegar
- About 1/4 cup of quality extra virgin olive oil
- Shavings of Parmigiano Reggiano cheese (use a vegetable peeler to peel a block of Parmigiano Reggiano)
Method
Make Croutons: Place bread cubes on an aluminum foil lined baking sheet and place in a 350 degree (F) oven. Bake until bread is just hard on the outer crusts. For me, perfect croutons have a crunch outside, but a soft inside (instead of hard all the way through). You can check by carefully touching the bread with you finger to see if the outside feels hard, but not solid through. Generally should take 10 - 15 minutes in the oven. Allow croutons to cool before adding to the salad bowl.
Make Caesar Dressing: Use a mortar and pestle when making salad dressing with garlic (or with fresh herbs). Smashing garlic develops greater flavor than a blender or simply stirring together. A real caesar salad traditionalist would have a large wooden salad bowl that is reserved for making caesar salads only. The garlic would be smashed against the inside of the bowl using the back of a spoon (over repeated making of caesar salads, the wood would become "seasoned" with the garlic and enhance the flavor of caesar salads made in the bowl). This wooden caesar salad bowl becomes sacred (hand wash only) and it is a real treat to make authentic caesar salad for your family and friends with a well seasoned bowl.
Add garlic, dijon mustard, lemon juice, anchovies, egg yolk (or mayonnaise), balsamic vinegar and some fresh cracked pepper (fresh cracking pepper directly into the other ingredients will allow the natural oils from the black pepper to incorporate into the dressing) into the mortar (if using the traditional wooden salad bowl, smash the garlic around the insides of the bowl first before adding the other ingredients). Using the pestle (or heavy wooden spoon if using a wooden bowl), smash and grind the ingredients until well incorporated. While rapidly mixing the contents with the pestle or wooden spoon, slowly add the olive oil. Continue to mix until the dressing is fully incorporated and emulsified.
Assemble: In a large salad bowl (or the same wooden salad bowl if used to make the dressing), add the lettuce, croutons, and dressing. Using your clean hands (the best mixers for this job) carefully mix the salad until the dressing is well incorporated and coating the lettuce (do not crush or bruise the lettuce when mixing). Add the shaved Parmigiano Reggiano and mix some more. Crack fresh pepper over the top and serve.
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