Angel Hair with Golden Caviar
Spaghetti with Clam Sauce
(with mussels or oysters)
Linguine with Tomato-Shrimp Sauce
(with scallops • tuna • squid • or mussels)
Fettuccine with Striped Bass
(with flounder • with lake perch)
Scallops Provençale over Spaghettini
Swordfish-Olive Pasta
Pasta with Sardines
This is one of the most elegant dishes in the book, and yet it’s made in moments. The golden American caviar has tiny eggs, costs far less than other varieties, and can even be stored in the freezer. It’s absolutely delicious, and a stunning appetizer.
4 servings
½ pound angel-hair pasta
¾ pound unsalted butter, at room temperature
7 ounces golden caviar
4 thin lemon wedges
Cook and drain the pasta. Put the freshly cooked noodles into a warmed bowl with the butter. Toss well, until all the noodles are coated with butter, and then put a serving of pasta on each plate. Top each with a heaping tablespoonful of caviar and a lemon wedge. Each person should squeeze lemon juice over the noodles before he mixes in the caviar.
Champagne or iced vodka accompany this admirably. Don’t stint on the caviar if possible!
SPAGHETTI WITH CLAM SAUCE
I discovered this wonderfully light sauce, full of the essence of clams and garlic, during one of those periods when I was seriously trying to cut down on oil and salt. I don’t think you miss the oil at all.
4 to 6 servings
2 quarts little neck clams
White wine
4 to 5 large cloves garlic, minced or crushed
1 pound spaghetti
¾ cup chopped parsley
Scrub the clams well and wash them in cold water to remove the sand in the shells. Put them in a heavy saucepan with ½ inch of white wine or water and the garlic. Cover the kettle tightly, and steam the clams until the shells open, from 5 to 10 minutes.
Cook and drain the pasta. Put the freshly cooked spaghetti in a warm bowl, pour the clams, still in their shells, and broth over it, and sprinkle parsley on the top.
VARIATIONS
Instead of clams, you can use 2 quarts of mussels or oysters. If you use mussels, scrub them well with a scouring pad, scrape off the encrustations on the shells, and snip off the beards before you steam them.
LINGUINE WITH TOMATO-SHRIMP SAUCE
Make this mixture as hot as you like by adding a good dash of Tabasco or red-pepper flakes. For me, the hotter the better.
4 to 6 servings
1 recipe Light Tomato Sauce (p. 67), without the butter
½ pound peeled raw shrimp
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
3 tablespoons chopped Italian parsley
2 tablespoons olive oil
Tabasco or red-pepper flakes, to taste
1 pound linguine
Cook the sauce. When it is finished, add the shrimp, garlic, parsley, olive oil, and Tabasco or red pepper. Simmer for 3 minutes. Cook and drain the linguine, and serve with the hot sauce.
VARIATIONS
Instead of shrimp, use ½ pound bay scallops, or sea scallops cut in quarters; one 7-ounce can tuna; ½ pound squid, sliced into rings; or 18 mussels. If you use the mussels, simmer the sauce, covered, just until the shells open, around 8 to 10 minutes, and keep the pepper seasoning mild.
This is a richly flavored, substantial dish that has the springtime flavor of fresh herbs. Most markets have fresh dill year-round these days, but if you want a real treat, make it with chives instead. I’d like to encourage cooks to go back to the old custom of keeping flowerpots of fresh chives growing in their kitchen windows.
4 to 6 servings
4 tablespoons butter
1 tablespoon olive oil
½ pound striped-bass fillets, or more, if wanted
½ cup cream
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 pound fettuccine
½ cup finely chopped dill or chives
In a skillet, melt the butter and olive oil. When they are hot, add the bass and cook it on both sides until it is cooked through, about 5 minutes, depending on the thickness of the fish. Flake the fish with a fork right in the butter, then add the cream and let it cook down briefly. Season with salt and pepper.
Cook and drain the pasta. Pour the sauce over the freshly cooked noodles, and scatter lots and lots of dill or chives over the top before you toss everything together.
VARIATIONS
Fillets of flounder will be a most welcome substitute for the bass. Probably they will be thinner and most likely will cook in less time.
Small boned lake perch has great flavor and may be used if they are available. Dust them—and I mean, literally, dust them—lightly with flour and cook quickly. Proceed as above.
SCALLOPS PROVENÇALE OVER SPAGHETTINI
Tiny bay scallops should be cooked very briefly, or they become tough, so have everything ready when you make this dish and be prepared to work quickly. The pasta must be cooked before you start to sauté the scallops. It’s a nice touch to add a splash of Cognac for quality just at the end.
4 to 6 servings
1 pound bay scallops
2 tablespoons flour
1 pound spaghettini
⅔ cup olive oil
3 or 4 cloves garlic, finely chopped
½ cup finely chopped parsley
Lots of freshly ground black pepper
2 tablespoons Cognac
Bring the pasta water to a boil.
Toss the scallops in the flour so that they are lightly coated. Drop the pasta into a pot to cook. Quickly heat the oil in a skillet—Teflon is good when you are cooking scallops—and, when it is hot, throw in the scallops and toss like mad. Shake and stir the pan for not more than 2 minutes.
Off heat add the garlic, parsley, and pepper to the scallops and toss for another minute. Pour in the Cognac and cook for another half minute.
Drain the pasta and pour the sauce over it.
I like to use twists, shells, or ridged ziti for this dish: something that will catch all the tangy bits of olive and capers. What you want is the rich, exciting olive taste, so use lots and lots of finely chopped Greek olives.
2 to 4 servings
½ pound swordfish (1 inch thick)
¾ cup finely chopped Greek olives
¼ cup olive oil
½ cup thinly sliced onion
2 large cloves garlic, finely chopped
1 teaspoon oregano
1 tablespoon capers
½ pound pasta
Preheat the broiler and line the rack with aluminum foil. Broil the swordfish 3 minutes on one side, turn, top with the olives, and broil 4 minutes longer. In the meantime, pour the oil into a sauté pan and cook the onion and garlic until they are soft. Add the oregano and capers.
Cook and drain the pasta.
When the fish is cooked, take it out of the broiler and cut it into thin strips. Spoon it and the olives, with the onion-caper mixture, over freshly cooked pasta and toss gently.
This recipe is a big hit whenever I teach it in one of my classes. The original called for fresh sardines, but you will probably have to make do with smelts. See if you can get your fish dealer to clean and bone them for you; if not, you’ll have to do it yourself. You can use canned sardines, but they are definitely second best. Drain, rinse, and handle them very carefully or they’ll flake away to a paste.
6 to 8 servings
2 heads fennel
¼ cup olive oil
1 large onion, chopped
16-ounce can Redpack tomatoes in purée, or 5 fresh tomatoes, peeled, seeded, and chopped
½ cup raisins
½ cup pignoli
¼ teaspoon saffron
½ teaspoon dried basil
1 can anchovy fillets, drained, rinsed, and chopped
1 pound sardines or smelts, cleaned and boned (If you have any tiny fish, leave some whole and treat according to the directions in the recipe below.)
1 pound pasta, such as penne or macaroni
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
Cut off and discard the fennel tops and cut the bulbs into very thin, lengthwise slices. Cook them in a big pot of boiling water until they are tender, about 5 minutes. Skim them out with a slotted spoon, set them aside, and leave the water at a simmer for when you cook the pasta.
Heat the olive oil in a large skillet and sauté the onion until it is soft. Add the tomatoes, raisins, pignoli, saffron, basil, anchovies, and sardines, and cook for another 10 minutes. If you have any very small smelts, reserve them whole. Drag them through some flour, sauté them in another pan in olive oil until they are brown and crisp, drain them on paper towels, and keep in a warm oven until you are ready to use them.
Turn up the heat under your simmering water. Add the pasta and cook until it is done. Just before you pour it out, return the fennel to the pot to reheat it. Drain the pasta and fennel and pour them into a warmed bowl. Add salt and pepper to taste. Pour on the tomato sauce and mix everything together. If you have whole fried smelts, lay them on top of the sauce.
Penne or Ziti with Tomato-Ground Meat Sauce
(with shrimp • with clams • with mussels)
Verna Ross’s Baked Chicken Goulash and Spaghetti
Old-Fashioned Chicken Fricassee with Wagon Wheels
Chicken Tetrazzini
(with curry • with truffle and almonds)
Nutted Chicken-Rice Noodle Casserole
Chicken Pot Pie
Coq au Riesling over Noodles
(with guinea hens • with game hens)
Chicken Stir-Fry with Bowknots
