linguine with clams in broth

On Saturday night I hosted a dinner party for my friend Jenny. She celebrated a big birthday the week before while I was away and I missed her party, so I wanted to do something for her. I told her to invite some friends and I would do all the cooking as a gift.

I thought I would make homemade pasta. The last time I did it was for Thanksgiving when I made tortellini di zucca --pumpkin stuffed tortellini with butter and sage. It had been way too long. So I broke out the pasta machine having recently been inspired by Claudia's unbelievably good spaghetti with clams, by way of Thomas Keller.



I decided to try my own linguine with clams. For the pasta, I combined Claudia and Tom's with my old trusty Marcella Hazan's Classic Italian Cooking recipe. I know a thing or two about making pasta and Claudia's was super good, but for my money Marcella is the hands down expert on old school Italian and I had to go to the source.

I used about 3 cups of flour (2+ cups a.p. and almost 1 of semolina because I wanted that particular texture, but usually I don't use semolina), 1 whole egg and 6 yolks. The ratio of flour to yolks is up for debate, but if you want that eggy, bright yellow color and smooth texture, the more yolks the better. Marcella says 2 whole eggs for every 1 3/4 c. flour.

I also added a drop of milk and a few glugs of olive oil --not recommended by the Master but this dough was really dry at first. After a solid 10 min. of kneading (and a little cussing) it came together just like it should.



I wrapped it and let it rest for about 15 min. before cutting it into sections, folding each one and putting it through the machine a couple of times.



After drying for a bit, but not too long or it will break in the rollers, I put it through the attachment for wide, flat cut pasta. I guess it was technically fettuccine, not linguine, but who said anything about a pasta quiz? Don't even get me started. In Italy I have seen pasta of countless shapes and sizes with names like "strozzapreti" ('strangle the priest") so don't slag me off. My machine has only two settings.



My sauce was simple and inspired by something I saw in bon appetite this month--just a broth really, with sauted onions and garlic in butter and olive oil, a couple of chopped tomatoes and lots of white wine and 1 cup of water. This simmers for 20 min. and then you can turn off the heat and finish when ready to cook the clams, so this can be done ahead of time.

When you add the clams, also add a couple of pinches of red pepper flakes, 1/3 cup chopped fresh parsely, 1/4 c chopped fresh oregano and thyme. I cooked the pasta in the same broth after lifting out the clams and setting them aside. Then I threw them back in with the pasta to heat them again and that was it. Just be sure and serve it up with extra fresh parsley and some toasty warm bread for soaking up the broth.



Now, don't get me wrong, the spaghetti with clams and a ton of butter that I had chez Claudia was rich and dreamy and soooooo delicious and I would love to eat it again someday. But I was cooking for a crowd of people-- most of them unknown-- and I didn't want to unintentionally cause someone to have a coronary at my house due to the insane amounts of butter AND yolks I'd be serving in this dish.

This way, I reasoned, I could kill them with the dessert, a dessert so good I can hardly wait to tell you about it... in my next post. It's too good to leave til the end at the end of long day, so stay tuned.

Las Vegas Part 2- party girl

It is becoming a distant memory now--the desert, the flowers, the food and the family. Well, not the family because they're never far from my thoughts. We're a tight knit family and not least because of the loss 8 years ago of our leader, our matriarch, our loving Italian mamma.



So it seems I have stepped into the role of entertainer and provider for my family (in the kitchen that is). I am just like my mom in that I love to entertain and I pretty much seamlessly stepped into her shoes. And those are no small shoes to fill. My mom used to host my brother's entire football team every Thursday night for pasta dinner. And the parties at our house were numerous and well loved by all.

So it was that when my brother decided to bring home 9 of his friends from New York for a backyard cook-out, I did what I could to make it a party. There would be almost 20 of us. My brother and his friends all work together at a great place in NYC called Freeman's on the Lower East Side. All really nice, very hip and fun guys and girls. And all restaurant people. I decided to make it simple and grill some chicken and burgers with all the sides, a caprese salad and a big fruit salad for dessert. They brought the beer. I made it all happen.

I did the shopping at a place called Fresh and Easy. I had never heard of the place, but apparently it's a UK-based chain of grocery stores providing fresh options for people in a pared down environment of no frills shopping. Whole Foods it's not, but neither are the prices! I was amazed at the fresh options, the variety of meats and cheeses, fruits and vegetables all displayed in individually wrapped clear plastic (one flaw in all the good--too much plastic). I was told that the system is all about putting out only the freshest and as soon as an item has been on the shelf a day, it is marked down or removed and something newer takes its place.



I found everything I needed and more - all very fresh and CHEAP. I almost was suspicious at how cheap it was. But I checked out their site and found their philosophy to be all about providing options that everyone can afford. And, on top of that, they carry some pretty cool imported things that you wouldn't find anywhere else, like Cotswald cheese, Spanish membrillo and jamon serrano for only $5!! The whole thing had a very Euro vibe which I liked. And there were very friendly people working there and no clerks --you check and bag your own groceries using your own reusable bags. I was sold. Maybe we'll be getting one in Nashville one day... right now they're only on the West coast.

(I may get busted for this, but here's a picture of some of the Euro items I liked...)


So the shopping done, I went home to chop and wash and prep the meats while my dad and daniel prepared the grill and set up for the party.



Once they arrived we fired up that old thing and one of the sweetest of the bunch named Nicky stood at the grill and flipped burgers and chicken for me while enertaining us all. What a great guy.







And then the next night we had another dinner for just the family and I had promised my dad I would cook him his favorite--rigatoni with red sauce and sausage.
My aunt and her husband joined us and her dessert was the best part of the meal in my opinion. Berry Pavlova. A base of meringue topped with whipped cream and berries. Yum. I will have to try it some day. As you can kind of see (it was getting dark) it was dripping with gooey, fruity goodness and it tasted even better than it looks.