Quick and Easy Shortcut Meals

On some nights, I am all about quick and easy meals where I take shortcuts but still turn out a delicious dinner. Last night was one of those meals. I have been playing around with different cuts of pasta to try by finding imported quality manufacturers  on Amazon.com. Typically I make my own sauces from scratch but I sometimes I save time and effort by buying commercial sauces and doctoring them up.

While doing a search on Amazon.com for sauces, I came across the Scarpetta line of Italian sauces and found their reviews were pretty good. I know what you are saying,

“How can RG being using jarred sauce when it is so easy to make your own incredible homemade tomato sauce so easily?”

You are right but there are nights when I don’t want to fuss or I waited a little too long to start dinner or I just feel a bit lazy. I’m sure we have all felt this way and I would rather make one of my quick and easy shortcut meals rather than ordering a pizza.

Scarpetta Sauces

Scarpetta sauces come from a company called Sauces’n Love up 10 miles north of Boston. The Scarpetta line, according to their web site, is “Influenced by modern Italian style and inspired by the signature Ferrari red race car… introduced in 2004 with a clean and sexy image”

“Scarpetta, which means “little shoe” in Italian, is what you are doing when you drag the bread across the plate to enjoy the last flavorful bite. In Italy, we ask to do it at the table as a way to compliment the host or cook - and as a politesse. Posso fare la scarpetta?”

I ordered the Scarpetta Pasta Lovers Gift Box containing 4 jars of sauces including Marinara, Tuscan Vodka, Arrabbiata and Puttanesca. Being a fan of Bolognese sauce, I also purchased a 4 pack of Barely Bolognese. I’ll write more about Sauces’ n Love and these sauces in the future as I try them.

Scarpetta Barely Bolognese

The Scarpetta Barely Bolognese is a foundation sauce that you add to make a finished sauce. It contains “a trilogy of carrots celery and onions cooked with tomatoes and fresh sage; all you have to do is add ground meat, tofu or a veggie argue.”  I thought I had some ground beef in the refrigerator. I was wrong but I did have some Andouille sausage in the freezer that was easy to defrost.

When I opened the very cool, reusable, microwaveable plastic containers and tasted the sauce, I immediately thought of fresh salsa. I thought no way this is going to taste like a bolognese sauce I’m familiar with but I would give it a try. I noticed the carrots were perfectly cut to brunoise, a very fine dice cut that makes for great presentation. The tomatoes tasted fresh and the label says the product is all-natural, gluten free with no sugar added. But how is it going to taste?

Andouille Sausage

When I prepare my own homemade bolognese sauce, I use a mixture of ground beef, veal, pork and sometimes lamb. I’m guessing that using Andouille would disqualify this sauce as Bolognese but it’s what I had on hand.

Andouille sausage is sometimes referred to as “hot link sausage” and it did add quite a kick to this sauce. For those of you who enjoy a spicy, hot sauce, you are going to like this one. If you don’t like it so hot, I’m sure it would be delicious with sweet sausage too.

Andouille (ahn-DoOO-wee) is a Cajun style smoked sausage made with pork parts and seasoned with salt, pepper, garlic, onions and some additional seasonings depending on whose making it. It originated in France and is said to have come from the Brittany and Normandy areas.

Trenne Pasta

A triangular quill-shaped pasta about the size of penne with ridges on the outside making it great for chunky sauces like Bolognese where the sauce can get trapped in the ridges. They are cut into tubes about 2 1/2 inches and are hollow.

You are not going to find Trenne in your local supermarket but can find it on line or at some specialty gourmet stores.

I found a brand called Rustichella selling it on Amazon along with many other interesting and hard to find dried pastas. Handmade in Italy using only the finest stone-ground durum flour from hard winter wheat and local spring water,

Rustichella’s pastas are air dried for a full 56 hours and extruded from bronze dies, some dating back to the 19th century. Again, I’ll be writing more about Rustichella and their pastas as I explore using them.

The Trenne pasta we tried last night was delicious but it did take a long time to cook. It appeared thicker and heavier than classic penne but worked perfectly with the faux Bolognese.

Amazon Prime

Yes, I am an affiliate at Amazon.com and I do appreciate when you start at the Reluctant Gourmet to make your Amazon purchases, but I have to tell you I am really enjoying the Amazon Prime feature where you pay a flat fee (I think it is between $70 and $80 bucks) and receive Free 2 Day shipping on anything they sell excluding third party sales.

I can order one package of pasta and a package of sauce any time without worrying about the shipping cost and you receive it two days later. If you purchase a lot of books and stuff from Amazon, it’s a good deal. I know I will be experimenting with a lot more gourmet items they carry knowing I can exclude the shipping expense.

Spicy Pasta Bolognese with Trenne Pasta

I can tell you, it took a lot longer to write this post than it did to prepare this pasta and sauce. Here’s how I made it:

Ingredients:

• 3 links Andouille sausage (substitute ground beef, sweet sausage, ground beef/veal/pork combo)
• 1 package Rustichella Trenne (substitute penne pasta)
• 19.8 Ounce Jar Scarpetto Barely Bolognese (substitute any commercial sauce you like)
• Freshly grated Parmesan Cheese
• salt for cooking pasta

Reserve a little pasta water for adding to sauce if too thick

Start by adding some salt to a large pot of water and bringing it to a boil for cooking the pasta - see my cooking pasta tips

Remove the Andouille sausage meat from the casing and brown the meat in a good sized sauce pan, large enough to hold the sausage and sauce.

When the meat is browned 4 - 5 minutes, add the Scarpetto Barely Bolognese sauce and cook together for 5 to 7 minutes. If the sauce gets too thick, just add a little of the pasta water to a better consistency.

When the pasta is al dente, drain it and either add it to the sauce if the pan is big enough, transfer the sauce and then the pasta to a big bowl and combine or plate the pasta and top with a couple of spoonfuls of sauce.

Add some Parmesan cheese and have some extra for your guests to add if they like more.

We served this with a delicious mixed greens salad and a bottle of 2005 Italian Montessu that was perfect with this dish.

I am a huge fan of this dish.  So much, I’ve already posted this recipe twice on my site at Pasta with Garlic and Oil and Linguine with Garlic and Oil. It is basically the same recipe from my friend Chef Ricco DeLuca but they are both worth checking out because of the different explanations provided with each post.

Now I have the opportunity to offer a third spaghetti aglio e olio (pasta and olive oil) from Chef Dawn Thomas who I just interviewed this week at my Novice2Pro chef interviews. Dawn’s recipe is very similar to Chef Ricco’s but she adds red chili flakes, parmesan cheese and substitutes basil for parsley.

What really distinguishes her recipe from Chef Ricco’s are the techniques used. Dawn thinly slices the garlic while Ricco browns it whole. Chef Ricco gets the pan and oil hot before starting while Dawn lets it heat gradually.

Is one technique better than the other? I think the cooking technique that works best for you and provides the flavor you are looking for is the one to stick with. Give both techniques a try and let me know which one you like best.

Dawn is from Canada and some of the terms she uses are different from what I may typically use. I’ll try to point these out.

Spaghetti with Garlic and Oil

Ingredients

1 - 2 cloves of garlic
1/4 teaspoon red chili flakes
4 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
Salt for pasta water (1 tsp per quart of water)
1/2 pound (200 grams) pasta
1/2 cup cooking water (from pasta)
Salt (to taste)
2 - 4 fresh basil leaves
Parmesan cheese (to taste)

How to Make Spaghetti Aglio e Olio at Home

Timing is important when preparing this dish so have your ingredients prepped, equipment ready to go and have fun.

Preheat your oven to the lowest setting and bring a large pot of water to boil. While the water is heating, thinly slice (émincé) the garlic and measure out the chili flakes.

Place a large, non-stick skillet onto the stovetop and add half of the oil, followed by the garlic and chili flakes. At this point, don’t turn the heat on. Just let this sit while the pasta water comes to a boil.

Once the water has come to a boil, add the salt and stir. With the water at a rumbling boil, add the pasta, stirring so it doesn’t stick together.

Turn up the heat under your skillet to medium and let the garlic cook slowly. You’ll want to spread the garlic out in the pan a little so it cooks evenly but not too much or it may burn. As soon as you hear the garlic start to sizzle, remove it from the heat.

Heat your plates in the oven to warm up as the pasta finishes cooking. When the past is al-dente, remove and reserve ½ cup of cooking water, drain the pasta and add it to the pan with garlic and oil.

Raise the heat back to medium and add the reserved pasta water. Add a pinch of salt, tear and add the basil leaves over top. Toss and continue to cook for a few minutes until the water cooks off. Turn off the heat; add the remaining olive oil, some freshly grated Parmesan cheese and toss to combine.

Remove the warmed plates from the oven and portion out the pasta. Serve immediately with a touch more grated Parmesan cheese and enjoy.

To watch Chef Thomas demonstrate this recipe, go to Rouxbe.com

Related Topics

Pasta with Garlic and Oil

Linguine with Garlic and Oil

More Ideas for Pasta with Garlic and Oil

Strozzapreti, Porcini, Zucca & Tartufo

Yesterday I interviewed my friend Lola about truffles, where they come from, how are they found, why they are so expensive and why they are a national cooking treasure. You can read about them at All About Truffles. As part of the interview, Lola offered up this wonderful recipe for Strozzapreti, Porcini, Zucca & Tartufo.  I know what porcini mushrooms are and that tartufo is the Italian name for truffles but what about Strozzapreti and Zucca.

Strozzapreti & Zucca

After a quick search on the Internet I learned Strozzapreti is a type of pasta that is hand-rolled and looks like an elongated form of cavatelli. The word strozzapreti is Italian for “priest choker” and there are several stories as to how this pasta received this unfortunate name. They all seem to describe some sort of anger at the church for one reason or another by the people of Rome and Tuscany and in their frustration decided to give this pasta its origin.

The dough is made differently depending on where in Italy you are. Basically it is made with wheat flour, water, salt and eggs or egg whites although Parmesan cheese is often added in Emilia. There is also a baked pasta dish calle strozzapreti that consists of spinach that is combined with ricotta cheese and rolled into balls and baked.

Zucca is the Italian word for squash but it is also used for pumpkin as called for in this recipe. Lola says she like to make this dish when the colder weather rolls in.

Strozzapreti, Porcini, Zucca & Tartufo

Serves 4

Ingredients

For the Strozzapreti
1 1/4 cups all purpose flour, sifted
1/2 cup mineral water (not sparkling!)
A pinch of salt

Sift the flour in a large mixing bowl, add the salt and water and knead the dough until a thick lumpless ball forms, this should take no longer than 6 minutes, as over kneading will make the dough excessively hard. Divvy up the dough in apricot-size balls and separate them on your work surface (preferably wooden) dusted with more flour.

You can now proceed to shaping it into your strozzapreti. Roll the dough balls flat with a dusted rolling pin, to a 1/2 to 3/4 inch thickness. Fold the flattened dough over like a burrito and cut 1/2 inch slices. Undo the strands and flour them too to avoid stickage.

Now to obtain the typical strozzapreti shape, you have to take each individual strand and roll it between your palms. The result is a ‘rolled up towel’ shape, one very suitable for virtually “grabbing” the sauce.

Dust a kitchen towel with flour and rest the strozzapreti on it for about 30 minutes before cooking.

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(Here’s a video I found that shows the technique for shaping the strozzapreti pasta as Lola describes)

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The Sauce

1 cup fresh porcini mushrooms
1 cup fresh pumpkin pulp, diced
1 small black truffle (if you can get your hands on the delicate white Alba variety, even better)
1 sprig of fresh sage
7 fl oz. whole milk
1/4 cup butter
Salt & pepper to taste

Clean the porcini by rubbing them gently with a damp cloth and chopping off the soiled part of the stems. Slice the larger ones and halve the smaller caps and stems. In a large enough skillet, sauté the pumpkin in butter and sage for 3 minutes, over vivacious heat. Add the milk, lower the heat and cook for 5 more minutes. Now add the chopped mushrooms, adjust seasoning and cook for 10 more minutes.

In the meantime bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a rolling boil and cook the strozzapreti al dente (this will take a lot less time than regular dried pasta, so keep a close watch).

Drain the pasta and transfer it to the warm skillet where the sauce is, and blend well off the burner. Dish out and then sliver the tartufo wafers directly in the individual plates.

No Parmigiano this time, the tartufo would otherwise suffer.

A good wine for this cold weather extravaganza is a Colli del Trasimeno or any rosé that will allow the mixture of flavors to remain intact while sustaining the contrast between the pasta’s tenacious nature and the sauce’s velvety softness.

Buon appetito!