Sometimes simplicity is deceptive.... Today's pasta sauce is a good example. Other than its brilliant...almost
neon...color, one might be tempted to pass it by as plain and boring...there
just isn't much to see. The few
ingredients are cooked in a straightforward way and then puréed into a smooth
and uniform sauce. Visually, it could
probably pass for baby food. But when
you put what turns out to be a rather silken textured sauce in your mouth, you
find that it sings with the concentrated flavors of sweet ripe bell peppers and
tangy summer tomatoes. Furthermore, it
has a pleasant but unobtrusive kick from a generous pinch of hot pepper flakes...as
well as a few nice aromatic exclamation points from a handful of shards of
sweet basil. It is anything but
boring... The few ingredients surprise
with their collective intensity of flavor.
I ran across the recipe for this pasta in one of my
favorite pasta cookbooks—Four Seasons Pasta by Janet Fletcher. There are a lot of pictures in this book, but
not one for this recipe. If there had
been a picture, it is likely I would have passed it by. But since I was scanning titles and
ingredient lists (rather than browsing pictures) looking for a late summer
recipe, I noticed this one. I love the
red and yellow bell peppers of late summer (the hot house ones available all
year pale in comparison). When I stopped
to read the recipe, I was intrigued by its simplicity. And because it really is different than the
chunky, vegetable "sauces" that I gravitate towards this time of
year, I decided to give it a try. I was
not disappointed.
I have altered the original recipe in one
respect: I roasted the pepper instead of
chopping it up and adding it raw with the tomatoes. I did this first and foremost because the
final sauce is puréed, but not strained.
I didn't really want bits of tough pepper skins floating around in my
otherwise smooth sauce. Roasting the
pepper has the added advantage of concentrating the sweet pepper flavor. Furthermore, puréed roasted peppers create a
velvety smooth sauce. There really isn't
a downside to this change...unless you object to turning on your broiler (or
grill). To this I would say that you can
roast the pepper ahead...when you already have your oven or your grill turned
on for something else. Or, if you really
object, you could simply follow the original recipe: Core and seed the pepper and cut it into a quarter-inch
dice. Add it to the pan with the
tomatoes. Cover and simmer until the
peppers are tender...about 15 minutes...and purée as directed.
This simple sauce is delicious on pasta, but I have already
been thinking about other ways to use it.
I think it would be wonderful with fish (something hearty like
swordfish...or tuna...). And its
simplicity makes it perfect for pooling on a plate and topping with some freshly
cooked gnocchi (tossed with a little olive oil or butter) and some shaved
Parmesan.
Pepper and tomato season will easily extend through the end of September...so I plan on making this sauce a few more times before the season
is through. And since I'm certain this
sauce will freeze well, I'll probably make an extra batch or two for the
freezer. I think its bright summery presence on the dinner table will be the perfect antidote to a gray and blustery autumn or winter day.
Pasta with a Creamy Yellow Bell Pepper & Tomato
Sauce
(Penne Saporite "Il Frantoio")
1/3
c. olive oil, plus more for roasting the peppers
1
large yellow or orange bell pepper (about 8 to 9 oz.)
1
small red onion (about 6 oz.), finely diced
2
large cloves of garlic, peeled and minced
A
generous pinch hot pepper flakes (to taste)
1
lb. vine ripened or plum tomatoes
Salt
& freshly ground pepper
1
lb. penne rigate or fusilli
12
fresh basil leaves, torn into small pieces
1/3
c. (1 oz.) finely grated pecorino, plus more for passing at the table
Preheat the broiler. Rub the pepper with a bit of olive oil, place
on a small baking sheet or the broiler pan and broil until the skins have
blackened and begun to split—2 to 4 minutes on each side. Cool.
Peel and seed the pepper over a sieve set over a small bowl to catch the
flavorful juices. Cut into an even dice
and add to the juices. Set aside.
While
the pepper roasts, heat 1/3 cup of olive oil in a large skillet over moderately
low heat. Add the onion along with a
pinch of salt and sweat until very soft, about 10 to 15 minutes. Add the garlic
and hot pepper flakes and cook briefly until the garlic is fragrant.
While
the onion cooks, prepare the tomatoes.
Core the tomatoes. If using plum
tomatoes, halve them lengthwise. If
using vine ripes, halve them horizontally (through their equator). Scoop out the seeds into a sieve set over a
small bowl (to conserve the juices).
Discard the seeds. Using a
large-holed grater set on a plate or pie pan, grate the tomatoes by holding the
cut side of the tomatoes against the grater and grating until just the skin
remains in your palm. Add the grated
tomato pulp to the tomato juices.
When
the onions and garlic are ready, add the tomato pulp—along with a few good pinches
of salt—and simmer gently until the sauce has thickened slightly (about 10 to
15 minutes).
Add the peppers, cover and
simmer gently to blend the flavors and finish softening the peppers—about 5 to
10 minutes more—and adding a splash of water if the sauce seems dry or tight.
Transfer the contents of the pan to the
blender cup (either a traditional blender or an immersion blender) and purée
until smooth, adding water in small increments if the sauce is too thick to
move well in the blender (see note).
Scrape the sauce back into the sauté pan and taste for salt &
pepper. Keep warm while you cook the
pasta.
Bring
a large pot of well-salted water to a boil over high heat. Add the pasta and cook until al dente. Set aside 1 cup of the pasta water, then
drain the pasta. Add the pasta to the
sauce and toss to coat—adding enough pasta water to create a fluid sauce that
coats and clings to the noodles. Add the
basil and the cheese and toss to combine.
Add more pasta water if needed.
Serve immediately, passing cheese separately.
Serves
4 to 6.
Notes:
- I prefer to wait to purée the sauce until I'm cooking the pasta so I can use pasta water to thin the sauce in the blender (if necessary).
- This may seem like a very small amount of sauce...but it is really just perfect. Pasta should be sauced so that there isn't a pool of sauce left on the plate when you are finished...rather, you should finish the last bite of pasta with the last bit of sauce. That said, if you like more sauce, simply increase the recipe so that the pasta is sauced to your liking.
(Recipe adapted from Four Seasons Pasta—A Year of Inspired Recipes in the Italian Tradition, by Janet Fletcher)
No comments:
Post a Comment