Italian Sausage, Radicchio and Pear Pasta

Lately I feel like the Johnny Cash song, I've Been Everywhere. In the past few weeks I've been to Dallas, Rome, Budapest, Boston, New York, Minneapolis, Boise, Idaho and back again. I'm off to Rome today. I'm not complaining, mind you, but my affairs aren't in order. The weeds are growing, the dust is collecting and my computer time has been zero. If only I had an iPad for my journies....plus a few days off! Oh yeah, don't forget a house cleaner on that list of wants. I settled yesterday for an easy and tasty pasta dish to keep me going. I have been wanting to make the Pater Nostri pasta I bought in Rome using a recipe that was inspired by a dish I had at Trattoria Moderne last month. It had Italian sausage, pear and radicchio. The flavors rounded out each other with a little sweet from the pear, some savory sausage, salty cheese and a slightly bitter taste from the radicchio. The essences of life. I added some dried porcini mushrooms, onion, and a fresh grating of Parmigiano Reggiano cheese and that was about it. Pater Nostri pasta is shaped like rings of calamari. I saw some in Whole Foods the other day and they even called it calamari pasta. I like it in this dish because the sausage handily finds its way into the rings. Any pasta will work, but a tubular one catches any sauce and bits and pieces the best. I used garlic herb sausage from Whole Foods that was wonderful (it was even on sale!) As a garnish, I sprinkled chive flowerets from my blooming chives on top. They have a delicate look and chive flavor. All in all, this dish was quick, tasty and brought me back to Rome as all of the dust settled around me. Pasta with Italian Sausage, Radicchio and Pears

6 ounces Italian sausage, removed from casing*
1/2 cup diced onion
8 porcini mushrooms, reconstituted in 1/2 cup boiling water
2 radicchio leaves, sliced thinly
1/2 ripe Bosc pear, cut into 1/2 x 1/4 inch slices
2 servings cooked pasta
Freshly grated Parmesan cheese
Optional: Chive or other herb flowerets for garnish
*If the sausage doesn't have herbs in it, add the leaves from some sprigs of fresh thyme and a few finely snipped fresh sage leaves.

In a heavy skillet over medium heat, sauté the sausage and onion, breaking up the sausage as it cooks. Once the sausage is done and the onions are translucent, remove any excess oil. If you are using a high quality and lower fat sausage, you probably won't have any extra oil. Add the pears and radicchio, and stir until the pears are just slightly cooked and the radicchio is wilted. Transfer the sausage mixture into a bowl. Put the strained mushroom liquid into the skillet to deglaze over medium heat. Scrape up any bits that stick to the bottom and reduce the liquid by half. Return the sausage mixture back into the skillet and toss in cooked pasta to fully coat. If it seems dry at all, you can add a little of the cooked pasta water or a small amount of olive oil. Mine didn't need anything. Add a few gratings of Parmesan cheese and put into serving dishes. Top with the chive flower garnish if used, and offer freshly grated Parmesan cheese.
Serves 2 as a main course or 4 for a pasta course.

My Beautiful cutting board is from Ann at Thibeault's Table. Take a peek here...they are works of art.

Linguine with Tomatoes, Basil...and Balance

In yoga practice when you lean to the left and then to the right, you always come back to center and pause for physical and mental balance. Maintaining the same balance in life isn't always that easy. Sometimes we just need to stop and let life find it's own center....to temper adventure with contemplation....friends and family with solitude....work with stillness....black with white. I did just that with my break, and now I'm back! The power of nature helps. We are reminded that the center between black and white is not gray, but a shade of blush pink from a flower or the blue green of an impending wave of the ocean. I'm lucky that the beach is just 2 minutes away and Mother Nature's bounty is in my own backyard. I can pick my tomatoes and basil in the stillness of the morning and mix with ingredients that don't need any further attention than to mingle with one another. And what partners better with tomatoes and basil than pasta? Add extra virgin olive oil, garlic and cheese to this super easy sauce and it just doesn't get any better. The heat of the freshly cooked pasta melts the cheese and melds the flavors with just a simple stirring. This pasta dish is beach food, as my friend Nancy calls it. You can be at the beach all day and come home welcomed by the savory aromas, boil the pasta, toss with the awaiting mixture and now you have dinner....a perfectly balanced dinner in all ways.

Linguine with Tomatoes and Basil
(Adapted from The Silver Palate Cookbook)

4 large ripe tomatoes, cut into 1/2 inch cubes*
1 pound Brie cheese, rind removed, and torn into irregular pieces
1 cup cleaned fresh basil leaves, cut into strips
3 cloves garlic, peeled and finely minced
1 cup plus 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
2 1/2 teaspoons salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
dash of cayenne
1 1/2 pounds linguine
freshly grated Parmesan cheese
*I used the equivalent of a combination of red plum, Park's Whopper, Black Prince and yellow cherry tomatoes.

Combine the tomatoes, Brie, basil, garlic, 1 cup olive oil, 1/2 teaspoon salt and the peppers in a large serving bowl. Prepare at least 2 hours before serving and set aside, covered, at room temperature.Bring 6 quarts water to a boil in a large pot. Add 1 tablespoon olive oil and remaining salt. Add the linguine and boil until tender but firm, 8 to 10 minutes.

Drain pasta and immediately toss with the tomato mixture. Serve at once, adjusting salt and pepper to taste. Top with the freshly grated Parmesan cheese.

Serves 4-6.

A Tropical Storm And How I Saved my Gnocchi

Tropical storm Danny was howling along the east coast as my son was packing his last belongings to go back to college. I did last minute laundry and planned my son's farewell dinner. One of his favorites is homemade potato gnocchi. I make it a few times a year and combine recipes while trying to find the ultimate one. This time I was using Thomas Keller's recipe from "The French Laundry" cookbook. I put the potatoes into the oven to bake, and since he prefers his gnocchi with just butter, basil and some freshly grated Parmesan cheese, it all seemed easy. After the potatoes were done, I hastily scooped out the inside and continued with the recipe that called for the addition of 2 tablespoons salt. That seemed like a lot, so I only put in a tablespoon plus a little more. I added the flour and eggs and quickly kneaded the dough. A taste proved my salt theory right. The dough was already really salty, and I hoped the boiling water would leach out some of the salt. I put water on to boil and went out to the rainy garden to snip some basil for the gnocchi. When I walked back in the house, the lights were out. We had lost our power! We lit a few candles, but cooking by candlelight started to lose its romanticism as the darkness grew. We chatted and lit more candles until we had about 6 lined up on the counter. Draining the gnocchi in the dim light, I was hoping they would be edible. My son politely ate 2 bites and we decided they were just way too salty. Disappointed, I made some packaged gnocchi for him, trying to salvage dinner. Sometimes things just don't go as planned. We had just finished eating when the lights came back on. The kitchen was a mess, but at least I could see to clean up!!

I then had a large batch of salty gnocchi that I didn't want to just throw out. I thought maybe if I made a sauce of fresh tomatoes and didn't add any salt to it, that it may all even out. So, the following day I persevered, made the sauce and was glad I did. Finally success! They were absolutely delicious with a freshly made sauce of tomatoes, garlic, shallots and basil. Next time I'll make the same combination with less salt in the gnocchi and some salt in the sauce. I am going to stick with my final adapted recipe and have it just right for my son's first visit back for a home cooked meal....barring anymore tropical storms!
Potato Gnocchi

2 pounds large baking potatoes (about 1 pound each)
2 eggs, or 3 egg yolks,* slightly beaten
1 1/4-1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
2 teaspoons salt

Wash potatoes and bake in a preheated 350 degree oven for about 1 hour or until done. Cool slightly, scoop out the insides and put them through a ricer. Put riced potatoes into a medium bowl and make a well in the center. Add 1/2 cup flour, the slightly beaten eggs and then another 1/2 cup flour and salt into the center. Quickly and gently mix together with your hands, adding more flour if needed, while forming into a ball. The dough should be barely sticky. The less flour used and the less handling will produce a lighter gnocchi. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and cut dough into 1/2 inch logs. Cut the logs into 1/2 inch pieces.** Using a generous amount of flour, press each piece against your thumb tip to make a dent or roll it over the back and off the tip of floured fork tines to make a ridged shape. Placed the shaped gnocchi on a lightly floured sheet pan. When finished shaping, cook them in lightly salted boiling water.

Add the gnocchi to the boiling water and until they rise to the top. Let them boil for a minute or 2 more and remove with a slotted spoon. Continue cooking all of them, and place on a parchment lined sheet until all are done. Serve right away with desired sauce or butter and cheese.

If you aren't going to be cooking all of them right away, they may be frozen. Freeze in a single layer on a sheet pan and then place in a sealed container to store in the freezer. Do not thaw them before cooking or they will stick together. To cook them, put the frozen gnocchi directly into the boiling water. The cooking time of the frozen gnocchi will be slightly longer.

Makes about 10 dozen small gnocchi.

*many recipes call for either just egg yolks or some use whole egg plus egg yolk. Just using egg yolk makes them much more delicate, but just a little harder to work with.
**I often don't roll them on the fork to make the ridges and they are just as good, if not traditionally shaped. The ridges help sauce cling to the gnocchi.
Tomato Pasta Sauce

1 large shallot, chopped into small dice
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 tablespoons olive oil
6 fresh basil leaves, sliced
6 medium tomatoes, 8 if using plum tomatoes
salt and pepper to taste

In a medium skillet over medium heat, saute shallot and garlic in the olive oil until just soft. Coarsely dice the tomatoes into 1/2 inch pieces and add to the shallot garlic mixture. Toss in basil. Simmer over low heat until the sauce thickens and is no longer watery, about 40 minutes. Salt and pepper to taste.
Makes about 1 1/2-2 cups sauce.


Potato Gnocchi recipe (pdf)
Tomato Pasta Sauce recipe (pdf)