Eating My Words

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Peconic Bay Scallop Season 2019

Peconic Bay Scallop Season is Here The first Monday of November is a day I usually look forward to, but this hasn’t always been the case. The Atlantic bay scallop season in New York state begins on that day and over the years it has…

Bay Scallop Season 2017

Bay Scallop Season 2017

Atlantic Bay Scallop Season is Here The first Monday of November is a day I always look forward to, but this hasn’t always been the case. The Atlantic bay scallop season in New York state begins on that day and over the years it has…

Malloreddus alla Campidanese

Malloreddus mis-en-place
Malloreddus alla Campidanese

Malloreddus alla Campidanese is a pasta dish that comes from Sardegna. It’s basically a sausage and tomato ragu with saffron and onions that is finished with pecorino cheese. Malloreddus is a short pasta that looks a little like cavatelli and is usually made with semolina flour, water, and saffron. Some alternative pasta shapes that would work well in this dish include gnocchi, cavatelli, fusilli, penne rigate, rigatoni, and pappardelle.

This pasta is delicious and it all comes together in about 30 minutes.

4 servings

2 T. extra virgin olive oil
15 g. garlic, thinly sliced
200 g. red onions, diced
285 g. sweet Italian sausage (roughly two links, removed from the casing)
1–28 ounce can of San Marzano tomatoes (passed through a food mill, pureed, or crushed by hand)
.5 g. saffron threads bloomed in 3 T. hot water
228 g. dried malloreddus or other pasta cooked per instructions on the package–drained and cooled
2 t. kosher salt
1 t. freshly ground black pepper
12 leaves of fresh basil
1 c. grated pecorino cheese (more or less to your liking)

1. Film a saucepan with the olive oil and add the garlic and onions. Sweat until they are tender–a little color is fine.

2. Add the sausage and cook, stirring often to keep breaking the sausage up until most of the pink color is gone.

3. Add the saffron and the soaking water along with the canned tomatoes.

4. Add the salt and pepper and bring the contents of the pan to a boil. Reduce the heat and simmer until it has reduced by 25% and has thickened.

5. Add the pasta to the sauce and allow the pasta to heat through and absorb a little of the sauce.

6. Add the basil leaves and stir to combine.

7. Spoon equal amounts of the pasta and sauce into 4 bowls, drizzle with a little extra-virgin olive oil and top with pecorino cheese.

Malloreddus pasta
Malloreddus Ragu before tomatoes

foodTalk

foodTalk Two weeks ago I had the great good fortune to shoot some television with my friends Steve Haweeli, from Wordhampton PR, and Chef Michael Rozzi from the 1770 House in East Hampton, NY. I’ve known both of these guys for over 20 years and…

Private Chef Services 2017

It’s been a while since I last posted here and as 2016 winds down I have already begun to refine my plans for my Private Chef Services 2017. This refinement is a continuous process that strives to keep up with changes in the ways that…

My First Chilled Tomato Soup of 2016

My First Chilled Tomato Soup of 2016

Ripe beefsteak tomatoes have finally arrived on the east end of Long Island. They are about a week or two behind local cherry tomatoes and it’s great to have the whole tomato family around to cook (and not cook) with for the remainder of the summer. (more…)

A Midsummer Night’s Cooking in the Hamptons

A Midsummer Night’s Cooking in the Hamptons This is my 25th season of cooking in the Hamptons during the summer. The first 23 seasons were spent in restaurant kitchens (The 1770 House, Della Femina, and cittanuova for the most part) and the last two have…

Cooking: Summer in the Hamptons 2016

Today is the first day of summer and it is also the start of my 25th summer season of cooking in the Hamptons. My first summer of cooking on the east end of Long Island was in 1992 with the opening of Della Femina restaurant in…

The Chef Cooks at Home

The Chef Cooks at Home

I still cook in restaurants at times, as a part of my consulting work. But these days, even more than cooking in restaurants, the chef cooks at home and in the homes of other people. The techniques and methods involved are not radically different. In both settings, I spend my time creating new recipes or adapting older ones.

Cooking at Home

This past weekend I cooked a couple of things that seemed suitable for the weather and the people I was feeding. It seems like the right thing to share them here. (more…)

“Cooked” by Michael Pollan

Some thoughts on “Cooked” by Michael Pollan on Netflix This past Friday, February 19, Netflix added a four-part documentary to its programming line-up. It is called “Cooked” and it is based on a book of the same name by noted food journalist and accomplished home…