Pasta with Italian Sausage and Peppers

I never intended to write a post about last night’s dinner, fettuccine with Italian sausage and peppers, because I made it with a jar of spaghetti sauce. I didn’t think a “semi-homemade” recipe merited a blog post. How Sandra Lee! Did you know she lives with NY Governor Andrew Cuomo? I bet he’s had this dish a hundred times.

But then I thought, why not? It’s a quick and easy recipe that’s really delicious. It doesn’t even look or taste like a processed meal. Maybe some of my friends would appreciate adding this to their repertoire.

My next nagging thought: isn’t this one of those dishes, like hamburgers, that everyone already knows how to make? No, I shouldn’t assume everyone knows how to make this. Heck, a lot of people probably wouldn’t even think about making it. Sure, if you’ve spent a lot of time around an Italian-American family or kitchen, you’re used to seeing this pasta. But I doubt everyone thinks about this dish when they see sausage and peppers on sale.

My cooking inspiration was the Italian sausage on sale at Lowes Food this weekend for $2.97/pound. Hot or mild, the meat man asked. Hot, please. I picked up a few bell peppers and then scored a package of sliced Portobello mushrooms for 79 cents – one of those deeply discounted items I love so much. Whenever I buy these crazily discounted foods, I come home so happy, bragging to Jim about each of my finds. “Do you know what a deal that is?!?” I’m not sure he’s even listening anymore, but I can’t help myself and will continue to share my enthusiasm with him. Ha, sorry honey!

If you use mild Italian sausage instead of hot, taste the sauce toward the end and see if it needs any additional heat. If it does, add a little crushed red pepper flakes. I used 1-1/2 jars of spaghetti sauce because I wanted enough sauce for a pound of pasta. I like a saucy sauce. Plus there’s enough for dipping your garlic bread. Yes, buy or make some garlic bread. And red wine.

Pasta with Italian Sausage and Peppers

You’ll need a large pot with lid and a large deep pan.

• 1 pound of pasta – fettuccine, linguine, penne – it’s your choice
• Salt
• Olive oil
• Hot or mild Italian sausage, sliced into ½” pieces
  
• 2 green bell peppers (or 1 green and 1 red), sliced into thick strips
• 1 large onion, sliced
• Mushrooms, sliced – use as many white, cremini or Portobello as you wish
• 3 cloves of garlic, minced
• 1 to 1-1/2 jars of spaghetti sauce – have a second jar on hand, just in case
• 1 teaspoon dried oregano, or 1 tablespoon chopped fresh oregano
• 1 teaspoon dried basil, or 1 tablespoon chopped fresh basil
• Ground black pepper
• Optional – crushed red pepper flakes
• Fresh Italian parsley
• Parmesan cheese

Put a large pot of water on the stove, cover it and bring it to a boil over high heat. When boiling, add salt and the pasta. Give it a good stir and cook according to pasta package directions for al dente.

Heat a bit of olive oil in a large deep pan on medium heat. Don’t use too much oil, maybe a teaspoon will do it, because the sausage will give off a lot of grease. Cook sausage, stirring so all sides cook, until it’s browned and cooked through, about 8 minutes. Add peppers, onion and mushrooms to the pan. Cook, stirring every now and then, until softened, about 5 minutes. Make some room in the middle of the pan, and add the garlic to the bottom. Cook about a minute or until just starting to golden.

Stir in the spaghetti sauce. Add oregano, basil and black pepper. Turn the heat down to low and let it simmer very very lightly. The sauce is already cooked so you only need to heat it up, but a little extra time at really low heat will help the flavors meld. Be careful not to burn the sauce by using too much heat. Stir and taste. If you want more heat, add a little crushed red pepper flakes. Season with anything else it needs – additional salt, pepper, basil or oregano.

Meanwhile, drain the pasta when it’s cooked to al dente. When the sauce is ready, add the pasta and parsley to the pan and mix it all up. I let it sit a bit more (maybe a minute or two) so the pasta absorbs the sauce flavors. Hopefully you’ll have enough sauce to coat the pasta. If not, quickly add more sauce from the jar, stir it in and taste again for seasoning.

Serve the pasta with parmesan cheese. Have your garlic bread and red wine ready too.

This recipe makes enough for two big eaters with plenty of leftovers for breakfast or lunch the next day. Breakfast of champions!

Chicken Milanese

Here’s one of those I-don’t-have-a-clue-what-to-make-but-it-has-to-be-fast dinners. You’ll need boneless skinless chicken breasts on hand but you’re likely to have all the other ingredients in your cupboard and refrigerator.

As you would suspect from the name, this style of preparing a cutlet comes from Milan, Italy. You’re more likely to see a giant cutlet of veal Milanese on the menus over there. I usually serve pasta on the side, something simple like pasta with butter, olive oil, garlic and herbs. And you’ll need a vegetable. I usually serve broccoli rabe or Broccoli with Red Pepper Flakes and Toasted Garlic, but Eggplant Caponata would be a fantastic side for this, or Summer Vegetables with Pesto.

It’s simple and quick but really tasty and satisfying. A no-brainer of a dinner that’s in the soul food category.

photo by Jeffrey Allen

Chicken Milanese

You’ll need three shallow bowls, large skillet and paper towel-lined plate.

• 1/4 cup flour
• 1/2 teaspoon garlic salt
• Several grinds of black pepper
• 1 egg
• 1 tablespoon milk
• 3/4 cup panko breadcrumbs
• 1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese
• 1 teaspoon dried thyme
• 1 teaspoon dried basil
• 1 small package large boneless skinless chicken breasts (1 to 1-1/2 pounds or 2 large breasts), pounded thin (1/4” to 1/2” thick)
• Olive oil
• Lemon, cut into wedges

Combine flour, garlic salt and pepper in a dish. In a shallow bowl, whisk the egg and milk. In another dish combine breadcrumbs, parmesan, thyme and basil.

Cut chicken into palm- to hand-size portions. One at a time, dredge each piece in the flour, then the egg mixture, dripping off the excess, and then coat all sides with the crumb/cheese mixture.

Heat olive oil over medium-high heat in a large skillet until a breadcrumb sizzles when you drop it in. Add chicken and fry on one side until nicely browned, not burnt or dark brown, but a rich medium brown color. Turn over and fry the other side. As soon as the pieces are done, remove them to a paper towel-lined plate to drain. Immediately squirt lemon juice over the chicken pieces. Serve with lemon wedges on the side.

Soul Food: Thai Peanut Butter Pasta

My brother Ed made this for the first time for me back in the 90’s. Ever since, it’s been the dish I make when I have leftover vegetables and cilantro in the refrigerator and a craving for comfort food.

I use the word “Thai” here with some literary license. Although I’ve had peanut and sesame flavored noodle dishes in both Thai and Indonesian restaurants, I’m not claiming that this dish resembles anything found in Thailand.

When I make pasta I never measure ingredients so the amounts here are estimates. If you think you want more peanut butter flavor, go for it. You can play with the ginger and garlic too. Don’t feel obliged to use the sauces (soy, fish, sriracha) that I do. Use the flavors that appeal to you. You can add shrimp, chicken or pork. The recipe is very flexible. If your sauce gets too dry, add more milk or ladle some of the pasta water into it to loosen it up a bit. The photo shows my pan as the sauce was simmering. It’s redder than usual because I was a bit gung-ho with the sriracha. That was some spicy pasta!

Thai Peanut Butter Pasta

• ½# pasta – I usually use whole wheat linguine, fettuccine or penne.
• 1 medium or large onion, sliced
• 2 cups of sliced or chopped vegetables – Broccoli (florets and stems), bok choy, greens, red bell pepper, carrot and zucchini are all good choices, use what you have.
• 3 cloves garlic, chopped or sliced
• ½ tsp allspice – Use any type of spice you wish. I used to add Chinese 5-spice all the time but when I ran out I switched to allspice.
• 1 tsp ginger powder or 1 Tbsp fresh ginger, minced or grated
• 1 Tbsp (or less) sriracha or other hot sauce
• ½ cup crunchy peanut butter
• 1 Tbsp soy sauce
• 1 tsp fish sauce
• ½ cup or more milk or cream
• Pasta water
• ¼ cup chopped cilantro
• 1 tsp sesame oil
• Optional – chopped scallions
• Optional – chopped peanuts

Put a large pot of water on the stove to boil. Add the pasta to the boiling water once your vegetables are nearly softened and ready for the liquid ingredients. You can always let your sauce sit a bit and wait for the pasta to be ready, but if your pasta sits and waits for the sauce to be ready, it will either overcook or, if drained, get sticky and cling together.

In a large pan, saute the onions and other vegetables on medium heat. If you are using any vegetables that will need more time to cook than the others, start those first, or steam them a bit first before adding them to the pan, so everything will be ready in the pan at the same time. About one minute before the vegetables are softened, turn the heat to low and add the garlic, allspice, ginger and any other spices. Saute just until the garlic starts to golden.

Turn the heat to medium and add the hot sauce, peanut butter, soy sauce and fish sauce. Stir in the peanut butter so it melts and blends with the other ingredients. Then add the milk and stir to blend all the ingredients. The sauce will thicken as it cooks. If it gets too thick, add some milk or water from the pasta pot. Taste as you go. What is it missing? More hot sauce? Peanut butter? Salt? Add a little of this and that to get it where you want it.

Before draining the pasta, take out a few ladles of the pasta water and reserve it in a small bowl. Drain the pasta and add it to the pan along with the cilantro. Mix it all up and let it meld together. Add more pasta water if it’s too dry. When it’s ready, drizzle a little sesame oil over the pasta.

Serve in huge bowls. If you’d like, garnish each bowl with some chopped scallions and peanuts.

Soul Food: Linguine with White Clam Sauce

Do you have a repertoire of pastas that you return to again and again? Pastas that don’t require much brain effort?

Pastas are my soul food. I may be Irish-Lithuanian but I think all those years growing up in southern Massachusetts amidst Italians, visits to the Italian bakery in my grandparents’ East Cambridge neighborhood, and working in and managing Italian restaurants have indelibly marked my taste buds, nose and stomach as Italian territory. I’m okay with that.

This recipe is an old faithful when I don’t have any ideas for dinner, or when the cupboard is bare. I usually have pasta, onions, garlic and canned clams. The zucchini isn’t always in the fridge but it’s an easy enough thing to pick up at the store. I’m lucky that I have a huge planter full of oregano, but dried oregano has served me well enough in the past. Of course, it would be better with fresh clams, maybe some white wine too, but those ingredients aren’t always hanging around.

I’m sorry I don’t have exact quantities for the ingredients, but that’s the beauty of pasta sauces, they’re very forgiving. Do what smells right. This recipe makes enough for two healthy eaters.

pasta to veggie ratio is a little off

Linguine with White Clam Sauce

• Whole wheat linguine — I’m a whole wheat pasta convert, it has a heartier flavor and it’s good for you. You could use fettuccine too. Or really anything, but those are my usual choices. How much? A handful, I suppose. I’ve always been a bit excessive with pasta as you can tell by the photo.
• Olive oil
• Medium to large onion, sliced — I usually half the onion, lengthwise, then half it again but not all the way through, and cut slices from each half.
• 2-3 zucchini, quartered lengthwise and sliced — This will depend upon the size of your zucchini, but you want more zucchini then onion.
• Salt to taste
• 3-4 garlic cloves, chopped or sliced – Again, this depends upon the size of your cloves and your love for garlic. Garlic is a prominent flavor in this dish.
• 1/4 cup or so white wine, optional
• 1 or 2 6.5oz cans of chopped or minced clams – You could do more. I only add one can for two people because I don’t want to use all my cans on one meal.
• Crushed red pepper flakes to taste
• Freshly ground black pepper to taste
• Oregano — Use several sprigs of fresh if you have it, if not, about 1/2 tsp of dried is a good place to start.
• 1-2 Tbsp butter
• Parmesan cheese – freshly grated parmigiana or the green can – I know there’s this supposed Italian rule against cheese with seafood but I don’t always subscribe to it.

Put water on, in a covered pot, to boil. I do this as soon as I start chopping; I can always turn it off once it’s ready.

Saute the onions and zucchini in a large pan. Sprinkle some salt on them to help break them down. Once they’re pretty much done, add the garlic and saute for about a minute. If you’re using white wine, add it now and deglaze the pan, waiting for the wine to cook down a bit.

Meanwhile, add your pasta and salt to the boiling water and cook according to the box directions, but only to al dente. Reserve a few ladles of pasta water in a small bowl before draining the pasta.

Add the clams and juice, red pepper, dried oregano (if using) and black pepper to the pan, and let it cook for a few minutes. You just want to warm things through and meld the flavors. Wait until just before adding the pasta to add fresh chopped oregano.

Add the pasta to your pan along with a half a ladle (or more) of pasta water. Pasta water will add some starchiness, thickening the sauce. Let it all cook for about a minute or so. Add as much pasta water as you’d like to achieve the sauciness you want. When you’re done, turn off the heat and add the butter, hiding it under the pasta so it will melt and then mixing it in.

Serve with parmigiana (or parmesan) cheese. If you have enough sauce on your plate, it’s really good to sop it up with some bread. Of course, a glass of red wine heightens the whole experience, while cooking and dining. May I suggest the BV Coastal Estates Cabernet Sauvignon which is on sale right now at Lowes Foods for $7.49 (marked down from $12.49).

Tell me about your soul food dishes. Do you have a go-to pasta or another dish that you can make in your sleep?

Shrimp Pesto Pasta

The night before we left for the beach, I got out the scissors to harvest some basil to make pesto to take along with us. I’m milking these basil plants as long as I can by cutting off leaves and new growth weekly so I can hold off the inevitable flowering. Since they’re in pots they’re not going to get too big. Each harvesting gives me about 1 to 1-1/2 cups of pesto.

I had no ideas about what I might do with the pesto, but I figured I could always make pasta. And sure enough, when Jim’s uncle gave us a huge bag of fresh shrimp (heads and all), I knew pasta was on the menu that night. I saved the heads and shells for my friend Scott to use as a stock base for the delicious clam chowder he makes every summer for the clan — this year, about 45 of us. He sweats under the relentless sun while clamming in the  low-tide mud of the lagoon and we get the rewards –  two huge pots of chowder.

I’m sorry to say that making pasta is never an exercise in measuring for me. I’m guessing at these ingredient amounts. At the beach I made enough for about 10-12 people, but I’m estimating here for about 2-4 people, depending on your appetite and love of leftovers. Sorry, I can’t get any more specific. When in doubt, use more ingredients.

One tip: don’t add all the cooked pasta at once to the pan in case you made too much pasta for the amount of sauce you have. If you do have leftover cooked pasta, toss it with some olive oil and store in the refrigerator to use later in the week.

No original photos, again. I forgot to bring my camera to the beach. I did find a photo on another website that looked a bit like what I made, minus some ingredients.

Mine was better.

Shrimp Pesto Pasta

• Olive oil to coat the pan
• 1 large onion, at least, cut in half and sliced
• Optional – 1 large zucchini, cut in quarters lengthwise and sliced — I had some in the refrigerator so I used it. You could add any vegetable you think would enhance the dish, like asparagus or broccoli.
• Garlic – a few cloves, minced or sliced
• 1 large tomato, chopped, or grape or cherry tomatoes, cut in half or quarters, or chopped sundried tomatoes (go lighter on the sundrieds since they are more intensely flavored)
• Shrimp, minus heads and shells, cleaned, left whole or cut into large pieces
• 1/4 cup or so of white wine
• Optional – cream or milk, if you want a creamy pesto sauce
• Pesto — add Parmesan cheese to it if you haven’t already
• Reserved pasta water
• A few Tbsp of butter
• Salt and pepper
• 1/2 to 1 pound of pasta — fettuccine, linguine or whatever is on hand

Start heating your pasta water until it comes to a boil. Then add pasta, stirring a good amount at the beginning so it doesn’t stick.

Add olive oil to your heated pan. Saute onions (and any other vegetables) over low heat until soft. Add garlic and saute until it starts to smell good and turn a bit golden. Then add chopped tomatoes and salt. When tomatoes have “melted” a bit, add shrimp and saute a few minutes.

Add wine to pan, let it reduce a bit and then add milk or cream, if using, and let it reduce further.

Reserve some pasta water before draining your pasta. Meanwhile, add and stir in pesto to your pan. Taste for seasoning. Then add your drained pasta and mix it all up good, adding pasta water if you need more sauce. If feeling indulgent, add a few Tbsp of butter and mix in before serving.

Make a salad and some garlic bread, pour some wine and enjoy this pasta.

Old School Memories – Chicken Parmigiana

Time flew away from me the other night and all of a sudden it was 7:00 pm. I was hungry and I hadn’t even thought about dinner. I had chicken breasts ready to go but no inspiration. So, as usually happens in these situations, I fall back to what I know from my Italian restaurant days – menus that are imprinted in my brain. That usually means pasta, but when I opened the frig I saw tomato sauce, grated parmigiano and mozzarella. Inspired! Chicken parmigiana, the old-school Italian-American menu staple.

My first waiting job was the summer between my freshman and sophomore years in college. That was also the last summer I spent home in Massachusetts. My dad pulled some strings and arranged for me to get a job at his regular lunch place, George’s Cafe – a busy Italian restaurant in Brockton, MA. It’s been owned by the Tartaglia family for 70 years. One of the uncles worked for Rocky Marciano so there was boxing memorabilia all over the bar. Most of the staff were related somehow, either Tartaglias or Marcianos – all Sicilian-Americans and lifers in the restaurant industry. Charlie ran the place, often as maitre d’ on busy nights, all glammed up in his white suit, black shirt and gold pendant, working the crowd of regulars. His daughter, who was only a few years older than me, ran the kitchen and worked the sauté station. She was tough and had no patience for errors. I was the youngest and least experienced by far. I don’t think any of them thought I would last, but it turns out I was a natural at waiting tables.

One of the waitresses told me I’d never work in a place as strange as George’s. She might have been right. Their ordering system involved different colored pencils. We were called to pick up food with a coded bell system that was usually abused by impatient cooks. There were regular kitchen blow-ups that somehow ended up with us on the receiving end of a tirade or cooks exchanging blows out in the parking lot. But when things cooled down, they could be the nicest people. I learned how to deal with all kinds of customers, became a fast and efficient waitress and made some really good money considering I was working in a tough old city like Brockton.

The menu was typical old-school fare – veal, chicken, seafood, pasta and pizza. I see the same kind of menu still all over southern Massachusetts. The food was good and I still visit there sometimes when I go home. I once had the best spaghetti carbonara of my life there – I still think about it.

Here’s how I make chicken parmigiana. You’ll need:

• Boneless skinless chicken breasts, pounded thin
• Dish of beaten egg, salt and pepper
• Dish of bread crumbs mixed with some parmigiana cheese or green can parmesan
• Olive oil
• Marinara or jarred spaghetti sauce
• Grated mozzarella cheese

Dip the chicken in the egg wash and then in the bread crumb/cheese mixture, making sure to get all sides covered. Let them rest for 5-10 minutes. Heat up the oil and sauté the breasts on both sides until they’re golden-brown. Put them in a baking pan. Top each with some sauce and mozzarella. Bake at 350 for about 15 minutes or until the chicken is done and the cheese just turns golden-brown.

Serve with spaghetti marinara and pour yourself a glass of red wine. Cin cin!