One Pan, Two Plates (5 page)

3.
Mound the pasta onto two heated plates and serve hot.

it’s that easy:
This dish is easy for me to pull together because I always have the ingredients on hand; boneless skinless chicken breasts and fresh pasta in the freezer; lemons, feta, and spinach in the fridge; and onions in the pantry. It’s so easy. It really is.

extra hungry?
Add a little green salad of butter lettuce, radicchio, and orange tossed with a glug of olive oil, salt, and lots of pepper.

in the glass:
A Beaujolais from Jadot would be my choice with this dish but if you’re looking for white you can’t go wrong with a bottle of Kim Crawford Sauvignon Blanc.

Fresh Pepper Linguine

with
OLIVE OIL-PACKED TUNA, CAPERS,
and
GOLDEN RAISINS

You gotta love a dinner that is sourced almost entirely from the pantry. It sits in the cupboard, just waiting to sustain you on dark, hungry nights. And it’s good . . . so good. Fresh black-pepper linguine with salty capers, sweet golden raisins, zesty orange, grassy fresh parsley, and a can of olive oil-packed tuna all tossed together with a garlicky dressing comes together in about 20 minutes to make a weeknight dinner that’s delicious, simple, and fast.

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START TO FINISH
20 minutes

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HANDS-ON TIME
20 minutes

...

serves 2

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1 orange

Salt

10 oz/280 g fresh black-pepper linguine (see “It’s that easy”)

¼ cup/60 ml extra-virgin olive oil

1 small yellow onion, diced

2 garlic cloves, minced

One 5-oz/140-g can olive oil—packed tuna, drained

¼ cup/40 g golden raisins

2 tbsp capers, rinsed

4 tbsp/5 g minced fresh flat-leaf parsley

Freshly ground black pepper

1.
Fill a 12-in/30.5-cm skillet with water up to about 1 in/2.5 cm from the top. Cover and bring to a boil over high heat.

2.
While the water is heating, use a Microplane or the small holes on a box grater to remove the zest from the orange. Set the zest aside. Switch to a knife and remove the rest of the peel and bitter white pith from the orange. Discard the peel and cut the flesh into bite-size sections. Set the flesh aside with the zest.

3.
Add 2 tsp salt to the boiling water and toss in the linguine. Stir gently once or twice so the noodles don’t stick. Cook, stirring occasionally, until al dente, about 3 minutes or according to the package directions. (To check, fish out a strand and bite into it. It should still be chewy, but not tough.) Scoop out about ¼ cup/60 ml of the pasta-cooking water and set it aside. Drain the pasta in a colander set in the sink and run just enough cold water over it to stop the cooking but not completely cool it off.

4.
Quickly place the hot pan over medium-high heat and add the olive oil. When the oil is so hot it shimmers (but is not smoking), add the onion and garlic and cook, stirring constantly, until the onion begins to soften and the garlic is fragrant, about 1 minute. Add the tuna, orange zest and flesh, raisins, and capers and toss the sauce for another minute or so to warm it through. Return the pasta to the pan along with about half of the reserved pasta-cooking water and half of the parsley, tossing with tongs to reheat the pasta and coat it nicely with the sauce. Taste and add more salt, a grind or two of pepper, and/or a little more of the pasta water to flavor and moisten as desired.

5.
Pile the pasta onto warmed plates, garnish with the remaining parsley, and serve hot.

it’s that easy:
I direct you to use fresh pasta for a few reasons: 1) I think it tastes best; 2) it has a nice chewy texture; 3) it cooks fast. My market sells a local company’s fresh pasta products, but there are nationally distributed brands as well. Try a few until you find the brands that suit you. It’s a tough job, but someone has to do it.

extra hungry?
Dice a big, ripe tomato and toss it with 1 teaspoon minced garlic, a splash of balsamic vinegar, and a drizzle of olive oil. Mound it onto crispy bread rounds and top it with a little grated Parmesan or feta cheese. It’s like a little appetizer with your meal.

in the glass:
A crispy, fruity rosé is delicious with this pasta dish. Stick with the Italian theme and go for something Sicilian like Tasca d’Almerita Regaleali Rose.

Pasta Carbonara

Classic pasta carbonara is rich, smoky, salty, and cheesy—the epitome of comfort food. What makes this dish a classic is the egg-centric sauce that thickens just enough when tossed with the hot pasta, crispy bacon, and nutty Parmesan. Though pasta carbonara isn’t exactly health food, I believe that everyone could use a heaping helping of carbohydrate comfort on a regular basis. You can decide whether you need it monthly, weekly, or daily. I’m not here to judge!

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START TO FINISH
25 minutes

...

HANDS-ON TIME
25 minutes

...

serves 2

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2¼ tsp salt

10 oz/280 g fresh linguine

2 large eggs, beaten

Freshly ground black pepper

1 tbsp olive oil

4 slices bacon, chopped

2 garlic cloves, minced

½ cup/55 g freshly grated Parmesan or Pecorino Romano cheese (see “It’s that easy”)

2 tsp minced fresh flat-leaf parsley

1.
Fill a 12-in/30.5-cm skillet with water up to about 1 in/2.5 cm from the top. Cover and bring to a boil over high heat. Add 2 tsp of the salt and toss in the linguine. Stir gently once or twice so the noodles don’t stick.

2.
Meanwhile, in a bowl, whisk together the eggs, remaining ¼ tsp salt, and a few grinds of pepper. Set aside.

3.
Cook the pasta for about 2 minutes, or 1 minute less than directed on the package. It’s important that the pasta isn’t completely cooked at this point. (To check, fish out a strand and bite into it. It should still be chewy, but not tough.) Don’t worry, the pasta will finish cooking in the sauce. Scoop out about ¼ cup/60 ml of the pasta-cooking water and whisk about 2 tbsp into the egg mixture. Set the rest of the pasta water aside. Drain the pasta in a colander set in the sink and run just enough cold water over it to stop the cooking. It should still be hot.

4.
Put the empty skillet over medium-high heat and add the olive oil and chopped bacon. Cook the bacon, stirring often, until crispy, about 3 minutes. Using a slotted spoon, transfer the bacon to the egg mixture and remove the pan from the heat.

5.
Add the garlic to the pan and cook it in the hot bacon fat, off the heat, until fragrant, about 20 seconds. It should sizzle. Return the drained pasta to the pan and toss it in the hot bacon fat for about 1 minute to reheat it. Quickly pour in the egg mixture and all but about 2 tbsp of the cheese and toss to blend the ingredients thoroughly. The egg mixture should thicken into a sauce. Add more of the reserved pasta water if it seems dry. Taste and adjust the seasoning.

6.
Heap the pasta onto warmed plates. Garnish with the reserved cheese and the parsley and serve hot.

variation:
This classic recipe of pasta, eggs, smoked pork, and cheese is extremely versatile, so once you’ve mastered this dish, go ahead and get creative. Try adding other ingredients like roasted red peppers, sun-dried tomatoes, mushrooms, or peas. You can also swap in different cheeses, such as Gorgonzola, or pasta styles such as fresh cavatelli.

tip:
Pasta has a tendency to cool off quickly when piled onto a cold plate, so it’s really important that the dinner plates are hot when you serve this dish. Heat them in the microwave for a minute and a half right before serving.

it’s that easy:
Good cheese is a real shortcut to the best flavor, but that almost always means you must buy a chunk and grate it yourself. Look for individually wrapped chunks in the gourmet cheese bin section at your grocery or visit your local cheese monger for Parmigiano-Reggiano, the king of Parmesans. Authentic Parmigiano-Reggiano has a dot matrix design on the rind. Look for a chunk with only one side of the rind (that hard inedible outer covering) attached for the best bang for your buck.

extra hungry?
An escarole salad tossed with a peeled and diced navel orange, a splash of white wine vinegar, and a glug of olive oil is all you need.

in the glass:
I like to drink Italian wine with Italian food, and this classic pasta would taste great with a medium-bodied Chianti. Look for the term “Riserva” on the label, as it generally denotes a higher quality.

Spinach-and-Cheese Tortellini

with
LEEKS
and
CREAMY MUSHROOM SAUCE

Of all the shortcut products available in grocery stores, my favorite just might be fresh filled pastas. I’ve chosen spinach-and-cheese tortellini here because they’re delicious, they cook fast, and their beautiful green color goes so well with the classic cream sauce, sweet caramelized leeks, and woodsy cremini mushrooms. The impressive sauce is surprisingly simple to make—just reduced wine and heavy cream. Yet another shortcut to making any night feel like the weekend.

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START TO FINISH
30 minutes

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HANDS-ON TIME
20 minutes