2 FRESH SUMMER PASTAS 4 DINNER
Two Weeknight Dinners that are Low Labor with Punchy Flavor!
Hello W4D Friends! For many of you, it’s back to school time, and that means leaning back into a weeknight routine… Which also means it’s probably time to have some fast ‘n’ easy weeknight dinners in your repertoire. Lucky for you, we’ve got TONS OF ‘EM! Be sure to peruse our recipe archives (and yes, there’s a search function, so you can type in “chicken” or “cauliflower” to narrow the search by ingredients you already have on hand).
This week at What’s 4 Dinner?, we’re highlighting a weeknight dinner staple—PASTA! Elizabeth has a Grilled Zucchini Spaghetti and Anthony’s taking advantage of peak tomato season with his Fresh Tomato Puttanesca (barely any cooking involved other than the pasta itself!). Plus, we’re announcing the winner of our Ninja Woodfire 8-in-1 Outdoor Oven giveaway!!
FRESH TOMATO PUTTANESCA PASTA
AU: I think I’ve mentioned here that I’m the laaaaaaziest of lazy cooks, ya? Well, true to form, I’m getting lazier… Maybe it’s the heat of mid-August, maybe it’s the lack of motivation to “exert” myself in any way, or maybe it’s the fact that most of the produce you pick up right now is so darn tootin’ good that you really don’t need to fux with it!
EK: I guess our dirty little secret is that we are both kinda lazy cooks—why do you think I LOVE to grill? Great flavor, easy to execute, and no dishes to wash!
AU: Amen, sis! In the spirit of laziness, I decided to try my hand at an almost no-cook pasta. Before you clock me, YES, there is some cooking involved. But it’s minimal cooking, and it’s v v easy, I promise. If you can boil water, you can make this!
AU: There’s a whole long, fabled debate behind Pasta Puttanesca’s origin. Some say that the heady and pungent combination of ingredients was placed on the window sills of brothels in the Spanish Quarters of Naples to lure paying customers in (Puttana means “whore” in Italian. You’re welcome.).
Others say that the garlicky, anchovy-and-olive-laden pasta was a concoction to give the ladies bad breath, and thus, keep their customers from wanting to kiss during their… err… consultations.
EK: And, I always thought it was named “Puttanesca” because it was cheap, quick and easy—just like… !
AU: I honestly don’t know if I believe any of these tales, but what I do know is that puttanesca needs to be punchy with flavor and will—apparently—make you a slut if you eat it. So let’s make some!!
AU: Let’s gather our ingredients: We’re going to be using the very best tomatoes you can find—they can be cherry, they can be heirloom, they can be a combo of both. Then we’re going to look to our olives… I like a combo of fruity, buttery Castelvetrano olives and salty Kalamatas, but do you. You’re also gonna need some garlic, capers, anchovies, and—this is not traditional—panko breadcrumbs. Another way I’m gonna gild the lily is by using Pecorino Romano cheese, and plenty of fresh basil (but you could sub Parmesan, fresh parsley, oregano, etc.).
AU: First step is to grate a clove of garlic into a tablespoon of red wine vinegar in a large heatproof bowl. This will be the bowl that you toss the hot pasta in, so make sure it’s not delicate. Once you’ve grated the garlic, let it hang out in the vinegar while you cook the pasta. This will tame the raw garlic’s “heat.” If you’re using anchovy—and I recommend that you do—rinse a filet or two and pat them dry. Then mash them with a fork on the side of the bowl until it becomes a paste.
AU: Other than boiling the pasta according to package directions, the only other cooking we’re doing is frying up some capers and breadcrumbs. When you fry a caper in olive oil, it not only imbues the oil with that briny flavor, but the capers get crispy and addictive.
Whether you’re using capers that are packed in brine or salt*, be sure to pat them dry before adding to the hot oil. Otherwise, you will absolutely ruin whatever you’re wearing with oil splatters, not to mention you’ll be cleaning your cooktop for the foreseeable future. *If using salt-packed capers, give them a good rinse under the tap, and then pat dry.
Once the capers start to crisp, add in your breadcrumbs and stir often until they become a deep golden brown. Remove the capers and breadcrumbs to a bowl and set aside until you’re ready to serve.
AU: Now that the cooking is done, all you have to do is toss everything together. Seriously! Cut your tomatoes into a chunky dice (or halve/quarter cherry tomatoes, as desired). I like to crush the big green Castelvetrano olives, and slice the Kalamatas—don’t ask me why—this is just what makes sense to me, k??
When the pasta is finished cooking (and cook it all the way, since there’s no “finishing it in the sauce” here), add the drained pasta to the bowl while it’s still piping hot. Give everything a toss with a generous drizzle of really good olive oil and then throw in some handfuls of basil leaves.
AU: Serve it up immediately in bowls topped with grated Pecorino Romano and those crispy caper breadcrumbs (BTW, this makes an EXCELLENT cold pasta salad! Just omit the breadcrumbs). Enjoy!!
EK: OMG! that looks better than the original! I am making that ASAP!
GRILLED ZUCCHINI SPAGHETTI
EK: I like to think that instead of the dog days of summer, it’s the zucchini days of summer. Every farm stand that I go to has mounds of zucchini—almost as much as they have tomatoes! And, I can’t resist buying it. If I am lucky, they have yellow zucchini which is my favorite and makes a ‘better than the original’ substitute in all my summer squash recipes.
This week, there wasn’t any yellow zucchini, but there was a ton of the green. I picked a bag of the smaller ones as the bigger the zucchini, the more seeds, the more water, and some have a slightly bitter taste. I chose carefully, because I knew exactly what I was going to do with them!
Ever since I read about the simple zucchini spaghetti from Lo Scoglio da Tommaso restaurant on the Amalfi Coast, I’ve thought it sounded like the perfect summer pasta dish. But truthfully, it never quite met my expectations.
I wanted to love Katie Lee Biegel’s sautéed version (which she served at her 2018 wedding), and I liked it. I wanted to love Stanley Tucci’s fried version and I liked it. Anthony tried an oven-roasted version and he liked it…
AU: It was great! But it does lean on the lemon, mint, and cheese that I added to make it really flavorful. Zucchini seems to be one of the more tricky vegetables to coax a lot of flavor from…
EK: It is tricky unless you grill it, and natch, I wondered if I would love a version made with grilled zucchini? And, like Goldilocks, I think it’s just right for me.
EK: Now, I don’t doubt for a second that if I were seated on the terrace looking over the Amalfi coast at Lo Scoglio, and I ordered the zucchini spaghetti, it would be the best thing I ever ate. It’s a testimony to the idea that the time, the place, the people that you enjoy a dish or wine or a cocktail with contribute as much to the flavor of the dish as the ingredients themselves.
But since I have never had the pleasure to sit at that table and smell the air while relaxing and taking in the view before my Spaghetti alla Nerano arrives, for me, it was a little bland.
AU: It’s so true, what you’ve said about taste memories—the environment in which you had that bite contributes every bit as much to the experience as the flavor… That’s why really special restaurants are such treasures in our communities!
EK: If you have been reading along with us, you may remember that I wrote about Tucci’s version last year. I watched his CNN show, “Searching for Italy” with lust. And, I painstakingly followed the instructions but still, I needed to add lemon zest to the dish to give it some zing—I know that is blasphemy and I apologize.
EK: I had a feeling that I wouldn’t need to add another ingredient to give the dish flavor since the grill imparts it’s own smoky, caramelized flavor to the food.
And, the great thing about making a grilled version is that you can grill the zucchini early in the day, like you would do if you were making antipasto, and chop it and re-heat it just before serving. The fact that you can grill it in advance makes it ideal for entertaining.
To grill the zucchini, cut it in planks. This means that instead of having lots of little round slices, you will end up with about nine planks. I cut a sliver lengthwise off of both ends so that I don’t have a piece that is all green skin. If that doesn’t bother you, don’t bother to cut it off. The planks should be about 1/4-inch thick.
EK: I place the planks in a resealable plastic bag and add just enough olive oil to coat them. Just before grilling, season with salt.
Preheat your grill on high and reduce the heat to medium. Make sure your cooking grates are very clean, and place the zucchini across the cooking grates to get the maximum grill marks. Grill them for about 2 minutes on each side, or until well-marked, but still a bit crisp.
EK: Remove the grilled planks and set them on a paper-towel-lined tray to absorb all the excess moisture. You will set these aside until it is time to eat.
EK: When you are ready to make the pasta, it comes together very quickly. After all, there are only a few core ingredients—the zucchini, the pasta, the cheese and basil.
EK: You need 2 pots: A skillet to make the garlic olive oil and re-warm the zucchini and a pot to boil the pasta. If you are still boiling your pasta in a tall pasta pot, now is the time to try something new. You don’t need a huge stock pot to boil the spaghetti and you don’t need to break it in half to fit a smaller pot. All you need is an 11-inch “casserole” or sauté pan with 3-inch sides. The advantage of using a pot this size is that you use a lot less water and it takes less time for the water to reach a boil.
As the pasta cooks, you make an infused garlic oil by slowly heating EVOO with a smashed garlic clove over low heat and add the chopped, grilled zucchini. By the time the pasta is done, everything will be hot and it only takes a couple of minutes to make the sauce.
You want to reserve about 3/4 of a cup of pasta water and drain the pasta. Put it back into your 11-inch pot—this is where you will build the dish while it is on low heat to keep it warm.
I add the butter to the spaghetti and mix well to coat the strands—this adds a tiny bit of texture and flavor and keeps the pasta from drying out as you make the sauce in the skillet.
Pour about 1/4 cup of the reserved pasta water into the skillet with the zucchini and add the finely grated Parmesan cheese. Mix well. The skillet should still be on low, but if the water has cooled off, you can raise the temperature a bit. If the sauce is too thick, add a bit more pasta water; if the sauce is too thin, add a bit more grated cheese.
In this recipe, people complain about the cheese clumping but I think that is because they are using cheese that is not finely grated. If you grate your own cheese with a Microplane, you won’t have this problem. And, it’s a great tool for adding more cheese on top as well.
Once the sauce is made in the skillet, you pour it on top of the spaghetti, mix gently with tongs, add salt and pepper to taste, and finish with lots of fresh basil leaves.
EK: Plate the pasta, add more basil, and a topping of Parmesan cheese. Buon Appetito!
NINJA WOODFIRE OVEN WINNER!
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