Lazy Memorial Day Weekend Pasta
by tristero
As many of you know, I’ve taken up cooking in a big way – I enjoy it so much that it’s difficult to remember that it has political and cultural implications. With those squarely not in mind (grin), I offer the following recipe for a very simple pasta dish I made up last night and which I think you might like. The recipe is informal: I initially wrote it up for a cooking friend of mine. Anyone with even rudimentary cooking skills should be able to follow it.
It has some interesting techniques, a combo of stuff inspired by Bon Appetit’s amazing cacio e pepe and something I saw Giada do on tv – don’t laugh, she’s a damn good cook. Anyway, have fun and if you’re so inclined, post critiques, variations, etc.
Perciatelli with garlic, cherry tomatoes, pecorino, and Parmigiano
30 minutes max start to finish.
Get a box of Perciatelli, which is a thick, round, hollow pasta. The advantage is that it has a long al dente window, so if you’re off by a minute or two – a disaster with spaghetti – it doesn’t matter.
Dice up some garlic, 2 or 3 cloves (or more), using a microplane, grate about a 1/2 cup pecorino and a 1/2 cup parmigiano (it’s not as much as it sounds; use 1/3 cup of each if using a normal grater), and wash a couple of handfuls, say 8 to 10, of ripe cherry tomatoes but don’t split them.
Put on some water to boil for the pasta. At the same time, heat a skillet on medium. Add a tablespoon or so of olive oil. Once the oil is hot, add the garlic and lower the heat so it cooks slowly and doesn’t burn. When it starts to brown add the cherry tomatoes, whole. Turn heat up to medium or so. Cook the tomatoes/garlic, stirring occasionally.
Now, the pasta pot should be up to a boil. When it is, add more salt than you can stand (literally, a small handful) to the water and bring up to a boil again.Then toss in about 1/2 a box of the perciatelli (8 oz). Set a timer for 3 minutes below the recommended cook time (ie, if the package says to cook for 11 minutes, set the timer for 8 minutes).
While the pasta cooks, have merry fun squishing the tomatoes open with a spatula. They should literally pop apart from the heat and the pressure (don’t we all). Stir tomatoes and juices with garlic, season with lotsa pepper and maybe a little salt (maybe not) and maybe some crushed red pepper.
When the timer goes off, scoop up a cup or so of starchy, salty pasta water and pour about half of it into the pan. Reserve the rest. Turn the heat on the sauce pan up to high. Drain the pasta (don’t wash or cool) and drop about 1/2 to 2/3rds into the sauce pan. Or put as much as you like of it into the sauce, so it balances nicely. Add the pecorino and at least a tablespoon of cold butter (straight from fridge). Toss it all together with tongs and get the sauce a’boiling. Keep tossing.
After about 2 to 3 minutes, most of the pasta water should have boiled off. Check that the pasta is al dente, then take the pan off the heat, add the parmigiano and 1 more tablespoon cold butter. Toss with tongs until butter melts. If the sauce is a bit thick, add a touch more pasta water to loosen it. Don’t add too much, though: it should be viscous, not thin.
Serve immediately. You will die happy.
(But if you’re still alive, the left-over pasta will make a nice frittata in the morning. Just scramble 1 egg, add the pasta so it gets coated lightly with egg. Fry up with a little oil, salt, pepper, and maybe garlic).