May 6 – May 13, 2024

 

 

Monday:                  Roasted Fennel and Sweet Potato Salad with Black Beans and Avocado

Tuesday:                  Pasta with Broccoli Rabe and Sausage

Wednesday:          Central Catholic Forensic Society Awards Banquet

Thursday:                Meatball and Pastina Soup

Friday:                      Citrus Shrimp Salad

Saturday:                Margherita Pizza

Sunday:                   Rack of Lamb with Potato-Celery Root Purée and Salad

                                    Appetizer of Candied Bacon

Vince and Chicken Sandwiches and Spaghetti

My friend, Vince, was one of eight children in a family which included my friend, Mark.  Mark was a gifted athlete and a bright fellow, as were most of his siblings.  But Vince, the baby of the family, had dyslexia and some physical problems.  Vince’s life was circumscribed by these disabilities, but when I knew him – in the last few months of his life – he was not angry at his fate.  And yet, Vince was witty, even a bit sarcastic, had a wicked memory for names and dates, and some very sharp opinions about food and society, precisely the kind of person who might be expected to rail against that fate, like Lear on the heath, or at the least do some kvetching, like Larry David at the Dry Cleaner.   Instead, Vince was outgoing and friendly, charming, in fact.  He made me think how self-centered and demanding and even entitled I often feel.

Vince passed away last month, but in the short time I knew him, he taught me a lot about accepting the cards life deals you and making the best of it.  I will miss him and the lunches we shared, during which he invariably ordered chicken sandwiches, French fries and iced tea.  And writing about Vince’s simple food preferences reminds me of the simple dishes of my youth when I was a much less demanding person – maybe a bit more like Vince. 

I’m going to get around to a recipe for a dish we cooked last week – Pasta with Broccoli Rabe and Sausage – but allow me a further digression.  There is simply no way that Vince would order such a foodie concoction as pasta with broccoli rabe and sausage.  But here’s the thing – there’s no way my mother would have served such a thing back in the day.

In fact, growing up, my knowledge of ‘pasta’ was non-existent.  I knew about macaroni and I knew about spaghetti, of which Mom would cook a heaping* pot to toss with a jarred sauce which had been added to some sautéed ground beef.  I loved that dinner – most often served with bread and butter and a simple salad.  In truth, I would love it today, even though my standards for pasta have been jacked up by the  times we live in and by my own culinary hobby.

*There were, ultimately, seven of us to feed.

So, thanks, Mom, for setting me on the road to pasta with your tasty spaghetti.  And thanks, Vince, for reminding me that the simpler foods of our youth (Vince and I spoke a lot about the fifties and sixties) were something to be thankful for and to remember.

We twenty-first century Americans have learned to cook pasta (not spaghetti alone) al dente, to finish cooking it in a sauce (as simple as pasta water, grated cheese and pepper) which can be made of vegetables and does not have to be tomato-based. 

And, finally, here’s a pasta dish and a new cooking method we (SWMBO aka She-Who-Must-Be-Obeyed and I) learned from watching Danny Meyer, the NYC restaurateur, cook for Ina Garten on her program, “Be My Guest.”  Ina’s show is worth watching, but I’ll warn you in advance that you will subjected to extreme house and garden envy.  On the other hand, to own such a home and garden and a separate work/cooking space in the Hamptons, you would have to work as hard as Ina Garten.  And it would be a lot to maintain and repair and keep clean.  And . . . perhaps you could take a lesson from Vince and, while admiring what Ina has, be content with your own.

ORECCHIETTE WITH BROCCOLI RABE AND SAUSAGE

(Adapted from Danny Meyer)

Note:  This dish is craveable and, while Vince wouldn’t have ordered it, he would have liked it.)

Timing:                                             30 to 45 minutes

(If you can cook the pasta while cooking the other ingredients, it will take 30 minutes.  If you give yourself a break and the cook the sausage and broccoli rabe first, this dish will take 45 minutes or so.

Ingredients:

1 pound orecchiette pasta

4 hot Italian sausage links and 4 sweet Italian sausage links, casing removed – alternatively, cook ½ lb. each of bulk sweet and bulk hot sausage.

2 bunches broccoli rabe (it looks like a lot, but it will cook down)

1 ½ cups of extra-vigin olive oil

½ cup dry white wine

1 pinch chili flakes

1 whole head of garlic, cloves halved (we used 1 large clove, minced)

1 pound pecorino cheese gated

1 pound parmesan cheese grated

2 tablespoons ground black pepper

Prep:

Trim the dry ends of the broccoli rabe

Prepare the garlic

Strip the casings from the sausages

Grate the two cheeses

Cook:

Put a large pot of water on the hob (the burner for those with moder appliances).

Heat ½ cup of the olive oil in a large sautée pan over medium high.  (If you don’t have a very large pan, use a medium sized Dutch oven.)

Add the sausage and cook, stirring to break up the meat until cooked – about 10 minutes.  Remove the sausage with a slotted spoon and set aside.

Deglaze the pan with the white wine and scrape up any brown bits – cook until the wine has reduced by half – 5-7 minutes.

Lower the heat to medium and add ½ cup olive oil.  Now add the chili flakes and cook for 30 seconds.  Then add the garlic and kick the heat up – if using a whole head of halved clove, cook until softened (about 5 minutes).  If using the minced garlic, cook for 30 seconds.

Add the broccoli rabe and the final ½ cup of olive oil.  Season with 2 teaspoons of salt and add 1 cup of water.  Cook, stirring constantly, until the broccoli rabe is tender – 5-7 minutes.

Snip the broccoli rabe into small pieces, using kitchen scissors.  This will take a lot of snipping – you don’t want giant pieces of broccoli rabe.

Now add the sausage back to the pan and stir to mix with the broccoli rabe.

Turn the heat off and bring the pot of water to a boil, then add 2 tablespoons of salt and the orecchiette and cook until just al dente (you’ll finish it in the pan with the sausage and broccoli rabe).

Two minutes before the orecchiette is cooked, ladle 1 cup of the pasta water to the sausage and broccoli pan, raise the temperature and stir to make a sauce.

When the pasta is cooked, drain into a colander and sprinkle half of the pecorino and half of the parmesan cheese over and then the pepper and shake to distribute.

Add the pasta to the pot with the sausage and broccoli rabe and stir over medium-high.  Sprinkle the remaining cheese over the pasta and serve it piping hot.