August 12 – August 18, 2024

Monday:                  Leftover Chicken with Grilled Summer Ratatouille

Tuesday:                  Smoky Tomato Spaghetti

Wednesday:          Leftover Spaghetti with Chick Pea Salad

Thursday:                PFC

Friday:                      Roasted Shrimp with Leftover Pasta

Saturday:                Margherita Pizza

Sunday:                   Skirt Steak / Baked Beans / Cole Slaw

No Such Thing as Basta Pasta

We all get tired of the same food, night after night.  If barbecued ribs are your all-time favorite, after eight straight days of them, you wouldn’t be able to look at them, much less eat them.  There was a time when some people went on a ‘cabbage soup diet.’  I think it’s safe to say that it didn’t take even one day to grow tired of that.  On the other hand, the frequently asked “Are we having (fill-in-the-blank)” again for dinner?” is to home cooks, at one and the same time, a punch in the gut and a legally justifiable reason to punch the one who asks in the gut.

To the people who ask that question, and those that say something is too salty, not hot enough, or who ask for smaller portions, ‘some more of the sauce, please,’ can I have the burger without the bun, the turkey without the mashed potatoes, and other such insertions of dietary, vanity and ego-inspired quirks into the nightly family-dining experience, let me explain something:  SHUT UP

*This is, of course, a rip-off of Ring Lardner’s famous passage:  ‘Daughter to father driving car:  “Are you lost, Daddy?”  “Shut up,” he explained.’  I have often misremembered this as a young girl asking her father, during a long road trip to a beach, “Are we there yet, Daddy?”  “Shut up,” he explained.  And I kind of like my version better, since it seems a tad less abusive.  On the other hand, as Lardner well knew, children do need to be told to shut up fairly regularly.  The only complication is that adults do, as well.

What does all this have to do with this week’s recipe?  Well, I’m offering a pasta dish for the third time in the last five weeks.  And, in fact, I’ve cooked this dish twice in the last two weeks.  But this recipe involves one of the more unique pasta sauces that I have cooked in years.  This sauce isn’t so much strange as simply strangely delicious – a smoky, Mariannas-Trench deeply savory, taste bomb of a pasta sauce.  It takes a little time – not much of yours, but time to slowly bubble and develop on its own – but it is worth the investment.  It’s my gift to all the home cooks who have to deal with dietary and culinary prima donnas on a regular basis.  You can shut them up with this.

SMOKY TOMATO SPAGHETTI

(adapted from bon appétit – September, 2024)

Timing:                                               2 – 2 ½ Hours (busy time, about 15 minutes)

Ingredients:                                        Serves 6

2 28 oz. cans whole peeled tomatoes

6 oz. smoked bacon (6 slices)

1 ½ medium onions, peeled, halved through root ends (the idea is to keep the onions intact while they’re browning)

1 large shallot, peeled, halved through root end

8 garlic cloves, coarsely chopped – we used one large clove

2/3 of 7 oz. can of chipotle chiles in adobo, chiles finely chopped and sauce reserved (just eyeball this – pull about 2/3 of the chiles out of the can and chop them and then set aside about 2/3 of the remaining adobo sauce in the can.  You can serve the remainder on the side for those who want a smokier, spicier pasta)

2/3 tablespoon smoked paprika

A little over 1 oz. of basil, plus more for serving

1 teaspoon kosher salt -more to taste

Freshly ground pepper to tase

1 lb. spaghetti

5 tablespoons butter

Prep:

Place tomatoes and their juices in a large bowl and crush with your hands or cut with scissors into small pieces.

Prepare the onions, shallots, garlic and chiles.

Gather the basil and spices and butter.

Finely chop the bacon – the easiest method is to cut the stacked bacon slices into thirds, lengthwise, and then chop these crosswise.  If you have thin bacon, you may want to put it in the freezer for 10 minutes to make it easier to cut.

Cook:

Set Dutch oven over medium and, when hot, cook the bacon, stirring from time to time, until some fat has cooked out and bacon is browned, but still soft (not crisp).  Remove bacon to a small bowl. 

Now turn the heat under the pot to medium-high and, when the bacon fat starts to ripple, carefully place the onions and shallots, cut side down in the pan.  Cook until charred on the cut side – about 3 minutes.

Reduce the heat to medium or medium-low (you don’t want to burn the garlic) and return the bacon to the pan, then add the garlic, chipotle chiles, adobo sauce, paprika, the basil (reserve some for serving) and the tomatoes with their juices.

Bring to a simmer and cover, leaving lid slightly askew.  Cook, stirring from time to time, adjusting heat to maintain a gentle simmer, until thickened, 2 hours.  You can turn off the burner and let the sauce sit until ready to eat – just bring it back to the simmer as you cook the spaghetti.

When the spaghetti is al dente – reserve 2 cups of pasta water and drain it.  Add the spaghetti to the simmering sauce with the butter and 1 cup of the pasta water and cook, stirring, over medium until butter is melted and spaghetti is well coated.

Serve:

Divide pasta onto heated plates, top with basil leaves.  You can add some grated cheese, but it’s not necessary.