TASTE
Fresh, ripe tomatoes the essence of 'mother sauces'
| • | There's something about tomatoes |
By Wanda A. Adams
Advertiser Food Editor
| |||
 |
|
||
Lynne Rossetto Kasper, author and National Public Radio show host, has no fear of food.
She has no fear of salt. During a cooking demonstration at Kapi'olani Community College, audience members gasped when she threw half a cup of salt into the boiling pasta water. Properly cooked pasta requires more water (6 quarts per pound of pasta) and more salt (1/8 to 1/4 cup for 6 quarts) than you may think, she said.
She also has no fear of spice. A pasta dish she prepared employed a goodly amount of black pepper and chili pepper flakes to balance the richness of the red wine sauce and creamy whole-milk ricotta cheese.
And she has no fear of tasting, teaching the mix of professional chefs and culinary students how to get the full measure of flavor in a side-by-side tasting of extra-virgin olive oils. Pour a little into a cup and warm it between your hands. Cup your hands over it and sniff. Slurp up about a half-teaspoon of the oil, swish it around in your mouth and then draw air through it. Finally, swallow and count to 10, to capture the aftertaste. In Tuscany, she said, the old men pour the new oil into their cupped hands and drink it like water.
Kasper's class focused on the base elements that make up classic tomato sauces: tomatoes and olive oil, with a nod to garlic and basil.
This is the first of three tomato sauces that Kasper considers "mother sauces" — preparations that are at the heart of many different recipes. This is a sauce to make only when you have good, fresh, ripe tomatoes on hand, preferably, Kasper says, a mixture of tomato types: one-third cherry type, one-third mellow-tasting and one-third low-acid tomatoes).
RAW TOMATO SAUCE WITH PASTA
Vigorously rub a pasta serving bowl with the garlic. Add the tomatoes, basil, oil and salt and pepper to taste. Let stand at room temperature while you cook the pasta — or up to several hours.
Cook the pasta in fiercely boiling water, stirring often, until tender yet firm to the bite. Drain in a colander and turn it into the pasta bowl, tossing all the ingredients together. Taste for seasoning and serve. Pass cheese at the table.
Serves 6-8 as a first course; 4-6 as a main dish.
Variation: Make a cool summer soup from the sauce (without pasta) by pureeing the tomatoes before adding the basil, oil, salt and pepper.
This next sauce, based on one that Kasper first enjoyed in a sheepherder's shelter in a pasture in Sicily, illustrates the technique of making a soffrito — a blend of sauteed vegetables, onions, garlic and herbs that balances and enriches the flavor of the tomatoes. You can use fresh or high-quality canned tomatoes in this sauce. If you use fresh tomatoes, mix varieties to bring in sharp, mellow and bold flavor profiles.
The sauce is, as Kasper described it, "all about sparkly" — with three layers of flavor: the rich sweetness of the vegetables, cooked until they're quite well browned; the heat of garlic, pepper and chilies; and the meaty boldness of the red wine. Adjust spice to your taste.
PENNE WITH SICILIAN SHEPHERD'S SAUCE
In a large skillet, heat the oil. Add the salami and cook briefly; add celery, carrot, parsley, onions and sage, a little salt and lots of black pepper. Turn the heat down to medium and saute to golden brown.
Stir in garlic and hot pepper, cooking a few moments. Add the wine and slowly simmer down until all the liquid has cooked off, scraping up the brown bits at the bottom of the pan. Adjust heat if the sauce threatens to burn. Stir in the tomato paste and cook 1 minute. Add the tomatoes, crushing them with your hands as they go into the pan. Cook, uncovered, at a lively bubble, stirring and scraping down the sides of the pan. Cook 10 minutes, or until thick. Taste for seasoning, cover and remove from heat.
Cook and drain pasta. Add the pasta to the sauce and toss together over medium heat 2-3 minutes, tasting for hot pepper and salt. Spread about one-third of the pasta in a heated serving bowl and daub with one-third of ricotta. Repeat twice, finishing with ricotta. Serve hot.
Serves 6-8 as a first course, 4 as a main dish.
Reach Wanda A. Adams at wadams@honoluluadvertiser.com.
