I love it when I get a new Fine Cooking, Cooking Light and Cooks’ Illustrated all within a few days of each other! I spent time going through all three and this past weekend read out a list of recipes to Russ to let him pick one for dinner one night this week. He chose a pasta dish from the new Cooks’ Illustrated.
To make the pasta dish you start by mincing the garlic, chopping the olives, and slicing the sun dried tomatoes. Mix these three along with the olive oil, anchovies, tomato paste, and red pepper flakes in a bowl and set aside. Then you can make the bread crumbs, but I decided to skip this step for the sake of tim
e. While I think they would add a nice crunchy texture to the top I didn’t have the time for them tonight. Next get the pasta cooking and while it is going put the olive mixture in the skillet and let it cook for a couple of minutes. Once it has cooked for a few minutes add some of the pasta water to the pan and let it continue to cook. Then add the cooked pasta to the sauce and toss it together. Finally add the cheese, parsley and basil to the dish and toss. Add additional pasta water if it is needed. I added slices of turkey sausage as Russ is not a big fan of meals without meat. Serve it with a lemon wedge.
The pasta was very tasty! If you love olives then this is a great dish for you as the olives are the dominant flavor. I love the combination of salty olives and the somewhat sweet and savory sun dried tomatoes. The fresh herbs really add a nice pop of color along with a fresh from the garden flavor. I was a little skeptical of serving it with a lemon wedge, but it really did work w
ell with the flavors and I felt like it brought out the flavors of the fresh herbs even more. As for the sausage… Russ, the meat eater himself, felt like it would have been better without it. I certainly don’t think you need to add meat to this dish at all. Russ felt like grilled chicken sliced over the top would have gone well with it. I think if you are going to add meat then that is probably the way to go, but next time I’d rather put the time towards the bread crumbs and skip the meat. All in all this was a wonderful pasta dish. Russ rates it a 9.
Pasta with Olives, Garlic, and Herbs, Cooks’ Illustrated July and August 2008
Serves 4 to 6
5 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
6 medium garlic cloves, minced or pressed through garlic press (about 2 tablespoons)
1 tablespoon anchovy fillets (4 to 6 fillets)
¼ - ½ teaspoon hot red pepper flakes
¼ cup drained oil-packed sun-dried tomatoes, rinsed, patted dry, and cut into thin strips
1 cup pitted kalamata olives rinsed and coarsely chopped (For a milder olive flavor, use manzanilla olives in place of kalamata.)
2 large slices white sandwich bread (about 3 ounces), torn into quarters
1 and ¾ teaspoons table salt
1 pound mezze rigatoni or fafalle
2 ounces finely grated Parmesan cheese (about 1 cup)
3 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley leaves
1 ½ cups lightly packed fresh basil leaves, roughly torn
Ground black pepper
1 lemon, cut into wedges
Combine 3 tablespoons olive oil, 1 tablespoon garlic, anchovies, tomato paste, red pepper flakes, sun-dried tomatoes, and olives in a medium bowl. Set aside.
Pulse bread in food processor until coarsely ground, about 16 one-second pulses. Heat remaining 2 tablespoons oil in 12 inch skillet over medium heat until shimmering. Add bread crumbs and cook, stirring frequently, until beginning to brown, 4 to 6 minutes. Stir in remaining tablespoon garlic and ¼ teaspoon salt. Continue to cook, stirring constantly, until garlic is fragrant and bread crumbs are dark golden brown, 1 to 2 minutes longer. Transfer to plate to cool. Wipe out skillet with paper towels.
Meanwhile, bring 4 quarts water to boil in Dutch oven over high heat. Add pasta and remaining 1 ½ teaspoons salt. While pasta is cooking, return now-empty skillet to medium heat and add olive mixture. Cook until olive mixture is aromatic and oil has turned rusty red, 4 to 6 minutes. Remove ¾ cup pasta cooking water from pot and add to skillet. Bring to simmer and cook for 2 minutes. Remove pan from heat while pasta finishes cooking.
When pasta is just shy of al dente, drain pasta, reserving ½ cup of pasta cooking water, and transfer back to Dutch oven. Add olive mixture to pasta and toss over medium heat until pasta absorbs most liquid, about 2 minutes. Stir in ½ cup Parmesan. Adjust consistency of sauce with reserved water. (Sauce should cling to pasta but not be too loose or runny.) Remove pot from heat and stir in parsley and basil; adjust seasoning with pepper. Serve, passing lemon wedges, remaining Parmesan, and bread crumbs separately.
To make the pasta dish you start by mincing the garlic, chopping the olives, and slicing the sun dried tomatoes. Mix these three along with the olive oil, anchovies, tomato paste, and red pepper flakes in a bowl and set aside. Then you can make the bread crumbs, but I decided to skip this step for the sake of tim
e. While I think they would add a nice crunchy texture to the top I didn’t have the time for them tonight. Next get the pasta cooking and while it is going put the olive mixture in the skillet and let it cook for a couple of minutes. Once it has cooked for a few minutes add some of the pasta water to the pan and let it continue to cook. Then add the cooked pasta to the sauce and toss it together. Finally add the cheese, parsley and basil to the dish and toss. Add additional pasta water if it is needed. I added slices of turkey sausage as Russ is not a big fan of meals without meat. Serve it with a lemon wedge.The pasta was very tasty! If you love olives then this is a great dish for you as the olives are the dominant flavor. I love the combination of salty olives and the somewhat sweet and savory sun dried tomatoes. The fresh herbs really add a nice pop of color along with a fresh from the garden flavor. I was a little skeptical of serving it with a lemon wedge, but it really did work w
ell with the flavors and I felt like it brought out the flavors of the fresh herbs even more. As for the sausage… Russ, the meat eater himself, felt like it would have been better without it. I certainly don’t think you need to add meat to this dish at all. Russ felt like grilled chicken sliced over the top would have gone well with it. I think if you are going to add meat then that is probably the way to go, but next time I’d rather put the time towards the bread crumbs and skip the meat. All in all this was a wonderful pasta dish. Russ rates it a 9.Pasta with Olives, Garlic, and Herbs, Cooks’ Illustrated July and August 2008
Serves 4 to 6
5 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
6 medium garlic cloves, minced or pressed through garlic press (about 2 tablespoons)
1 tablespoon anchovy fillets (4 to 6 fillets)
¼ - ½ teaspoon hot red pepper flakes
¼ cup drained oil-packed sun-dried tomatoes, rinsed, patted dry, and cut into thin strips
1 cup pitted kalamata olives rinsed and coarsely chopped (For a milder olive flavor, use manzanilla olives in place of kalamata.)
2 large slices white sandwich bread (about 3 ounces), torn into quarters
1 and ¾ teaspoons table salt
1 pound mezze rigatoni or fafalle
2 ounces finely grated Parmesan cheese (about 1 cup)
3 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley leaves
1 ½ cups lightly packed fresh basil leaves, roughly torn
Ground black pepper
1 lemon, cut into wedges
Combine 3 tablespoons olive oil, 1 tablespoon garlic, anchovies, tomato paste, red pepper flakes, sun-dried tomatoes, and olives in a medium bowl. Set aside.
Pulse bread in food processor until coarsely ground, about 16 one-second pulses. Heat remaining 2 tablespoons oil in 12 inch skillet over medium heat until shimmering. Add bread crumbs and cook, stirring frequently, until beginning to brown, 4 to 6 minutes. Stir in remaining tablespoon garlic and ¼ teaspoon salt. Continue to cook, stirring constantly, until garlic is fragrant and bread crumbs are dark golden brown, 1 to 2 minutes longer. Transfer to plate to cool. Wipe out skillet with paper towels.
Meanwhile, bring 4 quarts water to boil in Dutch oven over high heat. Add pasta and remaining 1 ½ teaspoons salt. While pasta is cooking, return now-empty skillet to medium heat and add olive mixture. Cook until olive mixture is aromatic and oil has turned rusty red, 4 to 6 minutes. Remove ¾ cup pasta cooking water from pot and add to skillet. Bring to simmer and cook for 2 minutes. Remove pan from heat while pasta finishes cooking.
When pasta is just shy of al dente, drain pasta, reserving ½ cup of pasta cooking water, and transfer back to Dutch oven. Add olive mixture to pasta and toss over medium heat until pasta absorbs most liquid, about 2 minutes. Stir in ½ cup Parmesan. Adjust consistency of sauce with reserved water. (Sauce should cling to pasta but not be too loose or runny.) Remove pot from heat and stir in parsley and basil; adjust seasoning with pepper. Serve, passing lemon wedges, remaining Parmesan, and bread crumbs separately.
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