Salsa alla Capricciosa
This is a beautifully simple, but full-flavored tomato sauce from Lidia Bastianich. Serve over spaghetti or linguine, tossing the cooked pasta with half the sauce and some Grana Padano cheese, serving the rest of the sauce on top and passing more cheese.
Ragù alla Bolognese (Classic Bolognese Meat Sauce)
This is a version of the famous meat sauce of Emilia Romagna, of which Bologna is the capital. Giuliano Hazan’s family is from Emilia Romagna, and he learned to make Bolognese sauce from his mother, Marcella, who learned it from her grandmother, Mary. Its classic pairing is with homemade tagliatelle or pappardelle but it’s also very good with rigatoni, shells or any substantial pasta shape, preferably one with ridges, that has nooks and cavities to trap the sauce. (Adapted from How to Cook Italian by Giuliano Hazan; Scribner, 2005).
Roasted Tomato and Almond Pesto
The delightful richness of Ellie Krieger’s sundried tomato and almond pesto is a perfect partner for nutty whole-wheat pasta. It’s also delicious spread on grilled chicken.
salsa palermitana
This wine-based sauce of cherry tomatoes, olives and capers gets a tangy punch from plenty of lemon. Serve over pasta or grilled or roasted fish. Have some warm, crusty bread on hand to soak up any extra sauce
sous vide shad roe
While cooking shad roe isn’t difficult, sous-vide makes shad roe ridiculously simple to make with consistent results – although it’ll take a lot longer.
linguini with white clam sauce
while I’m using canned clams, this could easily be adapted to whole fresh clams – figure 35-40 clams, scrubbed, cooked in garlic/anchovy/oil + pasta water (maybe 2 cups), remove and shuck clams as they open, cut up if desired…