pasta with white truffles = $$$

It is our annual indulgent event: lunch at Felidia's during white truffle season. After a fabulous classic turkey and dressing Thanksgiving this year, on the following Tuesday we headed for Felidia's. We were not disappointed. Not a bit. Wife Carol, daughter Sarah, and yours truly settled ourselves in the warm and delightful first floor dining section at Felidia's on East 58th St. (Lydia herself was having lunch in the back corner of the dining room with Christoher Kimball of Cook's magazine.)

The menu took almost no browsing time. As announced, this was white truffle season at Felidia's and we were on. We each ordered the same: the recommended tagliatelle as the base. Simple, perfecto.

We started by sharing an excellent grilled octopus presentation, in oil. For the wine, we took the somelier's advice and had the Livon Chardonnay "Braide Mate" -- label above.

The tagliatelle was the home made variety using extra egg yolks. So it was wonderfully rich. It was presented with perfect texture in a simple butter sauce.

Then the white truffle expert came over with the jewel. He reported that the white truffles this year were maybe not quite as wonderful as last year's perfections, but they were still fabulous. He took his peeler and sliced an abundant array of this delicacy on each of our pasta dishes, while we just kept silent and inhaled, each in our own rapturous worlds.

The eating was everything we had dreamed about all year. Just tasting, eating slowly, ah'ing and oh'ing, and with conversation at something of a minimum, we cherished each bite.

Some cappucino to finish and our heavenly day was complete. The bill was $598 with tax. The pasta specials -- the tagliolini -- were $25 each, and each truffle addition was $110. Worth it.

We learned that a very large white truffle, found by an Italian truffle hunter near a pine tree near Pisa, was sold at a charity auction at Macao, in China, two weeks ago. The truffle was 1 pound, 10 ounces, and sold for $227,000. A record.

Zoe loves Bolognese

Zoe, just turned three, loves her Grandpa Pietro's Bolognese sauce. Rather than the usual tagliatelle or fettuccine as her pasta with her favorite sauce, Zoe prefers her ragu on farfalle. "I like the bow ties," she said, as she emptied her pasta bowl in rapid order.

To create this absolutely mouth-watering sauce, one of our favorites, go to the classic pasta web site: http://www.classicpasta.com and then click on sauces and then ragu.

We believe, no matter what your age, you'll agree with Zoe. "The best," she says.

tortellini presto

Many of us are lucky enough to be able to buy fresh,home-made egg pasta from a local source (we are not talking supermarket here). For those of us who are that fortunate, we, therefore, have available an almost instant dinner that ranks high among the stars in taste delight. Our tortellini is usually cheese filled (with four cheeses). Therefore we add the pancetta to the sauce. For a meat-filled tortellini, add or omit the pancetta as you wish. This is a recipe for two people:

• 48 - 60 tortellini (give or take either way)
• four tablespoons butter
• one tablespoon chopped shallots
• one tablespoon chopped pancetta
• one-half cup cream
• salt and pepper
• maybe a dash of nutmeg
• one-quarter cup freshly grated parmesan.

Put three quarts of water to a big boil. Add a tablespoon of salt. Add the tortellini.

Meanwhile in a saute pan, over medium heat: add the butter and let it melt. Add the shallots and pancetta and cook for a few minutes, until the shallots are soft, and the pancetta is cooked through (not brown). Add a half teaspoon of salt, some twists of the pepper mill, a dash of nutmeg if you choose, and then add the cream.

Cook until the cream is reduced -- maybe in half, but mostly judge how much sauce you want to coat the tortellini. Then take off heat. (This whole operation requires a minute or two to chop and about four to five minutes to cook!)

Meanwhile, test the doneness of the tortellini by taking one out, clipping off a tiny edge, and tasting. When the texture is truly al dente, drain. We find we can cook tortellini longer than we generally think we can. It does not get too soft for a while. Under-cooking seems to be more of a tendency because we are so tuned into keeping flat pasta totally al dente.

Put the tortellini in the sauce, which you have reheated. Add the parmesan. We then cover the pan and cook over high heat for one minute, to get the pasta very hot and steaming.

Add a spig of parsley and serve. Presto!

spaghetti with spinach and lemon

Spinach, that wonderful vegetable that disappeared, rightfully, from the markets for a while, is back, fresh and pure. We are into some wonderful pastas that are simple to prepare, combine ingredients perfectly, and are wonderful taste treats. Here is one of those: with fresh spinach, lemon and capers.

for the sauce:

• four tablespoons of olive oil
• five cloves of garlic, peeled and finely diced
• two tablespoons of capers
• one-half teaspoon dried red pepper flakes
• four tablespoons of freshly squeezed lemon juice
• two teaspoons of grated lemon rind
• four cups of chopped fresh spinach
• salt and freshly ground pepper
• one quarter cup freshly grated parmesan
  
  
  
  one pound spaghetti

In a saute pan, over medium heat, add the garlic. As soon as it starts to sizzle, add the capers and the red pepper flakes. Cook two minutes. Add the lemon juice and rind, one teaspoon of salt and some freshly ground pepper. Stir and cook for another two minutes.

In five quarts of water at a raging boil, add two tablespoons of salt and the spaghetti. Cook until just short of al dente. Set aside one quarter cup of the pasta liquid. Drain.

Re-heat the sauce. Add in the spaghetti and stir. Add the chopped spinach and stir. Add the parmesan and stir. Check for salt. If too dry add some of the reserved pasta liquid. Cover and cook for one minute over medium high heat.

Serve immediately.

Amatrice

The new fall menu at Il Fornaio last night included a trofie all'amatriciana. It was perfectly done and reminded us how wonderful an intro into the fall season this classic pasta recipe is. The normal presentation is with bucatini, a thick, hollow spaghetti. But trofie, the twisty, spiral little pasta shapes, usually associated with Liguria, worked fine.

It is a boldly flavored, highly-spiced dish from the town of Amatrice, near Rome. It is both simple to prepare and infinitely rewarding in its perfect combination of flavors. Here is our favorite version:

bucatini alla amatriciana

for the sauce:

• three plus one tablespoons olive oil
• one medium red onion, finely chopped
• 8 ounces of pancetta, or slab bacon, about one-quarter inch thick, roughly chopped into squares 1/4 to 1/2 inch in size
• one teaspoon red pepper flakes (or more, to taste)
• 2 cups canned, imported Italian plum tomatoes, drained and roughly chopped
• salt and lots of freshly ground pepper
• one-half cup freshly grated pecorino Romano (Parmigiano works, but pecorino is better)

for the pasta:

• one pound bucatini or spaghetti (or trofie)

Heat the oil in a saucepan over medium heat. Add the pancetta and cook, stirring occasionally, for about eight minutes, until it is lightly browned and almost crisp. Use a slotted spoon and transfer the pancetta to a separate plate (or paper towel).

If there are more than two or three tablespoons of fat left in the pan, drain off the excess. Add the onion to the saucepan and saute for about 3 minutes, until soft. Add the red pepper flakes, salt and the freshly ground pepper, and saute for another thirty seconds.

Add the chopped tomatoes, simmer (uncovered) for about twenty minutes, stirring frequently with a wooden spoon. Taste and correct for salt and pepper. Set aside.

Meanwhile, bring a large pot (4-5 quarts) of cold water to a heavy boil, add a couple of tablespoons of salt, drop in the pasta, stir it around, and cook to al dente (tasting regularly to check for doneness).


One of the tests as you mix the sauce and pasta is to make sure the sauce is moist enough to coat the pasta beautifully. The sauce might be a little thick. Therefore, before draining the pasta, take one cup of the pasta liquid and reserve it. Drain the pasta. Turn up the heat on the sauce and add the pancetta and stir. Add the pasta, add the extra tablespoon of olive oil, and stir well. Heat for thirty seconds, covered.









Add the pecorino, stir and serve on hot plates.

For spaghetti all'arrabiata, another wonderful fall pasta dish with spicy overtones, go to: http://www.classicpasta.com/, click on pasta and then spaghetti.

zucchini with garlic, lemon and mint

This is one of three superb, simple zucchini preparations that we love, especially when wonderful, sweet small zucchini are available fresh in the various Farmer's Markets. Zucchini is such a wonderful "fall-back" vegetable for special dinners, as well as being a main-stay in stay-at-home and-love-it evenings.

ingredients:

• three tablespoons olive oil
• one and a half pounds of fresh zucchini
• two medium garlic cloves, peeled and diced
• one small onion, thinly sliced
• pinch or two of red pepper flakes
• one tablespoon lemon juice
• salt and freshly ground pepper
• one-quarter cup mint or basil, finely chopped

Wash the zucchini in cold water. Cut off the ends, and then dice into about one-quarter inch squares.

Heat one and a half tablespoons of the olive oil in a saute pan over medium heat. Add the garlic, and then thirty seconds later add the onion. Cook until translucent, about two minutes.

Add the zucchini and the red pepper flakes, and cook until the zucchini squares are just tender, stirring reglarly with a wooden spoon. (This is a matter of taste; we like the zucchin still a little firm, but if you like them soft cook until slightly brown).

Remove from the heat. Stir in the lemon juice, a teaspoon of salt and some freshly ground pepper, and tthen the mint or basil. Stir a touch and serve.

For several other terrific and simple zucchini recipes, go to www.classicpasta.com, click on extra pantry" and then "verdure". Enjoy!

Trofie pasta with pesto

We had the good fortune to discover a small food, cheese and wine shop in the Portrero Hill section of San Francisco recently, where we were able to buy authentic trofie pasta from Italy. There are certainly other shops in the U.S. where trofie can be found (as well as on-line) but we had been carrying ours back in our suitcases, buying it at Carlucci's in Covent Garden in London.

The trofie we purchased in San Francisco is Saporia di Liguri, from La Bella Angiolini, made in a facility near to the original location of the oldest pastificio in Italy (so they claim) in Savona in the heart of the Ligurian Riviera.

Trofie, or trofiette, are thin strings of pasta, about one to two inches long, twisted into a corkscrew shape. They are generally made with durum wheat flour, but they can also be made from all-purpose flour. Trofie are frequently called Ligurian gnocchi.

This being the heart of wonderful fresh basil season, it was a perfect time to have the trofie and pesto, a marriage made in Ligurian heaven. Here is the recipe for a simple trofie and pesto dish, which takes almost no time to make.

Some recipes have made the making of pesto time consuming and difficult, by over-working the chopping of the fresh basil. No need. A blender, which is what most Italy uses now, works perfectly. Nothing lost in taste.

for the pesto sauce:

• two cups fresh basil leaves


• one-half cup olive oil


• three cloves garlic, peeled and roughly diced


• two tablespoons pine nuts


• salt (a teaspoon or to taste)


• one-half cup freshly grated parmesan cheese


• two tablespoons freshly grated pecorino, Romano or Tuscano (or whatever)


• two tablespoons butter

for the pasta

• one pound trofie, durum wheat preferred but go with what you can get

Using a blender (pesto was traditionally made in a mortar and pestle, hence the name), put in the basil and garlic and mix for a few seconds. Add the pine nuts and olive oil and salt, and blend at a high speed until the sauce approaches creamy (not too creamy, however, as a little roughness in the texture is wonderful).

When the blending is completed, transfer the sauce into a mixing bowl and stir in the two cheeses. Presto, done!

Cook the pasta in plenty of salted water (4-5 quarts), until it is al dente. Stir regularly while cooking.

Reserve a cup of the pasta liquid. Drain and toss with the pesto sauce. Add the butter and a tablespoon or two from the reserved liquid to assist in the tossing and mixing.

Serve!