Saveur: The New Comfort Food (10 page)

We hunger for them like nearly nothing else: a plate of ethereal tagliatelle alla bolognese—ribbons of fresh, handmade egg pasta tossed with a long-simmered sauce of meat and tomatoes—or a deep bowl of Chinese noodles, stir-fried with pork and carrots. Pasta and noodles provide a canvas for a broad palette of ingredients, whether it’s a lasagne filled with vegetables or good old American macaroni and cheese.

In Italian-American homes and red-sauce restaurants alike, this dish has remained a standby for generations. The ingredients are simple and the proportions generous, forming layer upon layer of pasta, beef ragù, creamy béchamel, and a beautifully browned topping of melted mozzarella and Parmigiano-Reggiano. This recipe calls for sweet Italian sausage to boost the flavor of the meaty filling, but it works well with spicy sausage, too.

¼ cup extra-virgin olive oil

1 lb. sweet Italian sausages, removed from casings and broken into ½ -inch chunks

1 medium carrot, minced

1 medium onion, minced

1 rib celery, minced

1½ lbs. ground beef chuck

½ cup dry red wine

2 tbsp. tomato paste

1 28-oz. can whole peeled tomatoes, undrained and puréed

3 tbsp. minced flat-leaf parsley Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste

5 tbsp. unsalted butter

5 tbsp. flour

2½ cups milk

¼ tsp. freshly grated nutmeg

1½ lbs. pasta, preferably ziti

2½ cups coarsely grated mozzarella cheese

½ cup freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano

Serves 10

1. To make the meat sauce: Heat the oil in a 6-qt. pot over medium-high heat. Add the sausage and cook, stirring occasionally, until well browned, 8–10 minutes. Using a slotted spoon, transfer the sausage to a plate and set aside. Add the carrots, onions, and celery and cook, stirring often, until soft and golden brown, about 15 minutes. Add the beef and cook, stirring and breaking it up with a wooden spoon, until browned, 8–10 minutes. Add the wine and cook, stirring, until evaporated, about 5 minutes. Add the tomato paste and cook, stirring frequently, for about 2 minutes. Add the tomato purée, reduce the heat to medium-low, and simmer, stirring occasionally, until the sauce is thick and the liquid has almost evaporated, about 1 hour. Stir in the reserved sausage and any juices from the plate, add the parsley, and season the sauce with salt and pepper. Remove from the heat and set the meat sauce aside.

2. Meanwhile, make the béchamel sauce: Melt 4 tbsp. butter in a 4-qt. saucepan over medium heat. Whisk in the flour and cook, whisking constantly, until it begins to bubble, about 2 minutes. While whisking, add the milk in a thin, steady stream. Bring the milk to a simmer and cook, whisking often, until the sauce thickens and coats the back of a spoon, 10–15 minutes. Remove the pan from the heat, add the nutmeg, season the béchamel sauce generously with salt and pepper, and set aside.

3. Heat the oven to 400°F. Bring a 6-qt. pot of salted water to a boil. Add the pasta and cook, stirring, until al dente, about 9 minutes. Drain the pasta, transfer to a bowl, stir in the reserved meat sauce, and season with salt and pepper. Grease a 4-qt. oval baking dish with the remaining butter and add half the pasta mixture. Pour half the béchamel over the pasta, spreading it evenly with a rubber spatula. Top the béchamel with the remaining pasta and then with the remaining béchamel. Sprinkle mozzarella and Parmigiano-Reggiano over the béchamel. Bake until golden brown and bubbly, about 25 minutes. Let the baked ziti sit for 10 minutes before serving.

Mixing the ingredients on a warmed platter will help them melt quickly to make a satiny sauce. For the best results, use dried pasta, which doesn’t break as easily during tossing as fresh egg pasta does.

Kosher salt, to taste

1 lb. dried fettuccine

1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, cut into thin pats

3¼ cups finely grated Parmigiano-Reggiano

Serves 4

1. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil and add pasta; cook, stirring occasionally, until pasta is al dente, about 8 minutes. Meanwhile, place butter pats on a large, warmed serving platter. Drain pasta, reserving ¾ cup pasta water, and place the pasta over the butter on the platter
^{A
top left}
.

2. Sprinkle Parmigiano-Reggiano evenly over pasta
^{B
top right}
and drizzle with ¼ cup reserved pasta water. Using a large spoon and fork, gently toss the pasta with the butter and cheese, lifting and swirling the noodles and adding more pasta water as necessary to create a smooth sauce
^{C
bottom left}
. Work in any melted butter and cheese that pools around the edges of the platter. Continue mixing pasta until the cheese and butter have fully melted and the noodles are coated, about 3 minutes. (For a quicker preparation, bring the reserved 3/4 cup pasta water and the butter to a boil in a 12-inch skillet, and then add the pasta, sprinkle with the cheese, and toss with tongs over medium-low heat until the pasta is creamy and coated, about 2 minutes.)

3. Serve the fettuccine immediately on warmed plates
^{D
bottom right}
.

This dish is one of the best ways we know to use rapini (a.k.a. broccoli rabe) when it’s in season. Bright lemon zest, garlic, and red chile flakes play off the bitterness of the rapini and reveal its sweetness; soft, tangy goat cheese brings together the more piquant ingredients with the al dente pasta.

Kosher salt, to taste

1 bunch rapini (about 1 lb.), roughly chopped

¹
/
₃
cup extra-virgin olive oil

6 cloves garlic, crushed

¾ tsp. crushed red chile flakes

12 oz. orecchiette pasta

2 tbsp. lemon zest

4 oz. goat cheese, softened

Serves 2–4

1. Bring an 8-qt. pot of salted water to a boil. Add rapini and boil until crisp-tender, about 4 minutes. Using a slotted spoon, transfer rapini to a large bowl of ice water; chill. Drain rapini, pat dry, and set aside.

2. Heat oil in a 12-inch skillet over medium heat. Add garlic and cook, stirring occasionally, until golden, about 3 minutes. Add chile flakes and cook, stirring frequently, for 30 seconds. Add rapini, toss, and remove pan from heat; set aside.

3. Meanwhile, bring a 6-qt. pot of salted water to a boil. Add pasta and cook until al dente, about 10 minutes. Drain pasta and transfer pasta and lemon zest to reserved skillet over high heat. Toss to combine and season with salt. Divide pasta between bowls and add a dollop of goat cheese to each.

COOKING NOTE
Boiling a vegetable such as broccoli rabe and then submerging it, or “shocking” it, in an icy water bath is called blanching. The technique does three things: it preserves the vibrant color of the vegetable, transforms the vegetable’s flavor ever so slightly, and arrests the cooking process, preserving the vegetable’s crisp-tender texture.