Read The Cook's Illustrated Cookbook Online
Authors: The Editors at America's Test Kitchen
Tags: #Cooking
The Cook's Illustrated Cookbook (80 page)
MAKES ENOUGH FOR 1 POUND OF PASTA
Serve with fettuccine.
2 | cups water |
2 | ounces dried porcini mushrooms, rinsed |
3 | tablespoons unsalted butter |
1 | onion, chopped fine |
6 | tablespoons heavy cream |
3 | tablespoons minced fresh parsley |
Salt and pepper |
1.
Microwave water and mushrooms in covered bowl until steaming, about 1 minute. Let stand until softened, about 5 minutes. Drain mushrooms through fine-mesh strainer lined with coffee filter, reserving liquid, then chop mushrooms coarse.
2.
Melt butter in 12-inch skillet over medium heat. Add onion and cook until softened and lightly browned, 5 to 7 minutes. Stir in mushrooms and cook until fragrant, 1 to 2 minutes. Stir in reserved porcini soaking liquid, scraping up any browned bits. Bring to simmer and cook until reduced by half, about 10 minutes. Stir in cream and continue to cook until sauce begins to thicken, about 2 minutes longer. Stir in parsley and season with salt and pepper to taste.
MAKES ENOUGH FOR 1 POUND OF PASTA
This sauce is best served with orecchiette or small shells. So that the pasta better absorbs the sauce, simmer the cooked pasta and ¹⁄
3
cup of grated Parmesan cheese with the sauce for a minute or two, then serve.
1 | cup water |
1 | ounce dried porcini mushrooms, rinsed |
2 | tablespoons unsalted butter |
1 | tablespoon olive oil |
1 | pound white mushrooms, trimmed and sliced thin |
1 | onion, chopped fine |
2 | garlic cloves, minced |
1 | teaspoon minced fresh rosemary |
2 | tablespoons minced fresh parsley |
Salt and pepper |
1.
Microwave water and mushrooms in covered bowl until steaming, about 1 minute. Let stand until softened, about 5 minutes. Drain mushrooms through fine-mesh strainer lined with coffee filter, reserving liquid, then chop mushrooms coarse.
2.
Heat butter and oil in 12-inch skillet over medium heat until butter is melted. Add white mushrooms and onion and cook until softened and lightly browned, 8 to 10 minutes. Stir in porcini, garlic, and rosemary and cook until fragrant, 1 to 2 minutes. Stir in reserved porcini soaking liquid and bring to simmer. Stir in parsley and season with salt and pepper to taste.
WHY THIS RECIPE WORKS
Dried porcini mushrooms with their rich, earthy character, can pave the way for a deeply flavorful tomato sauce in almost no time. To start, we chose aromatics like onion, celery, and carrot for a sweet, vegetal backbone. Canned whole tomatoes gave our sauce consistent flavor year-round and seeding the tomatoes lent our sauce a refined character. Porcini require careful preparation—the mushrooms should be rinsed to rid them of grit and after rinsing them the mushrooms should be softened with water in the microwave. We don’t discard the leftover soaking liquid—instead we strained it to give our sauce more mushroom flavor.
MAKES ENOUGH FOR 1 POUND OF PASTA
This sauce is best served with spaghetti or fusilli and grated Parmesan cheese.
1 | cup water |
1 | ounce dried porcini mushrooms, rinsed |
3 | tablespoons olive oil |
1 | onion, chopped fine |
1 | celery rib, minced |
1 | small carrot, peeled and minced |
Salt and pepper | |
1 | (28-ounce) can whole tomatoes, drained and chopped coarse |
3 | tablespoons minced fresh parsley |
1.
Microwave water and mushrooms in covered bowl until steaming, about 1 minute. Let stand until softened, about 5 minutes. Drain mushrooms through fine-mesh strainer lined with coffee filter, reserving liquid, then chop mushrooms coarse.
2.
Heat oil in 12-inch skillet over medium heat until shimmering. Add onion, celery, and carrot and cook until vegetables are softened, 8 to 10 minutes. Stir in porcini and 1 teaspoon salt and cook until fragrant, 1 to 2 minutes. Stir in tomatoes and reserved porcini soaking liquid, bring to simmer, and cook until sauce thickens, about 15 minutes. Stir in parsley and season with salt and pepper to taste.
WHY THIS RECIPE WORKS
Based on a Tuscan dish known as spaghetti alla boscaiola, or “woodsman’s pasta,” this dish swaps in hearty mushrooms for the long-simmered meat typically found in traditional ragus. We used portobellos for their meaty texture and added dried porcini to infuse the sauce with an ultraconcentrated smoky mushroom flavor. Pancetta imparted backbone to the sauce. For the tomatoes, we chose crushed whole tomatoes and we used fresh rosemary to brighten this quick-cooking ragu.
SERVES 4
Use a spoon to scrape the dark brown gills from the portobellos.
1 | cup low-sodium chicken broth |
1 | ounce dried porcini mushrooms, rinsed |
4 | ounces pancetta, cut into ¹⁄ |
8 | ounces portobello mushrooms, stemmed, gills removed, and cut into ¹⁄ |
3 | tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil |
4 | garlic cloves, sliced thin |
1 | tablespoon tomato paste |
2 | teaspoons minced fresh rosemary |
1 | (14.5-ounce) can whole tomatoes, drained with juice reserved, tomatoes coarsely crushed |
Salt and pepper | |
1 | pound spaghetti |
Grated Pecorino Romano cheese |
1.
Microwave broth and porcini in covered bowl until steaming, about 1 minute. Let stand until softened, about 10 minutes. Drain mushrooms through fine-mesh strainer lined with coffee filter, reserving broth and finely chopping mushrooms.
2.
Cook pancetta in 12-inch skillet over medium heat,stirring occasionally, until crisp, 7 to 10 minutes. Add chopped porcini, portobellos, oil, garlic, tomato paste, and rosemary and cook, stirring occasionally, until all liquid has evaporated and tomato paste starts to brown, 5 to 7 minutes. Add reserved broth, crushed tomatoes, and tomato juice, increase heat to high, and bring to simmer. Reduce heat to medium-low and cook until thickened, 15 to 20 minutes.
3.
Meanwhile, bring 4 quarts water to boil in large pot. Add pasta and 1 tablespoon salt and cook, stirring often, until al dente. Reserve ¹⁄
2
cup cooking water, then drain pasta and return it to pot. Add sauce to pasta and toss to combine. Add reserved cooking water as needed to adjust consistency. Season with salt and pepper to taste and serve, passing Pecorino separately.
WHY THIS RECIPE WORKS
Many recipes for puttanesca produce a dish that is too fishy, too garlicky, too briny, or just plain too salty and acidic. Others are timidly flavored and dull. We wanted to bring out as much flavor as we could from each of the ingredients in our version, while not letting any one preside over the others. We bloomed the garlic, anchovies, and red pepper flakes in hot olive oil to develop and blend their flavors. Then we added tomatoes and simmered for only eight minutes to preserve their sweetness and meaty texture. A drizzle of olive oil over individual portions adds moisture and richness.
SERVES 4
The pasta and sauce cook in just about the same amount of time, so begin the sauce just after you add the pasta to the boiling water in step 1.
1 | pound spaghetti |
Salt | |
1 | (28-ounce) can diced tomatoes, drained with ¹⁄ |
2 | tablespoons olive oil, plus extra for drizzling |
8 | anchovy fillets, rinsed and minced |
4 | garlic cloves, minced |
1 | teaspoon red pepper flakes |
¹⁄ | cup pitted kalamata olives, chopped coarse |
¹⁄ | cup minced fresh parsley |
3 | tablespoons capers, rinsed |
1.
Bring 4 quarts water to boil in large pot. Add pasta and 1 tablespoon salt and cook, stirring often, until al dente. Reserve ¹⁄
2
cup cooking water, then drain pasta and return it to pot. Add ¹⁄
4
cup reserved tomato juice and toss to combine.
2.
Meanwhile, heat oil, anchovies, garlic, and pepper flakes in 12-inch skillet over medium heat. Cook, stirring often, until garlic turns golden but not brown, about 3 minutes. Stir in tomatoes and cook until slightly thickened, about 8 minutes.
3.
Stir olives, parsley, and capers into sauce. Add sauce to pasta and toss to combine. Add remaining reserved tomato juice or reserved cooking water as needed to adjust consistency. Season with salt to taste. Drizzle additional olive oil over individual portions and serve immediately.
WHY THIS RECIPE WORKS
Splashes of vodka and cream can turn run-of-the-mill tomato sauce into luxurious restaurant fare or a boozy mistake. To achieve a sauce with the right balance of sweet, tangy, spicy, and creamy, we pureed half the tomatoes (which helped the sauce cling nicely to the pasta) and cut the rest into chunks. For sweetness, we added sautéed onion. We found that we needed a liberal amount of vodka to cut through the richness and add zing to the sauce, but we had to add it to the tomatoes early on to allow the alcohol to mostly (but not completely) cook off and prevent a harsh alcohol flavor. Adding a little heavy cream to the sauce gave it a nice consistency, and we finished cooking the penne in the sauce to encourage cohesiveness.
