The Minimalist Cooks Dinner (9 page)

1. Begin heating a large pot of water for the pasta. Pour the oil in a deep skillet, turn the heat to medium, and heat for a minute. Add the garlic and the anchovies. When the garlic sizzles and the anchovies break up, add the tomatoes.
   

2. Turn the heat to medium-high and bring to a boil. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the mixture becomes saucy, about 15 minutes.
   

3. Salt the pasta water and cook the pasta until it is tender but not mushy. Season the sauce with salt and pepper to taste. Drain the pasta, toss it with the sauce, and serve.
   

TIME:
30 to 40 minutes

MAKES:
3 main-course to 6 first-course servings

Every time I think I have come up with the ultimate pasta and clam dish, someone shows me a better one. This is a technique I learned in Liguria—the Italian Riviera—in which all of the clam liquid is used as part of the sauce, but without much effort. The result is delicious pasta in a rich, thick sauce—along with a pile of clams.

• 4 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
  

• 36 to 48 littleneck clams, well-washed
  

• 1 tablespoon minced garlic
  

• Salt
  

• 1 pound linguine or other long pasta
  

• 2 or 3 plum tomatoes, cored and chopped
  

• Freshly ground black pepper
  

• Chopped parsley
  

1. Begin heating a large pot of water for the pasta. Pour 2 tablespoons of the oil into a large, deep skillet, turn the heat to high, and heat for a minute. Add the clams, reduce the heat to medium-high, give the pan a shake, and cover. Continue to cook the clams, shaking the pan occasionally, until they begin to open, about 5 minutes. Add the garlic and cook until most of the clams are open.
   

2. Salt the boiling pasta water and cook the pasta. When it is nearly tender, remove a cup of its cooking water and drain. When the clams are ready, add the pasta and the tomatoes to the skillet and cook, tossing frequently, until the pasta is tender and hot; add some of the pasta-cooking water if the mixture is too dry.
   

3. Add the remaining 2 tablespoons oil and taste and adjust the seasoning if necessary; garnish with the parsley and serve.
   

TIME:
45 minutes

MAKES:
4 servings

Rice noodles have no equivalent in European cooking. Made from rice powder and almost always sold dried, they are nearly as fast-cooking as fresh wheat noodles. Regardless of their name (rice stick, rice vermicelli, oriental-style noodle, and so on), rice noodles are easily recognized by their gray-white, translucent appearance, and by the fact that because of their somewhat irregular shapes they are never packed in as orderly a fashion as wheat noodles. (They are quite long and are packaged folded up over themselves.) Two thicknesses are common: very thin and fettuccinelike; here you want the latter.

• ¾ pound fettucine-style rice noodles
  

• 3 tablespoons grapeseed, corn, or other light oil
  

• 1 pound minced or ground boneless pork or chicken
  

• 1 yellow or red bell pepper, stemmed, seeded, and minced
  

• 1 eggplant (about ½ pound), cut into ½-inch cubes
  

• 1 tablespoon minced garlic
  

• One 12- to 14-ounce can (about 1½ cups) unsweetened coconut milk
  

• Nam pla (fish sauce), soy sauce, or salt
  

• Freshly ground black pepper Minced cilantro
  

1. Soak the noodles in very hot water to cover until you’re ready to add them to the stir-fry.
   

2. Meanwhile, pour 1 tablespoon of the oil into a large skillet or wok, turn the heat to high, and heat for a minute. Add the meat and cook, stirring occasionally until it browns and loses its raw look, about 5 minutes. Remove with a slotted spoon and set aside.
   

3. Add another 1 tablespoon oil to the skillet, followed by the bell pepper and eggplant. Cook over medium-high heat, stirring occasionally until the pepper and eggplant are browned and tender, about 10 minutes. Remove with a slotted spoon and combine with the meat.
   

4. Add the remaining 1 tablespoon oil, followed immediately by the garlic and cook for about 30 seconds. Add the coconut milk. Cook over medium-high heat, stirring
   and scraping with a wooden spoon, for about a minute. Drain the noodles and add along with the meat and vegetables. Cook until the noodles absorb most of the coconut milk, about 3 minutes.
   

5. Season with nam pla, soy sauce, or salt to taste, then add plenty of black pepper. Garnish with cilantro and serve.
   

TIME:
30 to 40 minutes

MAKES:
4 servings

Here’s another use for rice noodles. This one is akin to the popular (in the U.S. at least) Thai restaurant dish known as pad Thai. There are a lot of ingredients here, but most of them keep well in your pantry, and substituting is easy.

• 6 dried black (shiitake) mushrooms (or use fresh shiitakes, trimmed of their stems and sliced)
  

• 12 ounces thin rice noodles (“vermicelli” or “rice stick”)
  

• 2 tablespoons peanut or grapeseed, corn, or other light oil
  

• 1 tablespoon slivered or minced garlic
  

• 12 ounces shrimp, peeled (deveined if you like) and cut into bite-size pieces
  

• ½ teaspoon Asian chile paste or crushed red pepper flakes, or to taste
  

• 2 eggs, lightly beaten
  

• 3 tablespoons soy sauce, or to taste
  

• 2 teaspoons sugar
  

• Stock (or water or mushroom-soaking liquid) as needed
  

• Salt, optional
  

• 1 cup bean sprouts, optional
  

• ½ cup washed, dried, and torn basil leaves, preferably Thai basil, optional
  

1. Put the dried mushrooms in a small bowl and cover them with boiling water (don’t soak fresh mushrooms). Put the noodles in a large bowl and cover them with hot water. Prepare the other ingredients. When the mushrooms are soft, about 10 minutes later, drain, reserving their soaking liquid; trim and slice them.
   

2. Put the oil in a large nonstick skillet and turn the heat to high. Add the garlic and stir; add the shrimp and cook, stirring occasionally, for about a minute. Stir in the chile paste.
   

3. Drain and add the noodles. Cook, stirring occasionally, for about a minute. Make a well in the center of the noodles and pour the eggs into this well. Scramble, gradually integrating the egg with the noodles; this will take
   

4. less than a minute. Stir in the soy sauce and sugar. If the noodles are “clumpy,” add about ½ cup of liquid to allow them to separate and become saucy (use more liquid if necessary, but do not make the mixture soupy). Add salt to taste, then stir in the bean sprouts, basil, and sliced mushrooms. Cook another 30 seconds, then turn off the heat and serve.