COMMENT:
This recipe is from Chef Andrea Apuzzo of Andrea’s Restaurant
in New Orleans. Andrea believes in preparing dishes with only the
freshest ingredients to serve to his patrons. Before you can even
think of making the Tomato Basil Sauce recipe that follows, you
have to make your pasta from scratch. Pasta is one of the world’s
greatest foods. It is delicious, healthy, and low in fat. You can
make pasta in any imaginable shape and serve it with almost any
food. Invest in a small pasta machine for your kitchen and make
your own fresh pasta. It is no more difficult than making any other
kind of dough and it gives superior results.
INGREDIENTS:
- 2 cups semolina flour
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 2 eggs, well beaten
- 1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- 1/2 tsp salt
METHOD:
Mix the two flours together and make a mound on top of a clean surface.
Make a well in the center of the mound. In a large bowl, beat the
eggs and mix in the olive oil, salt and one cup cold water. Pour
this into the flour well. With your hands, mix the flours and liquids
together and knead until you have a ball of dough. Add up to another
½ cup of water to help things along, as necessary. Work the
dough by rolling it away from you on the counter while simultaneously
tearing it in half. Then pull it back together while rolling it
back towards you, always keeping some pressure on the dough with
the balls of your hands. Keep rolling and tearing for five minutes,
until the mixture is uniform and smooth. Dust with flour now and
then to keep the dough from sticking. Make the dough into the shape
of a bread loaf and dust with white flour. Cover with a dry cloth
and allow the pasta dough ball to rest for five minutes. Cut off
a piece of dough about the size of your fist and flatten it into
a disk. Dust it lightly with flour. The dough is now ready to be
shaped using your pasta machine.
Salsa Pomidoro Basilico - (Tomato
Basil Sauce)
PREP TIME:1 Hour
SERVES: About 8 (2-ounce) Pasta Entrees
COMMENT:
That’s Italian! Salsa Pomidoro Basilico is one of Chef Andrea
Apuzzo’s favorite pasta sauces. He serves it in his restaurant,
he makes it at home, and it’s included in his cookbook. It’s
become one of my favorite tomato sauce recipes, too.
INGREDIENTS:
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 1/4 cup chopped onion
- 1 tsp chopped garlic
- 1/4 cup red wine
- 2 cups canned Italian plum tomatoes
- 2 cups juice from tomatoes
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/4 tsp white pepper
- 2 springs chopped fresh oregano
- 8 chopped fresh basil leaves
- 4 chopped sprigs of Italian parsley
- 1 bay leaf
METHOD:
In a saucepan over medium heat, heat the olive oil until very hot.
In it sauté the onions and garlic until they turn blond.
Add wine and bring to a boil. Immediately add the tomatoes, squeezing
them between your fingers to break them up as you add them. Add
tomato juice. Lower the heat and simmer the sauce. After about 30
minutes, add water (1 cup or less) if necessary to give the sauce
the right consistency. You want the sauce thin enough to be able
to easily coat pasta, yet not so thin that it runs off the pasta.
Add salt, pepper, oregano, basil, parsley and bay leaf. Simmer sauce
another 15-20 minutes. Adjust seasonings as needed. |
