From Edible LA and our Cookbook Hit List
This pasta is so impressive-looking, you’d never guess how easy it is to make (the best kind of pasta dish). You’re romancing classic cacio e pepe with a deep, dark, shmoody red wine sauce, a technique I learned from the amazing Montreal pizza and natty wine joint Elena. You’ll reduce an entire bottle of wine (!!!), along with lots of garlic and black pepper, until it’s thick and fragrant and devoid of any astringency, and then add boatloads of salty cheese. I like to use a fifty-fifty mix of Pecorino Romano (salty, sheepy) and Parmigiano Reggiano (nutty, sweet), but you could use one; just know that pecorino is a supremely salty cheese, so you might want to hold back on the salt elsewhere in the recipe.
(If you get this book, this goes with: mashed potato arancini (page 63, Mollyz Ballz (page 142), and triple threat garlic bread (page 99))
SERVES 4
Ingredients:
PRODUCE
8 garlic cloves
DAIRY
3 ounces Pecorino Romano and/or Parmigiano Reggiano, plus more for serving
8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter
PANTRY
Kosher salt
2 tablespoons black peppercorns
1 (750 ml) bottle full-bodied red wine, such as zinfandel or cabernet1
1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
1 pound spaghetti
Directions
DO SOME PREP:
Put a large pot of water on the heat to boil. Salt it generously.
Coarsely grind enough black peppercorns to measure a scant 2 tablespoons. The grind should be very large! If your pepper mill doesn’t make a large grind, use a mortar and pestle or resealable plastic bag and crush them with the bottom of a heavy skillet.
If it’s not already, finely grate 3 ounces Pecorino Romano.*
Cube 6 tablespoons unsalted butter.
Keep chilled in the fridge.
MAKE THE BASE OF THE SAUCE:
Crack open 1 (750 ml) bottle full-bodied red wine.
In a large Dutch oven, heat the remaining 2 tablespoons butter and a glug of olive oil over medium-high heat (the olive oil raises the smoking point of the butter, allowing you to cook over medium-high heat without burning it). Add the sliced garlic and ground peppercorns, season with salt, and cook, stirring, over medium heat until the garlic is softened but not browned, 1 to 2 minutes.
Pour the whole bottle of wine into the pot,** raise the heat to high, and bring to a boil. Cook until the liquid reduces to ¾ cup, 16 to 20 minutes. IF YOU’RE GONNA USE IT, USE IT (PG 20)
MEANWHILE, COOK YOUR PASTA:
Once the wine has been reducing for 10 minutes or so, add 1 pound spaghetti to the pot of boiling water. Give it a stir and cook until very al dente, 2 to 3 minutes less than the package directions. Scoop out a cup or so of the pasta water and drain the pasta.
FINISH IT UP:
Once the wine has adequately reduced, reduce the heat to low and add the cold cubed butter, a few pieces at a time. Shake the pot back and forth, while stirring, to emulsify the butter and wine into a silky homogeneous sauce.
Add the drained pasta to the pot. Using a pair of tongs, coat the noodles in the sauce. And here comes the cacio: add the 3 ounces grated cheese, along with a big splash of the reserved pasta water. Continue stirring and coating the pasta with the sauce, adding more of the reserved pasta water, a splash at a time, until a loose, silky sauce is formed (you may not use all the pasta water). Give a final seasoning of salt.
Divide the pasta among serving bowls and eat immediately, with more grated cheese on top.
*If using a Microplane, you’ll want a few BIG piles; if using store-bought grated cheese, you’ll need a few big handfuls (about ¾ cup).
** I don’t like to use super-high- quality, expensive wine when cooking. Of course, it’s got to be something you like the taste of, so find your balance. A lot of the nuance of flavor will get cooked off, but the essence will remain.
More is More Copyright © 2023 by Molly Baz. Photographs copyright © 2023 by PEDEN + MUNK. Illustrations Copyright © 2023 Claire McCracken. Published by Clarkson Potter, an imprint of Random House.”
Order your copy from NowServing bookstore here.
Honeydew, Feta, Jalapenos and Lime Salad from Salad Freak
Jess Damuck: “Serves 6 to 8 as a snack, if you took out the feta cheese. I’m certain that, if blended, this would also make an incredible tequila-based cocktail.”
Considered one of the crown jewels of Shabbat and holiday cooking, brisket has decidedly humble beginnings. Inexpensive due to its toughness and originally considered a throwaway cut, brisket became a staple of cold-weather Eastern European Jewish cooking when farmers realized it was less expensive to butcher a cow than to feed it all winter long. Home cooks became experts at slow-cooking brisket to tender perfection, adding onions and often a tomato-based liquid to coax out the meat’s flavor and ideal texture. Aside from my mother’s recipe), this is the version I find myself making the most. Tons of garlic and onions, white wine, and two types each of figs (fresh and dried) and pomegranate (molasses and fresh seeds) come together for a finished brisket that is simultaneously homey and elegant. Brisket is always better served the next day; if you have time, cool the whole cut in its braising liquid, then slice it against the grain and re-warm gently in the sauce.
Serves 8 to 10
Ingredients:
One 5-pound brisket with a good amount of fat
1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon kosher salt, plus more for seasoning
1 1/2 teaspoons freshly ground black pepper, plus more for seasoning
1/4 cup vegetable oil 3 large onions, thinly sliced (6 cups)
2 tablespoons all‑purpose or gluten-free flour
10 garlic cloves, peeled and left whole
2 tablespoons tomato paste
2 cups dry white wine
1 1/2 cups beef or chicken broth
1/3 cup pomegranate molasses
4 dried figs, chopped
1/4 cup honey
1 1/2 teaspoons red wine vinegar
1 tablespoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon dried red pepper flakes
6 fresh figs,* quartered
1/2 cup pomegranate seeds
Mint leaves, for garnish
Directions:
Preheat the oven to 300°F
Arrange the brisket on a large plate and season it generously on all sides with 1 tablespoon of the salt and 1 teaspoon of the pepper. In a large, heavy Dutch oven, heat the oil over medium-high heat until very hot but not smoking. Add the brisket (fattier side down, if there is one) and sear until deeply browned and crisped in parts, 6 to 7 minutes. Carefully flip the brisket and sear for another 6 minutes, then, if they’re thick enough, sear each of the narrow sides, standing up the brisket, if possible, 3 minutes per side. Remove to a plate, leaving any fat and juices in the pan.
Add the onions and flour and cook, stirring occasionally, until the flour is absorbed, 1 minutes, then add the garlic and tomato paste and cook, stirring occasionally, until the onions begin to soften, 5 minutes. Add the wine, raise the heat to high, bring to a boil, then turn down the heat and simmer until the wine reduces by half, 4 to 5 minutes. Add the broth, pomegranate molasses, dried figs, honey, vinegar, cumin, red pepper flakes, and the remaining 1 teaspoon salt and ½ teaspoon black pepper.
Bring to a boil over high heat, then reduce the heat to a simmer and gently lower the brisket back into the roasting pan, spooning some of the sauce and onions over the brisket. Cover the brisket with a piece of parchment paper (this will prevent the acid in the sauce from interacting with the foil), seal the roasting pan tightly with foil, and cook in the oven until the brisket is tender, 4 hours to 4 hours 30 minutes. Remove the oven, unseal slightly, then let the brisket come to room temperature, about 1 hour.
If you have time, refrigerate the brisket overnight, then uncover it and remove and discard the congealed fat. Remove the brisket from the sauce and slice it against the grain into 1/4-inch-thick slices. Heat the sauce in the roasting pan or another pot over medium-high heat, until boiling. Lower the heat and simmer until the sauce thickens to your liking, 10 to 15 minutes. Nestle the sliced brisket back in the sauce, cover with foil, and warm gently in a 200degreeF oven until everything is heated through, 45 minutes to 1 hour.
To serve, transfer the brisket and sauce to a platter, season with salt and pepper, and garnish with fresh figs, pomegranate seeds, and mint leaves.
*If you can’t find fresh figs, garnish with more pomegranate seeds.
From SHABBAT by Adeena Sussman, published by Avery, an imprint of Penguin Publishing Group, a division of Penguin Random House, LLC. Copyright @ 2023 by Adeena Sussman. Order here from NowServing bookstore.
Suzanne Goin's Roasted Carrot Salad
Suzanne Goin of The Lucques Group and the new Caldo Verde at DTLA’s Proper Hotel grabs inspiration straight from the garden for this roasted salad bursting with big flavors.
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