Showing posts with label pasta. Show all posts
Showing posts with label pasta. Show all posts

Friday, May 3, 2013

Tagliatelle with Peas


Tagliatelle with Peas

Chef's Note: One of my favorite restaurants in Verona is Il Pompiere. They make a pasta dish when peas are in season that is thoroughly infused with their sweet flavor. Marco, the chef/owner, was kind enough to share his secret with me. It’s actually very simple. Once the peas are tender, half are pureed until creamy and mixed back into the sauce. When the pasta is tossed with the sauce, it absorbs all that delicious pea flavor, which is why I like using the wider tagliatelle noodles. Although you could make this with premium frozen peas, the sweet flavor of fresh peas is worth the extra time it takes to shell the peas.
  • 1/2 medium yellow onion
  • 4 tablespoons California Olive Ranch extra-virgin olive oil
  • 1 3/4 pounds fresh peas (or 12 ounces frozen peas)
  • Salt
  • Freshly ground black pepper
  • 12 ounces dried egg tagliatelle or pappardelle

Directions

Step 1: Fill a pot for the pasta with about 6 quarts of water, place over high heat, and bring to a boil.
Step 2: Peel and finely chop the onion. Put the olive oil in a saucepan or deep 8-inch skillet, add the chopped onion, and place over medium heat. Sauté until the onion turns a rich golden color, about 5 minutes. While the onion is sautéing, shell the fresh peas, if using.
Step 3: When the onion is ready, add the peas and season generously with salt and pepper. Stir the peas well, then add about 1/2 cup water. Cook over medium heat until the peas are tender, adding water if it evaporates completely before they are done. It should take 15 to 20 minutes for the peas to become tender. (If using frozen peas, add water only once and cook for 6 to 8 minutes).
Step 4: When the peas are tender, remove from the heat, take out about half the peas, and puree them. A food mill will make the smoothest puree, but if you don’t have one you can use a food processor. Put the pureed peas back in the pan with the whole peas.
Step 5: Add about 2 tablespoons salt to the boiling pasta water, add the tagliatelle, and stir until all the strands are submerged. Cook until al dente. After the pasta has cooked for about 2 minutes, add 3/4 cup of the pasta water to the pan with the peas and stir well.
Step 6: When the pasta is done, drain well, toss with the sauce, and serve at once.

Recipe credit: Giuliano Hazan's Thirty Minute Pasta (Stewart, Tabori & Chang, 2009), by Giuliano Hazan

Reprinted with permission from the publisher



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Thursday, November 10, 2011

Do you salt your pasta water?

@epicurious: Do you salt your pasta water? @GourmetLive
http://bit.ly/uZEzKz