I've made this dish as a quick supper and as an elegant dinner party first course. It goes both ways, which is key to its charm and longevity in my cooking repertoire.
This pesto may be tossed with spaghetti, maccheroni, linguine, or the classic Ligurian pastas, trofie or trenette.
This recipe is full of fresh flavors and takes no time to make.
This green-on-green pasta is the essence of springtime, and I start to crave it as soon as the first crocuses appear. The combination of asparagus, nutty Parmigiano-Reggiano, and the delicate accent of basil is perfection.
Ragù di carne (bolognese)
(Bolognese meat sauce)
This is what I call a sleeper recipe. At first glance it doesn’t look like much — a whole chicken rubbed with a little fresh ginger, roasted, and served alongside elbow macaroni tossed with diced tomatoes and the roasting juices. Exactly what makes this dish so remarkable is hard to pinpoint, but there’s a wonderful alchemy that occurs when the chicken, ginger, and tomato all come together. It’s comforting, a little exotic, and truly delicious. To create a maximum of pan juices — since these become the sauce for the noodles — I add the giblets to the roasting pan and pour a bit of white wine over the chicken partway through roasting. During roasting, the drippings, the wine, and the roasted giblets cook together, creating a savory jus. The chicken also roasts on a rack to encourage the drippings to caramelize a bit as they hit the hot pan, developing even more flavor. I make this year-round using canned tomatoes, but if you make it in the summer, by all means use fresh ripe tomatoes.
You can buck up the personality of a bowl of pasta by merely switching the order of how grated cheese and tomato sauce are blended with the noodles. Bring in smoky flavors and a snap of chile, and you have a modern improvisation.
The tomato/meat base of this ragout will work with any shape of pasta. Just use this recipe as a trusty guide. The point is to use whatever meat you have, such as roast pork (or beef or lamb or poultry), and heat it quickly with canned tomatoes to make a succulent sauce. Keep in mind that the meat is already cooked to perfection, so it takes very little time to come together.
Ingredients