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1. Sauce of Plum Tomatoes, Shallots, and Butter

2. Spaghetti Nest with Genoese Pesto and Goat Cheese-Stuffed Tomatoes

3. Crespelle with Zucchini, Anchovies, and Mozzarella

Book Description

You may find yourself dusting off your hand-cranked pasta machine after thumbing through Erica de Mane's Pasta Improvvisata. She has taken pasta in one hand, tradition in the other, and pulled together an inspired cookbook. This book is about cooking. Sure, there are plenty of recipes, but each recipe is a point of departure that encourages inspired cooking.

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Pasta Improvvisata : How to Improvise in Classic Italian Style

Authors: Erica De Mane

Date: June 1999

ISBN: 068482972X

Publisher: Scribner

Hardcover

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The best fresh plum (also called Roma) tomatoes are available in the summer, but I often see acceptable-looking ones during the fall and early winter, and if they're dark red, soft, and smell like tomatoes, I buy them. Sometimes they're quite good; sometimes they're mealy and tasteless, so taste one before you cook with it. This is a quick sauce that blends excellently with fresh egg pasta. Note the use of shallots and butter instead of the usual onion and olive oil. This produces a sweeter, more delicate sauce.

Makes enough sauce for 1 pound of pasta

• 2 to 3 tablespoons unsalted butter

• 4 shallots, thinly sliced

• 15 ripe plum tomatoes (2 to 2 1/2 pounds), peeled, seeded, and chopped into small dice

• Salt

• Freshly ground black pepper

1. In a large skillet, melt the butter over medium heat. Add the shallots and sauté until soft, 3 to 4 minutes. Add the tomatoes, turn up the heat a bit, and cook until they soften and give off juice, another 5 to 6 minutes. Cover the pan while cooking the tomatoes, if you want more liquid in your sauce. The sauce will taste sweet, like a slightly heightened ripe tomato, and be bright red. Add salt and pepper and a little extra butter if desired. I like this sauce a little chunky, but if you want a smoother texture, pulse it briefly in a food processor.

Ideas: If you like the taste of green tomatoes, substitute them here. The sauce will be tart but lively. Choose ones with tiny flecks of red in the skin. Very firm green tomatoes are a bit too sour.

More From This Book:

1. Sauce of Plum Tomatoes, Shallots, and Butter

2. Spaghetti Nest with Genoese Pesto and Goat Cheese-Stuffed Tomatoes

3. Crespelle with Zucchini, Anchovies, and Mozzarella

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