 |
My husband served for two years as a missionary in Northern Italy. I learned to make pasta sauce from Sorella Settembrini when we visited her in her farm house near Piacenza.
MARINARA SAUCE
2 large cans or quart bottles of crushed tomatoes
1 small can tomato paste
1 large can tomato sauce
Olive Oil
Fresh Garlic, minced (to taste, probably one clove)
Fresh or dried basil One large handful of fresh leaves chopped or torn or 2 T dried (to taste)
1 carrot (grated)
1/2 c chopped onion (optional)
1 T sugar
butter
starchy pasta water
Pour 1/4 c olive oil into heavy bottomed skillet of pot. Heat it gently. Sautee onion until translucent. Grate one small carrot into olive oil. Sautee carrot a minute or two. Add minced or chopped garlic, maybe 7 or 8 clove nubs. Cook another minute of so. Add sugar, then can of paste. Stir as it heats up. To this add crushed tomatoes and stir well. I usually add a couple quarts, depending on how big a crowd I am feeding or how much I plan to send home with guests (they always want some) Add a good bunch of fresh basil leaves, torn into small pieces. If you don't have fresh, use a couple tablespoons of dried crushed basil. Taste and see if you need to add salt. If you are using commercially processed tomatoes there is likely to be more salt than home canned. Add some cans of tomato sauce to this if you want. It stretches out your sauce if extra guests show up. After simmering for an hour or three, you can add a couple tablespoons of butter or cream to counterbalance the acidity and smooth out the sauce. A little of the starchy water from the pasta boiling will also smooth out the sauce.
RAGU SAUCE: Add meat to Marinara and you have RAGU. I prefer fresh ground pork in marinara sauce. Pork really likes tomato, and vice-versa. Use plenty of salt and pepper and cook your pork in olive oil. Add this to your sauce. Stir some sauce around in the brownings at the bottom of your pan to get all that flavor into your ragu. You can also use hamburger the same way.
You can also put cooked chunks of pork tenderloin roast in a strong blender and chop it up finely, then add to sauce.
MANICOTTI or LASAGNA:
My mother learned to make lasagna from Mamma Fasulo, and I learned from my mom.
I make a bunch of Manicotti while I have the mess out. It freezes fine, and is good to make for neighbors and have some for home as well. Here's my double batch recipe.
Marinara or ragu sauce
Pasta noodles, 2 boxes (Manicotti for stuffing, or lasagna for layering)
Filling:
4 eggs
2 lb Ricotta Cheese
1 c Parmesan Cheese
6 c Mozzarella cheese
1/2 c bread crumbs (I toast bread and crush it in blender)
2T chopped parsley or 1 T dried parsley
ground pepper
Boil noodles in plenty of hot water, 6-8 minutes. Drain and put in ice water to help keep them intact .Use 9 X 13 baking dish or large cake pan. Pour a few tablespoons of olive oil on bottom of pan, then add enough marinara sauce to cover bottom of pan. Stuff shells and lay them side by side in pan. If making lasagna put ricotta and other ingress in globs on pasta, sprinkle mozzarella on top, pour some sauce over it, and repeat in layers. For Manicotti just do one layer of rolls and then top with plenty of marinara sauce and some shredded mozzarella with parmesan on top.
Cover with foil and bake on a cookie sheet at 350 for roughly 40 minutes to an hour. Remove foil and turn on broiler to brown cheese on top. Thicker lasagna will take longer than an hour. Refrigerated will also take longer than lasagna made fresh, so plan on extra time . Remove from oven and let rest at least 20 minutes for the ingredients to incorporate. If frozen, defrost for a day in the fridge and then cook.
A little note about cooking pasta: Be sure to cook your noodles in plenty of water. Too little water will not give the poor pasta anywhere to send its starch. Cook it according to directions on the box or bag, minus a minute. That's when you check it. Take a bite. If there is any crunchiness in it, keep cooking. If there is a little resistance to the tooth, it's just right. If it's mushy, you've overcooked it. Don't waste good sauce on overcooked pasta. Boil a new batch. Do NOT keep cooked pasta in hot water, or even cold water. Drain it and toss some olive oil or butter in it to keep it from sticking. You can always reheat in rapidly boiling water for 30 seconds (I'm talking spaghetti here.) For lasagna and manicotti noodles, I keep them in ice water to keep them from sticking to each other and to hold the shell shape. But I work rapidly so they are not over soaked. Shake water off noodles before stuffing or layering them. Also, boil in salted water. Do not salt pasta after the fact.
To STUFF MANICOTTI put filling in a large frosting piping bag and pipe into noodles.
