Only in New York will you find a $26 burger (Minetta Tavern), $1,000 ice cream sundae
(Serendipity 3), $10 grilled cheese sandwich (Morris Grilled Cheese Truck), and $24 spaghetti (Scarpetta). Scarpetta's spaghetti is life changing - the beauty of the dish is in its simplicity: spaghetti, tomato sauce, and basil. I came across (and modified) the following recipe from Food & Wine magazine (by Roy Choi) that attempted to recreate Scarpetta's recipe. I love his addition of a mushroom stock and pureeing the fried garlic to make the flavor of the tomato sauce complex (its a far cry from sacrilegious Prego or Ragu).
Ingredients
4oz - White Button Mushrooms (thinly sliced)
2 heads - Garlic Cloves (peeled)
2/3 cup - Extra-Virgin Olive Oil
2/3 cup - Extra-Virgin Olive Oil
2 - 28oz San Marzano Tomatoes (whole)
16oz - Spaghetti
Kosher Salt
Pepper (freshly ground)
16oz - Spaghetti
Kosher Salt
Pepper (freshly ground)
Crushed Red Pepper Flakes
Basil Leaves (torn)
Parmigiano-Reggiano (Freshly grated)
Parmigiano-Reggiano (Freshly grated)
1) In a saucepan, bring the mushrooms and 3 cups of water to a boil. Simmer
over moderate heat for one hour until the broth is reduced to 1 cup. Strain
and discard the mushrooms.
2) Meanwhile, in a small saucepan, bring the garlic and olive oil to a boil. Simmer over moderately low heat, stirring, until the garlic is golden for 30 minutes.
3) In a stock pot, bring the tomatoes and the garlic and oil to a boil. Add the mushroom broth and use an immersion/hand blender to puree the sauce until smooth (if you don't have an immersion blender, in small batches, us a blender and hold the top of the blender with a kitchen tower to prevent the top from exploding on your kitchen wall). Bring the sauce back to a boil and simmer over moderately low heat for 1 hour. Season the sauce with salt, pepper, and crushed red pepper flakes.
2) Meanwhile, in a small saucepan, bring the garlic and olive oil to a boil. Simmer over moderately low heat, stirring, until the garlic is golden for 30 minutes.
3) In a stock pot, bring the tomatoes and the garlic and oil to a boil. Add the mushroom broth and use an immersion/hand blender to puree the sauce until smooth (if you don't have an immersion blender, in small batches, us a blender and hold the top of the blender with a kitchen tower to prevent the top from exploding on your kitchen wall). Bring the sauce back to a boil and simmer over moderately low heat for 1 hour. Season the sauce with salt, pepper, and crushed red pepper flakes.
4) Cook the spaghetti in a large pot of salted boiling water until al
dente. Drain the spaghetti and return to the pot. Add 2 1/2 cups of the
sauce and cook / toss for 1 minute. Transfer the spaghetti to bowls,
top with basil, and serve with grated cheese. Mangia!
No comments:
Post a Comment