I’ve got to take a break for the summer. I thought for a while about all the quickie write-ups I could do for Red Sauce Fridays while I have lots of work commitments going on, but I don’t want to phone it in. So with apologies, this will not be the weekly source for new … Continue reading
I’ve got a lot going on this week, so I bring you an UGB classic. Say it in your best Costanza: Pasta primavera!
When I was growing up, my family prided ourselves in staying true to the Italian tradition of purity in cooking, following all the rules that make the food so refined back in the mother country. In our kitchen, garlic went into oil-based sauces that were either eaten plain or with fish; onion was used in meat … Continue reading
When I first started Red Sauce Fridays, I got responses from all sorts of corners of the web, including one from my high school best friend, Eloise Parrino (now Butovich). I basically wanted to be Eloise back in the day—she was hilarious and gorgeous, with aquamarine eyes and a smile (and mind) full of mischief. … Continue reading
The highlight of my days at Gourmet Magazine was when the Bat Phone would ring—that would be the direct line from the test kitchen, where one of the insanely talented cooks would have something to for us editors to taste. Invariably, what I tasted would blow my mind, and often change the way I cooked. … Continue reading
In a week that I had sort of a lot going on, and didn’t get around to cooking anything particularly red, I spotted a Facebook post of my sister, where she wrote about a saucy lentil dish that I had never tried. I call it serendipity. This post is brought to you by Kim Porcelli. I … Continue reading
In the coldest winter months, a boscaiola sauce is the warm blanket we all need. Named for the boscaiola—or woodsman—it generally contains pork sausage, porcini mushrooms, and cream. Can’t you just imagine that storybook Italian woodsman, in his plaid shirt and Barbour coat, coming in from the cold to make a sauce from the things he’s found … Continue reading
For most Americans (if I can speak for most Americans), lasagne is synonymous with lots of ooey-gooey melted cheese, bubbling on the top, oozing from the middle, and burning onto the pan. So it might have you scratching your head when I tell you that some of my favorite lasagnes are devoid of cheese—okay, maybe a … Continue reading
When I was growing up, we referred to my grandmother’s meat ragu as “Bolognese”. Tomatoey, umami to the nth degree, and thick with chunks of meat and mushrooms—it was as delicious as it was far from an actual Bolognese sauce, the famed meat ragu of Bologna. That sauce is an impossibly balanced and nuanced combination … Continue reading
Too much going on this week, folks, so I will just remind you of this never-disappointing way to use red sauce. See you next week! Fried egg on everything
ugly but good 