I love pasta but I'm not totally sure why. If I sample pasta out of the boiling water, it is fairly bland. Maybe it's the chew and the sauce. Here are my favorites in no particular order.
Angel hair pasta with Rao's marinara sauce.
Beans and greens over penne pasta.
Pasta with garlic and oil and broccoli.
Pasta with wine sauce, kalamata olives and artichoke hearts.
How about you? I'd love to try a new recipe.
When my wife and I were stationed at Ramstein Air Base in Germany, we would go to the Commissary for lunch. They had a pasta kitchen where they made fresh dishes on order. The menu was static but they would also have a special of the day.
Our favorite from the menu was #6: penne pasta with a tomato and heavy cream sauce with scallions and salmon. They would also substitute shrimp for the salmon. We'd ask them to spice it up with some fresh habanero peppers. Amazing dish! We still make it at home to this day. We call it... #6.
My second-favorite pasta dish is Carbonara or pretty much any pasta in alfredo sauce.
Linguine in White Clam Sauce from live clams in the shell (scrubbed) or chopped.
I like fresh Pasta from Uncle Giuseppe's but Stu Leonard has a nice dry Pasta, especially the Rigatoni. It's Hearty and meaty.
I make my own sauce and use fresh ingredients, San Marzano plum tomatoes from Italy and Sausage or my own meatballs from three meats.
I also will make my own Pesto from fresh Basil.
I'm on my way, Ed!!! :P :P
Sometimes I'll use fresh Scallops. And I'll toast breadcrumbs and sprinkle it on some pasta dishes.
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Mmmm pasta. All the above dishes sound fantastic!
I make a nice lasagna which has become our "new traditional" Thanksgiving meal after years of plodding through roast turkey while not really enjoying it.
My wife makes cavatelli with broccoli and mushrooms which I love. But cavatelli seems a bit harder to find out here than when we lived in NY.
A couple times a year we enjoy making Haluski, which reminds me of dinner at my grandmother's. And my other grandmother used to make egg noodles in butter and onions with cottage cheese melted in. Sounds weird but tastes good. I think it's a dish that originated in western PA / Ohio.
My mom used to make macaroni with cheese and tomatoes, which sounds a bit strange until you taste it.
When we go out to dinner at an Italian restaurant I'll generally order spaghetti with mushrooms and meatballs. That's the dish I use to judge how good the place is. Bonus points if they make their own fresh pasta in-house.
I think pasta just goes so well with other things as well, thus adding to the enjoyment. Veal cutlet (or parm) with a side of spaghetti. Chicken Piccata over angel hair pasta with butter and olive oil. Damn I'm getting hungry!!
Fresh fettuccine with vodka sauce and Fettuccine with Muscles Marinara with capers, imported Parmesan, and toasted breadcrumbs. Tonight's dinner.
Jeez Ed, you're killing me here. What makes it worse is my wife is out of town for a couple weeks and I'm left to fend for myself. Believe me, my meals while she's gone don't look anything like the pictures above.
Since we keep a Kosher house, many of the above dishes are, well you know, not 'right' for our household.
My wife was the one who Koshered me, but before, I used to go into Manhattan and Little Italy. One of my favorite dishes was Eggplant Rollatini served with some Angel hair pasta and some unbelievable red sauce. Since this is more about the eggplant than the pasta, I don't know if it will fit into this category, but I still make this dish at home several times a year. I have forgone making, my own sauce, but I do take some of the ingredients and kind of stir them up into what we think (for Jews anyway) is a [pretty good pasta sauce.
If it was just a pasta dish we love baked Ziti.
Tagliatelle with a good bolognese
Lasagna both ways, with ricotta and with bechamel
My mother made a bit of an unusual pasta dish with those green leafy fennel stalks. The tanginess of the fennel went so well with the pasta.
When it comes to Italian cooking, I'm a simple man. I love a good spaghetti and meatballs when the sauce is just right and the meatballs are good. When I lived in an apartment, the recently divorced girl downstairs from me, was 100% Italian and made meatballs that she would test on me...holy cow. I didn't know it was possible to make meatball with such flavor. And for sauce, I suggest Little Venice pasta sauce. And I prefer regular no. 5 spaghetti over angel hair or some of the other variations
If I'm at a restaurant, I'll almost always order Fettuccine Alfredo with chicken and broccoli, or Eggplant Parmesan with a side of spaghetti (really depends on the restaurant's sauce or fresh eggplant etc.). I live near Endicott, NY where the population is heavily Italian during the population explosion of the 1940s, which brought in thousands of families from Italy to work at Endicott Johnson's shoe company. Many of the small restaurants (some are hole in the walls) in that area have been around since that time, and family recipes handed down from generation to generation and third or fourth generation families still running them. In Binghamton, I usually go to Cortese Restaurant, but always get a steak "Milanese Style", instead of pasta. Those smaller family restaurants are better than some of the highly touted Italian restaurants in big cities. Cortese has gone beyond the small family restaurants, but it's still in the family, only much bigger. Here's their menu
https://www.corteserestaurant.com/menu
Little Venice in Binghamton is also large, but no longer in the family, and people complain that it's no longer the same. I cannot verify by experience, but they still make great homemade pasta and their sauce is the same (a little on the sweeter side), and I like it. https://www.facebook.com/TheLittleVenice
Ric, having lived in Endicott for over 50 years, you're making me crave some of that good triple cities cooking. My favorite from back in the day was Duff's on the northside of Endicott. It's the place I went with my wife on our first date back when we were 16. Hands down the best homemade pasta I've ever had...anywhere. Love Cortese but not a fan of Little Venice sauce. As you say it's a sweet sauce, which doesn't do it for me. Years ago The Binghamton Press used to occasionally feature recipes from area restaurants in the "local" section of the paper. I remember Little Venice sharing their spaghetti sauce recipe, and If I'm remembering right it contained a bit of apple sauce in it. Or maybe I'm confusing it with something else. Not sure. At any rate I felt the same way about that sauce as I did about Brozetti's pizza. A lot of people love it but too sweet for me. Actually I have no idea if Brozetti's is still there. I'm losing more and more touch with the triple cities with each passing year.
There are so many I love, but if I had to pick a single favorite it would probably be rigatoni bolognese.
Quote from: Sem on November 15, 2024, 12:38:04 PMRic, having lived in Endicott for over 50 years, you're making me crave some of that good triple cities cooking. My favorite from back in the day was Duff's on the northside of Endicott. It's the place I went with my wife on our first date back when we were 16. Hands down the best homemade pasta I've ever had...anywhere. Love Cortese but not a fan of Little Venice sauce. As you say it's a sweet sauce, which doesn't do it for me. Years ago The Binghamton Press used to occasionally feature recipes from area restaurants in the "local" section of the paper. I remember Little Venice sharing their spaghetti sauce recipe, and If I'm remembering right it contained a bit of apple sauce in it. Or maybe I'm confusing it with something else. Not sure. At any rate I felt the same way about that sauce as I did about Brozetti's pizza. A lot of people love it but too sweet for me. Actually I have no idea if Brozetti's is still there. I'm losing more and more touch with the triple cities with each passing year.
The secret ingrediant in Little Venice sauce is not applesauce, as many have claimed over the years. It's actually grape jelly and apple cider vinegar, if my source is right. Grape jelly is a common incredient for cocktail meatballs at parties, except they also have some chili pepper added
Brozetti's closed down last year. Not surprising, since Wilson Hospital and Binghamton University have acquired all the surrounding land and buildings. It's no longer called "Wilson Hospital", but it's now the "UHS Wilson Medical Center" and it has sprawled into a behemoth. And BU has been tearing down the old brick eyesores that used to be factories for EJs and others, and built big modern buildings for their Nursing School, their Pharmacy School, etc. BU has bought up half of JC...you wouldn't recognize it. The hospital acquired the huge Baptist church on the corner and razed it to build additional buildings and parking, and they aren't through
UHS Wilson Medical Center
(https://i.postimg.cc/bwqZGJ95/52827900544-5d400e5b65-z.jpg) (https://postimages.org/)
BU School of Pharmacy next to the hospital
(https://i.postimg.cc/KzTGpS5L/schoolofpharmacy2024.jpg) (https://postimages.org/)
BU Decker School of Nursing
(https://i.postimg.cc/kGFn9Qzg/Decker-School-of-Nursing.jpg) (https://postimages.org/)
BU even bought up the new Gannet Press Building after it sold out
(https://i.postimg.cc/PrytRM16/10-gannett-drive-cbre.jpg) (https://postimages.org/)
Thanks for the clarification on the sauce, Ric.
You're right, I don't recognize much in those pictures. Although Wilson/UHS looks a bit familiar, likely because I spent some time there two summers ago with my mom who had been admitted following a severe stroke which ended up claiming her life. That was the last time I was back in NY. I'm not sure when or if I'll ever be back there.
Ric, my curiosity got the best of me, I had to research Little Venice sauce.
Q. Is apple sauce the secret ingredient in the famous pasta
sauce?
A. NO! and contrary to many rumors there is no peanut butter or grape jelly in the sauce either. Thick, smooth and sweet Little Venice's homemade tomato sauce is unlike anything other. The sauce recipe is a guarded family secret known only to 3 people. During the 6 plus decades that Little Venice has operated only 6 cooks have ever made the sauce. Rumors persist about the sauce recipe, but the truth is the correct recipe is not on the internet
https://littlevenicerestaurant.com/faq/
Dutch noodles in Alfredo Sauce accompanied by grilled Chicken Rollatini with homemade Pesto sauce.
We learned a quick and easy three ingredient pasta dish from Wegmans.
Tricolor tortellini from the refrigerated section of the supermarket.
Lipton noodle soup mix
One package of frozen spinach
Quote from: squibber on November 18, 2024, 03:45:35 PMWe learned a quick and easy three ingredient pasta dish from Wegmans.
Tricolor tortellini from the refrigerated section of the supermarket.
Lipton noodle soup mix
One package of frozen spinach
There's a few things, (and people), I really miss since moving from NY to the west coast. One of those things is definitely Wegmans.
Not to hijack this topic, but certain large supermarket chains just never get into the NY Metro area. Wegmans was one but hooray, they are opening the fist one on Long Island in a bout a month. A bit far for me to travel for some groceries, but if I am ever in the area, I will visit.
I like Wegmans too but my favorite supermarket is called Seed to Table in Naples, Florida. It's owned by a large produce farm.
It has two bars and live music and dancing at certain times. It has a wine department and you can bring the wine to the bar and they will serve it to you. They have a food court with different types of food like Mexican, etc.. You can buy meat or seafood and they will cook it there and bring it to your table.
I love Wegmans, but it's too big...unless you have a day or afternoon to waste, and you brought a substantial amount of money. I've perfected getting in and out in less than a few minutes - getting two types of sushi - then browsing the fresh fish and beef departments. I usually (used to anyway) grab a fresh tuna steak or swordfish steak, but at 40-some dollars per pound now, not so often. The filet Mignon steaks, strip steaks, etc., that don't sell on day one, they vacuum seal and sell them the next day, for about half price and that's where I end up getting beef...unless I'm entertaining guests, then I splurge. Usually in and out in less than 10 minutes. Sometimes I grab a Beef'n Wick sandwich and split...like yesterday when I was in Syracuse. They have everything imaginable in the store, but it's pricey and Weiss, Tops, Price Chopper, and even Aldi's has pretty good vegetables for a lot less than Wegmans, without overwhelming crowds. What Wegmans does, is a fantastic job of presentation of unlimited varieties of fruits and veggies...not necessarily more tasty than other stores. I'm used to them as there have been Wegmans in Binghamton, Ithaca, and Syracuse for many years...and I'm about equidistant from each of those cities, although usually I go to the one in Binghamton. Selection is unsurpassed by any grocery store in the world, but along with unlimited selections, great presentation, etc., is large crowd chaos :yes: That's the one downside IMO
People rave on and on about Trader Joes, but I don't get the obsession.
The worst thing about Wegmans is their urinals. When I use them, I get urine everywhere!
(https://i.postimg.cc/wTnMmczM/0-0.jpg) (https://postimages.org/)
Worst urinals ever
Perhaps you don't appreciate Wegman's until there really is no Wegman's. That's where I'm at with it. We have Aldi's, Trader Joe's, and even Whole Foods. We have grocery chains the equal of Price Chopper, Weiss, and Tops. I've shopped and Kroeger, Food Lion, and hell, even Piggly Wiggly. But goddammit, I miss Wegman's!!
Quote from: Sem on November 19, 2024, 11:31:09 PMPerhaps you don't appreciate Wegman's until there really is no Wegman's. That's where I'm at with it. We have Aldi's, Trader Joe's, and even Whole Foods. We have grocery chains the equal of Price Chopper, Weiss, and Tops. I've shopped and Kroeger, Food Lion, and hell, even Piggly Wiggly. But goddammit, I miss Wegman's!!
Oh, I know I'd miss it...if only for the their sushi and Beef'n Wick sandwiches and fresh seafood
I don't know if you know the story, but the Baldwin brothers grew up in Camillus (Syracuse), and they've all moved on to bigger places, closer to their acting careers. Alec to NYC, etc. Anyway, the brothers have begged their mother to move to a place where they live now (they'll even buy her a gorgeous house), and she flat out refuses...the reason: she won't leave unless there is a Wegmans close to her (there's one in Camillus of course, a couple of miles from her). Wegmans has actually used her in advertisements
My girlfriend moved to Florida a couple years ago and she still calls and begs me, "will you please call Wegmans' owners and tell them to start stores in Florida", LOL. The funny thing is, she's serious...that is the only thing (well, besides me) that she misses here. I think they've expanded as far south as Charlotte, so I tell her that next is Atlanta, then probably Jacksonville, Orlando, Tampa, etc. Every city wants one, but the Wegman's family seems to be slowly migrating south, not west :-??
I hadn't heard that about the Baldwin's, Ric. That's a great story. The power of Wegmans!!
Quote from: Jolly Blue Giant on November 19, 2024, 09:50:40 PMI love Wegmans, but it's too big...unless you have a day or afternoon to waste, and you brought a substantial amount of money. I've perfected getting in and out in less than a few minutes - getting two types of sushi - then browsing the fresh fish and beef departments. I usually (used to anyway) grab a fresh tuna steak or swordfish steak, but at 40-some dollars per pound now, not so often. The filet Mignon steaks, strip steaks, etc., that don't sell on day one, they vacuum seal and sell them the next day, for about half price and that's where I end up getting beef...unless I'm entertaining guests, then I splurge. Usually in and out in less than 10 minutes. Sometimes I grab a Beef'n Wick sandwich and split...like yesterday when I was in Syracuse. They have everything imaginable in the store, but it's pricey and Weiss, Tops, Price Chopper, and even Aldi's has pretty good vegetables for a lot less than Wegmans, without overwhelming crowds. What Wegmans does, is a fantastic job of presentation of unlimited varieties of fruits and veggies...not necessarily more tasty than other stores. I'm used to them as there have been Wegmans in Binghamton, Ithaca, and Syracuse for many years...and I'm about equidistant from each of those cities, although usually I go to the one in Binghamton. Selection is unsurpassed by any grocery store in the world, but along with unlimited selections, great presentation, etc., is large crowd chaos :yes: That's the one downside IMO
People rave on and on about Trader Joes, but I don't get the obsession.
The worst thing about Wegmans is their urinals. When I use them, I get urine everywhere!
(https://i.postimg.cc/wTnMmczM/0-0.jpg) (https://postimages.org/)
Worst urinals ever
I'm sure you were saying this tongue in cheek, but you do know what goes into those machines. At least I hope so. =)) =)) =)) =))
Yes Lenn...I'm joking, LOL
How to make perfect Fettuccine Alfredo
Start with a big block of cheese and set it on fire...
https://www.facebook.com/reel/1199706871259574
My own pesto sauce, penne pasta, sausage meat sautéed in first pressed olive oil infused in garden sage and Rosemary, and cherry tomatoes/artichoke hearts.
Looks delicious Ed!! I used to love artichokes but I can't eat them anymore. Last time I ate them we were out to dinner with friends. I ordered a grilled half artichoke. Something I ate during the meal gave me food poisoning and I was sick as a dog for about 36 hours. I really don't think it was the artichoke but each time since then that I've tried to eat artichokes my stomach has flipped and I can't do it. I'm sure it's all In my head but I can't seem to get past it.