Pasta "Timballo" with Fresh Ricotta

One place I'm dying to visit is Sicily; all the different types of cooking that vary from village to village, the lively markets, the coastline, the wineries, the fresh and simple cooking...it all sounds so perfect, doesn't it? This timballo is a classic Sicilian pasta dish that is reserved for formal occasions, but here in my tiny little kitchen in NYC, I decided that a random rainy Tuesday night was special enough to bake it up. I suggest you do the same. It's just too good to wait for.

The dish comes out of the oven piping hot with steaming heaps of warmed fresh ricotta intermixed with bright, zingy tomato sauce; it's one of the best baked pastas I've ever made (and yes, that includes my mac and cheese, which I think it's directly on par with). Invite a bunch of friends over and share it this weekend. P.S. Happy Friday. xo


Pasta "Timballo" with Fresh Ricotta
Adapted from Heart of the Artichoke and Other Kitchen Journeys, by David Tanis
Ingredients:
1 pound anelli pasta (I couldn't find anelli pasta, so I used the fun squiggly shape above)
Olive oil
Salt and pepper
Red pepper flakes
4 cups Tomato Sauce (my recipe follows)
1 pound best-quality fresh ricotta, at room temperature
Grated pecorino
A handful of basil leaves, roughly chopped 

Directions:
Bring a big pot of salted water to a boil. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Boil the pasta for about 1 minute less than the package instructions say; it should be firmly al dente. Drain the pasta and put it into a large bowl. Drizzle with a little fruity olive oil, and season to taste with salt, black pepper, and red pepper flakes.

Meanwhile, heat the tomato sauce. Have a large, deep ovenproof platter ready. I used a 9 x 13 glass baking dish.

Spoon about half the sauce into the platter and stir half of the ricotta into the sauce, leaving it rather lumpy. Pile the pasta on the sauce on the platter, and spoon the rest of the sauce on top of the pasta. Top with spoonfuls of the remaining ricotta and sprinkle with grated pecorino. Put the platter in the oven for about 10 minutes, to heat through completely. Sprinkle with basil, and serve more pecorino on the side.

My foolproof homemade tomato sauce I've been making forever. I found the recipe originally on Goop: In a large saucepan, slowly cook six cloves of thinly sliced garlic in a couple tablespoons of olive oil for five minutes over low heat.  Add two large, fresh basil leaves and stir for a minute.  Add two 28-ounce cans of whole, peeled tomatoes along with their juice and two more whole basil leaves.  Bring the sauce to a boil, turn down the heat, season with salt and pepper and let it bubble away on low heat for 45 minutes. Cool and refrigerate.

Mexican Breakfast

A few years ago, I took a little trip to Playa del Carmen with a friend for some serious relaxation. My memories of the trip have since devolved into a warm, hazy blur of sun, ocean dips, strong margaritas, and lots of reading, but one thing that I've always remembered clear as day is the breakfast dish I ate every single morning while we were there. It was a strange little conglomeration of crispy tortilla, eggs, and bright green cilantro served piping hot and sprinkled with a crumbly white cheese; so simple, yet so incredibly good. I actually mourned it's absence when I got back home, never thinking to try making it myself.

I was so surprised, when flipping through David Tanis' cookbook, Heart of the Artichoke and Other Kitchen Journeys (a lovely birthday gift from Michelle, our edit director at CA Creative), to find a recipe for the exact dish I remember so well. Tanis calls it chilaquiles, and his version of it is even better than the ones I had in Mexico. In fact, I was so happy to be reunited with it, I whipped it up no less than three times over the weekend. And I'll probably have it for dinner tonight. xo

Mexican Breakfast (or Chilaquiles)
Adapted from Heart of the Artichoke and Other Kitchen Journeys, by David Tanis
Ingredients:
4 corn tortillas, cut into strips
Big handful of cilantro, chopped
1/4 cup of scallions, chopped
1 small green jalapeno, chopped
2 eggs
Salt and pepper
Queso fresco, for crumbling

Directions:
Heat a cast-iron skillet, add a little vegetable oil, add the tortilla strips and a little salt, and stir to coat them. The tortilla strips will wilt, then crisp, which is what you want. Throw in a big handful of chopped cilantro, scallions, and chopped jalapenos, and stir them around.

Now add 2 beaten eggs seasoned with salt and pepper. Mix and stir the eggs with the tortillas until the eggs are set. Finish the chilaquiles with a little crumbled queso fresco.