Marcella Hazan:The Last Four Sauces: Her Ult. Tomato/Peas, Peppers, and Prosciutto/Amatriciana/Smothered Onions 🌞

Peas, Peppers, and Prosciutto Sauce with Cream

FOR 4 TO 6 SERVINGS

Peas and prosciutto make one of the most light-handed pasta
sauces with cream. In the version below, peppers are added,
increasing the vivaciousness of the sauce with their aroma, their
texture, their ripe red color.

3 meaty, ripe red bell peppers
3 tablespoons butter
A ½-inch-thick slice of prosciutto or country ham, or plain boiled
unsmoked ham, about 6 ounces, diced very fine
1 cup tiny frozen peas, thawed
1 cup heavy whipping cream
Salt
Black pepper, ground fresh from the mill
1 cup freshly grated parmigiano-reggiano cheese, plus additional cheese at the table
1 to 1½ pounds pasta

Recommended pasta There is no more appropriate sauce than this one
for garganelli, the handmade tubular macaroni on this page. It would also
go quite well with short, tubular factory-made pasta such as maccheroncinior penne.

1. Roast and skin the peppers, and remove their seeds as described on
this page. When you have thoroughly dried them, patting them with paper
towels, cut them into ¼-inch squares and set aside.

2. Put the butter and diced prosciutto into a sauté pan and turn on the
heat to medium. Cook for a minute or less, stirring frequently.

3. Add the thawed peas, and cook for another minute, stirring to coat
them well.

4. Add the little squares of peppers, stirring for half a minute or less.

5. Add the cream, salt, and several grindings of pepper, and turn up the
heat to high. Cook, stirring constantly, until the cream thickens.

6. Toss the sauce with cooked drained pasta, swirling in the grated
Parmesan. Serve immediately, with additional grated cheese.

From "Essentials of Classic Italian Cooking"
https://www.goodreads.com/en/book/show/19552.Essentials_of_Classic_Italian_Cooking

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Tomato Sauce with Sautéed Vegetables and Olive Oil

FOR 6 SERVINGS

This is a denser, darker sauce than the preceding two, cooked
longer over a base of sautéed vegetables.

2 pounds fresh, ripe tomatoes, prepared as *described
or 2 cups canned imported Italian plum tomatoes, cut up, with their juice
⅓ cup extra virgin olive oil
⅓ cup chopped onion
⅓ cup chopped carrot
⅓ cup chopped celery
Salt
1 to 1½ pounds pasta

Recommended pasta Most factory-made pasta will carry this sauce
well, in particular substantial shapes such as rigatoni, ridged penne, orbucatini.

1. If using fresh tomatoes: Put the prepared tomatoes in an uncovered
saucepan and cook at a very slow simmer for about 1 hour. Stir from time to
time, mashing any pieces of tomato against the sides of the pan with the
back of a wooden spoon. Transfer to a bowl with all their juices.
If using canned tomatoes: Proceed with Step 2, and add the tomatoes
where indicated in Step 3.

2. Wipe the saucepan dry with paper towels. Put in the olive oil and the
chopped onion, and turn on the heat to medium. Cook and stir the onion
until it becomes colored a very pale gold, add the carrot and celery, and
cook at lively heat for another minute, stirring once or twice to coat the
vegetables well.

3. Add the cooked fresh tomatoes or the canned, a large pinch of salt,
stir thoroughly, and adjust heat to cook in the uncovered pan at a gentle, but
steady simmer. If using fresh tomatoes, cook for 15 to 20 minutes; if using
the canned, simmer for 45 minutes. Stir from time to time. Before turning
off the heat, taste and correct for salt.

Note May be frozen when done.

*Making Fresh Tomatoes Ready for Sauce

Unless the recipe indicates otherwise, fresh, ripe tomatoes must be prepared
to use for sauce following one of the two methods given below.

The blanching method can lead to a meatier, more rustic consistency.
The food mill method produces a silkier, smoother sauce.

The Blanching Method:

Plunge the tomatoes in boiling water for a minute or less. Drain them
and, as soon as they are cool enough to handle, skin them, and cut
them up in coarse pieces. The food mill method Wash the tomatoes
in cold water, cut them lengthwise in half, and put them in a covered
saucepan. Turn on the heat to medium and cook for 10 minutes. Set '
a food mill fitted with the disk with the largest holes over a bowl.
Transfer the tomatoes with any of their juices to the mill and purée.


From "Essentials of Fine Italian Cooking"
https://www.goodreads.com/en/book/show/19552.Essentials_of_Classic_Italian_Cooking

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Amatriciana—Tomato Sauce with Pancetta and Chili Pepper

FOR 4 SERVINGS

The Roman town of Amatrice, with which this sauce is identified,
offers a public feast in August whose principal attraction is
undoubtedly the celebrated bucatini—thick, hollow spaghetti—
all’Amatriciana. No visitor should pass up, however, the pear
shaped salamis called mortadelle, the pecorino—ewe’s milk
cheese—or the ricotta, also made from ewe’s milk. They are
among the best products of their kind in Italy.

When making Amatriciana sauce, some cooks add white wine
before putting in the tomatoes; I find the result too acidic, but you
may want to try it.

2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 tablespoon butter
1 medium onion chopped fine
A ¼-inch-thick slice of pancetta, cut into strips ½ inch wide and 1 inch long
1½ cups canned imported Italian plum tomatoes, drained and cut up
Chopped hot red chili pepper, to taste
Salt
3 tablespoons freshly grated parmigiano-reggiano cheese
2 tablespoons freshly grated romano cheese
1 pound pasta

Recommended pasta It’s impossible to say “all’amatriciana” without
thinking “bucatini.” The two are as indivisible as Romeo and Juliet. But
other couplings of the sauce, such as with penne or rigatoni or conchiglie,
can be nearly as successful.

1. Put the oil, butter, and onion in a saucepan and turn on the heat to
medium. Sauté the onion until it becomes colored a pale gold, then add the
pancetta. Cook for about 1 minute, stirring once or twice. Add the
tomatoes, the chili pepper, and salt, and cook in the uncovered pan at a
steady, gentle simmer for 25 minutes. Taste and correct for salt and hot
pepper.

2. Toss the pasta with the sauce, then add both cheeses, and toss
thoroughly again.

From " Essentials of Fine Italian Cooking"
https://www.goodreads.com/en/book/show/19552.Essentials_of_Classic_Italian_Cooking

******************************************************************


Smothered Onions Sauce


FOR 4 TO 6 SERVINGS

The sweet pungency of onion is the whole story of this sauce. To
draw out its character, the onion is first stewed very slowly for
almost an hour, until it is meltingly soft and sweet. Then it is
browned to bring its flavor to a sharper, livelier edge.

If you have no problems in using lard, it will considerably
enrich the sauce. You may, however, use butter as a substitute.

Either 2 tablespoons lard or 2 tablespoons butter with 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1½ pounds onions, sliced very thin, about 6 cups
Salt
Black pepper, ground fresh from the mill
½ cup dry white wine
2 tablespoons chopped parsley
⅓ cup freshly grated parmigiano-reggiano cheese
1 to 1½ pounds pasta

Recommended pasta: Spaghetti is an excellent choice, but an even
better one may be homemade tonnarelli, see instructions on this page. This
is a rather dense sauce and if using homemade pasta, which is more
absorbent than spaghetti, you should start with ½ tablespoon more lard or 1
tablespoon more butter when making the sauce.

1. Put the lard or butter and olive oil, and the onions with some salt in a
large sauté pan. Cover and turn on the heat to very low. Cook for almost an
hour until the onions become very soft.

2. Uncover the pan, raise the heat to medium high, and cook the onions
until they become colored a deep, dark gold. Any liquid the onions may
have shed must now boil away.

3. Add liberal grindings of pepper. Taste and correct for salt. Bear in
mind that onions become very sweet when cooked in this manner and need
an adequate amount of seasoning. Add the wine, turn the heat up, and stir
frequently while the wine bubbles away. Add the parsley, stir thoroughly,
and take off heat.

Ahead-of-time Note
You can cook the sauce entirely in advance up to the point where you add
the parsley. When you are nearly ready to toss it with the pasta, reheat the
sauce over medium heat and add the parsley just before draining the pasta.

4. Toss with cooked drained pasta, adding the grated Parmesan. As you
toss, separate the onion strands somewhat to distribute them as much as
possible throughout the pasta. Serve immediately.

From "Essentials of Classic Italian Cooking"
https://www.goodreads.com/en/book/show/19552.Essentials_of_Classic_Italian_Cooking



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