Rose Gray - River Cafe Pocket Books

About the Authors

Ruth Rogers is the American-born wife of architect Richard Rogers. Rose Gray ran the kitchen at Nells Club in New York before joining Ruth Rogers to launch the River Cafe. Together they have made the River Cafe one of the most respected restaurants in the world and have trained many of the new generation of star chefs, from Samuel and Samantha Clarke to Jamie Oliver.

Contents

List of Recipes

Introduction

Pasta is the most comforting of all Italian food. With its variety of sauces it is cooked at least once a day by almost every cook in every region of Italy. Its easy to prepare and good for you as well.

There are three basic kinds of pasta. The best known is the dried durum wheat and water pasta such as spaghetti and penne. The second are the dried pastas made with eggs and plain flour cut into different width ribbons to make tagliatelle and pappardelle. These are an excellent substitute for the third, fresh pasta a rich combination of whole eggs, yolks and the fine Tipo 00 flour fun to make but time-consuming.

When cooking pasta always use a saucepan large enough to hold 5 litres of water for every 500 grams of pasta. Add salt when the water boils, and have a large colander ready in the sink so that the pasta can be drained immediately. Cooking time will depend on the kind of pasta youre using durum wheat takes up to fifteen minutes, dried egg pasta takes up to eight minutes while fresh pasta takes just a few minutes. Pasta is ready when it is al dente cooked, but still firm to bite.

When combining the sauce with the pasta, it is vital to toss and toss again, either in the hot pan the sauce was cooked in or the one the pasta was cooked in. Most importantly keep the pasta hot and slippery and serve immediately on heated plates.

All recipes serve four unless otherwise stated. All herbs are fresh unless otherwise stated. All eggs are large, free-range, organic unless otherwise stated. Wash all fresh herbs, fruits and vegetables in cold water before use.

CHAPTER ONE

RAW SAUCES

1 Penne with capers, tomatoes and ricotta salata

350g Penne

3 tbs Salted capers, rinsed of all their salt

1kg Red and yellow cherry tomatoes

6 Sundried tomatoes

1 tbs Red wine vinegar

1 Dried red chilli, crumbled

2 Garlic cloves, peeled and squashed in 1 tbs sea salt

2 tbs Roughly torn basil leaves

100g Ricotta salata, freshly grated

Extra virgin olive oil

Add the vinegar to the capers and leave them for 5 minutes. Cut the tomatoes in half and squeeze out the juice and seeds, using a sieve set over a bowl to collect the juices.

Pulse-chop the sundried tomatoes with the capers and vinegar and add 3 tbs of olive oil, drop by drop, to make a rough pure. Season with the chilli.

Mix the garlic with the tomato juice and add to the pure. Stir to combine. Place in a large serving bowl and mix with half the tomatoes and half the basil.

Cook the penne in boiling salted water until al dente, then drain, keeping back 2 tbs of the pasta water. Add the penne and the water to the tomato sauce along with the remaining tomatoes and basil. Toss together and serve with the ricotta.

Ricotta salata is a hard, salted sheeps milk cheese that is used instead of Parmesan to grate over pasta in the south of Italy.

2 Orecchiette with tomatoes and fresh ricotta

350g Orecchiette

500g Cherry tomatoes, or ripe small juicy tomatoes

200g Fresh ricotta

1 Garlic clove, peeled and chopped

2 tbs Roughly torn basil leaves

50g Parmesan, freshly grated

Extra virgin olive oil

Cut the tomatoes in half, squeeze out the seeds over a sieve to collect the juice. Combine the tomatoes and their juice with the garlic. Season, add 2 tbs of olive oil and toss to combine. Leave to marinate for at least 30 minutes.

Put the fresh ricotta in a bowl, lightly season and mix with a fork.

Cook the orecchiette in boiling salted water until al dente, then drain.

Gently heat the tomato mixture, add the orecchiette and basil and stir to combine. Finally, fold in the ricotta. Serve with a drizzle of olive oil and the Parmesan.

Ricotta is a mild fresh cheese made by re-heating the whey of the milk which naturally separates during the cheese process. The light, creamy curds are traditionally shaped in baskets. Ricotta is made from cows, sheeps goat and buffalo milk depending on the region and tradition. Fresh ricotta does not keep for more than 34 days.

3 Bucatini with dried oregano

340g Bucatini

4 tbs Fresh oregano, roughly chopped

2 tbs Dried oregano

1kg Red and yellow cherry tomatoes, halved and squeezed to remove juice and seeds

Extra virgin olive oil

Mix the fresh and dried oregano together.

Season the tomatoes generously and stir in 3 tbs of olive oil.

Cook the bucatini in boiling salted water until al dente, then drain and return to the saucepan. Add 1 tbs of olive oil and the oregano mixture, then toss to coat each strand. Serve with the marinated tomatoes on top.

It is very important with this recipe to use ripe, soft cherry tomatoes and the best-quality extra virgin olive oil.

4 Spaghetti with artichoke and parsley pesto

350g Spaghetti

3 Globe artichokes

4 tbs Flat-leaf parsley (keep the stalks)

3 Garlic cloves, peeled and halved

50g Pine nuts

125g Parmesan, freshly grated, plus extra for serving

100ml Milk

50g Unsalted butter

Extra virgin olive oil

To prepare the artichokes, cut the stalks 5cm from the heads and pull away the tough outer leaves.

Cut off the tips of the remaining leaves and peel the fibres from the stalks. Cut each heart in half and remove the choke, if any. Put the pieces into water with the parsley stalks as you go, to prevent the artichokes turning brown.

To make the pesto, use a food processor with a sharp blade. Drain the artichokes and pat dry. Place in the food processor with the garlic, pine nuts, parsley leaves and Parmesan. Add the milk and blend to a rough pulp, then slowly add 100ml olive oil to form a thick cream. Season.

Cook the spaghetti in boiling salted water until al dente. Drain, reserving 2 tbs of the cooking water. Return to the pan with the cooking water. Add the pesto sauce and the butter. Stir to combine, then serve with the extra Parmesan.

5 Spaghetti with plum tomatoes, capers and olives

350g Spaghetti

4 Plum tomatoes, halved, squeezed and quartered

2 tbs Salted capers, rinsed of all their salt

3 tbs Black olives, stoned

2 Garlic cloves, peeled and squashed in 1 tbs sea salt

2 Dried red chillies, crumbled

3 tbs Roughly chopped rocket

Extra virgin olive oil

Combine the tomatoes with the garlic, capers, olives and dried chillies. Season with black pepper. Stir in 3 tbs of olive oil.

Cook the spaghetti in boiling salted water until al dente, then drain. Return the pasta to the saucepan and, over a low heat, add the tomato mixture and rocket. Toss to combine and serve drizzled with olive oil.