Years ago, I learned an easy-to-make vegetarian broth from chef Jean-Georges Vongerichten that tastes remarkably like veal stock. The main ingredient: ordinary button or cremini mushrooms in league with a few other ingredients you probably already have on hand.
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It takes five simple ingredients and about 10 minutes to transform spaghetti into an elemental, poor-man’s pasta that tastes like Italy. (Put your anchovy prejudice aside.)
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Amid the black Perigord truffles, foie gras and caviar that laced a celebration dinner at New York restaurant Gabriel Kreuther, an utterly simple idea lay hidden. As I carefully deconstructed the “Cardamom Roasted Alaskan King Crab, uni coulis, celeriac, sea cress”, I discovered thin, tender noodles barely swathed in an uni-perfumed cream. When I honed in…
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Like many cooks, I’d used saffron for years without knowing that it is the dried stigmas from a certain crocus or why it is the most costly spice in the world. After I went to Spain and witnessed the saffron harvest for myself, the backstory made dishes like this Crispy Saffron Noodle Cake all the more wonderful.
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Wine writer Anthony Giglio’s Sicilian mother-in-law calls my rustic casserole of baked pasta layered with Wild Mushroom Ragu and ricotta salata “the Big Macaroni”. It IS…the delectable sum of 3 parts: pasta + ragu + cheese. You can make the ragu days ahead and use it for a million quick delicious dishes. And you can assemble the Big Macaroni the day before and bake when ready to feed your guests. They will die for its crispy chewy top and molten interior.
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