Like skimmed off the top? I assume it'll be puddling there a bit.
I just asked husband. He said his mom would never do that. So I was like, "Well, why do we do that?" He said I did it so he did it. But..."Mama would rather cut her arm off than put oil in the pasta water."
"What you doing."
:O)
You are right, Lil. We don't rinse the pasta. It never even occurred to me to say not to rinse it!
We use either red (burgundy) or white (chablis). husband mom does not put wine in her sauce.
"What you doing."
They serve red wine with Sunday spaghetti.
We all seem to prefer rigatoni to spaghetti with Sunday sauce. Best pasta (unless you know of an Italian grocery) is Barilla, according to husband.
We hate Creamette brand of pasta.
I don't know whether I said this, but after ladling on the sauce, it is okay to sprinkle parmesan over the pasta before serving the individual servings.
***
husband and his mom both made/make pasta. husband mom had a special wooden board. She would make a well of her dry ingredients right on the board and add whatever else she put in. Then, she would make tubes of dough, pinch them off, and imprint them on the rough side of a grater. Or, she would make shells with her thumb. I never learned how to do pasta. husband makes his pasta in the bread machine and then rolls it out or whatever he is going to do with it. We have a pasta machine, but other than gnocci, we just buy ready made pasta. husband gnocci is superb. I just asked him how he does it.
3 boiled potatoes. Skin and mash them by hand with a potato masher. 1 egg. 1 c flour. No salt or pepper. Set the bread maker to do the mixing of the dough. Add flour if you need to. (husband: "Well, it's an art, how much flour. You just know.") Cook them in boiling salted water. They are done when they float. We don't rinse gnocci, either. Add ladle of sauce, top with parmesan or picarino romano cheese.
I told husband it was the lady who had researched and found the baklava recipe for me who was asking. He thinks you could find a nice gnocci recipe from that same allrecipes site, but said that this is how he does his.
How many 16 oz. cans of sauce?
So after browning the meat, you just leave the ribs and stew meat in the pan, make the sauce in there with it, and add the meatballs on top?
How generous on the meatballs? The size of a golf ball? An egg? A baseball?
For this recipe, you would use (2) 16 oz cans tomato sauce and (2) 6 oz cans of paste. So, you would use (2) 16 oz cans of water. If you are going to do wine, then replace the water in one of the 16 oz cans with half water, half wine.
Yes, those instructions for making the sauce are correct. Did I say to take the onions and garlic out of the pan before browning the meat in the same pan? Add them back in once the meat is browned.
For hotter sauce, brown hot Italian sausage with the meat and put those in the sauce. We don't do that. ("What you doing.") But some people like heat in their sauce, and that is how you do it.
The meatballs would be like what you can hold in your fist. Not as big as a hard ball in baseball, but pretty close.
***
Here is a clam fettuccini sauce tip I learned from a different Italian lady. Instead of white wine in her clam sauce, she uses...champagne. It can be left over champagne, or inexpensive champagne. It made the clearest, best clam fettuccini sauce, ever.
I don't actually have a recipe for this sauce. It's simple and delicious and quick. Start the pasta water before beginning the sauce.
Olive oil
2 or 3 cloves garlic
4 T parsley (fresh)
4 leaves fresh basil
1 t (we use more) dried oregano
crushed red pepper to taste
ground black pepper to taste
One small can minced clams with juice
fresh or frozen mussels
fresh or frozen clams
Lightly fry first six ingredients in olive oil. Add one small can minced clams with juice and about half a cup of white wine. Bring to boil. Add fresh or frozen whole clams and mussels. Bring to boil again and remove from heat. Remove whole shellfish from sauce and add about 1/3 to 1/2 c grated Parmesan or romano cheese. Stir cheese in, but don't cook sauce further. Add the shellfish back in and stir to dispense flavor.
I add olive oil to my drained pasta when I make this dish. Then, ladle sauce over pasta and mix lightly. Serve individual plates with a little extra sauce.
***
Here is one more quick, easy, really good sauce. This one is made with frozen cod "loins".
Basic sauce is the same as the Sunday sauce. No meat. So, one 16 oz can tomato sauce, one 6 oz can paste, one 16 oz can water.
Pour about 1/4 c olive oil into broad, shallow pan. Add garlic, parsley, basil, and black pepper. Brown just enough to bring the flavors up. Add sauce, paste, and water. Bring to a boil, reduce heat to simmer and add frozen cod loins right from the freezer. Add sliced fresh mushrooms. Bring sauce to the boil and reduce heat to simmer. Partially cover. Simmer for thirty-five to forty minutes.
We serve this with vermicilli.
No cheese.
Black olives and green onions on the side complete the meal beautifully. Handle the pasta the same way the Italian people do all their pasta. Drain and ladle sauce into the pasta. Add extra sauce to individual servings, along with one or two cod "loins".
I add olive oil to the pasta before ladling the sauce on. husband says this is a criminal act.
***
Here is one more, Lil. This is a sauce made with green peppers. We serve it over vermicilli too, and have it when we have pork chops.
Olive oil
2 to 3 cloves garlic
one whole green pepper, seeded and sliced into rings
basil 1/2 t dried, 4 or 5 leaves fresh
black pepper to taste
One 16 oz can tomato sauce
One 6 oz can tomato paste
One sauce can water
Lightly fry the sliced pepper with garlic and black pepper in olive oil. Add tomato sauce, paste, water and basil all at the same time. Simmer partially covered until peppers are done. (About thirty minutes. About as long as it will take for the pork chops to cook.)
This is another recipe that requires no cheese.
husband and I both hope you enjoy the recipes. It was fun to ask him about how this or that was done, and to remember things his mom would do or say.
She is 86 now, and can no longer live at home.
So this was a special thing for us, to share these recipes with you.
Enjoy!
Cedar & husband
To keep it simple Lil? I used the 16 oz sauce to one 6 oz can of paste. Actually, when we make the pepper sauce, we use one small (8 oz) can of tomato sauce and 1/2 can of paste. You just don't need that much sauce when you are making pepper sauce.