Being the third issue of Cosa Bolle in Pentola, your Italian Cuisine newsletter.

I recently got a letter from Brad O’Connor, asking about my suggestion that pasta Algio e Olio be served with grated cheese n the side for those who like it (see On Pasta); when I replied that it wasn’t conventional but I had had it served that way and liked it, he sent me a delightful story with recipe attached, and permission to post it, which I did, on my new Contributions, Recipes and Observations Page (Hint, hint, and if someone can come up with a better title for it than I have I’ll be grateful). For those who haven’t seen the recipe, it looks quite good:

It's not always a sin to be unorthodox in cooking. Years and years ago, I tweaked aglio e olio to include prawns and clams and this has been a popular request from Italian friends visiting us in Seattle and at their homes in Italy. On a visit to Milano in the mid 80s, I pleaded with a highly skeptical waiter to ask the chef to include gamberi and vongole in my aglio e olio order. The chef complied and he and the kitchen crew watched, mumbling about the crazy American, as I wolfed it down. Not long afterward, the same dish was listed on the menu. My original creation called for spaghettini. Now, I prefer the consistency of linguine. I also add a dollop of butter to the sauce for additional smoothness. This will serve 10.

• 1 1/2 pounds of prawns (16 to 20 to the pound)
• 1 1/2 pounds of steamer clams (or one can chopped clams)
• 2-3 generous pinches red pepper flakes (more, if you like it really hot)
• 2-3 full heads of garlic
• 1 bunch flat-leafed Italian parsley
• 1 1/2 pounds of imported linguine (or spaghettini, spaghetti)
• Salt
• 1/4-1/8 pound salted butter
• Roughly 1/2 pint extra virgin olive oil. The right amount of olive oil is what it takes to thoroughly coat each strand, but not to leave an oil pool at the bottom of the serving dish.

Step 1. Finely chop garlic. In a pan, add garlic and slightly less than a pint of olive oil. On low flame, simmer until garlic just begins to change color. Above all, do not allow it to brown. At that moment, add pepper flakes and about half of the chopped parsley. Add dollop of butter, allow sauce to simmer about a minute longer, then remove from heat and set aside.

Step 2. In a large covered pot, steam clams for about three minutes after all clams have opened. Shuck and set aside meat, discarding any clams that do not open. Reserve the clam nectar.

Step 3. Shell prawns (no need to gut). Lightly sauté empty shells in remaining butter and olive oil, remove shells, and add prawns, dash of salt and a grinding of black pepper and then sauté only until all the prawns have turned reddish. Set prawns aside.

Step 4. Fill a large spaghetti pot two thirds of the way to the top with water (the rule is, at least a gallon of water per pound of pasta), add nectar. Bring water to a rapid boil, add 2 to 3 tablespoons salt, add pasta, stir and cook until al dente, usually 8 to 10 minutes. To check for doneness, start taste-testing strands after about 7 minutes.

Step 5. Drain (but do not rinse) pasta, plop it in bowl and add clams, prawns, garlic mixture (you may have to reheat at last moment), remaining parsley, then stir and serve. DO NOT SERVE WITH GRATED CHEESE.

Created about 1978 by Brad O'Connor, inspired by Aglio e Olio, a Roman specialty.

Brad doesn’t suggest a wine. I find that spicy foods tend to clash with the tannins present in red wines, and therefore prefer whites. In this case, something fairly fruity would be nice, say a Greco di Tufo (I was much impressed by Vignadora’s Loggia della Ferra), or Montenidoli’s Vernaccia Tradizionale (no tasting notes, but the Wine Buying Companion For Dummies says nice things about it on pages 309/10).

This week has also been somewhat frustrating; in the course of installing a Zip drive I managed to corrupt Windows 95 and ended up having to reformat my hard disk. Among the losses was the name of the person who requested small round hard anise-flavored cookies. Though I haven’t found anything quite like what she was looking for, our 10-volume La Mia Cucina does have Anicini, which are Sardinian, and would be excellent for dipping in a liquid cream or dessert wine:

• 1 3/4 cup (180g) flour
• 3/4 cup + 2 tablespoons (180g) sugar
• A scant ounce (25 g) of anise seeds
• 5 eggs, separated
• A half a packet of chemical yeast (a packet weighs 17 grams and looks to be a bit more than a tablespoon; you would thus want about 2 teaspoons of baking powder, I think)
• Preheat the oven to 320 F (160 C)

In a bowl, beat the yolks and all but 2 tablespoons of the sugar until the mixture is fluffy and falls in a ribbon from the spoon. Fold in the flour and the anise seeds, taking care lest lumps form. Work the yeast into the dough, then whip the whites to stiff peaks and fold them in too.

Pour the batter into a rectangular pan lines with a sheet of greased paper (the recipe doesn’t say how large a pan, but the finished cookies should be a half-inch high) and sprinkle the remaining sugar over it. Bake the batter for about 40 minutes, then remove it, remove it from the pan, and let it cool on a rack. Once it has cooled, cut it into 1-inch by 3-inch cookies, and bake them in a 350 F (180C) oven for about 8 minutes, or until they are completely dry.

On a final, and completely different note, if you will be in Florence over the next few weeks, the Galleria Pannanti has decided to extend a fascinating show dedicated to the Macchiaioli until the beginning of February. You’ll find a review on the Events website, http://firenze.net/events/culture/macchia.htm. If you like painting, by all means go.

Have a wonderful day, and keep your comments coming!

Kyle Phillips

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