COOKBOOKS WITH PANACHE Bottega Favorita A Southern Chef's Love Affair
with Italian Food, by Frank Stitt.
Beloved Southern chef Frank Stitt travels to Italy and brings the best of Mediterranean cuisine back home. To Stitt's mind, the two regions—Italy and the American South—share commonalities. Both native cuisines have a tradition of turning humble ingredients—ground corn, bitter greens, cured pork, the daily catch—into poetry on the plate. And as the chef points out in his lively introduction to the book, this is elemental cooking based on the purity and simplicity of the freshest and finest ingredients.
Frank Stitt is the chef and owner of Highlands Bar and Grill, Bottega Restaurant and Café, and Chez Fonfon, all located in Birmingham, Alabama. He has won the James Beard Award for Best Chef of the Southeast, and received the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Southern Foodways Alliance. He is also the author of Frank Stitt's Southern Table.
GARGANELLI WITH SPRING ONIONS, ASPARAGUS, AND PEAS
Serves 4
When springtime finally brings asparagus spears, bulb onions, and plump sweet peas, we combine them in dishes such as this. Just-picked favas, sugar snaps, carrots, and recently dug new potatoes or ramps would also combine beautifully and celebrate the season. Cut vegetables into bite-sized pieces and give them a quick blanch in boiling water before you add them to the sauce. We finish the dish with mint or other tender herbs for another layer of flavor.
INGREDIENTS
1 teaspoon olive oil
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 heaping cup sliced spring onions or leeks
(white and pale green parts)
12 slender asparagus spears, tough bottoms discarded, cut into 2-inch pcs.
Sliced baby carrots, sugar snap peas, or other spring vegetables
1 cup fresh or frozen sweet peas
1/4 cup heavy cream
1 pound garganelli (see footnote)
1/4 cup chopped mint, plus a little extra for garnish
1 tablespoon finely sliced chives
2/3 cup freshly grated
Parmigiano-Reggiano or
pecorino romano
Finely grated zest of 1 lemon
Kosher salt
Freshly ground black pepper
NOTE: Garganelli is a pennelike cut, but with trapezoid sides and little ridges that collect all the juices from the pan. Many other shapes, such as rigatoni, penne, or even farfalle, work just as well here.
PREPARATION
Heat the olive oil and 1 tablespoon of the butter in a large sauté pan over medium heat. Add the onions or leeks and cook for 10 to 15 minutes, until very soft.
Meanwhile, bring a large pot of generously salted water to boil for the pasta. Bring a large saucepan of water to a boil, add the asparagus, and cook for 1 minute. Add the carrots, if using, and cook for 1 minute. Add the sweet peas and cook for about 30 seconds. Add the snap peas, if using, cook for about 30 seconds, then drain. Add the asparagus and other vegetables to the onions, then stir in the cream. Set the pan aside while you cook the pasta.
Add the pasta to the boiling water and cook until al dente. Drain and transfer to the pan with the onions.
Place the pan over high heat and cook, tossing, for 1 to
2 minutes, until the vegetables are hot. Add the mint, chives, 1/2 cup of the cheese, the lemon zest, and the remaining
1 tablespoon butter and toss well to combine. Season with salt and pepper.
Serve in warm bowls, garnished with more mint and the remaining grated cheese.
WINE PAIRING: Pinot Grigio or Pinot Bianco (Livio Felluga)
Excerpted from Bottega Favorita, by Frank Stitt (Artisan Books, 2009, $40.00).
COOKBOOKS WITH PANACHE
