Cavatappi Alla Siciliana Recipes

CAVATELLI ALLA VODKA

Steps:

• Heat a saucepan over medium heat. Add the oil and butter and cook until foaming. Add the onions, season with a little salt and saute until translucent, about 10 minutes. Add the tomato paste and cook for another minute. Add the crushed red pepper, garlic and some salt and pepper. Cook for 15 more seconds. Add the vodka and deglaze the pan. Add the crushed tomatoes and simmer until the alcohol smell subsides, then add the cream. Let it cook down until it is slightly reduced and flavorful, about 8 minutes. Season with salt and pepper.
• Meanwhile, bring a pot of water to a boil and salt generously. Cook the pasta to al dente, 4 to 5 minutes for fresh, or according to the package instructions.
• Toss the sauce with the hot pasta and garnish with fresh basil and grated Parm. Serve with a crusty hunk of Italian bread.
• Combine the 00 and semolina flours with the salt on a clean working surface, form into a mound and make a well in the center. Combine the water, olive oil and salt and add the mixture a little at a time (see Cook's Note). Using a fork, start to mix the dry ingredients into the wet until a shaggy mass forms. Knead vigorously until the dough is smooth, elastic and bounces back when pressed, about 10 minutes.
• Cut the dough in half and work with one piece at a time (cover the other piece with a clean, damp kitchen towel). Using a bench scraper or knife, cut a walnut-sized piece of dough and roll it into a thin rope about 1/3 inch in diameter. Using the 4 fingers of your hand (no thumb), roll the rope of dough back and forth until it is a long, slender, tube-like shape (but not enclosed like a tube). Halve the pieces of pasta lengthwise. Set aside on a clean town sprinkled with semolina flour. Repeat with the remaining dough. Rest the pasta for 30 minutes.
• To cook, generously salt a large pot of boiling water. Add the cavatelli and cook until al dente, 4 to 5 minutes. Drain and use with your sauce recipe of choice.

CAVATAPPI ALLA SICILIANA

Steps:

• 1. Bring a large pot of water to a rolling boil and salt generously. 2. Meanwhile, put the olive oil in a large frying pan and sautée eggplant till golden. Remove to a bowl. Add onion and garlic. Over medium heat, cook for about 7 minutes, or until the onion is softened not browned. Stir in the tomatoes, season with s & p and raise the heat to medium-high. Bring to a boil, reduce the heat to medium or medium-low and simmer, uncovered, for 15 min, or until the tomatoes have thickened into a sauce. 3. Sprinkle with the mint, balsamic vinegar, capers and olives and simmer for 5 minutes more. Add the sauteed eggplant. 3. Add the pasta to the boiling water and cook until al dente. Reserve 1 cup of the cooking water, drain the pasta in a colander. 4. Transfer the pasta to the frying pan and gently toss the pasta and sauce to combine thoroughly, adding a splash or two of cooking water if necessary to loosen the sauce. Serve with the cheese sprinkled on top. *Peeling and grating tomatoes works beautifully and produces a lovely fine pulp that requires no additional milling. Here's how to do it: Cut the tomatoes in half lengthwise and scoop out the seeds with your fingers. Place a box grater over a bowl. Hold the cut side of a tomato flat against the large holes of the grater and grate the tomato, pressing it gently, until only the skin is left in your palm. Continue until you have grated all the tomato halves.