pasta with "putan" sauce & escarole salad : my mom's guest blog.



Today's post features my wonderful Italian mother, Toni. From now on, she will be blogging on here about once a month, sharing recipes from her childhood. One thing I always reminisce about is the great Italian food I got to enjoy growing up. So I urge you all to one of her simple and delicious recipes.



"Whenever my mother wanted to make a pasta with little fuss, she would make putan, or “whore” sauce. The Italian story goes like this: A woman in Italy who wanted to “whore around” with someone outside of her marriage would make putan sauce in the morning. When she arrived home, she would boil some water for pasta, and toss the cooked pasta in the putan sauce. Her husband would think she was slaving over the stove all day. I can’t promise that the story is true, but I can promise that you will love this no-cook tomato sauce.







Pasta with Putan Sauce

Ingredients:

8-12 very ripe tomatoes, Roma’s or vine-ripened tomatoes work best
Extra virgin olive oil
Fresh basil
6-8 cloves of garlic
Parmesan cheese (grated)
Salt
1 pound of imported pasta, Farfale, rotelli, or penne works great, DiCecco is my favorite

Directions

Chop tomatoes in small ¼” dice. Put tomatoes with seeds and juices in a large bowl. Peel and crush garlic with garlic press into bowl, with juices. Tear off small pieces of basil into bowl. Use quite a bit.
Cover all with olive oil. Make sure to use enough, about ¾ cup.
Add a couple of pinches of salt and cover with parmesan cheese. Mix all together.
Cover bowl with plastic wrap. Leave to sit all day.
When ready to serve, cook pasta and toss in putan sauce. Serve with grated parmesano reggiano.



I spent a part of the 1980s running a magazine and talent booking agency above the Whisky-a-go-go on the Sunset Strip in Hollywood. I ate many dinners down there and I must say that the Rainbow Bar and Grill (aside from being LA’s biggest pick-up joint) had some pretty great food. Mario Maglieri, co-owner of the Rainbow, the Whisky, and the Roxy, brought his Italian family recipe for escarole salad to his restaurant. It is now a staple in my Italian family’s diet. I could eat this salad every day.

Escarole Salad

Ingredients:

2 heads of escarole
1 container of traditional Feta cheese
1 container of kalamata olives, with olive juice
Parmesan cheese
6 cloves of garlic
Olive oil
Salt
Pepper

Directions:

Wash escarole and cut off ends. Roughly chop the escarole- about 2” pieces. Shake off excess water and put in large bowl.
Peel garlic and crush into salad with garlic press.
Dump container of Feta cheese in salad.
Dump container of Kalamata olives, with a little of the juice- about ¼ cup, into the salad. Drizzle a good amount of olive oil over salad.
Add salt and pepper to taste. Add some grated parmesan cheese.
Toss and serve."

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