Tomato

In the cantine or kitchens of Naples, you’re likely to see, hanging from strings, clusters of pomodorini (cherry tomatoes) put there at summer’s end to preserve their flavor for the cold winter months ahead. Because of their dry texture, these pomodorini are ideal for topping pizzas. If you’d like to approximate the texture and taste of cantina-dried pomodorini, cut ripe cherry tomatoes in half, arrange them, cut side down, on a baking sheet, and dry them overnight in the oven with only the pilot light lit. If you’re using regular or plum tomatoes, be sure to slice them thin and not to cover them with slices of mozzarella, or else they won’t dry and will make the crust soggy and undercooked.

If you want a really crispy, evenly baked crust, take the time to squeeze the tomatoes of excess liquid when you make the sauce (see following recipe) and drain the mozzarella briefly in a sieve before you put the pizzas together.

If you have beautifully ripe fresh plum tomatoes, peel and seed them for the sauce. If it isn’t tomato season, opt for canned tomatoes, but include a few fresh plum tomatoes to give the sauce a taste of freshness. I like the sweetness of jumbo lump crabmeat in these agnolotti, but if that is not available, substitute any type of fresh, sweet crabmeat, or even fresh sea or bay scallops cut into 1/2-inch pieces.

To keep them both intact, add the little “pockets” of ricotta and the eggplant pieces just before serving the pasta or turning it into the baking dish. It is one of the nuances in cooking that make a difference. When you take a bite of the finished pasta, you’ll get little bursts of different tastes, which you wouldn’t enjoy if the eggplant pieces were broken apart and the ricotta was mixed in with the pasta. If you choose to bake the pasta, make sure the pasta is well moistened when it goes into the baking dish—the heat of the oven will dry it out a little. You can toss little pieces of mozzarella or Fontina cheese in with the pasta before adding the ricotta and eggplant if you like. Just make sure the consistency of the pasta stays fluid and creamy.

A pound of “jumbo” pasta shells contains about thirty-six. This recipe makes enough filling for about thirty shells, so it’s likely you’ll have a few extra shells, which may come in handy, as some shells break in the box or during cooking. Be sure to cook the shells very al dente before filling them, or they will tear when you try to stuff them. Individual servings of stuffed shells make an impressive presentation. If you have enough individual baking dishes, divide the shells and sauce among them, then top with cheese, keeping in mind that you might need a little more cheese to top individual servings than is called for in the recipe.

If you have trouble finding ground pork, or if you prefer to grind your own, it’s really very easy. (And if you buy a piece of bone-in pork to grind, you’ll have the bones you need for the sauce.) Remove all bones and gristle from the meat, but leave some of the fat. Cut the pork into 1-inch pieces, and chill them thoroughly. Grind about half at a time in a food processor fitted with the metal blade. Pulse, using quick on/off motions, until the meat is ground coarsely. In my region of Italy, tomato paste is usually added along with the onions to caramelize a little bit. But around Naples, and the rest of southern Italy, tomato paste is stirred right into the sauce. That’s how I do it here. When the sauce is finished simmering, you can pull the meat from the bones and stir it into the sauce, or you can do what I do—nibble on it while the sauce perks away. This makes quite a bit of sauce—enough to feed a small crowd and have enough left over to freeze in small quantities for a quick pasta meal for one or two.

Make this sauce with fresh tomatoes only when the juiciest, most flavorful ripe tomatoes are available. (Increase the amount of olive oil a little if you make the sauce with fresh tomatoes.) Otherwise, canned plum tomatoes make a delicious marinara sauce.

Bolognese is a very versatile sauce. Not only can it dress all shapes and sizes of pasta, like fresh tagliolini (page 180) or dried spaghetti or rigatoni, you can also use it instead of the Italian-American Meat Sauce (page 144) in the lasagna on page 156, or in a meaty version of the pasticciata on page 158. This recipe makes enough sauce to dress 1 1/2 pounds of dried pasta or one and a half recipes of tagliolini—good for feeding a hungry crowd. It also freezes well, if you’d like to enjoy it in smaller quantities. Warm the sauce while the pasta is cooking and toss it with the cooked pasta, adding a little of the pasta-cooking water if necessary to make a creamy sauce. Toss in some grated Parmigiano-Reggiano just before you serve it.

If possible, buy only the larger joints of the oxtail, since there is more meat on the bones and less work picking it off. But usually (and almost always in supermarkets) a single tail is cut and packaged together. If you’re ordering oxtail through a butcher, ask him to remove as much of the outer fat as possible, and to cut the oxtail cleanly at the joints. If the tail is cut haphazardly, bone chips can occur, which are annoying and can be very dangerous. It’s always a good idea to pick over the pieces of oxtail before you cook with them, to make sure there are no fine pieces of bone. In the traditional Roman dish of coda alla vaccinara, the cheeks of the oxen are braised along with the oxtails. Because this is a very rich and savory sauce, I do not use cheese to dress the pasta, but some people do. I’ll leave it up to you. If you decide to dress the pasta with cheese, use grated Parmigiano-Reggiano. The braised oxtails, left on the bone, make an excellent cold-weather main course, served with polenta. If you’re serving the oxtails as a main course, you might want to cut the vegetables larger, so they hold their shape during cooking.

This version of a classic Italian pasta dish is prepared with prosciutto, as was often done in Italian-American restaurants. For a more traditional version, substitute 6 ounces of guanciale (cured pork-cheek bacon) or regular bacon cut into 1/4-inch strips for the prosciutto. Cook the guanciale or bacon in the skillet with the olive oil before adding the onion. Cook until lightly browned but still soft, about 4 minutes for the guanciale or 2 minutes for the bacon. Then add the onion and continue with the recipe as below.

I like a mixture of beef and pork for meatballs, but you can use all of one or the other if you prefer. If you do use all beef, try this: moisten the bread crumbs in milk for a minute or two before adding them to the meatball mixture. It’s not traditional, but it will help with the somewhat drier texture of beef. You can use a spoon or spatula to mix the meatballs, but I like to use my hands. I think it’s the most efficient way, and I can feel the texture of what I’m mixing. The mix of vegetable and olive oils gives you a higher smoking point for the oil with the benefit of the flavor of olive oil. The reason for flouring and browning the meatballs is to add flavor and to seal them so they hold together in the sauce, not to cook them all the way through—they will finish cooking in the sauce.

Look for lobsters that are alive and kicking—the claws shouldn’t hang limp—and ones that feel heavy for their size. Cutting and cleaning a live lobster may seem difficult, but it is very easy to get the hang of it. (Placing the lobsters in the freezer for half an hour beforehand makes it even easier.) The lobsters will give off a lot of liquid as you clean them; make cleanup easier by spreading a kitchen towel or two under the cutting board to absorb whatever liquid drips off the board. I have stayed true to Italian-American cooking by seasoning this dish with dried oregano, but brought it into the present by adding a dose of fresh oregano as well. You may remember this as a very saucy dish, but I prefer to serve it Italian-style—not swimming in sauce, but condito, tossed with just enough sauce to dress the pasta.

Although this method for cooking capellini in a small amount of liquid is a little tricky—and somehow the opposite of everything I have told you about cooking pasta—the end result is a richly flavored pasta with a velvety texture. Be patient and thorough when you stir the capellini into the broth, making sure to separate the strands as they cook.

Some people dislike anchovies, but it would be a shame to leave them out of this dish. They add such wonderful flavor and, most likely, people won’t even know they are there. They dissolve during the cooking and add complexity to the other assertive flavors in this dish. I like to crush canned tomatoes with my hands, so I can feel when they are the right size and how tender or firm they are. That helps me to judge the cooking time better. If you prefer, you can mash them with a wire whisk or use a food processor. If you choose to process them, use just a few quick bursts—otherwise you’ll chop them too fine and incorporate a lot of air into the tomatoes, and they will turn pink. You can add basil to this sauce if you like, or stick to the traditional Italian-American accent of fresh parsley. I choose Pecorino Romano cheese for this dish. It is made from sheep’s milk and is much sharper than Parmigiano-Reggiano, which is made from cow’s milk. But if you prefer, you may use Parmigiano-Reggiano.