Weeknight Meals

You can chop the chard stems coarsely and cook them in the oil and garlic for a minute or two before adding the chard leaves, or you can save them to serve as a side dish for a separate meal. In that case, trim them, cut them into 3-inch lengths, and cook them for a minute or two in boiling salted water. Drain them, press them gently to flatten them out, then either sauté them in a little olive oil, or coat them with flour, eggs, and bread crumbs and fry them. Either way they are delicious, with a flavor like cardi or cardoons—a very Italian vegetable with a flavor that is a cross between artichokes and celery.

You know how much I love olive oil, but there is a time and place for everything. When sautéing foods that cook quickly, like these sole fillets, using some butter along with the oil helps the sole brown before they overcook. Thicker sole or flounder fillets are ideal for this dish, but if yours are thinner, you may find it easier to handle them if you cut them in half first. Traditionally, the fillets are simmered in the sauce, but I like to cook the sauce separately and spoon it around the sole fillets—they stay crispier that way.

This dish is excellent served as a main course or as a dressing for pasta. (Toss the pasta with the sauce and top the plates with shrimp.) It is also delicious spooned over hot Soft Polenta (page 346).

Here is a quick, tasty, and light dish that can also be done with veal scallopine or turkey-breast cutlets. Served with a tossed salad, it’s all you need for a great summer meal. Leftovers, if there are any, make a tasty sandwich stuffer.

When searing meats or fish, the size of the skillet is important. A roomy skillet will retain more heat after you add things to it, and will climb back to searing temperature much more quickly than a smaller skillet. Once you put the slices of liver in the pan, let them sit undisturbed, giving them a chance to form a caramelized crust. If you like your liver rare or medium-rare, as I do, the second side should always cook less than the first—about half the time. If you like more well-done meats, reduce the heat under the pan after you have flipped the meat over to prevent it from scorching, then cook it to your liking. Salt draws liquids and juices from meats, and that is why I season the liver after it is cooked.

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.

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.

I prefer “jumbo lump” crabmeat picked from blue-claw crabs for this recipe. If you can’t find that, substitute “lump” crabmeat—smaller pieces from the same species of crab—or chunks of king-crab meat. Avoid fine-textured crabmeat, like snow crab or spider crab.

The same principle I use to bring out the cauliflower’s sweetness in this sauce—cooking raw cauliflower in olive oil—works well if you’d like to make cauliflower as a side dish. In that case, cut the cauliflower into individual florets rather than small pieces. You might want to use a little fresh oregano here, but parsley fits right in. Finishing this dish, like the Linguine with White Clam and Broccoli Sauce on page 122, is a bit of a balancing act. Bread crumbs will continue to thicken the sauce as it simmers, so be careful—it’s easy to end up with a sauce that’s too thick. On the other hand, if you don’t add enough bread crumbs, the sauce will be too watery. If either of these is the case, remember, you’re in control. Simply add a little hot stock or pasta-cooking water if the sauce is too thick. If it’s not thick enough, add bread crumbs—a little at a time, because it takes a few seconds for them to do their thing.

Bocconcini, literally “little mouthfuls,” are small rounds of fresh mozzarella that are often sold wherever larger rounds of fresh mozzarella are made. (If you can find bocconcini made from water buffalo’s milk, they’re even better for this pasta.) Bocconcini can vary in size from store to store. If yours are larger than the type called ciliege (cherries), you may want to cut them into quarters, so they fit neatly on a spoon alongside the pasta. If you can’t find bocconcini of any type, cut larger pieces of fresh mozzarella into 1-inch cubes.

I like to eat the pasta hot with room-temperature sauce, but you could just as well serve it all cold. In that case, toss the tomatoes and pasta while still hot, then set them aside until you’re ready to serve them. Finish the pasta by tossing in the basil and bocconcini and serve. I can go on detailing recipes with minimal changes in the ingredient list or techniques, but what I want to leave with you is not only recipes but the understanding, and hence the liberty and confidence, to deviate from the recipe path and come up with a version of the plate that reflects your personal taste and local produce. When you reach this point, cooking is truly a joy.