We’ve been eating big bowls of pasta all winter long, and although we vary the shapes, all that tomato sauce can get a little boring after a while. Well the good news is that our Italian friends have dozens of alternative sauces that don’t even have a trace of the “pomodoro” in them. And Chef Jerry Pellegrino will tell you, it’s not a sacrilege to make a tomato-less pasta sauce.
I think most good sauces are going to require a liquid of some kind. So we have cream, olive oil, wine, or melted butter. Celebrated chef Lidia Bastianich came up with a dish she calls “spaghettini with oil and garlic”. This sounds so easy; just blend olive oil, minced garlic, chopped parsley, crushed red pepper flakes and plenty of grated cheese. Pour it over hot cooked pasta and you’ve got one of Italy’s most favorite dishes.
Speaking of al-time favorite Italian dishes let’s look at the famous “Cacio e Pepe”. For this dish, you want the best quality grated cheese you can find, like a good Pecorino. On a serving plate, mix the grated cheese with a healthy amount of black pepper and stir in some olive oil. Use “tonnarelli” pasta is you can find it; otherwise plain spaghetti or bucatini work very well. Cook until tender, then pull the pasta straight out of the cooking pot and drop it on the cheese and pepper mix. Toss with two forks and then add about two tablespoons of the pasta water to the plate. Toss again, and you will see a creamy spicy sauce come together before your eyes.
Speaking of favorites, nothing tops Fettuccini Alfredo. Basic ingredients couldn’t be simpler: fettuccini pasta, real Italian Parmigiano Reggiano cheese, butter, and the water you cook the pasta in. Start by cooking your pasta until it is very nearly done… just a little firmer than al dente. In a separate wide sauce pan (or wok) melt your butter and add the pasta using tongs. Immediately add a little pasta water and toss it all together. Still working in the sauce pan gradually add your grated cheese and keep stirring. The pasta may appear to dry out, so keep adding a ladle full of pasta water. Incorporate all the cheese, and watch as a creamy sauce develops. Serve directly from the saucepan and enjoy.
Vegetables are happy partners with pasta. We can find zucchini year-round, and it is a good choice. Sauté diced onion in olive oil and add some chopped zucchini and cook until tender. Toss in some minced garlic and sauté for a minute more. Then add a little chicken broth to start a sauce, a little butter to enrich it, and finally a few tablespoons of your pasta water to bind it all together. Add your pasta to the sauce pan and garnish with grated cheese.
And according to my research, prepare sauces like these and you’ll be eating pasta like an Italian, who apparently eat a lot of sauces not made with tomatoes.
