Pasta Primavera
I don’t have any photos of Mom and Dad in Italy with me here in Texas. I need to get home to NC for that. However, here’s a very cute photo I took of Mom and Dad at Kettle’s Yard in Cambridge, another fave of theirs!
EDIT: Found! Mom’s photo of the Villa Serbelloni in Bellagio.
View from Villa Serbelloni. Bellagio, Lake Como, Italy. 1981
Mom and Dad went to Italy for 6 weeks in the summer of 1981. Dad had a fellowship at The Rockefeller Foundation’s Bellagio Center on Lake Como and it was too sweet a deal for Mom to skip. Dad wrote in his turreted office while mom pursued her interests. There was a piano and she could practice every day, and I remember some nice watercolors from that time. The Bellagio Center had an amazing chef. Mom and Dad had fresh pasta daily and were exposed to all sorts of Italian delicacies. Meanwhile, Elisabeth and I were staying with our grandparents in Tennessee for the summer. Grandaddy Volberg gave us daily bridge & golf lessons and made us drive seven hours to South Carolina with a large cooler on our laps and green peppers as our only snack. So, we were having quite a different educational experience than our parents who were discovering the joys of gelato! I guess these things build character.
Mom and Dad returned with a new Italian leather suitcase full of mouthwash (which they mistook for liqueur). One could argue that you shouldn’t drink liqueur that costs the same as mouthwash, but who am I to judge?! A pasta machine and espresso maker were procured STAT, and our lives were about to get a whole lot better. We were the first people I knew who made our own pasta. Mom would form a big mound of flour on our ancient caved-in butcher block (Remember that thing? They had to put a jack under the house to keep it from falling through floor!) and would slowly mix in egg, ending up with gorgeous fresh, yellow pasta dough. We’d crank it through the machine and string it up all over the house to dry. Seriously. We dried it in some weird places. And, of course, while this was all going on Mom would be working on a sauce of some sort. Primavera (“in the style of Springtime”) was a fave.
While it’s only January, it’s kind of always Spring in Texas. And, with the heavy cream I think this dish could be considered good winter fare. (Mom was definitely not afraid of heavy cream.) So, here’s her Primavera recipe. Fresh pasta is highly recommended. And, it’s vegetarian to boot!
PASTA PRIMAVERA
Active time: 1 hr Start to finish: 1 1/2 hr
1 oz dried morel mushrooms
1 1/2 cups warm water
1/2 lb asparagus, trimmed and cut into 1-inch pieces
1/4 lb green beans (preferably haricots verts), trimmed and cut into 1-inch pieces
3/4 cup frozen baby peas, thawed
2 teaspoons minced garlic
Rounded 1/2 teaspoon dried hot red pepper flakes
4 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1 1/2 pints grape tomatoes
1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
3 tablespoons water
1 lb spaghettini (thin spaghetti)
1/2 stick (1/4 cup) unsalted butter
2/3 cup heavy cream
1 teaspoon finely grated fresh lemon zest
2 oz finely grated Parmigiano-Reggiano finely grated Parmigiano-Reggiano (1 cup)
1/4 cup finely chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
1/4 cup finely chopped fresh basil
1/3 cup pine nuts (1 1/2 oz), lightly toasted
Garnish: Parmigiano-Reggiano shavings
Prepare vegetables:
Soak morels in warm water in a small bowl 30 minutes. Lift mushrooms out of water, squeezing excess liquid back into bowl. Pour soaking liquid through a sieve lined with a dampened paper towel into a small bowl and reserve. Rinse morels thoroughly to remove grit, then squeeze dry. Discard any tough stems. Halve small morels lengthwise and quarter larger ones.
Cook asparagus and beans in a 6- to 8-quart pot of boiling salted water, uncovered, 3 minutes. Add peas and cook until beans and asparagus are just tender, about 1 to 2 minutes more. Immediately transfer vegetables with a large slotted spoon to a bowl of ice and cold water to stop cooking, reserving hot water in pot for cooking pasta. Drain cooled vegetables in a colander.
Cook 1 teaspoon garlic and a rounded 1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes in 2 tablespoons oil in a 10- to 12-inch heavy skillet over moderately low heat, stirring, just until garlic is fragrant, about 1 minute. Add drained vegetables and salt and pepper to taste and cook, stirring, 2 minutes, then transfer to a bowl. Reserve skillet.
Cook tomatoes:
Cut half of tomatoes into quarters and halve remainder lengthwise, keeping quarters and halves separate. Cook remaining teaspoon garlic and remaining rounded 1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes in remaining 2 tablespoons oil in skillet over moderately low heat, stirring, just until garlic is fragrant, about 1 minute. Add quartered tomatoes with salt and pepper to taste and simmer, stirring occasionally, until tomatoes are softened, about 3 minutes. Add halved tomatoes, vinegar, and water and simmer, stirring occasionally, until sauce is thickened and halved tomatoes are softened, 3 to 4 minutes. Keep tomatoes warm.
Cook spaghettini and assemble dish:
While tomatoes are cooking, return water in pot to a boil and cook spaghettini until al dente.
Drain in a colander. Immediately add butter, cream, zest, and morels to empty pasta pot and simmer gently, uncovered, 2 minutes. Stir in cheese and add pasta, tossing to coat and adding as much of reserved morel soaking liquid as necessary (1/2 to 2/3 cup) to keep pasta well coated. Add green vegetables, parsley, basil, pine nuts, and salt and pepper to taste and toss gently to combine.
Serve pasta topped with tomatoes and Parmigiano-Reggiano shavings.
Makes 6 servings.
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