Salsa Genovese With Shaved Parmesan Food

GENOVESE SAUCE - LA GENOVESE NAPOLETANA

Steps:

• Prepare all the vegetables (see notes on cutting the onions) and sprinkle the beef with salt and pepper.
• Add the olive oil to a large pot on a medium-low heat and add the onions, carrot and celery. Saute the onions for 10 minutes then add the beef, bay and parsley.
• Let the beef brown on all sides, you'll need to stir the mixture around slightly so the beef touches the bottom of the pot.
• Cover the pot and let it slowly cook for 3 hours stirring every now and then to make sure it doesn't stick.
• After 3 hours remove the lid and add the white wine. Continue to simmer the ragu on a medium-low heat for another hour.
• Once done taste and add more salt to taste then toss with cooked and drained pasta of choice.

PASTA ALLA GENOVESE

Steps:

• Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Place the onions in the boiling water, and cook, covered, 15 minutes. Drain the onions, and let cool a bit, then slice very thinly.
• Heat half the oil in a large heavy pot over medium-high heat; stir in the carrots, celery and bacon, and cook for 4 minutes. Add the beef, then cover with the onions. Pour the remaining oil over the onions, then sprinkle with 1 1/2 teaspoons salt and 3/4 teaspoon pepper. Cover, bring to a simmer and cook gently until the beef is tender, about 2 hours; the onions will release a good deal of liquid.
• Uncover the pot and bring to a boil. Cook, stirring more frequently as the liquid reduces and lowering the heat as necessary to prevent scorching, until the meat has fallen apart and the sauce is creamy, about 45 minutes. Stir in the wine and taste, adding more wine if desired. Reduce the heat to low, and continue to cook, stirring frequently, until the sauce is glossy and quite thick, about 15 minutes more.
• Cook the pasta in a large pot of boiling salted water until al dente, then drain and toss with the sauce. Stir in Parmesan to taste, then serve.

GENOVESE PASTA SALAD

Steps:

• Toss 8 ounces green beans with olive oil, salt and pepper on a baking sheet. Quarter 1 pound small red-skinned potatoes; toss with olive oil, salt and pepper on a separate baking sheet. Roast at 425 degrees F until the vegetables are browned, 15 minutes for the green beans and 25 to 30 minutes for the potatoes; let cool. Cook 8 ounces gemelli as the label directs. Drain, then toss with 1/4 cup olive oil and the zest of 1 lemon; let cool. Add the beans and potatoes, the juice of 1/2 lemon, 1/2 cup chopped basil and 1/4 cup toasted pine nuts; toss. Top with shaved Parmesan.

SALSA GENOVESE

Steps:

• Using the food processor with the metal blade, mince the bacon and garlic cloves together into a fine pestata (paste). Since you have the machine out, use it to chop the carrot, celery, and onions if you want (you don't need to wash the bowl). Process each vegetable separately. Cut the carrot and the celery stalk into chunks before chopping; pulse each to small bits. Chunk up the onions into 1-inch pieces, put them into the food-processor bowl in batches, and pulse them to 1/4-inch bits, not too fine. Put the onions in a big bowl-you will have 4 to 5 quarts of chopped onion when you are done.
• (Of course, you may shred and chop the vegetables by hand, or even mince the bacon-garlic paste with a heavy cleaver, as I did growing up. It takes longer but is quite satisfying.)
• Rinse and dry the pork, then sprinkle about 1/2 teaspoon salt lightly on all surfaces, patting it on. Pour the oil into the braising pan, and set it over medium heat. Before it gets hot, lay the pork in and brown it-lightly-turning it after a minute or so on each side.
• While the meat is browning, scrape the pestata into the pan bottom; spread it out and let the bacon begin to render. Drop in peperoncino now, if you want some heat in the salsa; toast it on the pan bottom.
• After 3 minutes or so of browning the pork, drop the tomato paste into the fat; stir and caramelize a minute. Dump the shredded carrot and celery into the pan bottom; stir for a minute, just to get them cooking. (Keep turning the meat so it browns evenly and slowly.)
• Now scrape the chopped onions into the pan, all around the meat. Sprinkle the remaining coarse salt over the onions; raise the heat a bit, stirring the onions up from the bottom and mixing them with the oil, pestata, and tomato paste. Cook over medium-high heat, stirring, for about 5 minutes, until the onions are all hot and starting to sweat. Cover, and turn the heat to medium-low.
• The pork is now going to cook for about 3 hours. Leave it alone for the first 45 minutes, then uncover, turn the meat, and stir the onions. They should be wilting and releasing liquid; if there is any sign of burning, lower the heat. Cover, and cook for another 45 minutes, turn the meat, and stir the onions. They should be quite reduced in volume, in a thick, simmering sauce. Stir in 2 cups of hot broth, bringing the liquid higher around the pork.
• Cook, covered, for another 45 minutes, then stir. If the sauce level has dropped a lot and is beginning to stick, stir in another cup or two of broth. Taste, and add more salt if necessary.
• Cover, and cook another 1/2 hour to 45 minutes. Check the consistency of the onions-they should be melting into the sauce, and the meat should be soft when pierced with a fork. If satisfactory, remove from the heat; otherwise, cook longer, adding more broth, or, if the sauce seems thin, uncover and cook to reduce it.
• As a primo, first course, for six: Remove 2 cups of the fresh onion sauce from the pot and put it in a large skillet. Cook 1 pound of rigatoni or other pasta, and toss it in the skillet with the simmering sauce. Finish with extra-virgin olive oil and freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano or Grana Padano.
• As a secondo, main meat course, for six or more: Remove the pork from the braising pot and cut out the blade bone (just lift the cooked meat off it and remove the bone). Slice the pork against the grain in 1/3-inch-thick slices, and moisten with hot sauce from the pot.
• As a meaty sauce for pasta: Traditionally, the leftover meat and sauce from Sunday dinner were combined and served another day as a dressing for pasta, but you can dedicate any amount of Salsa Genovese to this marvelous mixture.
• If you want to make this with freshly braised meat and sauce, let cool briefly, then pull the meat apart with forks (or fingers) into shreds, about 1/2 inch wide or more, and toss with the sauce. Refrigerate or freeze for another day.
• To dress 1 pound of pasta with meaty sauce: Heat 2 cups of sauce in a large skillet; refresh and extend it with a bit of extravirgin olive oil and broth, and bring to a simmer. I like to serve this with rigatoni or ziti. Fresh garganelli or cavatappi would also be a fine pasta choice. Finish with more oil and freshly grated cheese.
• You'll notice that I put coarse salt, rather than granular salt, on large meat cuts and whole birds that roast or braise for a long time. At home, I use either coarse sel de mer-sea salt with crystals formed naturally in coastal flats-or kosher salt, which crystallizes in the manufacturing process. The crystal structure adheres to the meat better than ordinary salt; real sea-salt crystals, my favorite, have more flavor too. I also prefer coarse salt for finishing-that is, for sprinkling on hot foods after they come out of the pot or pan.
• I recommend that you have at least one of these coarse crystal salts in the kitchen. If a recipe calls for coarse salt but you have none, use ordinary granular salt but reduce the amount by a third or a half: since granular salt is smaller and more dense, a spoonful of it (or any measured amount) adds more saltiness than an equal measure of bigger, airier salt crystals.

RIGATONI ALLA GENOVESE

Steps:

• Heat oil in a large pot over medium heat. Cook pancetta until most of fat is rendered out, about 6 minutes. Remove cooked pancetta with a slotted spoon and save.
• Raise heat to high and transfer meat to the pot. Season with salt. Cook and stir until liquid releases from beef and begins to evaporate, and meat browns, 10 to 15 minutes.
• Reduce heat to medium-high. Add celery, carrots, reserved cooked pancetta, salt and pepper. Cook and stir about 5 minutes. Add a heaping tablespoon of tomato paste, bay leaf, and white wine. Cook and stir, scraping up the brownings from the bottom of the pan, 2 to 3 minutes. Add sliced onions. Reduce heat to medium. Cover pot and cook 30 minutes without stirring. After 30 minutes, stir onions and meat until well mixed. Cover again, and cook another 30 minutes. Stir.
• Reduce heat to low and cook uncovered 8 to 10 hours, stirring occasionally. Skim off fat as mixture cooks. If sauce seems to reduce too much, add water or broth as needed to maintain a sauce-like consistency. Cook until beef and onions seem to melt into each other.
• Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Cook rigatoni in the boiling water, stirring occasionally until just barely al dente, 10 to 12 minutes. Drain.
• Add rigatoni to the sauce and cook until heated through. Serve topped with a pinch of marjoram and freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese.

SALSA GENOVESE WITH SHAVED PARMESAN

Steps:

• 1. Place olives in food processor bowl. Cover and process until finely chopped. Add pine nuts, parsley, basil, thyme, lemon peel, capers and garlic. Cover and process until smooth. Transfer to airtight container. Cover with thin layer of olive oil. Cover and refrigerate for 2 hours to 3 days. 2. Drain off excess oil. Spoon olive mixture onto crackers. Top with Parmesan cheese.*NOTE: To toast pine nuts spread evenly on baking sheet. Bake at 350°F for 5 to 10 minutes or until light golden brown, stirring once or twice.