Pasta with Baked Cherry Tomatoes

Here's another great recipe from one of my favorite Chef's, Lidia Bastianich.  This one comes from her newest cookbook, Lidia Cooks from the Heart of Italy and can be found here on her website.  I was lucky enough to catch her making this one on tv and I made it the next day.  It seems like the temperature and cooking time needed to be a little higher and longer than the recipe states.  I wanted my tomatoes to have a nice brown color on the breadcrumbs.  It may just have been my oven but after about 15-20 minutes I raised the temperature to 400 and baked until they were golden. Lidia suggests topping the pasta with ricotta salata or ricotta.  I think the ricotta salata would be great but I didn't have any. The dish was still fantastic and I think a firm cheese like the ricotta salata would be even better.

Pasta with Baked Cherry Tomatoes

Serves 6

Ingredients:

3 pints cherry tomatoes, halved
½ cup extra-virgin olive oil, plus 1 tablespoon
⅓ cup fine dry bread crumbs
1 teaspoon kosher salt, plus more for the pasta pot
¼ teaspoon peperoncino flakes, or to taste
1 pound spaghetti, gemelli, or penne
10 plump garlic cloves, peeled and sliced
2 tablespoons fresh Italian parsley, chopped
1 cup fresh basil leaves, loosely packed
½ cup pecorino, freshly grated, plus more for passing
4 ounces ricotta, or ricotta salata

Directions:

Arrange a rack in the center of the oven, and heat to 350 degrees.

Toss the cherry-tomato halves in a large bowl with 3 tablespoons of the olive oil. Sprinkle over tomatoes the bread crumbs, salt, and peperoncino; toss well to coat the tomatoes evenly. Pour the tomatoes onto the parchment-lined sheet, and spread them apart in a single layer. Bake until the tomatoes are shriveled and lightly caramelized (but not dried out), about 25 minutes in all.

Meanwhile, fill the large pot with salted water, and heat to a rolling boil. When the tomatoes are nearly done, drop the pasta into the pot, stir, and return the water to a boil.

As soon as the pasta is cooking, pour the remaining olive oil into the big skillet, set it over medium- high heat, and scatter in the sliced garlic. Cook for a minute or two, until it is sizzling and lightly colored, then ladle in about 2 cups of the pasta cooking water, and bring to a vigorous boil, stirring up the garlic. Let half the water evaporate, then lower the heat, stir in the chopped parsley, and keep the sauce barely simmering.

As soon as the tomatoes are done, remove them from the oven.

When the pasta is al dente, lift it from the water, drain for a moment, and drop it into the skillet, still over low heat. Toss pasta quickly with the garlic-and- parsley sauce in the pan, then slide the baked tomatoes on top of the pasta. Scatter the basil shreds all over, and toss everything together well, until the pasta is evenly dressed and the tomatoes are distributed throughout. Turn off the heat, sprinkle on the grated cheese, and toss once more.

Mound the pasta in a warmed serving bowl. Shred the ricotta all over the top of the pasta, and serve immediately.

Lidia's Chicken Francese - An Italian American Classic

I don't know if this is a popular dish in Italy but I do know that there isn't a restaurant or a pizzeria that doesn't make this dish. I rarely order it though. Not because I don't like this dish, I love it, but I don't like to order things out that I think are too easy or that I make at home. Who wants to pay for a dish you know you're capable of making for half the price? Not me!

Whenever I make francese, piccata, marsala or saltimbocca, I always use chicken cutlets (sometimes labeled scallopine) but this time I cut the chicken breasts myself. Every time I do it I realize that it's just a waste of time. I'm not sure if it saves money or not but I don't think it's worth it. More dishes to clean and bleach (I bleach everything that touches chicken) and it's not the easiest thing to do. I ended up tearing them a bit and had trouble cutting them evenly. Maybe it will be easier for you but I much rather use cutlets that are nice and thin and easy.

This recipe comes from Lidia's Italian American Kitchen by Lidia Bastianich. It's on of my favorite cookbooks because it has so many classics. If you're ever watched Lidia on tv you know how awesome she is. She is such a pleasure to watch, she's always so relaxed and her recipes are incredible. Here's one of my favorites.


Lidia's Chicken Francese

Source: Lidia's Italian-American Kitchen
by Lidia Matticchio Bastianich

Serves 4

Ingredients:

2 large eggs
2 tbsp milk
1 tsp salt, plus more for seasoning the sauce
1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper, plus more for seasoning the sauce
4 servings Veal, Chicken, Turkey or Pork Scaloppine (2 breasts halved and pounded or 1 package cutlets)
all-purpose flour
1/3 cup olive oil
1/3 cup vegetable oil
6 tbsp unsalted butter
1 lemon, cut into very thin slices, pits removed
1/2 cup dry white wine
juice of 1 lemon
2 cups chicken stock
2 tbsp chopped fresh Italian parsley

Directions:

1. Whisk the eggs, milk, 1 teaspoon salt and 1/2 teaspoon pepper together in a wide bowl until blended. Dredge the scallopine in flour to coat both sides lightly and tap off the excess flour. Heat the olive and vegetable oils in a large skillet over medium heat. Dip into the egg batter as many of the scallpine as will fit in the pan without touching. Let excess batter drip back into the bowl and place them into the skillet. Fry, turning once, until golden brown on both sides, about 4 minutes. Adjust the heat as the scallopine cook so they brown slowly and evenly, with a steady bubbling. (If the heat is too high, the egg coating will scorch and the bits of batter that stick to the pan will burn, turning the sauce bitter.) Drain the scallopine on a paper-towel-lined baking sheet and repeat with the remaining scallopine and egg coating.

2. Remove the pan from the heat and pour off the oil. Carefully wipe out the pan with a wad of paper towels and add half the butter. When the butter is melted, return the pan to the heat and scatter the lemon slices over the bottom of the pan. Cook, stirring gently occasionally, until the lemon slices are golden, about 3 minutes. Scoop the lemon slices out and set them aside. Add the remaiing 3 tablespoons of butter, the wine, and the lemon juice and bring to a vigourous boil. Boil until the liquid is syrupy, 3-4 minutes. Pour in the stock, bring to a boil and cook until reduced by about half, about 5 minutes. Tuck the scallopine into the sauce and simmer until the sauce is velvety and the scallopine are heated through, about 4 minutes. Sprinkle with chopped parsley and divide the scallopine among warm serving plates. Spoon some of the sauce over each serving and decorate the tops with the reserved lemon slices.