Making Pasta With Nigella Lawson - NYTimes.com

It takes just two good recipes for a new cookbook to earn a place on my shelf. But which recipes to try first? In Recipe Lab, a new monthly online feature, I make the book?s author choose its essential recipes for us. I?ll select one for you, our readers, to make at home. As you cook ? or even if you don?t ? you?ll be able to post comments and questions for the author here on Diner?s Journal. The author will then join me, and three of you, in a live video chat that everyone can watch.

First up: Nigella Lawson and her new book, ?Nigellissima: Easy Italian-Inspired Recipes? (Clarkson Potter, $35). It is Ms. Lawson?s ninth book, and all of them are larded with recipes for pasta and tiramis?. But this one is wholly Italian, if not authentically so, as she quickly admits. ?I don?t want to be the English person telling everyone what Italians eat,? she said.

Italy has clearly formed Ms. Lawson?s palate, but this book incorporates her British, American and working-parent cooking habits to produce a friendly mix of recipes. It is not a revolutionary or revelatory book, but it?s modern, accurate and useful.

One recipe that Ms. Lawson chose was a dish of whole wheat pasta, brussels sprouts, cheese and potato. ?It?s essentially a macaroni and cheese with whole grains and cabbage in it,? she said. ?And if it is drowning in cheese and butter, I?m absolutely fine with that.? I made it, and decided that its jumble of Italian (pasta with potatoes), British (brussels sprouts), lavish (ricotta, butter and Parmesan), and child-friendliness perfectly ? and deliciously ? sums up the book.

So now it?s your turn to make the dish. Post questions for Ms. Lawson in the comments section below, then return to watch the video chat March 14 at 3:30 p.m. Eastern. If you want the chance to join the video chat with Ms. Lawson, sign up to participate here.

Summary

Adapted from ?Nigellissima: Easy Italian-Inspired Recipes,? by Nigella Lawson

Ingredients

• 1 3/4 pounds brussels sprouts, trimmed and halved
• 1 (8-ounce) baking potato, peeled and in 1-inch dice
• 1 pound whole wheat or spelt tortiglioni or penne
• Salt, to taste
• 1/2 cup ricotta
• 8 ounces Gruy?re, in 1/2-inch dice
• 3 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 garlic clove, minced
• 4 sage leaves, shredded
• 1/2 cup grated Parmesan

Method

• 1. Heat oven to 400 degrees. Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Salt the water generously, then add brussels sprouts, potato and pasta, and let water come back to a boil. Cook for about 8 to 10 minutes, or until potato is tender and pasta is al dente. Just before draining, remove 2 cups of the cooking liquid and set aside.
• 2. Tip drained pasta, brussels sprouts and potato into an approximately 10 x 15-inch roasting pan (or a 9 x 13-inch lasagna dish), then add ricotta, Gruy?re and 1 cup cooking water, and toss well to combine. Add more liquid if you feel the pasta is too dry.
• 3. Warm butter, olive oil and garlic in a small saucepan and, when melted and beginning to sizzle gently, add sage and fry for about 30 seconds. Spoon or dribble the butter and sage over the pasta. Sprinkle with Parmesan and bake for 20 minutes, by which time the surface will be scorched a light gold. Let stand for at least 15 minutes before eating.

Source: The New York Times

Source: http://dinersjournal.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/03/05/making-pasta-with-nigella-lawson/

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