Italian cooking is about simplicity and freshness. You should invest a little effort into getting the freshest ingredients. You'll want things like: extra virgin olive oil, fresh tomatoes (vine tomatoes if you can), fresh basil (no dried spices, please), fresh flat Italian parsley (not the kind you get with your pancakes at Denny's, the flat leafy kind), salt and pepper (the kind you grind freshly), a box or jar of sea salt (for adding to the water), a block of parmeseano reggiano cheese (if you have a green cylinder of "parmasean," get rid of it now), any other "hard" italian cheeses you can find, some red and white wines (cheap is okay, just be sure to refer to it as "table wine," not "cheap wine") and onions. That's enough to get you started. Also pick up a jar of black italian style olives, a jar of anchovy filets in olive oil, a jar of capers, cloves of garlic and some green olives of your choice, and you've got what you need to make dozens of great sauces.
Simple Sauce-- This is one of the simplest and most delightful ways to eat pasta. Do not underestimate it because of its simplicity. I recommend trying this sauce the first few times, so you can focus on timing and get a real feel for how your pasta turned out.
When the water is boiling and you've added salt and pasta. Heat up a frying pan on another burner and melt a hunk of butter (the butter can be browned, but take care not to burn it.) When the pasta is al dente drain it only as much as necessary, you want it to remain very wet. (Try to save a little water in the bottom of the pot also, that you can incorporate into sauces as desired.) Toss the pasta in a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil. Lay the pasta out on plates or a platter and drizzle with the melted butter. Top with freshly ground salt and pepper. Then garnish the plate with a sprig of fresh flat Italian parsley (don't skim here; presentation is critical!) Grate the parmaseano reggiano cheese with a fine cheese grater directly onto the pasta. Top the pasta with chopped (or torn) fresh parsley (if desired). Enjoy. Tagliatelli is one possible match for this sauce.
If you have hunks of a few different types of hard cheeses you can cosider this addition: After coating the posta with olive oil, return it to the pot and add the hunks of cheese and stir for a minute or two while the cheese melts. Now complete the same process as above.
Basic Tomato Sauce-- Once you prepare this sauce you will be offended by all tomato sauces that come from jars. This sauce is simple and easy and once you master it, you can try infinite variations. I don't think I've prepared it the same way twice.
Drizzle a fair amount of extra virgin olive oil into a skillet on medium high heat, while it is warming up. Dice a small onion (or half of a big one). Use a big chef's knife for this, but go slowly at first. Cut the ends off of the onion and then cut the onion in half. Peel off, or cut off, the outer papery or rubbery layers. Cut the onions into small chunks. Add the onions to the oil. Stir frequently with a wooden spoon or spatula. As onions are frying, dice one or two tomatoes. When onions begin to brown, add the tomatoes. Add freshly ground salt and pepper (don't be timid here). Add chopped fresh italian parsley. Now is a good time to add the pasta to boiling salted water. Cook the sauce until the water from the tomatoes boils off a bit, and sauce takes the desired thickness (it should be done by the time the pasta is done). You're not going for Ragu here, just cook it until it isn't too watery. If you want, you can add a little red table wine or sweet vermouth while it cooks.
When the pasta is al dente, strain it lightly and coat with olive oil. If the sauce is too runny, pour some of the water off. If too thick, add a little pasta water. Experiment. Make it your way. Put the pasta on plates or a platter and top with a few scoops of sauce, some fresh chopped parsley, freshly grated parmeseano reggiano, more salt and pepper. Garnish with an entire sprig of flat parsley. Presentation is key! Think about colors, plates, arrangement. Make it pretty. Enjoy! Farfalle is a good choice here.
A really nice addition to this sauce is to start by frying a few pieces of bacon. Remove the bacon pieces and then using the bacon grease to fry the onions. Now continue as above, but add the diced bacon to the sauce before serving. That sauce goes especially well with Gnocci, or Maccherocini (little macaronis).
Pasta Puttanesca-- This is a famous dish from Naples in the south and literally translates as Whore's Pasta, for reasons not entirely known. One safe explanation involves the fact that the ingredients all hold up well in cupboards and prostitutes were granted very little time to go to the market. This dish often involves diced garlic, but I subsitute onions, and recommend that you do the same unless you really like garlic.
Dice a small onion (or half of a big one) and fry in olive oil. Open a jar of anchovy filets packed in oil. Pour the oil into the pan with the onions. Dice the anchovies and add to the pan. Stir until anchovies "dissolve." When the water for the pasta has come to a boil add salt and red pepper flakes. As the water boils the air will become peppery. Add a diced tomato or two to the souce. Add a few spoonfuls of diced capers. Add a fist full of diced black Italian style olives. Optionally add some diced basil and flat parsley. Add walnuts if desired. Mix and match. Use garlic and peperoncinos (little peppers) if you want. Spice it up. But not too much. You're the cook. You decide. But generally, you'll handle this the same as a basic tomato sauce. Spaghetti is the standard puttanesca noodle. Garnish with parsley springs, basil leaves and black olives. Enjoy!
Venetian Pasta-- This is a northern dish. Similar to puttanesca, but also very different. This sauce is a bit challenging, but you will be rewarded for your effort. I have seen this sauce make both men and women swoon. Did you hear me? I said swoon.
Pour 1/2 cup of extra virgin olive oil and 1/2 cup of white wine into a frying pan, and warm over medium heat. Open a jar of anchovy filets packed in olive oil and drain the oil into the frying pan. Dice a small onion (or half of a big one), and add this to the pan. Now, what you are going to do is let the sugars from the wine carmelize the onions. This is not too difficult, but it takes time. You want to stir them frequently at a medium-high or medium heat. The main goal is too keep them from burning. At a medium heat, they can simmer for hours. Just remember to stir them pretty often. Eventually, as the alcohol cooks off, the onions will begin to devolop a sweet taste. This is a very good thing. If you don't have hours, you can rush the job at a higher heat, but take care not too go too high. They can burn in an instant.
When the onions are on their way to sweetness, bring the water for the pasta to a boil. Add salt and red pepper flakes. Feel the burn. Chop the leaves of a bundle of mustard greens if you can obtain them. Dandelion greens or turnup greens are potential alternatives. Dice the anchovy filets as small as possible. Add the pasta to the water. While it cooks, add the anchovies to the sauce and stir until the anchovies have dissolved. When the pasta is al dente, drain in lightly and return to the pot. Pour the sauce over the pasta and stir. Add the mustard greens and continue to stir until the greens shrivel and become part of the sauce. Scoop the appropriate amount onto plates, garnish and serve. Enjoy and buona fortuna!
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