Cucina Aperta

the two main ingredients of my improvised dinner

Dinner in a pinch

The Dilemma: Last night I came home to a (predominately) empty kitchen.

The scarcity stirred my imagination, and I looked around to see what kitchen elements

could lend themselves to an improvisational composition. I suddenly found the two main ingredients for what was to come. My concoction would somehow involve two overripe yellow farmstand tomatoes and a lonely tube of Black Olive Paste consigned to obscurity in a dark corner of the refrigerator.

The result? Find my recipe below, tweaked to perfection.

Sugo allo Zafferano (Natalie's Saffron Tomato Sauce)

serves 4 - 6

Ingredients:

4 heart-sized yellow tomatoes, coarsely chopped

2 1/2 tsps. black olive paste (or more to suite your palate)

4 cloves garlic, grated on a microplane

1/2 lb 32-36 count medium shrimp, tails removed and coarsely chopped (optional)

a pinch of saffron

(optional, but best to heighten the dramatic composition of the dish)

fresh parsely, chopped (for garnish)

crushed red chili flakes

salt + pepper to taste

1/2 cup good E.V.O.O (I use Citarella's)

1 lb linguini fini, linguini, or other long, flat noodle

For the sauce:

Add the chopped tomatoes to a food processor in batches of two.

Pulse food processor a few times, stopping to pour in enough olive to emulsify the mixture and build a silken texture, with the occasional chunk of tomato. Add the olive paste in segments as well, until the sauce is "speckled", but not overpowered. Repeat with last two tomatoes.

In a medium-sized skillet over medium heat, heat 4 tblsps. olive oil, adding the garlic and crushed red chili flakes for a hint of spice. Saute garlic until golden, just before it starts to brown.

Add the fresh tomato sauce to the pan generously, blending the garlic evenly throughout. If using saffron, add it now and stir throughout. let simmer.

Put a large pot of water to boil, adding salt. Add Linguini fini to boiling water and cook till al dente, 5-7 minutes. reserve a quarter cup of pasta water.

If using shrimp, add it now to the skillet and cook on low heat. Let shrimp turn opaque, about two minutes. Combine pasta with the sauce in the skillet, coating each strand and using pasta water to thin the sauce, if necessary. Add salt + pepper to suite your palate, and garnish with fresh parsley.

Buon Appetito!