Italian Cooking on the Fourth of July: What Could Be More American?

That's right bitches. I made pasta on the Fourth of July. While everyone else was huddled around the BBQ preparing for the inevitable food coma that would follow blowing up cheap fireworks, I was cooking up Italian. To make this image even more provocative, I was cooking Italian with a British flag hanging on the wall behind me. Consider your mind blown (which is as close as I can get to setting off fireworks). Don't get me wrong -- grilling was definitely a possibility with the addition of the George Foreman Grill to the apartment kitchen. But why not pasta? Isn't America just one giant melting pot of culture and food? Lots and lots of food we stole from other countries and somehow managed to jack up the calorie and fat content? 

Plus, pasta was just more feasible. I had most of the ingredients in the cupboard anyway, and living on a penniless student budget, you have to make the most of what you have. The dish I served is called "Pasta Puttanesca," which in Italian translates to "the whore's pasta," mostly because of its cheap ingredients. As a side dish, I also made up some Bruschetta -- slightly broiled French bread with olive oil, garlic, and a tomato/basil mixture on top. Kyndra Gilvarry and Zack Quiroz were the lucky recipients of my meal. While I consider my cooking an accomplishment, I thought I'd go into a visual recount of my messy journey in the kitchen. 

First of all, I started my Bruschetta, which was probably the easiest but I accidentally overcooked it just a bit. After preheating my oven to 500 degrees, I sliced up my French bread, sprinkled it with garlic salt, then added a slice of tomato with some chopped basil. Since Zack hates tomatoes (but I love them), I only put tomatoes on half. Then I drizzled olive oil over each slice and put it in the oven for 3 minutes. By the end of the time, I wanted them more brown, so I put them in for an extra four minutes. That turned out to be too much, and sadly the smaller pieces turned rather charred. But otherwise, the taste factor was scrumdeliumptious. 

Next, I started my pasta. Everything was running smoothly -- water was steadily coming to a boil as I chopped up the ingredients for my sauce. Once I got the pasta cooking, made my sauce, then drained my pasta, I committed one fatal mistake. I often fail at multi-tasking, and this was one occasion. When I took the pasta off the stove, I forgot to turn it off. And while my sauce was simmering, I left the plastic spatula leaning on the side -- the handle lying down on the still very hot stove top. I went to grab the spatula and...well...you get the picture. Spatula went soaring into the air, landing on the kitchen floor with a black streak and slew of curse words. I went running to the sink and quickly ran cold water over my throbbing pinky finger.

 

Luckily, those were the only mishaps I endured. Otherwise I chopped my basil without slicing my thumb (and I have to say, basil has the most wonderfully herb-y scent to it)...

...managed to get my sauce to the proper consistency (note the spatula on the correct side of the stove top now)...

...and create a beautiful color to my pasta. My only downfall was that the Angel Hair pasta did tend to clump when sitting for a while.

Below I have included the recipe for Pasta Puttanesca in case any curious readers are interested in trying it themselves:

8 oz. uncooked Angel Hair spaghetti

1 tbls. olive oil

4 garlic cloves, minced

1 (14.5 oz) can diced tomatoes, undrained

1/2 cup chopped olives (I left this ingredient out merely because I didn't have it. The dish works well with or without it)

1/4 cup tomato paste

1 tbls. capers

1/4 tsp. red pepper flakes

1/2 cup grated Romano cheese (Parmesan cheese works well here too)

1/4 cup sliced fresh basil (optional, but it gives it some nice color)

Cook pasta according to package. Before draining take 1 cup of pasta water and put aside. Drain pasta. Heat oil in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Add garlic; cook 3 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add tomatoes and next 4 ingredients; bring to a simmer. Simmer uncovered, 15 minutes or until sauce is thick. Combine pasta to sauce, using some of the pasta water to keep it smooth. Add cheese and basil, and mix lightly. Serve immediately.

And for dessert, Zack baked up some brownies (so at least we had some essential American cuisine in our three course meal).

For anyone interested in the brownie recipe, leave a comment below :)


HAPPY BIRTHDAY AMERICA. And too bad you had to spend it with some yucky oil washing up on your shores.