On the inauguration of a new pan and the creation of a new dish (in the culinary sense)...
So I found out a couple of days ago that some of my friends from the music department were getting together tonight for a pot-luck dinner on behalf of a couple who are moving to New Mexico for a teaching position. I wasn't sure what I would be able to fix since yesterday would be shot with class and rehearsal and today I had class also.

Some time last night I settled on making a pasta dish using penne and pesto. Today on the way to and at the grocery store I became a bit more creative. What took shape in my kitchen was different, still, than what I had envisioned while procuring the ingredients and was very tasty. The dish is something of my take on the traditional Prosciutto e Mozzarella dish, thinly sliced prosciutto served with fresh basil and mozzarella cheese.

Unnamed pasta dish

Ingredients:

• 1/4 lb pancetta, diced (I got a slice about finger-thick)
  
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
  
• 1 cup onion, coarsely chopped
  
• 1 each red and green bell peppers, julienned (I cut the julienned slices in half lengthwise)
  
• 2 large tomatoes (or four romas), peeled, seeded, and diced
  
• 1 cup white wine
  
• 3 Tbsp salted butter
  
• 1/4 cup milk (the milk and butter were actually a substitute for cream which I did not have when I decided at the last minute to make this a cream sauce)
  
• 2 tsp cornstarch in a small amount of cold water
  
  
• 1 lb pasta (I used penne, I like the thickness of it and it holds a light sauce like this well)
  
• 8oz mozzarella, cubed
  
• 1 cup (approx) fresh basil leaves, washed and sliced
  
• Extra virgin olive oil, salt, and freshly ground black pepper to taste
  

Directions:

Place pancetta in a cold pan and turn to medium heat. Once fat has rendered add garlic and onion to pan, sauté for a few minutes and add peppers. Sauté until tender. Remove ingredients from pan and set aside.

Return pan to heat, deglaze pan with white wine, add tomatoes and simmer for a few minutes. Lower heat and add butter and milk (or cream) stirring well to avoid clotting. Add cornstarch and remove from heat.

Begin preparing pasta about 10 minutes before the sauce will be done (about the time you add the peppers). At this time you should also put the cubed mozzarella into the freezer (this prevents the cheese from turning into a stringy mess). Have a large pot of boiling water ready and salt it generously with kosher salt (the water should taste like sea water says Alton). Boil the pasta (provided you are using penne) for 10 minutes, remove from heat and drain.

Toss pasta in a large bowl with extra virgin olive oil and mozzarella. Add all other ingredients to pasta and toss to coat. Serve warm or cold.

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In all honesty, you probably won't need any salt, the saltiness of the pancetta is perfect for this dish. You also might not need any more oil in the pan for the sauté. but if you feel that you do just add some light olive oil (extra virgin will burn).

This was the first major dish I cooked in my brand new 12" frying pan (stainless with an aluminum core) that I bought a couple of weeks ago. The first really nice piece of cookware I have owned (not quite as nice as the stuff Gordon Ramsay recently came out with, but nicer than any of the stuff I have had, very heavy) and it did a wonderful job with this meal. I cooked a piece of chicken in it last week just to have used the pan.

I hope I didn't forget any ingredients or steps in this writeup...
- posted by Nick @ 7/11/2008 11:21:00 PM | 3 comments