Peasant Pasta Recipes

JAMES BEARD'S PLEASANT PASTA

Steps:

• Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Add pasta, and cook until just tender. While pasta cooks, combine peas and 1 cup water in a small saucepan. Bring to a boil, and stir until peas are thoroughly heated. Drain and set aside.
• Drain pasta, return to pot and toss with butter. Add peas, prosciutto and cream. Toss to mix well and to separate prosciutto strips. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Add Parmesan to taste, and toss again. Serve piping hot, passing more Parmesan separately at the table.

PEASANT PASTA

Steps:

• In a large pot, brown/crumble sausage; drain sausage in colander.
• Wipe out pot and return to heat; add crumbled sausage back to pot, with tomatoes.
• Bring to a bubble and cook for 5 minutes.
• Add peas; cook 1minute; stir in cream, to blush the color of the sauce.
• Simmer until the pasta is ready to drain; adjust seasoning w/ salt and pepper.
• Toss 2/3 of the sauce with the pasta and transfer to a serving bowl.
• Top with the remaining sauce and serve with grated cheese, crusty bread and wine.

PEASANT PASTA STEW

Steps:

• In a Dutch oven or soup kettle, combine the broth, celery, carrots and onion. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat; cover and simmer for 5-7 minutes or until vegetables are crisp-tender. Stir in the V8 juice, tomatoes, tomato paste, oregano, pepper and garlic powder. Cover and simmer for 40-45 minutes., Meanwhile, in a skillet, cook pork over medium heat until no longer pink; drain. Add meat and beans to soup; cover and simmer 30-45 minutes longer or until heated through. Stir in pasta just before serving. Sprinkle with Parmesan cheese.

FRIED ZITI... "PEASANT PASTA"

Steps:

• 1. Cook Ziti al dente- drain and refrigerate to chill (can be done a day ahead of time). Transfer ziti to a cutting board and chop coarsely.
• 2. In a large skillet, heat butter and olive oil, add scallions, onions and garlic, sauté briefly 1 minute.
• 3. Add chopped ziti and sauté until the pasta starts to brown up and caramelize a bit -be sure to stir and shake the pan back or use a spoon to move the ziti around so you do not burn the pasta and you get some great color throughout the pasta.
• 4. Once you have some great brown color on the Ziti, add salt, pepper, oregano and the fresh herbs than add the sauce mixing and begin sauteing for another few minutes or so. I like to add Cooked Sweet sliced Italian Sausage at this time. Next add a couple of table spoons of the Asiago cheese and fold in.
• 5. Top the whole pan with the grated mozzarella and provolone evenly over the top along with the remaining Asiago cheese.
• 6. Bake in a preheated oven 400 degrees cook pasta for 20-30 minutes until brown and a bit crisp on the sides. Serve with some garlic bread and enjoy!
• 7. You can add any one of the following ingredients in place of the Sausage: Pepperoni- Diced Sautéed Mushrooms Fresh Spinach Meatballs (Cooked and Sliced) Sun dried Tomatoes
• 8. Check the full cooking demo and story behind this dish! www.thecookbookproject.net

PEASANT BREAD

Steps:

• Place ingredients in the pan of the bread machine in the order recommended by the manufacturer. Select Light or Medium Crust cycle; press Start. For a crispier crust, use the French cycle or turn machine off after first rise and start the cycle over.