Saturday, June 18, 2011

Pasta Ponza

I chose to make Pasta Ponza (pg 85) for dinner primarily because its name is so much fun. It's as good a reason as any, right? Also, in the intro, Giada says that it may be her favorite recipe in the book. I hope it's not my favorite recipe in the book, or else it's going to be a disappointing month. I don't expect a problem, though.

Giada definitely has a winner with this dish. It's so easy to make that it would be a keeper recipe even if it tasted half as good. All you do is cut red and yellow cherry tomatoes in half and toss them with capers, olive oil, salt, pepper, and Italian-seasoned bread crumbs in a Pyrex dish. Bake it for a half hour, then mix it and grated Romano cheese with pasta. The breadcrumbs mixed with the tomato juices to make an unexpectedly rich sauce.
It doesn't look like much, but trust me, it's good.
Conclusion: Tangy, salty, and a little sweet. I loved it.
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8 comments:

  1. AnonymousJune 18, 2011 at 10:41 PM

    Ooh, I just made a dish with capers and loved it. This recipe sounds tasty and the photo looks tasty as well!

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  2. UnknownJune 19, 2011 at 8:27 AM

    I am def. going to test this one out...also looks like it might be a promising base recipe from which to experiment w/some slight flavor variations - so I am thinking maybe some diced cooked pancetta, or a TB of pesto, some cubed mozzarella or ricotta salata, some shredded basil - looks like a go to summertime pasta recipe- esp.with farmers market cherry tomatoes.

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  3. Jocie's MomJune 19, 2011 at 10:32 AM

    Mmm! Nice start to the recipe challenge with Giada. Looks super yummy

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  4. EiJune 19, 2011 at 10:43 AM

    It absolutely lends itself to improvisation. I added garlic to the tomato mixture before I baked it, b/c everything's better with garlic. We were all proposing things that would taste good in it--basil, chicken, prosciutto, etc. It's very malleable.

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  5. UnknownJune 19, 2011 at 2:18 PM

    ok- I'm sold. trying it tonight for George's steak side dish.

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  6. UnknownJune 19, 2011 at 5:36 PM

    OK so I tried this recipe- and tweaked a bit to what I had in the fridge. I didn't have the yellow tomatoes, so just used the one pint of grape tomatoes I did have, and two more small chopped red tomatoes , which I added at the end- also halved the recipe b/c we didn't need so much for 2 people. Added some diced soppressata salami (a very small amount- the heel end which would have otherwise probably gone to waste) a handful of chopped basil, a 1/2 sliced shallot, 2 cloves of garlic (diced) and a few chopped kalamata olives to the capers . For the cheese I used a mix of parmesan and shredded mozzarella- and in addition to the breadcrumbs I put in just a scant handful of stuffing "croutons" assuming they would add some good crunch to the dish. It was great!!!

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  7. EiJune 19, 2011 at 6:20 PM

    Good! I'm glad you liked it. Mmmmm...salami. I have a hunch I'm going to be using variations on this recipe pretty often in the future.

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  8. UnknownJune 19, 2011 at 7:57 PM

    i think some sauteed sliced italian sausage and some arugula would also be an inspired addition!

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