Fresh Pasta with a Simple Tomato and Basil Sauce

Another night of in-room dining thanks to the mini kitchen in our room!  All the ingredients came from Eataly, a gourmet food and wine market from Turin, Italy opened in Manhattan August 2010 with multiple restaurants plus a cooking school housed in 50,000 sq.ft. of pure food fun! For a foodie like me, this was one giant culinary playground.  As I walked through the different areas of the massive space,  my mind kept racing as to all the things I could make for dinner and then the voice of reason pulled in the reins as this would be my last dinner in the room.   My husband and I had dining plans for the other nights.  As I made my way around I came back to the fresh pasta counter and decided to buy ravioli (stuffed with veal, pork, mortadella, parmesan) and angnolotti (stuffed with goat cheese and ricotta).  This pasta really only needed good extra-virgin olive oil, freshly ground pepper and Parmesan but I couldn’t find olive oil in a bottle small enough.  In the end, I decided on a simple tomato sauce that my friend, Francesca (Erbapepe Eventi in Cucina), taught me many years ago.  I had some of the Vermont cultured butter left over and decided to use that in lieu of the oil (needed that to sauté the garlic).

Serves 2

small can of either plum or cherry tomatoes
1 to 2 cloves of garlic, chopped (Francesca said to use a whole clove for a subtle flavor and not chopped – guess there are some things hard to change!)
a big handful each of the ravioli and angnolotti
fresh basil leaves, torn
olive oil (in this case, I used butter)
Reggiano Parmigiano

Melt butter and add garlic.  Sauté until the air is perfumed with the scent of garlic (1 minute) and then add tomatoes.  If using large tomatoes, break up with a knife and cook for 5 minutes.  Toss in basil.   Meanwhile, bring a large pot of salted water to a boil and add pasta.  Cook 3 to 4 minutes or according to packet instructions.  Drain pasta and add to the tomato sauce.  Gently stir.  Serve immediately and top with grated Parmesan.

The Culinary Chase’s Note:
I made a simple antipasto of Reggiano Parmigiano chunks of cheese, soft olive oil bread and 18 month aged prosciutto purchased from Eataly.  They had older aged prosciutto but I bought this instead to try and let me tell you it was the best I’ve tasted outside of Italy!  Silky soft and sweet when you smell it…heavenly!  The stuffed pastas could have passed for homemade they were so good! The meal was complimented by a bottle of Alpha Zeta Soave.  Does in-room dining get any better than this?  Cheers!

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