Learn to COOK - Pasta Improvvisata: How to Improvise in Classic Italian Style

Do you, like millions of Americans, love pasta? Do you nonetheless find yourself preparing the same old pasta sauces over and over again? Wouldn't you like to be able to spice up your pasta routine, to use fresh new ingredients and discover new methods and flavor combinations? Now, with the help of Erica De Mane's timely and imaginative book, you can. You'll learn to throw together an impromptu and delicious pasta dish the way the Italians do, creatively making use of whatever's on hand or whatever looks good in the market. You will develop the confidence and creativity in the kitchen to approach and cook pasta the way it's done in Italy.

Erica De Mane emphasizes pasta's enormous versatility and shows you how to think for yourself when it comes to combining ingredients. She explains the basic cooking techniques, sauces, and essential equipment so that you can move beyond the boundaries of recipes and conventional approaches to pasta cooking. She teaches you how to break down recipes and reinvent them, progressing from the fundamental to the complex, and how to customize recipes to suit your whim or your pantry -- so you'll always end up with an exciting, flavorful, and absolutely authentic Italian dish. Drawing on her extensive travels through the southern regions of Sicily, Apulia, and Campania, and on her respect for the innovations of American chefs, Erica De Mane provides a wealth of new ideas -- from Cavatelli with Morels, Montasio, and Arugula to Ravioli with Scallop Mousse and Red Pepper Sauce to Veal and Roasted Artichoke Lasagne -- that make an easy transition to the American kitchen.

If you're tired of slavishly following recipes all the time, or hesitant to include a favorite ingredient unless it's explicitly called for, fear no more. The clearly laid out recipe ideas and blueprints for creative pasta-making in this book are what every free-spirited pasta lover interested in taste and authenticity has been waiting for.

Among Pasta Improvvisata's unique features:
* Three superbly organized sections: Pasta and Vegetables, Pasta and Fish, and Pasta and Meat
* Twelve instructive pages of drawings, showing all the different types of pasta
* A list of recommended sources for all sorts of Italian specialty ingredients
* A chapter on making fresh pasta, including unusual variations such as Red Pepper Pasta, Saffron Pasta, and Fennel Seed Pasta

This all-inclusive, intelligent, and approachable cookbook will enable all pasta lovers, the novice and the experienced home cook alike, to have more fun -- and freedom -- in the kitchen than ever before.

Reviewed by Liz Waters Copyright 1999 by Liz Waters All Rights Reserved

Improvisation in the kitchen has become something of a lost art in recent years, and Erica DeMane is doing her part to reverse this trend with Pasta Improvvisata. I would bet that many, many of our favorite Italian dishes were once an improvisation by inventive cooks, and I know for a fact that the more one improvises, the more one realizes what flavors should go together and which should not. It is often experience, and confidence that enables an inventive cook. With DeMane's wonderful book in which she shares her extensive experience with gentle encouragement, even the shakiest cook should grow confident enough to start creating without a set-in-stone recipe!

Here is a recipe that we have made "as is" and improvised on a few times in our kitchen. The blend of basil, zucchini, pasta and scallops is a delicious one that can be played with in your kitchen too. But, do yourself a favor and try it "by the book" first.

Basil Lasagne with Scallops and Zucchini

This is a light lasagne that contains no bechamel or cheese. It's wonderful in the summer, when both young zucchini and fragrant basil are in abundance. A good winter version can be made by substituting the same amounts of Belgian endive for the zucchini and parsley for the basil.

(Makes 4 main-course or 6 first-course servings)

1 ½ pounds sea scallops, side muscles removed Salt Freshly ground black pepper Olive oil 2 large white onions, thinly sliced 8 or 9 medium zucchini, sliced in thin rounds 3 or 4 anchovy fillets, chopped 2 or 3 garlic cloves, peeled

For the Basil Sauce: A large bunch of basil leaves (about 2 packed cups) Salt Freshly ground black pepper Olive oil 1 ½ cups heavy cream 2 large eggs

1 recipe Three-Egg Herb Pasta flavored with basil (page 368) cut for lasgne About 1 cup bread crumbs, toasted (see page 340).

If some of the scallops are very thick, cut them in half horizontally; otherwise, leave them whole. Season the scallops with salt and pepper and toss with a few tablespoons of olive oil. Heat a large skillet until it is almost smoking and sear the scallops on both sides (this shold take no more than a minute or so). They should be lightly browned on both sides but slightly underdone in the center. Remove them from the pan and set aside.

In the same skillet add a few more tablespoons of olive oil and saute the onions over medium heat until they just start to soften, 3 to 4 minutes. Add the zucchini, a bit of the salt and pepper, and saute until lightly browned and tender, about 8 minutes. Add the anchovies and cook 1 minute to blend.

To make the sauce, place the basil leaves and garlic in a food processor. Season with salt and pepper and add a healthy shot of olive oil. Grind to a rough paste. Add the cream and eggs and process a few seconds, just to blend the ingredients.

Cook the lasagne sheets in batches until tender Run under cold water, drain, and lay them out on kitchen towels or paper towels.

Ladle a thin coating of the basil sauce over the bottom of a large baking pan (about 12x10x2 inches). Add a layer of pasta. Top with a layer of zucchini and dot with a layer of scallops. Add a thin coating of basil cream. Add another layer of pasta, another coating of basil sauce, then zucchini, scallops and so on. End with a layer of pasta coated with a layer of basil sauce. Top with a; thin but even coating of toasted bread crumbs.

Cover the pan with aluminum foil and bake the lasagne for 30 minutes. Uncover and bake until the sauce is bubbling and the top is lightly browned, about 15 minutes more. Let rest a few minutes before cutting.

Ideas

Other vegetables combine well with scallops. I've made a scallop and escarole lasagne that was wonderful. Try sautéing sliced leeks until very soft and using a layer of them instead of zucchini; omit the onion. Spinach, too, goes well with scallops.

I've made a great lasagne by alternating layers of traditional basil pesto (page 102 in book), a lightly cooked tomato sauce, and seared scallops.

Another interesting lasagne can be made from scallops grilled with lemon and oregano and layered with sautéed green chard.

This lasagne is also excellent if you leave out the scallops for an all-vegetable version.

Watch for our Cooking Club Chat featuring Meg Hildreth interviewing Erica DeMane next month: Details about the date and time will be announced soon.