Chef Julian Barsotti can turn out a stunning pasta dish in ten minutes. His way of rendering even simple pasta dishes sublime shines at Sprezza, Barsotti's new Roman taverna-inspired restaurant. With an emphasis on pasta and pizza, Sprezza is distinct from Barsotti's other restaurants - the upscale Nonna and the Italian-American Carbone's. But a common pasta-cooking technique reigns at all three spots - and in Barsotti's home, when he cooks for his family.
We followed Barsotti into his home kitchen, where he shared pasta secrets using a favorite easy recipe: Spaghetti with Sungold tomatoes, Pickled Jalapeño, Ricotta Salata and Basil.
"It's so simple, yet remarkably good," Barsotti says. The five-ingredient sauce comes together in just a few minutes, and the slightly undercooked pasta finishes cooking in the sauce. That final step is crucial to maximizing the flavor of any pasta dish, but it's under the radar of most home cooks.
"Once you learn the fundamental technique of cooking pasta properly, you can use it and apply it to an infinite amount of sauces," Barsotti says.
Read on for Barsotti's pasta cooking tricks, and for a killer summer recipe that's easy enough for weeknights, yet worthy of company. Be sure to study Barsotti's ingredient sources too; quality counts, especially when a dish has few elements.
Chef Julian Barsotti's tips for perfect pasta
Pasta water
Use about 4 quarts of water to cook 1 pound of pasta, and season it with a generous amount of salt: Start with 1 1/2 tablespoons. "I always use kosher salt for pasta water," Barsotti says, noting that iodized table salt is never in his pantry. How much salt is enough? "It should taste like the sea," he says. Until you get a handle on the right salt level, don't just eyeball the amount - taste the water.
The pasta cooking water is useful for more than boiling pasta. To prevent onions, garlic or vegetables from overcooking in a sauté pan, Barsotti cools everything down with a splash of the liquid. He also adds a couple of tablespoons of the cooking water to pasta sauces.
"I use it to loosen up the sauce. The starch in the water also adds a creamy texture and allows the sauce to cling to the pasta," he says. If the finished pasta dish starts to congeal, a tablespoon or two of the pasta cooking liquid corrects its consistency.
Undercook the pasta, and finish cooking it in the sauce
Always undercook the pasta in the boiling water in order to finish cooking it in the sauce for a couple of minutes - an important step for boosting flavor. Bite into the pasta to accurately determine its level of doneness before transferring it from the water to the pan with the simmering sauce. "It should be very al dente pasta," Barsotti says. The pasta cooking time may be about 1 minute less than normal al dente pasta; check it early so that you don't miss the "almost-done" window.
Immediately after transferring the pasta to the sauce, "I work it around in the pan with tongs or a pasta fork, thoroughly mixing it with the sauce and marrying the flavors. During this last part of the cooking time, the pasta is absorbing sauce," he says. Barsotti recommends this final pasta cooking technique regardless of what sauce coats the pasta - whether a simple aglio e olio (garlic and olive oil) or a slow simmered ragu.
There's no need for a colander
Since the pasta cooking liquid is an asset, Barsotti doesn't drain pasta in a colander. He recommends transferring the pasta directly from the starchy water to the sauce-filled skillet, using tongs or a pasta fork. Some of the pasta water will drip into the sauce as you do this. That's not a problem, since a little bit enhances the sauce, and excess liquid will evaporate as you finish cooking the pasta in the sauce. If you drain pasta in a colander, you run the risk of forgetting to reserve some of the pasta cooking water, which you may need for correcting the viscosity of the sauce, or loosening up the finished pasta dish.
Spaghetti with Sun Gold Tomatoes, Pickled Jalapeño, Ricotta Salata and Basil
Ingredients:
1 pound dried spaghetti (preferably De Cecco brand)
Kosher salt, to taste
1/3 cup good quality extra virgin olive oil, such as Texas Olive Ranch or California Olive Ranch
4 large garlic cloves, peeled and finely chopped
1 pint ripe Sun Gold cherry tomatoes, halved
2 pickled chile peppers from a jar (preferably Cajun Chef Hot Jalapeño Peppers; see ingredient sources), seeded and finely chopped.
1/2 cup chopped fresh basil leaves
1 1/2 cups finely grated ricotta salata (sold at Jimmy's Food Store; and sporadically available at Central Market); or substitute grated Pecorino Romano or crumbled French feta
Directions:
Bring a large pot of water (about 4 quarts) to a rolling boil. Add enough salt to make the water taste briny (start with 1 1/2 tablespoons). Add all the pasta at once, completely submerging it into the water by prodding it with a wooden spoon. Cook until slightly underdone - about 1 minute less than you would for al dente pasta.
While the pasta is cooking, heat olive oil in a 12-inch sauté pan or skillet set over medium heat. Add garlic and sauté until fragrant and beginning to turn a pale golden color; if the garlic starts to color too much, add a splash of the pasta cooking water to stop the cooking. Add the tomatoes, and season with kosher salt to taste. Simmer for about 5 minutes, until the tomatoes release their juices and begin to break down. Add jalapeño peppers and basil. If pasta is not yet ready, remove sauce from heat.
When pasta is ready, remove it from the heat, but do not drain it. Using tongs or a pasta fork, immediately transfer pasta straight from the cooking water to the sauce-filled skillet, set over medium heat. Tossing constantly with tongs (or pasta fork), finish cooking the pasta in the simmering sauce for about 2 minutes; it's OK that some of the pasta water gets transferred along with the pasta -- it will evaporate. If the sauce gets too dry, add a couple of tablespoons of the pasta cooking water to loosen it up; you want the sauce coating the pasta. If sauce is too loose or wet, simmer for another minute to evaporate excess moisture.
Transfer pasta to a large bowl; if the sauce seems dry or clumpy, mix in another tablespoon or two of pasta cooking water. Sprinkle with grated ricotta salata and serve immediately.
Makes 4 to 6 servings.
PER SERVING (based on 5): Calories 564 (35% from fat), Fat 22 g (6 g sat), Cholesterol 30 mg, Sodium 518 mg, Fiber 4 g, Carbohydrates 74 g, Protein 20 g, Sugar 9 g
Source: Julian Barsotti, Executive Chef and owner of Sprezza, Nonna and Carbone's
Barsotti's favorite ingredients
When a recipe has only a handful of ingredients, quality is crucial. Here are Chef Julian Barsotti's specific ingredient recommendations for his Spaghetti with Sun Gold Tomatoes, Pickled Jalapeño, Ricotta Salata and Basil recipe:
Extra virgin olive oil: Barsotti swears by two brands, both of them domestic: California Olive Ranch (widely available at grocery stores), and Texas Olive Ranch (sold at Jimmy's Food Store, Market Provisions at The Dallas Farmers Market, and Patina Green and Local Yocal in McKinney; or online at texasoliveranch.com)
Sun Gold cherry tomatoes: Golden orange in color, these cherry tomatoes are incredibly sweet and slightly tangy. They're sold at most supermarkets.
Cajun Chef Hot Jalapeño peppers: Barsotti says that he usually likes to do his own pickling unless he finds a product that he can't improve on, like these whole pickled peppers. Unlike most jarred or canned jalapeños, they retain a crisp texture. This is good not only from a textural standpoint, but flavor-wise, too. The peppers don't become sponges for the pickling solution, so they maintain a good balance of heat and acidity. You'll find lots of uses for these peppers beyond Barsotti's pasta recipe, so it's worth ordering them at cajunchefshop.com.
Spaghetti: De Cecco is Barsotti's preferred brand of commercially made Italian spaghetti; it's widely available in supermarkets. He says this pasta brand is more forgiving on cooking times than most, and that it consistently sources good quality durum wheat for its flour. For an exceptional artisan upgrade, he goes for Faella brand, a bronze die-extruded pasta, sold in packages at Carbone's or online via Amazon; the pasta has a textured porous surface that grabs and absorbs sauces really well.
Ricotta salata: This cheese is made from the whey content of sheep milk. It's pressed, salted and aged for at least 90 days to make a firm cheese that's ideal for grating. The texture is lighter and not as firm and dry as Parmigiano Reggiano; the price and salt content are lower to boot. It's always sold at Jimmy's Food Store for about $7.99 per pound; it is sporadically available at some Central Market stores.
Crumbled French feta makes a good milky, creamy stand-in for ricotta salata; grated Pecorino Romano works well as a drier option.
Tina Danze is a Dallas freelance writer.