Panini
by Carlo Middione
Ten Speed Press, 2008
$14.95, cloth
106 pages
Pasta
by Carlo Middione
Ten Speed Press, 2008
$14.95, cloth
104 pages
Sandwiches and spaghetti seem like instinctual foods-bread and pasta simple to prepare and embellish with whatever is at hand and to your taste. But the simplest foods always carry hidden complexities.
By approaching them with a creative imagination and the using the best ingredients, they become sublime combinations of texture and flavor that can become iconic. As Middione writes, Spaghetti Aglio e Oglio is the favorite of many Italians; "it makes them happy...". Nothing more than four ingredients for happiness.
I confess pasta is my favorite food and almost any plate of it will make me happy. I have my favorites, and Middione has included many of them-spicy puttanesca with capers, anchovies, and garlic or carbonara creamy with egg, cheese, and bacon-and he probably has your favorite too, whether it's Linguine alle Vongole or a Pasta e Fagiole.
But how about a silky and full Chiocciole al Mascarpone e Noci, rich with creamy cheese and toasted walnuts or the sharp flavors of Pappardelle al Radicchio Saltato, flat noodles with the round flavors of sautéed onions and the bitter purple lettuce. These are combinations you may not have thought of, and might never have stumbled into, if not for Middione's pasta primer.
He begins with basic sauces and ends with "Pasta Other Ways," more involved dishes like a molded sformato or stuffed cannelloni.
Middione approaches panini the same way, beginning with basics like ciabatta, a chewy sandwich bread; a mixed green salad contorno to eat alongside the sandwich; and pesto and vinaigrette that will give your panini character.
And again from the classic to more imaginative combinations, whether its the Goat Cheese and Soppressata Salami you can pick up at an autostrada restaurant or a modern panini like artichoke and tuna.
Middione even includes some sweet panini that range from a childhood treat of chocolate hazelnut spread slathered on toast to a sophisticated combination of goat cheese and raspberries.
Sure anyone can make a bowl of pasta or slap together a sandwich, but use Middione's little books to turn them sublime.
© 2008 Claudia Kousoulas
