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"Not
Luck" Pasta Party
easy to moderate
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My sous chef for the episode worked
in the vineyard’s wine shop. When we visited the
vineyard on a location scouting trip, we were extremely
impressed with her wine knowledge. After instantly becoming
her best customer, we asked her to join me in the kitchen
for the show.
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Bob's award winning 3rd book will
help you transform everyday ingredients into a dining
adventure, and turn you into a culinary hero amongst
your friends and family.
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When the mood strikes to throw a dinner
party before the check arrives in the mail, all it takes is
twenty dollars in seed money and a few pantry staples to throw
a "not luck" dinner—a pot-luck minus the luck.
If low cash flow is the mother of invention, then these low-budget,
high-fun dinner parties are her progeny.
The premise is simple: Instead of asking
guests to bring prepared dishes, assign each of them one or
more specific gourmet ingredients—taking into account
the individuals’ resourcefulness, finances, proximity
to the stores, and punctuality to determine who brings what.
I created all of the following menus to rely on the ingredients,
not the cook, to do the hard work. Each serves seven guests
plus the host. After all the components have arrived, it’s
a quick and (relatively) simple matter of enlisting a couple
of sous chefs and connecting the dots. The whole meal should
take less than 30 minutes to assemble, from start to finish.
At a "Not Luck" Dinner Party,
nobody’s feelings are hurt when their tuna casserole
goes untouched—and best of all, there’s no tuna
casserole.
- The twenty dollars of seed money should cover the basic
ingredients to be provided by the host. All guest ingredients
cost less than ten dollars.
- It is important that every guest brings a component of
the meal so that they feel they have a stake in the successful
outcome of the evening. If you already have some of the
ingredients I have designated as Guest Assignments, exchange
them for something from the Host Requirements list, or substitute
with flowers, music, or party favors.
- Be sure to inform guests that their ingredient is but
one piece of a complex jigsaw puzzle. Describe in detail
the specific method of torture that will greet anyone who
is late and allude to the mysterious curse of the root canal
that has haunted previous last-minute cancellations and
no-shows. To play it safe, invite the person who is bringing
the appetizer components half an hour early.
- To avoid Murphy’s Law, be very, very specific when
assigning guests their ingredient and politely suggest that
they don’t wait until the last minute to go shopping.
That said, part of the fun of a "not luck" dinner
is going with the flow and making do with whatever the guests
arrive with. ("They didn’t have corn oil so I
bought corn syrup.")
- In addition to their designated ingredient(s), each guest
should be asked to bring a bottle of wine or their favorite
nonalcoholic beverage.
Guest # 1: 8 servings pasta. (If possible, send them to a
fresh pasta store, or have them buy fancy dried pasta.)
Guest # 2: 12 medium tomatoes or 2 (28-ounce) cans of Italian
roma tomatoes, and 2 pints yellow cherry tomatoes
Guest # 3: 4-ounce chunk of Parmigiano Reggiano cheese
Guest # 4: 1 pound kalamata olives plus 4 ounces walnut pieces
Guest # 5: 2 loaves of rustic country-style bread
Guest # 6: 1/2 pound Italian prosciutto
Guest # 7: 8 biscotti + 1/2 pound chocolate
3/4 cup olive oil
4 large shallots
1 teaspoon dried chili pepper
Salt and pepper
2 heads garlic
2 cups fresh basil
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| 6 |
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slices
rustic country-style or sourdough bread, sliced thick |
| 4 |
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cloves garlic |
| 1/4 |
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cup best
available virgin olive oil |
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Salt and
freshly ground black pepper, to taste |
| 1/3 |
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pound prosciutto |
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| 1 |
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Toast the
bread in a toaster or oven until it is very brown. |
| 2 |
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Immediately
after removing the bread from the toaster, rub a garlic
clove over the entire surface of one side. Each slice
should use up about 1/4 to 1/3 of a clove. (Be careful,
when the garlic meets the toast’s hot surface, it
will create fumes that sting your eyes—just like
an onion.) |
| 3 |
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Generously
drizzle olive oil overtop each slice. Sprinkle with salt
and a generous amount of pepper. Top with one or two slices
of prosciutto. Slice into 1-inch strips, or quarters,
and serve immediately. |
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| 1/2 |
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cup olive
oil |
| 12 |
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cloves
of garlic, minced |
| 4 |
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large shallots,
or 2 small onions, diced |
| 1 |
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cup walnut
pieces, or pine nuts |
| 1 |
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teaspoon
dried chili peppers, or 1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper |
| 2 |
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cups lightly
packed fresh basil, coarsely chopped |
| 12 |
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medium-size
tomatoes, diced or 2 (28-ounce) cans Italian roma tomatoes,
drained |
| 2 |
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cups yellow
cherry tomatoes, whole |
| 1 |
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cup kalamata
olives, pitted and coarsely sliced |
| 2 |
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teaspoons
salt |
| 2 |
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teaspoons
freshly ground black pepper |
| 8 |
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servings
of fresh or dried pasta—any style or flavor |
| 4 |
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ounces Parmigiano-Reggiano,
grated just before serving. |
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| 1 |
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Assign one
guest to pit the olives and another to dice the tomatoes. |
| 2 |
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Bring 12
cups of water and 2 teaspoons of salt to a boil in a large
pot. |
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At the same
time, in another large pot over medium-high heat, add
1/4 cup olive oil along with the garlic, shallots, and
walnuts. Stir occasionally for 6 minutes, or until they
just begin turning golden. |
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Add tomatoes,
olives, remaining salt, pepper, chili pepper, and remaining
1/4 cup of olive oil. Cook for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.
Add yellow cherry tomatoes at the end. |
| 5 |
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Add the
basil and stir for 30 seconds (to release their flavors). |
| 6 |
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While sauce
is simmering, add pasta to the boiling water. Cook according
to package directions. |
| 7 |
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Warm the
second loaf of bread in the oven. |
| 8 |
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Drain pasta.
Add pasta to sauce in pot. Toss thoroughly. Put pasta
pot directly on the table, or transfer to a large pre-warmed
serving bowl. |
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Serve with
Parmesan cheese. Don’t forget the bread in the oven! |
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| 8 |
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8 pieces
store-bought biscotti |
| 8 |
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ounces semi
sweet chocolate |
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| 1 |
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Melt chocolate
over a double broiler. |
| 2 |
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Transfer
to a small bowl and let guests dip their own biscotti. |
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