Mark Bittman's Quick and Easy Recipes from the New York Times (36 page)

MAKES 2 TO 4 SERVINGS

TIME: 30 MINUTES WITH PREMADE DOUGH

1.
For grilled pizza, start a medium-hot charcoal or wood fire or preheat a gas grill to the maximum. Roll or lightly press each dough ball into a flat round, lightly flouring the work surface and the dough as necessary (do not use more flour than you need to). Let the rounds sit for a few minutes, then roll or pat out the dough, as thinly as you like, turning occasionally and sprinkling the top with flour as necessary.

For baked pizza, preheat the oven to 500°F. Oil one or more baking sheets, then press each dough ball into a flat round directly on the oiled sheet(s). Then pat out the dough, as thinly as you like, oiling your hands if necessary. If your oven is equipped with a baking stone, roll or pat out the dough as for grilled pizza, putting it on a peel to transfer it to the oven.

2.
To grill the pizza, slide it directly onto the grill. Cook until brown grill marks appear, 3 to 5 minutes, depending on your grill heat. Turn with a spatula or tongs, then top with the cheeses and basil. Cover the grill and cook until the bottom is crisp and nicely brown and the cheeses melted.

To bake the pizza, top with the cheeses, slide the baking sheet into the oven (or the pizza itself onto the stone), and bake for about 10 minutes, depending on the oven heat, or until nearly done. Sprinkle with the basil and finish cooking until nicely browned.

MAKES 2 TO 4 SERVINGS

TIME: 40 MINUTES WITH PREMADE DOUGH

1.
For grilled pizza, start a medium-hot charcoal or wood fire or preheat a gas grill to the maximum. Roll or lightly press each dough ball into a flat round, lightly flouring the work surface and the dough as necessary (do not use more flour than you need to). Let the rounds sit for a few minutes, then roll or pat out the dough, as thinly as you like, turning occasionally and sprinkling the top with flour as necessary.

For baked pizza, preheat the oven to 500°F. Oil one or more baking sheets, then press each dough ball into a flat round directly on the oiled sheet(s). Then pat out the dough, as thinly as you like, oiling your hands if necessary. If your oven is equipped with a baking stone, roll or pat out the dough as for grilled pizza, putting it on a peel to transfer it to the oven.

2.
To grill the pizza, slide it directly onto the grill. Cook until brown grill marks appear, 3 to 5 minutes, depending on your grill heat. Turn with a spatula or tongs, then top with the arugula, corn, and bacon. Cover the grill and cook until the bottom is crisp and brown and the bacon cooked through.

To bake the pizza, top with the arugula, corn, and bacon, slide the baking sheet into the oven (or the pizza itself onto the stone), and bake for about 15 minutes, depending on the oven heat, or until nicely browned and the bacon cooked through.

VARIATIONS

Here is a list of ideas for basic and flavorful combinations for pizza, none of which requires precooking:

White Pizza

Drizzle with about 2 tablespoons olive oil, then sprinkle with coarse salt, about 1 tablespoon fresh rosemary leaves (or a teaspoon or two of dried), and, if you like, a bit of minced garlic, chopped onion, or chopped shallot.

Pizza Romano

Drizzle with about 2 tablespoons olive oil, then top with a lot of cracked black pepper and a good cup of freshly grated pecorino Romano.

Pizza with Parmigiano-Reggiano and Sage

Top with at least 1 cup freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano, then sprinkle with 20 or 30 fresh sage leaves, coarsely chopped.

Pizza with Shallots and Thyme

Drizzle with about 2 tablespoons olive oil, then sprinkle with coarse salt and freshly cracked black pepper, 1 cup slivered shallot, and about 1 teaspoon fresh thyme leaves (or a few pinches of dried).

Pesto Pizza

Spread with about 1 cup pesto or simply a handful or two of fresh basil, along with some garlic and a couple of tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil.

Pizza with Mozzarella

Top with a couple of handfuls of grated mozzarella, some sliced tomatoes, and a lot of chopped fresh basil, along with a sprinkling of salt and pepper and a drizzle of olive oil.

MAKES 4 TO 6 SERVINGS

TIME: 30 MINUTES

SINCE OLIVE OIL
is the backbone of this dish, use the best you can lay your hands on and be sure to keep the heat under the oil medium-low, because you want to avoid browning the garlic at all costs. (Well, not at all costs. If you brown the garlic, you’ll have a different, more strongly flavored kind of dish, but one that is still worth eating.) Garnish with a good handful of chopped parsley. For thirty seconds’ work, this makes an almost unbelievable difference.

1.
Bring a large pot of water to a boil and salt it. Meanwhile, combine the garlic, oil, and a pinch of salt in a small skillet over medium-low heat. Allow the garlic to simmer, shaking the pan occasionally, until it turns golden; do not allow it to turn dark brown.

2.
When the water boils, cook the pasta until it is tender but firm. When it is done, drain it, reserving a bit of the cooking water. Reheat the garlic and oil mixture briefly if necessary. Dress the pasta with the sauce and parsley, if using, adding a little more oil or some of the cooking water if it seems dry.

VARIATIONS

If you have a moderately well-stocked pantry—for example, if you have some olives, capers, chickpeas, dried chiles, canned tomatoes, and so on—you can make any of these delicious variations in less than a half hour.

• Add a couple of dried chiles to the oil along with the garlic. Discard before tossing with the pasta. Alternatively, sprinkle the pasta with hot red pepper flakes or pass some at the table.

• Add 1 cup cooked, drained chickpeas to the garlic-oil mixture about a minute before tossing with the pasta.

• Add 1 to 2 tablespoons capers to the garlic-oil mixture about a minute before tossing with the pasta.

• Add ¼ to ½ cup minced pitted black olives (preferably imported) to the garlic-oil mixture about a minute before tossing with the pasta.

• Add a mixture of about 1 cup fresh herbs to the pasta when tossing it with the garlic-oil mixture. You probably will need more olive oil or some of the pasta-cooking water.

MAKES 4 TO 6 SERVINGS

TIME: 30 MINUTES

IT IS PASTA’S
nature to be simple. I’ve long made a vegetable sauce by poaching greens such as spinach in the pasta water, then removing them and adding the pasta, a neat trick. But my friend Jack Bishop, author of
Vegetarian Italian Cooking,
mentioned that he’d gone one step further, cooking the greens right in with the pasta and adding seasonings at the last minute. The method relies on the fact that there is a period of two or three minutes between the moment when the pasta’s last traces of chalkiness disappear and the point where it begins to become mushy. If, just before the pasta is done, you add the greens, whose tough stems have been removed, greens and pasta will finish cooking at the same time.

When making this dish and others like it, you must adhere to the often ignored canon of allowing at least a gallon of water per pound of pasta, because you need a pot large enough to accommodate the greens and because they cannot be allowed to slow down the cooking too much.

1.
Bring a large pot of water to a boil and salt it. Meanwhile, mince the garlic as finely as possible and combine it in the bottom of a warm bowl with the hot pepper if you’re using it and olive oil.

2.
Add the pasta to the pot and cook until it is nearly done (test it for doneness by tasting). Plunge the spinach into the water and cook until it wilts, less than a minute. Drain quickly, allowing some water to cling to the pasta, and toss in the bowl with the garlic and olive oil mixture. Season with salt and black pepper to taste and serve.

VARIATIONS

One-Pot Pasta and Greens, Asian Style

Use Asian wheat noodles and substitute ¼ cup peanut oil plus 1 tablespoon sesame oil for the olive oil. Add 1 tablespoon soy sauce to the hot pepper and garlic; garnish with 2 tablespoons lightly toasted sesame seeds.

• Toss the pasta with freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano or pecorino cheese to taste.

• Add any of the following to the garlic-pepper-oil mixture, singly or in combination: about 15 Kalamata or other olives, pitted and roughly chopped; about ¼ cup chopped sun-dried tomatoes packed in oil; about 2 tablespoons drained capers; about ½ cup toasted bread crumbs; about ¼ cup minced prosciutto or other dry-cured ham.

MAKES 4 TO 6 SERVINGS

TIME: 30 MINUTES

THERE ARE PASTA
sauces you can make in the time it takes the pasta-cooking water to come to a boil, and there are those that are really fast—those that can be made in the eight to ten minutes it takes to actually cook the pasta. This is one of the latter, one that boasts just a couple of main ingredients and a supporting cast of two staples.

1.
Bring a large pot of water to a boil for the pasta and salt it. Meanwhile, melt the butter in a small saucepan over low heat; add the Gorgonzola and cook, stirring frequently, until the cheese melts. Keep warm while you cook the pasta.

2.
Tear the arugula into bits, or cut it up with scissors—the pieces should not be too small. Cook the pasta until it is tender but not mushy. Remove and reserve a little of the cooking water, then drain the pasta and toss it with the arugula and the cheese mixture, adding a bit of the water if the mixture seems dry.

3.
Taste and adjust the seasoning—the dish should take plenty of black pepper—and serve.

MAKES 4 TO 6 SERVINGS

TIME: 30 MINUTES

A QUICK WAY
to add great flavor to many simple dinner dishes is already sitting in your pantry or cupboard: anchovies. Anchovies are among the original convenience foods and contribute an intense shot of complex brininess that is more like Parmigiano-Reggiano than like canned tuna. Use them, along with garlic, as the base for a bold tomato sauce or combine them, as I do here, with greens, garlic, oil, and chiles for a white sauce that packs a punch.

1.
Bring a large pot of water to a boil and salt it. Put half of the olive oil in a deep skillet over medium heat. A minute later, add the garlic and the anchovies. When the garlic sizzles and the anchovies break up, turn the heat to the minimum.

2.
Cook the pasta until it is tender but not mushy. Reserve 1 cup of the cooking liquid and drain. Add the pasta and the arugula to the skillet, along with enough of the reserved cooking water to make a sauce; turn the heat to medium and stir for a minute. Add salt and black pepper to taste, plus a pinch or more of the hot pepper.

3.
Turn into a bowl, toss with the remaining olive oil, and serve.

MAKES 4 TO 6 SERVINGS

TIME: 30 MINUTES

THIS DISH
—which has zucchini as its focus—is simply amazing when made in midsummer with tender, crisp squash, but it isn’t half bad even when made in midwinter with a limp vegetable that’s traveled halfway around the world to get to your table. Either way, it is an unusual use for zucchini, which here substitutes for meat in a kind of vegetarian spaghetti carbonara, the rich pasta dish featuring eggs, bacon, and Parmigiano-Reggiano. Made with zucchini instead of bacon, the dish becomes a little less fat-laden, obviously, but it is still rich and delicious.