Linguine

I featured this little group of recipes in my New York Times column and in The Minimalist Cooks Dinner, but it’s so instructive, important, and wonderful that I felt it belonged here as well. All (well, almost all) the variations begin with bits of cured meat cooked until crisp, around which are built a number of different sauces of increasing complexity. Most people insist that the “genuine” meat for these recipes is pancetta—salted, cured, and rolled pork belly. Pancetta is available at almost any decent Italian deli and at many specialty stores, but you can use bacon (or even better, if you can find it, guanciale, which is cured pig’s jowl; see the back of the book for mail-order sources). Pecorino Romano is the cheese of choice here, but Parmesan is also good.

Chicken Tetrazzini is an American creation. The one thing we know about it for sure is that it was named after the famed Italian soprano Luisa Tetrazzini, also known as the Florentine Nightingale. She was a favorite with the San Francisco Opera audiences, and it is said that the dish was invented there, but there are some conflicting claims that the dish was created in New York, at the then Knickerbocker Hotel, where most of the Metropolitan Opera stars stayed in the early 1900s. Another confusion about Tetrazzini is whether chicken, turkey, or salmon should be used in the recipe. As far as I am concerned, any or all of these options can make a good Tetrazzini.

There was a time when calamari was not much consumed in America and it was considered a cheap fish. But Italians love calamari, and it became the fish of choice of the Italian immigrants. You can find calamari today as a delicacy in contemporary restaurants of every ethnicity. Spicy calamari with linguine is a trademark of Italian American restaurants all over America.

This is the quintessential Italian pasta dish, especially in Naples and Rome. The ingredients are three; the clams are the smaller ones—vongole veraci—and they are always cooked in their shells. Once they open, the sauce is done. Here in the States, linguine with clam sauce is made with chopped clams, and I guess this adjustment makes sense, especially since the clams here can be quite large, from littlenecks (small to medium) to topnecks (large) to quahogs or chowder clams (very large). Today, though, one is ever more likely to find smaller cockles on the market; if you find them, by all means use them.

GINA When we think of romance, we think of something tantalizing and with a little kick. So we created this spicy pasta with just that in mind. Spark up your taste buds with crushed red pepper and roasted tomatoes, and feast your eyes on the jewel-like pink shrimp and shiny black mussel shells nestled in that silky bed of linguine and ribbons of basil leaves. (Ladies, all of this careful planning helps us please our men!) The look of the final dish is just as beautiful at home as it is at a fancy restaurant. Now, what can beat that?

Creamy, rich sea urchin roe—better known by sushi lovers as “uni”—makes one of the most extraordinary sauces for pasta that I know, exotic Italian comfort food. We serve different versions in the restaurants, but this is my favorite because it keeps the roe intact. The heat of the pasta “cooks” the roe and each sac is broken only by your fork, allowing you to control the richness of each bite. If you do not have access to live sea urchin, make sure the roe you buy is brightly colored and smells like the sea. For the very best flavor and texture, seek out small-production, artisanal pasta, available in Italian import shops and food stores.

The simple name of this dish doesn’t tell you how phenomenal it truly is, especially if you wait until you get your hands on large, just-out-of-the-water shrimp with the shell on. Use the shells to make a quick shrimp stock that acts as a building block of flavor to my basic tomato sauce, transforming the pasta into something special. Freeze the leftover shrimp stock in small yogurt containers and use to make linguine with shrimp again, or use with fish or seafood stews or risotto.

For a delicious appetizer, serve the grilled tomatoes atop toasted pieces of Italian bread. Or use them in a grilled sandwich with fresh mozzarella and basil.

Elegant enough for a dinner party but simple enough to prepare any night of the week, this pasta dish makes good use of quick-cooking shrimp and two types of tomatoes.

This classic Italian combination is made light and bright with turkey sausage and yellow bell peppers. Arugula gives the dish a peppery taste.

This rich, delicious dish is my twist on classic pasta carbonara. But instead of raw eggs, I prepare it with onsen tamago, which I think makes it more interesting. What’s onsen tamago? It literally translates to “hot spring eggs,” which means the egg whites are soft and still runny, but the yolks have a creamy consistency, resembling soft-boiled eggs. It is a standard breakfast treat at the countless hot springs that dot Japan. Since I was young I’ve loved eggs cooked this way. The keys to preparing them are timing and temperature—both have to be exact. Also, the raw egg has to be cold, so be sure to keep the eggs in the refrigerator until the moment you’re ready to cook.

Although we college kids are known for our love of pasta because it’s cheap and easy to make, that doesn’t mean it can’t also taste great and be low in calories. This dish is a perfect example of that. Shrimp Linguine Marinara tastes like an extravagant indulgence, but it’s only about 400 calories per serving.

Jamie’s a fan of shrimp scampi, but Jack is not. Turns out they can both agree on this chicken version.

Light on calories. More than delicious. We took the best of Mediterranean flavors and brought them together harmoniously in this fresh and delightful dish. Scrumptious shrimp and feta are baked with fresh herbs and tomatoes in a light sauce of wine and clam juice that is perfect for serving over a bed of linguini.

This is one of the dishes I turn to when unexpected guests drop in. The sauce comes together in less time than it takes to boil the water and cook the pasta, but the results are always impressive. Begin the sauce as soon as you put the water on to boil, because it’s better if the sauce is ready before the pasta, rather than the other way around.

This is an Italian-American favorite, but I like to make my meatballs with turkey instead of the traditional pork, veal, and beef. It’s lighter and healthier, and that way I can eat it more often. Your guests will be so busy eating them that they won’t have time to ask what’s in them (they are that good), especially when they adorn a gigantic family-size platter of spaghetti or linguine.