Tag Archives: lamb pasta

Andy Baraghani’s Big Shells with Spicy Lamb Sausage and Pistachios

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Who says you have to stuff big shell pasta? You don't.
Who says you have to stuff big shell pasta? You don’t.

Admittedly, I am one of those people who harbors guilt easily.

So, when I tell you that since pre-Covid, I’m often cringed when opening my pantry, you will understand why.

It’s because a bag of conchiglie has long stared back at me, almost in disbelief.

As crazy as it sounds, I could almost picture this bag of jumbo shell pasta mockingly wondering, “OK, been here a while. A long while. What’s up with that?”

And I would sheepishly almost answer back, “Ya got me, ya got me. I’ve just been too lazy to go to the trouble of boiling you, stuffing you with something, and then baking you in the oven. So there.”

But along came Andy Baraghani to vanquish my guilt.

If the noted food writer, recipe developer, and former Bon Appetit magazine food editor who has cooked at Chez Panisse says its perfectly fine not to go to the trouble of stuffing crazy-big shells, but to treat them like any other pasta, that’s exactly the permission I was needing.

I grabbed that forlorn bag and made his “Big Shells with Spicy Lamb Sausage and Pistachios.”

The recipe is from his new cookbook, “The Cook You Want to Be” (Lorena Jones Books), of which I received a review copy.

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Lamb and Butternut Squash Ragu with Mint, Orange, and The Greatest Tomatoes From Europe

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Whole canned cherry tomatoes in their juices from Europe make this pasta dish even more of a treat.
Whole canned cherry tomatoes in their juices from Europe make this pasta dish even more of a treat.

Ancient landmarks, breathtaking artworks, artisan foodstuffs perfected over generations, and the intricate fashions crafted by Prada, Dior and Givenchy.

Those are some of the things I most love about Europe.

Now, comes the newest addition to my list: canned tomatoes.

Yes, really.

I never thought I’d get that excited over such a basic pantry staple until the Italian Association of Canned Vegetable Industries and European Union founded the marketing program, The Greatest Tomatoes From Europe, to spread the word far and wide about its canned tomatoes. As part of the program, they began sending out free samples to food writers like myself to give them a try.

I received two cans, 400g each, of Davio Gragnano whole, peeled long, oblong and cherry tomatoes, vacuum-sealed with their juices. When you open the cans, what’s most striking is that the plump tomatoes are afloat in a fairly thick puree of a sauce, not the weak, watery liquid usually found inside most supermarket canned tomatoes. I dipped a spoon in to taste a very vivid tomato flavor. While you might strain out and discard the liquid in other cans, it would be a waste to that here because it was actually a bonus — getting tomatoes and sauce in one.

Samples from the Greatest Tomatoes From Europe.
Samples from the Greatest Tomatoes From Europe.

Inside my sample box were also packages of Pastificio G. Di Martino Italian dried pasta. So there was no question that I’d be making a bountiful pasta dish out of it all. Of course, not that I ever need an excuse to make pasta.

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