Pasta Modern Read Online Free Page B

Of course, this delicious sauce is superb with any pasta shape!
8 baby artichokes
Olive oil
1 small red onion, thinly sliced
2 garlic cloves, minced
6 dried plums, or prunes, thinly sliced
12 fresh sage leaves
⅓ cup (75 ml) white wine
1 pound (455 g) incannulate or any long pasta, preferably Terre di Puglia brand
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
Zest of 1 lemon, cut into long strips
Cut off the top ½ inch (12 mm) of each artichoke, discard, and slice the remainder paper thin. In a large frying pan, heat 6 tablespoons oil over high heat. Add the artichokes and fry until crisp. Remove them from the pan and drain on paper towels. Lower the heat, add the onion and garlic to the pan, and sauté until the onions are soft, about 5 minutes. Add the prunes, sage, and white wine. Cover and simmer for 5 minutes.
Boil the pasta in salted water for 2 minutes less than the package directs. Drain and finish cooking in the sauce, adding a few tablespoons of the pasta cooking liquid as needed. Stir in the fried artichokes and season with salt and pepper to taste.
Serve topped with lemon zest.

PASTA WITH CARAMELIZED ORANGES
    { Pasta all’arancia }
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    SERVES 4 | REGION: Central and parts of northern Italy
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This dish, featuring orange juice and crisp Italian bacon, has a rich flavor with only a few ingredients. It’s like breakfast for dinner!
Oranges have an astonishingly savory-sweet quality when paired with pasta, so it’s no wonder that there are hundreds of variations of this combination throughout Italy. The trick is to add the orange juice a little at a time so it caramelizes into golden goodness.
3 ounces (90 g) pancetta, cut into matchsticks
Olive oil
2 medium leeks
1 cup (240 ml) freshly squeezed orange juice, plus grated zest of 1 orange
1 tablespoon sugar
1 pound (455 g) orecchiette or any short pasta, preferably Benedetto Cavalieri brand
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
Pecorino or other aged cheese, grated
In a skillet large enough to later toss the pasta, cook the pancetta in 3 tablespoons oil over medium-high heat until crisp.
Wash and finely slice the leeks, including any of the tender green parts; you should have about 1 ½ cups (360 ml). Stir the leeks into the pancetta and cook until tender, about 5 minutes. Add about ½ cup (120 ml) of the juice, raise the heat to high, and boil until syrupy. Add the sugar and the rest of the juice, a few tablespoons at a time, until caramelized, syrupy, and thick, so the sauce adheres to the back of a spoon, with a nice dark golden color.
Meanwhile, boil the pasta in salted water for 2 minutes less than the package directs. Drain, toss into the sauce, and cook over high heat until it is al dente and coated in a thick glaze. Season with salt and serve topped with the zest, pepper, and some cheese.

LEMON-FENNEL PESTO WITH STROZZAPRETI
    { Strozzapreti al pesto di limone e finocchio }
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    SERVES 4 | REGION: Sicily
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Lemon’s tang plus fennel’s freshness make a light and superbly different pesto. This specialty of Sicily whirls up right in the food processor. If they don’t have wild fennel at your farmer’s market, just omit it. I’ve made this pesto here in the States with only normal supermarket fennel and it was still amazing.
Here I suggest using the whimsically named “priest stranglers” pasta, which have a delightfully dense chewiness. The name, perhaps a secret wish, dates to the days when farmers dreaded a visit from the village priest, who’d greedily devour the poor parishioners’ food.
⅓ cup (50 g) blanched almonds
1 lemon
1 fennel bulb, including fronds, chopped
1 small wild fennel bulb, including fronds, chopped
About 30 fresh mint leaves
About 25 large fresh basil leaves
2 tablespoons salted capers, rinsed
Olive oil
Salt
1 pound (455 g) strozzapreti or any pasta
Finely grind the almonds in a mortar and pestle, clean coffee grinder, or small food processor.
Using a very sharp knife, and working over a plate to collect the juices, cut off the