Food rarely photographs as well as I’d like, which certainly is the case with this dish that I invented, Summer Pasta Stacks.
I prepared it last month for a fundraiser to benefit Kids Turn Shasta Cascade, where about 140 guests bought tickets that allowed them to stop at each chef’s table to sample the food, but just as important, taste the particular wine paired with the food. (Disclosure: I was a founding board member of Kids Turn 20 years ago.)
The event was held in Moseley Family Cellars‘ spacious new place off Caterpillar Road in north Redding. Moseley’s supplied the wine. The wine I selected from the Moseley options was its Sauvignon Blanc. I wanted something light and refreshing to go with my light-and-simple pasta dish. I’d had a chance to try the wine a couple of weeks before the event, and really liked it.
I knew that with my simple, homemade pasta, layered with the unfussy fresh tomatoes, basil and a little cheese, it would be a perfect pairing. The concept of the Summer Pasta Stacks is like lasagna, but dialed way, way down. No heavy sauces. No ricotta with egg or spinach. No meat. No globs of stringy cheese. Just the pasta and the fresh summer flavors. (By the way, I could have just as easily done the same thing with eggplant or zucchini. You can, too. Experiment.)
Honestly, when I think of that evening, I still feel a bit embarrassed, because although my food was fine, I arrived woefully unprepared, at least as compared with the other chefs.
I agree with Theodore Roosevelt, or whoever said, “Comparison is the thief of joy”, because on that night, the more I compared myself with the other chefs, the less joy I felt.
Let me also say that I’m a formally trained journalist, but not a formally trained chef. Even so, I keep getting asked to do chef-like things, like catering, and food demos. Yes, I’ve been into cooking since I was a kid, but I am totally self-taught via cookbooks, cooking magazines, old Julia Child shows, the Food Network and some classes over the years. Because I’m self-taught, I missed those cheffy courses that teach things like fancy knife skills and the art of presentation.
I only mention this because I’m sure this is why I was so unprepared for my night at the fundraiser where I was the first “chef” to arrive at the event. At first, I felt confident about what I’d brought to serve: six foil trays filled with my Summer Pasta Stacks, which consisted of 3-inch wide home-made pasta noodles, ribboned with a filling of fresh tomatoes, fresh water-packed mozzarella, fresh basil, and olive oil infused with mashed garlic, salt and pepper. Each little stack was topped with a hazelnut butter that featured hazelnuts I’d brought back from Turin, Italy, in 2012. They were vacuum sealed, and I’d been waiting for just the right occasion to use them. (If you’ve ever tried peeling a hazelnut, you’ll know why these finely chopped hazelnuts are culinary gold.)
Before I left my house that night for the fundraiser, I’d filled a canvas tote with things like knives, paper towels, and spatulas for serving my Summer Pasta Stacks. I loaded the foil-wrapped containers of Summer Pasta Stacks into my trusty old blue Thermos ice chest, which does an amazing job of keeping food hot, something I learned when I prepared 100 potatoes for a baked potato bar, and the remaining potatoes were still hot many hours after the luncheon was over. I love this ice chest. It never lets me down.
I felt pretty efficient being the first “chef” to arrive, because there was really nothing to do but wait, since my food was hot and ready to go, on standby in the ice chest.
My feeling of efficiency took a nose dive as one by one the other chefs arrived, some with an entourage of helpers who pushed heavy carts that contained commercial insulated food holders. The professional chefs and their helpers got to work on their tables’ decor. Flowers. Tablecloths. Beautiful display racks, platters, gas burners, and even slabs of marble and wood upon which to set the food. Framed, artfully written signs described the food.
All but one of the chefs (besides yours truly) wore chef coats. I own a couple of chef coats, and I’d considered wearing one, but it was so hot that night that I decided against the heavy chef jacket. Instead I wore a summer dress covered by an apron.
When I realized the stark contrast between the other chefs’ tables and mine, I wanted to pick up my Thermos ice chest, slip out of the room and head for my car. But it was too late. Guests were arriving, and because my wine was among the lightest, my table was first. I hadn’t thought to bring an assistant, so I schlepped the food as fast as I could from the foil containers onto the small sample plates, and tried not to feel the pressure of the line of people in front of me.
Over the course of the evening, a funny thing happened. Guests returned to my table for seconds, and, for one man, who said my pasta reminded him of his Italian grandmother’s – thirds. I felt pretty good about that.
I also felt great at the end of the evening, when my clean-up was a snap, while the other chefs needed carts and helpers and multiple trips to dismantle their displays and load up their vehicles. Me? I had a purse over my shoulder an empty ice chest and the two bottles of Moseley Family Cellars Sauvignon Blanc I’d bought on my way out the door.
This is not to say that if, given the chance to participate again next year, I would do everything the same. No way. Next year, my table will be more attractive. I’ll wear a chef coat, and I’ll enlist help.
But my Thermos ice chest, it’s coming along, just as it is.
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More than a recipe, this is a guideline. Please don’t hate me for not having exact quantities. Just make the pasta noodles, and use the quantity of basil to tomato to mozzarella that appeals to you. The same with garlic, but start with at least a few cloves. Salt and pepper to taste. Use whatever produce is the most fresh and plentiful. It will be delicious.
Summer Pasta Stacks
Sheets of pasta (if you don’t want to make fresh pasta, use the packaged, flat, non-curly lasagna noodles)
Fresh tomatoes
Fresh basil, thinly sliced
Garlic, at least a few cloves, finely mashed with some salt and pepper
Best olive oil
Hazelnuts, finely chopped, or pine nuts
Fresh mozzarella cheese, ripped into tiny pieces (if you buy the plastic-wrapped, rubber-ball textured kind, you can grate it, but freeze for about 30 minutes first, to firm it up)
Bring a large pot of water to a boil, and add about 1 tablespoon of salt (yes, 1 tablespoon). Once it’s boiled, turn it to low and put a lid on it.
Halve the tomatoes, and gently squeeze out some of the juice and seeds (so it won’t make the dish too watery). Slice the tomatoes, and then stack the slices and cut into strips, and then cross cut the strips to make tiny squares. (This is a kinder, gentler way of getting diced tomatoes. If you just chopped them, juice would be everywhere, and they would lose their pretty, uniform shape.)
Place the diced tomatoes into a large bowl and toss with the basil, a few drizzles of olive oil, the mashed garlic and salt and pepper. Let this mixture sit for at least 30 minutes. Taste and adjust the seasonings.
As the tomato mixture is resting, return the water to a full boil, and slowly lower in the pasta sheets, stirring gently to ensure the pasta doesn’t stick together, or to the bottom of the pot. Cook until al dente (firm to the bite). It’s extra important to make the pasta even more al dente than usual, because the stacks will eventually be briefly baked, which will cook the pasta a little more.
Drain the pasta, and coat lightly with olive oil to prevent the pasta from sticking to itself. Use tongs to remove the pasta sheets and cut into pieces between 5 – 7 inches each, depending upon how large a stack you want. Spread the strips on an oiled pan or cookie sheet.
To assemble, have the image of Christmas ribbon candy in your mind before you start. On about 1/3 of one bare pasta sheet, put a dollop of the tomato mixture and a little cheese, and then bring the pasta up over the filling, and repeat with more tomato and cheese, topping with cheese. Put the little stack in a pan, and repeat this method until you have as many as you planned to make. Top with more cheese.
Bake at 350 degrees for about 15 minutes, or until the cheese is melted. Remove from oven and cover to keep warm.
While it’s baking, saute the hazelnuts or pine nuts in a pan with butter, and cook until the butter browns. Add a little olive oil to the butter, to round out the flavor. Set the nut sauce mixture aside.
When ready to serve, top with the nut mixture. Dish can be served hot or warm.
