{"id":4338,"date":"2015-05-28T01:33:41","date_gmt":"2015-05-28T01:33:41","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/food.hoggardwagner.org\/?p=4338"},"modified":"2015-05-28T01:33:41","modified_gmt":"2015-05-28T01:33:41","slug":"prosciuto-arugula-bread-fusilli-mediterranei","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/food.hoggardwagner.org\/?p=4338","title":{"rendered":"prosciutto, arugula, bread; fusilli mediterranei"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"prosciuto_wild_arugula\"<\/a>\"fusilli_mediterranei\"<\/a><\/p>\n

This is my favorite warm-weather-prepare-in-advance-to-be-free-for-talking-to-guests-and-still-serve-an-elegant-pasta<\/em> dish, and it happens to be even more delicious than it looks or the list of ingredients might suggest.\u00a0\u00a0It’s also pretty fool-proof, and in fact,\u00a0except for the boiling of the\u00a0pasta, requires no real cooking skill. [One, at his request,\u00a0I\u00a0emailed the recipe to a friend who had enjoyed it at our home; \u00a0he\u00a0likes to entertain, but, by his own admission,\u00a0has no interest in or talent for\u00a0things ‘kitchen’;\u00a0he told me it\u00a0was a great success.]<\/p>\n

It’s a great summer meal, and although it’s a pasta dish, and technically a salad, it easily\u00a0stars as an entr\u00e9e,\u00a0balanced before and after\u00a0with an\u00a0antipasto, also room-temperature, and a cheese or fruit course. \u00a0It should serve at least 6\u00a0under those circumstances,\u00a0but since it really is just as good as a leftover, and this time we were only 4 (and had seconds), the two of us\u00a0were able to enjoy it again three days later.<\/p>\n

[After that introduction,\u00a0I\u00a0can admit\u00a0that the picture of the pasta dish\u00a0was taken\u00a0just as we sat down when we were having the\u00a0leftovers\u00a0<\/em>(I had forgotten to snap the entr\u00e9e on the first night, when we had two guests); the picture of the antipasto, was taken the first night.]<\/p>\n

The dish is\u00a0‘Fusilli Mediterranei’, the recipe I use is\u00a0included in\u00a0Anna Tasca Lanza<\/a>‘s treasure, ‘The Flavors of Sicily: Stories, Traditions, and Recipes for Warm-Weather Cooking’, one of my favorite Italian\u00a0food\u00a0sources. \u00a0Tasca prescribes over two pounds of ripe tomatoes, peeled, seeded, and cubed, but the first time I used the recipe it wasn’t yet\u00a0tomato season, so I substituted some excellent ripe grape tomatoes, halved each of them, and used a tiny spoon to press out the seeds and juice. \u00a0It’s the way I prepare the dish\u00a0each time.<\/p>\n

You should have\u00a0a large bowl on hand, and allow about three hours time to prepare the dish. \u00a0Only one hour involves actual\u00a0work (mostly dealing with the tomatoes and pitting the olives); the remaining two are for letting the ingredients rest at room temperature\u00a0at two points\u00a0during the preparation.<\/p>\n