Tomato Sauce with Butter and Onions on Fresh Pasta with Caesar Salad and an Italian Chianti

Tonight we had home made Fresh Pasta topped with Tomato Sauce with Butter and Onions, Caesar Salad with Sourdough Baguette Croutons and Italian Chianti. The meal was delicious!

Wine: The wine was Ruffino Italia Chianti 2008. The wine can be identified by a black and cream coloured label on a dark green glass bottle and the $16.99 price tag.

Chianti wines are from the Tuscany region of Italy. Since the mid- 19th century, the recipe for Chianti has not changed and must contain 70% Sangiovese, 15% Canaiolo and 15% Malvasia bianca. The best Chianti is full of cherry, raspberry and plummy fruit flavours. Chianti used to be in plump bottles encased in a straw basket. Gone are the baskets, but the bottles tend to be plumper than regular wine bottles.

Our Ruffino Chianti was a light burgundy colour. It had a nose of red grapes, cherries, red plum, a touch of oak. It was not too acidic but not sweet. The initial tasting was clear and smooth with splashes of dark fruits, red grapes, and strawberries. The end notes had tannins but those of grape skins and not oak barrels. The wine tasted darker and smoother than it looked. It was pleasing as a before dinner wine and it complimented the food during dinner.

Pasta: The fresh pasta was made by Stephanie with her new KitchenAid Professional 610 Stand Mixer using the Kitchen Aid Pasta Press. The recipe for the pasta was in the recipe book that comes with the Pasta Press attachment. Fresh pasta is easy to make and tastes lighter than dried pasta. Stephanie says that it took her 30 minutes to make enough pasta for 2 meals and the pasta cooked in 5 minutes in boiling water.

Tomato Sauce with Butter and Onions: The recipe for the Tomato Sauce with Butter and Onions is from Smitten Kitten blog. We used Eden Organic Whole Roma Tomatoes with Basil, regular salted butter and a big yellow onion. The recipe is simple and tasty. Unfortunately, there were no leftovers!

Caesar Salad: I have been making Caesar salad for years and all my children request it when they come to visit. Many have told me that that "so and so" makes the best Caesar salad but after tasting mine, they all agree that mine is the best. My secret to a thick dressing is to use the Braun Hand Blender to thoroughly blend the oil and vinegar.

1 clove garlic coarsely chopped
4 drops Tabasco sauce
1/4 tsp Worcestershire sauce
1 egg yolk
5 anchovies and the oil from the anchovy can
10 capers
1/4 tsp dry mustard or 1/2 tsp prepared mustard (see note below)

Put all the ingredients into the blender cup and process, on high, until a thick paste has formed - about 3 minutes.

5 tbsp virgin olive oil
2 tbsp fresh lemon juice
2 - 2 1/2 tbsp red wine vinegar

Add 2 tbsp olive oil to the paste in the blender cup and process until all the oil is incorporated. Then add the next 2 tbsp olive oil and process. Add the final 1 tbsp olive oil and process until the paste is thick and all the oil is incorporated. Add the lemon juice all at once and process. The paste will lighten in colour and become liquidy. Add 2 tbsp red wine vinegar and process. Taste the dressing and if it needs more acid, then add 1/2 tbsp red wine vinegar.
I do not add any salt to the dressing because the anchovies and the Parmesan cheese contain more than enough salt. Fresh ground pepper can be added to the dressing or ground on the finished salad before serving.

1 romaine lettuce torn into pieces and dry (dressing will not adhere to wet lettuce) in a wooden salad bowl.

Pour the dressing on the lettuce and gently toss until all the lettuce is coated. Add the croutons (see below) and gently toss again. Sprinkle shredded Parmesan cheese on top. Please use good Parmesan cheese and not the imitation stuff! Serve immediately.

Croutons

If I put croutons in the salad, I always make mine from real bread. I find that the store bought ones are hard to stab with a fork, hard to eat and are full of salt but generally tasteless. They do not enhance the overall flavour and texture of the salad. If you do not have time to make your own croutons, then just omit them all together.

Today I bought, from Cobbs, a small sourdough baguette. I cut the bread into cubes, and then sauteed them, in a mixture of canola and butter, until they were golden brown. I set the croutons aside to cool.

Mustard
I used to always use dry mustard in this recipe. One day, I discovered that different mustards gave the dressing other subtle flavours. I have experimented with Grey's Prepared Dijon Mustard with White Wine, Maille Green Mustard and Maille a l'Estragon (only found in Paris). All these work well. So experiment with your favorite mustard.

Alas, we so satiated that dessert did not happen! Maybe next time.

Buon appetito!