Thursday, May 19, 2011

Figaretti’s “Godfather II” Linguine

We all have our favorite comfort foods. For years, my go-to comfort food meal was take-out shrimp fried rice and a vegetable egg roll. Of course, macaroni and cheese and pizza never disappoint in this area either. A lot of different dishes qualify as comfort food, and they all tend to be pretty universally appealing. The new book from Saveur, The New Comfort Food of which I received a review copy, shows off several such dishes. Everything in the book causes cravings, and the food comes from all across the globe. The cover photo sets the tone of the book with a look at a golden-brown and tantalizing potato gratin. Inside, you’ll also find delicious-looking huevos rancheros, New Orleans-style bbq shrimp, and chicken tikka masala among the more than 100 recipes. In the Baked Goods and Sweets chapter, every single thing is something I want this very minute. There’s ice cream with butterscotch sauce, caramel coconut flan, and buttermilk flapjacks. And, the black-and-white banana malted milk shake in the Drinks chapter distracts me every time I flip past that page. I’ll be spending a lot of time going from one section of this book to the next, but the first chapter I had to cook from was Pasta and Noodles.

This is exactly my favorite kind of pasta dish with the bell peppers, cherry tomatoes, white wine, fresh basil, and shellfish. The recipe comes from Figaretti’s restaurant in Wheeling, West Virginia. It’s a quick and easy dish to prepare, but you want to have all the ingredients prepped and ready before you start cooking. The water for the pasta should be boiling as you heat some olive oil in a large saute pan. Linguine was added to the boiling water as chopped green and red bell peppers were sauteed with onion and garlic. White wine and mussels were added to the vegetables, and the pan was covered for two minutes of cooking. The lid was removed, pasta water was added with shrimp, tomatoes, and some butter, and after a few stirs, the shrimp was cooked. Last, the cooked linguine was tossed with everything in the saute pan, and fresh basil was added. The pasta was served with asiago cheese and lemon wedges.

I don’t mind breaking the rule and adding a little grated cheese to the pasta despite there being seafood involved. It brought savoriness to the sweet peppers and tomatoes. Admittedly, almost any kind of pasta dish is comfort food to me, but one with white wine, butter, fresh basil, and shellfish is a treat. What’s your favorite comfort food?

See my review of The New Comfort Food and get this pasta recipe at Project Foodie.



30 comments:

  1. Mmmmhhh, so tasty looking! A summery dish.

    Cheers,

    Rosa

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  2. This sounds fantastic, as does the cookbook!

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  3. I'm all about comfort foods. Pasta and potatoes are always winners for me, and this linguine looks delicious. Thanks for reviewing this book, Lisa. I've got to check it out.

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  4. Fantastic review, Lisa! Now, I really want to check out this book! Your photos are great...the colors of the linguine are wonderful! Wish I had a plate of it now (before the gym!) :)

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  5. Oh my goodness that looks amazingly delicious! Wow! All my favorite ingredients in one, thanks so much for sharing! =]

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  6. I like the teeny touch of cheese too. I'm a seafood lover and this pasta is just calling out to me ;)

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  7. I've been toying with whether or not to buy this cookbook and I think you've convinced me that YES I need it! this pasta looks delicious!

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  8. That picture at the top is delicious looking... and I don't even like seafood! I love all the bright colors and yummy looking pasta!

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  9. the last picture is amazing, great review! I have heard great reviews on this books, thanks for adding to the list..need to add to my book list!

    sweetlife
    have a great weekend!

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  10. Fabulous looking dish! I doubt the Saveur test kitchen could have made it any better looking. Alas, my comfort food is not so glamorous. My go-tos are fat and salt- specifically fries or potato chips.

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  11. looks yummy, I have not had pasta for some time as I want to lose weight from the pregnancy. And this week I cannot stand anymore ... the book sound very attractive to owe a copy.

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  12. Lisa, what gorgeous photography. Anytime a photo makes me want to grab a fork and a napkin, it's a winner. I agree with Shelley's comment that nobody could have done better as well as my comfort food rarely looks this good.

    I remember making something as a kid and my dad said, "Anyone that would eat that would eat shit with a rusty spoon." I've improved since then. :)

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  13. Sounds like a cool cookbook! And an addicting pasta -yum!

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  14. An excellent linguine dish here, so nice with mussels!

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  15. A wonderful seafood linguine dish! So summery and so delicious.

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  16. Sounds like a great cookbook. The dish is making me hungry and it's early in the morning:)

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  17. I'm going to have to check out this book...I do love some good comfort food.

    Beautiful pasta dish. I would have added some cheese too....a pasta dish just feels like it's missing something with a little of that grated glory.

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  18. That would be high on my list of favorites food. Great pasta.

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  19. Beautiful flavours - this dish sounds so tasty!

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  20. i like this dish a lot!!thank u for sharing this.

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  21. Lisa, if I tell my husband that you forced me to buy this book, can you back me up?

    ;-)

    well, just kidding - my husband is guilty of getting almost as many tools on ebay as I get cookbooks... we make a nice team!

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  22. GREAT review Lisa!!! Let's see, comfort food, I'm going to have to go with pasta. I don’t mind breaking the rule either when it comes to cheese on pasta. It's a must have in my book, fish or no fish...

    I will absolutely check out this book. Thank you so much for sharing. Now, I'm hungry and I just ate!!!

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  23. Love the sound of this dish and very intrigued if only because I've been to Wheeling WV.

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  24. I would add the cheese to this dish too - after all, rules were made to be broken!! Hadn't heard about this cookbook so now I am intrigued - will have to check it out!!

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  25. Wow. That looks marvelous, Lisa! And the cookbook sounds a delight as well. I'll be putting it on my wish list. (where are we going to put all our cookbooks???!!)

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  26. Great summer comfort food! Looks super delicious, Lisa. :-)

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  27. it's so vibrant and colorful! apparently my opinion of wv dining has been unnecessarily harsh. :)

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  28. This is also my kind of pasta dish - love those seafood (except the mussels). ;p

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  29. I can never resist any kind of seafood pasta when I see it on an Italian menu. And I'm like you -- I have no qualms about sneaking a little cheese on top, either. ;)

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