Pasta Modern by Francine Segan Page B

often, that my local fishmonger has taken to saving fish heads for me each week. I freeze them until I want to make another batch of pasta. Grazie to francesca D’Orazio Buonerba for teaching me this economical yet deliciously gourmet dish.
Olive oil
1 onion, finely minced
1 small carrot, finely minced
1 celery stalk, finely minced
2 pounds (910 g) heads from monkfish or any large fish
1 cup (240 ml) dry white wine
1 garlic clove, minced
1 (26-ounce/750-g) container strained tomatoes, preferably Pomi brand
1 pound (455 g) mezzi rigatoni or other short tube pasta
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
A few fresh basil leaves
In a large saucepan, heat 2 tablespoons oil and cook the onion, carrot, and celery until they are soft, about 3 minutes. Add the fish heads and cook for a few minutes. Pour in the wine and scrape up any browned bits, then add 1 quart (960 ml) hot water. Bring to a boil, turn down the heat, and let simmer for 20 minutes. Strain the fish broth. If you like, pick through the heads for the tasty cheek meat to add to the broth; discard everything else. Keep the broth hot.
In another pot, large enough to hold the pasta, heat 2 tablespoons oil with the garlic, then add the tomatoes and bring them to a boil. Stir in the pasta, turn down the heat to medium-low, and simmer. Add the hot broth, a ladleful at a time, stirring occasionally, until the pasta is al dente and most of the sauce has been absorbed. If it is still too liquidy, raise the heat at the end to cook down some of the sauce. Season the pasta with salt and pepper and serve topped with torn basil leaves.
    Quinto quarto
     
    Fifth quarter AN ITALIAN EXPRESSION
referring to dishes made up of the
figurative fifth quarter of the animal, the
usually discarded parts: organ meats,
hooves, testicles, heads, and the like

ZITI WITH OCTOPUS & ORANGE-ALMOND PESTO
    { Ziti al pesto di agrumi }
----
    SERVES 4 | REGION: Sicily and southern Italy
----
Like summer on a fork! Oranges and almonds add delicate sweetness to this pesto, perfectly balanced with the zesty, salty tang of capers. It can be served with hot or room-temperature pasta, so it’s great for buffets and picnics. In Sicily, they often top this fabulous citrus pesto with fish—like tuna, salmon, or shrimp—making a main-course dish. Here it’s served with octopus, which you can boil or grill yourself or buy ready-cooked at a gourmet shop. It’s even great with canned octopus, available at most supermarkets.
⅔ cup (100 g) blanched almonds
About 25 large fresh basil leaves
2 navel oranges
⅓ cup (45 g) salted capers, rinsed
Olive oil
Salt
1 pound (455 g) ziti or any pasta
12 ounces cooked octopus, sliced into bite-sized pieces
Finely grind the almonds in a small food processor, mortar and pestle, or clean coffee grinder. Add the basil and grind into a paste.
Using a very sharp knife, and working over a plate to collect the juices, cut off the skin and white pith of the oranges and discard. Separate the orange sections, cutting or peeling off the membranes between the sections. Add the orange sections, any collected orange juice, the capers, and 3 tablespoons oil to the almond mixture and grind into a paste, adding more oil if it is too thick. Season to taste with salt.
Boil the pasta in salted water until it is al dente. Drain and toss with the pesto. Serve hot or at room temperature, topped with cooked octopus.
BEHIND THE SHAPE
Ziti, a pasta shape originating in southern Italy, gets its name from the dialect word for “bride and groom,” i zit . There’s another legend in Naples that claims this pasta got its name from the word zite , spinsters. Supposedly the women were single because of pasta! They’d stay home making pasta for the family’s Sunday meal instead of attending church services and keeping on the lookout for a husband.
In Italy, ziti refers to short or long tube pasta, with the long sometimes called zitone and cooked either whole or cut into bite-sized pieces. Here in the