Ever since my dad sneaked horseradish into my corned beef sandwich when I was 6, I’ve craved the delectable root. So when my editor, Ligaya Figueras, assigned me to prepare Francine Segan’s Pasta with Zesty Horseradish-Tomato Sauce, I jumped at the opportunity. Horseradish and pasta – what could possibly go wrong?
Segan’s cookbook, “Pasta Modern: New & Inspired Recipes from Italy,” contains beautiful pictures that attempt to shatter the modern American idea of what Italian pasta is. Through the gorgeous photos and minimal ingredients, the book made cooking haute Italian cuisine very simple. (I’ve bookmarked her recipe for pasta sushi as a must-try.)
The ingredients are simple, but I substituted multigrain rotini for pasta al ferretto. As an avid knitter, I do want to try the aforementioned “knitting needle pasta” soon, but the rotini served its purpose well. I recommend a lighter colored pasta if you’re going for looks, thought. The dark beige breadcrumbs and sauce blended right the wheat pasta.
I made homemade breadcrumbs using a store-bought loaf. Next time I’ll use a food processor, because tearing pieces of bread into smaller pieces of bread ad infinitum was a little exhausting and still didn’t result in a fine crumb.
I learned a nifty trick to help peel the tomatoes: Before placing them in boiling water, cut a small X on the bottom of each tomato. After a quick dip in the hot water, the skin practically falls off in your hands.
Once I had softened the onions and mixed the tomatoes in, I covered the pan and set to chopping the walnuts. The walnut-breadcrumb mixture smelled absolutely heavenly, even though the amount of oil called for in the recipe gave it an overwhelming olive oil flavor.
After the time had passed for the sauce to simmer and my pasta was al dente, I finally cracked the lid to look at all the tomato-onion goodness. To my surprise, the onion-tomato ratio was incredibly skewed. The sweet onion overwhelmed the tomatoes, even though I had added almost twice the amount Segan called for. Once I tossed the pasta in the sauce, it was virtually invisible among the noodles.
Hoping for the best, I topped the dish with the breadcrumb mixture and fresh horseradish from Ligaya’s garden. I was apprehensive about a full of tablespoon of the pungent root on top of my pasta, but surprisingly, it still wasn’t enough to sate my appetite, and I wanted to add even more. The horseradish lent itself well to the dish, but don’t be stingy, since there is no horseradish elsewhere in the recipe. The sauce, which looks ruby red and delicious in the cookbook, looked sad and watery when tossed with my pasta. Next time, I’ll add even more tomatoes and a little extra salt to add more flavor. Extra sauce never hurt anyone, and when liberally topped with walnut breadcrumbs and fresh horseradish, it probably has healing powers –even if just to clear your sinuses.
Francine Segan’s Pasta with Zesty Horseradish-Tomato Sauce 4 servings
1 lb. fresh tomatoes
1 sweet onion, finely minced
5 Tbsp. Olive oil
1/3 cup homemade coarsely ground breadcrumbs, toasted
1/3 cup coarsely chopped walnuts
1 lb. pasta al ferretto or any pasta
Fresh horseradish
• Plunge the tomatoes into boiling water for a few seconds, then remove them with a slotted spoon. Peel, deseed, and dice the tomatoes.
• In a wide saucepan over medium-high heat, warm 3 tablespoons oil and cook the onions until very soft, about 5 minutes. Stir the tomatoes into the onions and cook, covered, on very low heat for about 20 minutes.
• Meanwhile, combine the breadcrumbs, walnuts and 2 tablespoons oil in a small nonstick pan, and cook on medium-high heat until the breadcrumbs are dark golden. Set aside.
• Boil the pasta in salted water until it is al dente. Drain and stir into the tomato sauce until well combined, adding a few tablespoons of the pasta cooking water if needed. Sprinkle with walnut-breadcrumb mixture and serve. Top with a tablespoon or two of fresh horseradish grated on a cheese grater.
Reprinted with permission by Stewart, Tabori & Chang What’s the most unconventional pasta dish you’ve ever eaten? Tell us about it in the comments section below for a chance to win a copy of “Pasta Modern.” We’ll announce the winner in next week’s By the Book column. And now, congratulations to Lu, whose comment on last week‘s By the Book column has won a copy of “My Italian Kitchen.” Lu, keep an eye out for an email from the Sauce crew.
This article appears in May 2014.