Noodles and Sauce: Finding the Right Combo

In my youth, noodles cooked at home always meant spaghetti.  In Italian restaurants, I could order lasagna, ravioli or macaroni and cheese.  But I’d never heard of the intriguingly-named penne, farfalle (butterflies or bowties), linguine, bucatini, rotini, rotelle, rigatoni and maybe 100 more served in Italy.   This list doesn’t include Asian noodles.

My mother’s go-to cooking guide was “The Settlement Cook Book,” which had the curious subtitle “The Way to a Man’s Heart.”  It was initially published in 1901.  Her copy, the 22nd edition, was dated 1938.  Noodle recipes took up just a few pages, and you had to make your own noodles!  I don't remember her trying any of those recipes. 

Instead she reached for the canned spaghetti. 
Occasionally she would call the nearby Ken-Mar Hotel and order four servings of Spaghetti and Meatballs.  My father would take an empty cooking pot to the hotel kitchen and bring back a full pot of noodles, red sauce and meatballs.  I thought it was heavenly.

Time passed and American palates became more sophisticated.  Suddenly all kinds of noodles were available, and I wondered, “What sauces should I use?”  I’d learned all about Bolognese Sauce, Marinara Sauce, Pesto Sauce, Clam Sauce, Garlic Sauce and Alfredo Sauce—all suited to spaghetti.  They also worked with penne, rotini and the other smaller pasta shapes.  But these shapes also seemed suited for chunkier sauces.  You could pick up a forkful of rotini along with pieces of vegetables and meat.

Here’s an easy and flexible sauce that works perfectly with these smaller noodles.  You can use up a leftover or two along the way. 

Rotini with Vegetables and Sausage – serves 2-3 

1 tablespoon olive oil
1 medium onion, cut into 1/2-inch pieces
1 tablespoon chopped garlic
1 or 2 plum tomatoes,(skins removed, if possible), cut into 1/2-inch pieces
1 cup sliced mushrooms
1 zucchini, cut into 1/2-inch squares
1 cooked sausage, cut into 1/4-inch slices (or some leftover chicken cut into small pieces)
1 teaspoon soy sauce
1/2 teaspoon salt  1/4 teaspoon black pepper
2 cups uncooked rotini
Parmesan cheese 

Add olive oil to a medium-size pot and begin hearing over medium heat.  Add the onion and garlic and cook for about 5 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the onion begins to soften. Add the tomatoes, mushrooms, zucchini, sausage, soy sauce, salt and pepper and stir well.  Cover and cook for about 10 minutes, or until the vegetables are soft.  Remove from the heat and set aside until the noodles are ready. 

Cook the rotini according to the directions.  Drain and add to the vegetable/sausage mixture.  Stir thoroughly.  Reheat briefly and transfer to a serving bowl.  Serve with Parmesan cheese.

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