Erica De Mane

Recipe below: Casarecce Pasta with Capicola and Brussels Sprouts

Since moving back to the city in October, after a seven-month stay in upstate New York, I’ve been hyper aware of the sounds inside and outside my apartment. There’s an intermittent buzzing noise in the wall next to my stove. In all the 35 years I’ve been in this place, I never heard it before. Something new, I guess. Early mornings I hear a low rumbling outside my bedroom window. I hear it every morning, usually starting at about 3 a.m. It sounds as if the entire city might be rumbling, but it’s most intense right by my window. It’s also new, I think. Maybe I’m just more sensitive to sounds after spending so much time in the woods. I’m not sure.

Around 4 a.m. last night I heard a kid screaming, a young boy it seemed. I’m not sure what he was screaming. At first I thought it was “Help,” but then I realized it wasn’t. More like “Heyyyyy” repeatedly, and than banging, like banging on a door. He might have been locked out of his apartment, I guessed. I looked out my front windows and tried to see down the block. The sound seemed to be coming from the far end, not from my building in the middle of the block. I expected to hear sirens, but I never did. When I picked up my phone to call 911, the “heyyyyy” stopped. I guess someone returned home from their Covid party and let him in. I don’t know what it was all about, and nobody else in my building that I’ve spoken to heard it. At 5 a.m. the banging of our tenement heating system kicked in. After not hearing that all year, I found it jarring, too, but in a more comforting way.

All the strange noises aside, I’m glad to be back cooking in my city kitchen. It’s a long, narrow galley kitchen, I guess typical of the apartment’s railroad setup. The building, built in 1900, was originally lit by gas, so it’s definitely on the quaint side. On the downside, the entire structure is crumbling, inside and out. But I do love my kitchen. It’s sort of a restaurant arrangement, everything lined up, nowhere to turn. I don’t consider it a relaxed space. It’s a place to get things done. There’s an urgency built in that I like, although I’m not sure if it’s built into the kitchen or into me.

One of my big kicks is going to the Greenmarket, buying lots of vegetables, and spreading them out on my long butcher block, contemplating what to do with them. I did this the other night with a big mess of Brussels sprouts. I knew I was heading in the direction of pasta. The rest of the ingredients were odds and ends pulled from the fridge. It was a New York City success.

Casarecce Pasta with Capicola and Brussels Sprouts

(Serves 4)

Extra-virgin olive oil
1 small fresh serrano pepper, sliced into thin rounds
3 scallions, sliced into thin rounds, using a lot of the tender green part
Salt
½ pound Brussels sprouts, the ends trimmed, sliced thin
½ teaspoon allspice
1 big sprig rosemary, the leaves chopped
4 or 5 sprigs thyme, the leaves chopped
Black pepper, coarsely ground
5 slices sweet capicola
A splash of white wine
½ cup chicken broth
1 pound casarecce or gemelli or penne pasta
A few drops of rice wine vinegar
A chunk of pecorino Toscano cheese
A big handful of pine nuts, lightly toasted

This pasta comes together fairly quickly, so set up your pasta pot at the start, salting the water and setting it over high heat.

Get out a large sauté pan, and get it hot over medium heat. Add a big drizzle of olive oil. Add the serrano, scallions, Brussels sprouts, allspice, rosemary, and thyme, season with salt and black pepper, and sauté until everything is fragrant, about 3 or 4 minutes. Next add the capocolla and stir everything around.

Start cooking the pasta.

Add the white wine and the chicken broth to the sauté pan, and simmer, uncovered, until the Brussels sprouts are just tender but still a bit firm. This will take anywhere from 5 to 8 minutes, depending on how thick you sliced the sprouts. Taste for seasoning, adding a few drops of the rice vinegar to bring up the flavors and a little more salt if needed.

When the pasta is al dente, drain it, leaving a little water clinging to it, and pour it into a large serving bowl. Add the Brussels sprouts sauce. Add a drizzle of fresh olive oil and some more black pepper. Grate on about a tablespoon of so of the pecorino, and toss. Scatter on the pine nuts. Serve hot or warm, bringing the rest of the cheese to the table.