…of flavor.–Giuliano Hazan
LC Real Life Recipe Note
If we had our druthers, more recipes would resemble this one. And not just in terms of its ease and elegance. Read it carefully. Notice how the recipe doesn’t just throw at you a list of ingredients and a separate list of instructions, but rather melds the two, saving you time by telling you to get the pot of water heating before doing anything else and then making certain you use every second savvily, chopping this while that heats, or slicing that while waiting for this to be ready. It’s a real life recipe. And for that, thank you, Giuliano Hazan.
Fettuccine with a Savory Veal Sauce
Ingredients
- 1/2 medium yellow onion
- 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
- 1 pound fresh tomatoes
- 3/4 pound ground veal
- Salt
- Freshly ground black pepper
- 1/4 cup dry white wine
- 1/2 large beef bouillon cube
- 8 large Sicilian-style green olives
- 10 ounces dried egg fettuccine
- 1 tablespoon butter
Instructions
- Bring about 6 quarts of water to a boil in a large pot.
- Meanwhile, peel the onion and finely chop it. Place the olive oil in a 12-inch skillet, add the chopped onion, and set it over medium heat. Sauté until the onion turns a rich golden color, about 5 minutes.
- While the onion is sautéing, peel and coarsely chop the tomatoes.
- When the onion is ready, add the ground veal, season with salt and pepper, and cook, stirring often, until the veal is lightly browned, 2 to 3 minutes. Add the white wine and let it bubble for about 1 minute to evaporate the alcohol. Add the tomatoes and bouillon cube, lower the heat to medium, and continue cooking until most of the liquid the tomatoes release has evaporated, 10 to 12 minutes.
- While the tomatoes are cooking, slice the flesh of the olives away from the pits and coarsely chop it.
- When the tomatoes are ready, add about 2 tablespoons salt to the boiling pasta water, add the fettuccine, and stir until all the strands are submerged. Cook until al dente.
- Add the olives to the veal sauce and continue cooking over medium heat until the fettuccine is ready. When the fettuccine is done, drain well, toss with the veal sauce and the butter, and serve at once.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Recipe Testers’ Reviews
This pasta recipe uses few, easy-to-find ingredients and delivers great flavour. The mild veal and sweet tomatoes give a mellow sauce with sharp notes from the olives. As someone who would always reach for the garlic when preparing pasta, and for Parmesan when serving it, I consider myself re-educated.
This was surprisingly good! Found some reduced ground veal at $3/pound, and Roma tomatoes at .85 a pound and looked for a recipe. Also had some Aldi fresh fettuccini and ravioli in the freezer, so this a great “pandemic” recipe! Just added two cloves of garlic and a few fresh basil leaves. Didn’t have any beef bullion. Easy, quick, cheap, delicious, and something new for us.
Bette, we’re delighted that this worked out so well for you and so appreciate you taking the time to let us know. Can’t wait to hear what you try next.