My Bronx Tale

After nine years of living in NYC (granted, two of those years were in Hoboken), I finally made it up to the famed Arthur Avenue in the Bronx. Most people think of NYC’s Little Italy as the sliver of Mulberry, Mott and Spring Street downtown between Soho and Chinatown – an area that is slowly disappearing as Chinatown continues to expand its bounds throughout downtown Manhattan. However, the “real” Little Italy is in the Fordham section of the Bronx – known as the Belmont community.

Now, I’ve only been to two other places in the Bronx: games at Yankees Stadium (fear not fellow Sox fans, I was always rooting against the Yanks!) and visiting/crashing with my college roommate in Riverdale – a very beautiful and wealthy “suburban” area of the Bronx (as a side note, there are about twelve people that I refer to as my “college roommate” – I’ll try not to confuse you). I’ve heard and read about Arthur Avenue and have wanted to get up there for years, but as most of you know, I am a terrible procrastinator, so I never quite got around to it. So, when my friend and FCI classmate Leanna invited me to join her and her sister (with her sister driving...such a luxury to be in something other than a cab in this city!), naturally I jumped at the chance.

Unfortunately, we went on a Monday when a number of stores and restaurants are closed (forewarning to anyone who plans on heading up there). However, there were plenty of other places for us to wander around and enjoy. Cheese shops, meat shops, pork shops, pasta shops, bakeries, and small grocery stores. While a number of tourists make their way up to Arthur Avenue, the primary focus is definitely for the Italians who live in the area – as shown by the number of “social clubs” that line the streets.

But on to the food…

It all started with some fresh pecorino…then a box of 50 fresh cheese ravioli…then some dry Italian sausage…then some sliced sopressata and provolone…then the man behind the counter was giving samples of aged pecorino to the ladies next to me at the counter and cut me off a piece and I was in love.

I definitely could have bought about five more pounds of various cheeses, sausages and prosciutto (after all, I left the Bronx WITHOUT fresh mozzarella – yes, everyone, I am an idiot), but I restrained myself and immediately started thinking about how I would use the bags of deliciousness I was carrying.

That first night, I decided to make a simple tomato sauce that would highlight the freshness of the cheese ravioli. Going against my normal instinct to put garlic and olive oil into my sauce, I followed a recipe from Marcella Hazan (whose list of elementary rules for Italian cooking is fantastic – “With exceedingly rare exceptions, do not add grated Parmesan to pasta whose sauce has been cooked with olive oil” is just one of a long list of strict rules) via Orangette. This is the simplest of simple recipes – it calls for only four ingredients: canned San Marzano tomatoes, butter, an onion and salt (although I added a little freshly ground pepper) – but the deep, robust flavor of the sauce is in stark contrast to its effortless preparation.

To the tomato sauce and ravioli, I shaved a healthy amount of the aged pecorino and tore a few leaves of fresh basil. And there it was – as Italian a meal as I could ever create – simple, rustic and delicious. Alongside the pasta, we had roasted cauliflower and grilled romaine hearts with a warm garlic and anchovy dressing.

The next day, I looked in the fridge and realized that we barely made a dent into the box of fresh ravioli. Since the point of fresh ravioli is that it’s fresh – and therefore should be eaten that way – I decided to make another ravioli dish for dinner, but something different enough to keep Eric happy but healthy enough to keep my nutritionist happy. I had a container of homemade pesto in the fridge (I made a batch the day before for Eric’s co-worker who had it for the first time at Eric’s team holiday party that I cooked for – she ate it with everything except the red velvet cake), along with some chicken and fresh spinach. I thought about making the ravioli with pesto and serving that with some grilled chicken and a spinach salad with pine nuts, pecorino and tomatoes – but then, in a bout of laziness and chemo fatigue – I decided to just throw all of the ingredients into one bowl. Now, while this definitely won’t win any awards for originality, it’s quick, easy and perfect when you are feeling lazy but want a hearty and healthy meal (in other words, my favorite type of cooking).

Ravioli with Grilled Chicken and Pesto
Serves 3-4 (depending on how much you like to eat)
Mind you that all of the measurements are approximate – add more or less depending on how much you like each item. Or, even better, add more ingredients into this – blanched green beans or artichokes would be great additions. After all, this dish is just a pesto pasta salad that is served warm.

1 package fresh cheese ravioli
1 large chicken breast
1 teaspoon extra virgin olive oil
10 oil-packed sun dried tomatoes – drained and roughly chopped
1 cup grape tomatoes – halved
3 large handfuls of baby spinach – roughly chopped
½ cup homemade or prepared pesto
¼ cup shaved pecorino
¼ cup pine nuts – lightly toasted
Salt and freshly ground pepper

Bring large pot of water to a boil. Once water is boiling, season heavily with salt and add cheese ravioli. Cook according to package directions.

Preheat grill pan. Brush chicken breast on both sides with olive oil. Season with salt and pepper. Grill chicken until cooked through (between 5-8 minutes depending on thickness of chicken breast). Set aside to rest for five minutes. After resting, chop into ½ inch strips or 1 inch chunks.

Add chicken, sun dried tomatoes, grape tomatoes, baby spinach and pesto to a large bowl. When ravioli is finished, add to bowl with vegetables and pesto. Fold together with rubber spatula – adding a small amount of pasta water if necessary to loosen up the pesto. Add pecorino ad pine nuts. Season with salt and freshly ground pepper. Taste and adjust seasoning.