Paul and I recently ate at SPQR in SF and sat at the chef’s table, entirely by accident. The three calm chefs in the front carefully made each plate to order, cooking fresh pasta in a small boiler, sauteeing in small, glinting pans, and spending five minutes on the exact presentation of each dish. The chef near us would wipe the metal countertop in her spare moments, just to make sure that no salt grains sullied her work space. It all looks so simple. So I went home and and made something similar, yet much less “pretty” than the pasta twisted in the center, a few weeks later.
The main idea was making your own tomato sauce with thinly sliced zucchinis, onions, garlic, oregano, and freshly cracked pepper. There are both Parmesan in the sauce and big dollops of fresh mozzarella on the sides of the completed pasta. Throw some sausage in the sauce and call it a day. Delicious.
