Tomato Caper Sugo Pappardelle + Caesar Salad

Peel the onion and dice into small pieces. Wash the carrot and dice into small pieces. Also dice the celery.

Heat a large pot over medium and add the olive oil. Add the vegetables and sauté for 5 minutes until they’re becoming fragrant and golden.

During this time, mince 3 of the garlic cloves and add them in when you’re ready.

After 5 minutes, strip the leaves off the thyme and add it in. Add the tomatoes and add about 1 teaspoon salt and gently stir everything to coat in tomato. Add 2 cups of water and bring to a boil.

Stir occasionally and cook for at least 15 minutes, but you can simmer it for up to 45 minutes total. If you go longer, partially cover the pot so you don’t get too much evaporation.

Bring a large pot of water to a boil over high heat. Add a Tablespoon or so of salt. Add the pasta and cook according the package suggestion, time can vary quite a bit. When al dente, reserve 1 cup of the cooking water then drain, don’t rinse.

Meanwhile, make the Caesar dressing. This is the real deal dressing!

In a traditional blender or food processor (aka, not a bullet style blender because you have to drizzle into the running machine), add the anchovies, egg yolk, and Dijon mustard. Zest the lemon into a bowl and add half to the dressing, reserve the other half to finish the pasta sauce. Juice the entire lemon into the blender. Add half of the grated parmesan cheese to the blender and a pinch of salt.

Turn on and blend until the anchovy is mostly blended.

With the blender running on a low speed, drizzle in the vegetable oil. Truly, drizzle in just 1-2 drops at a time. You want to go as slow as you possibly can. Once you get about half of it in, the noise will change and you’ll see it look more like dressing. At this point, you can go a bit faster but don’t ever dump the oil in or the dressing will “break.”

Remove dressing to a bowl and stir in the black pepper.

Do you think it broke? It will look chunky instead of smooth like mayo. Don’t worry!

Crack another egg yolk into a large bowl and add the juice of half of a lemon (or ½ teaspoon cider vinegar). And whisk well. Add 1 Tablespoon of the broken dressing to this yolk while whisking, hard. When that’s smooth, add another Tablespoon of broken dressing and whisk hard. When that’s smooth, you can whisk in the rest of the broken dressing. If it’s too tangy, you slowly drizzle and whisk in another teaspoon or two of vegetable oil.

When the pasta is done and sauce has simmered, add the capers. Add the reserved lemon zest. Add about ½ a cup of the pasta water into the sauce and make sure it’s simmering. Then add the hot pasta and butter, if using. Toss to coat well.

Trim the root off your lettuce and separate large spears. Arrange on a platter and serve with the dressing alongside.

Serve the pasta with the sauce in large bowls. Salad on the side. Garnish either, both, or everything in sight with more grated parmesan and thyme leaves to taste. (Chef Alison votes for the latter. Can’t have enough parmesan!)