On the Italian carb spectrum people fall into one of two camps: pasta lover or pizza lover.
I, personally, will never settle for pizza — ironically, because my family owns a pizza restaurant. In fact, I’ve polled my entire extended family of 11 what their favorite food is (actually multiple times, like an annual Gallup poll of sorts), and out of all possible possibilities, at least a majority of them answered pizza, including both of my parents and my brother.
I, however, will always be on team pasta. Pasta is whimsical. Pasta is limitless. Pasta is a kind of food you never stop trying to master (I mean, the same can be said about pizza, but please ignore this reasoning for my sake).
What an opportunity, I say, to host a pasta picnic outside. After all, the color of a picnic blanket and an Italian American restaurant’s tablecloth are strikingly similar as you can see in the photos.
I had the idea to host a pasta picnic as a follow-up act to the dessert party in June. I pondered, what other food category feels summery but lends itself to a buffet? Salads, sure. But “salad picnic for 30 friends” doesn’t have the same ring. Cold soups, sure. But, and this is my biggest gripe with soup, how the heck are you supposed to serve it? Does everyone walk around with a plate balanced with a variety of mini cups, attempting to try all the soups simultaneously? Absurd!
Pasta in the summertime feels neither right nor wrong. Pasta is for all times of the year. Sure, I won’t make 17 different kinds of ragù. But pasta is surprisingly still craveable even on a very exposed patio surface at the end of July. Everyone loves pasta, so it seemed like the clear answer. And like dessert, it gives me the chance to go BIG on some dishes. I’ll call these my cash cows. Lasagna. Ravioli. Mac n’ cheese.
So this is the menu I came up with:
To get my ingredients, I knew I had to make many, many trips to Eataly. They have the ultimate selection of pastas, specialty ingredients, produce, meats and seafood. And honestly, their meat and fish counters are superb. Every cut of beef and pork. Every kind of poultry is available. I saw rabbits. I saw cornish hen. The fish counter had cooked octopus, lobsters, and all sorts of seafood. They also stock my favorite kind of pasta shape - large shells - which are seemingly impossible to find elsewhere. Almost all of the food I bought I sourced from their shelves. Approved!
The french onion mac n’ cheese was a must. One of my most popular and viral recipes, I knew it had to make an appearance. Actually not just an appearance, steal the show. I made a double batch of it. And I kid you not, it was the first recipe to go. There was so much mac, I didn’t have a big enough casserole and sacrificed one of my Dutch ovens to bear the load. It weighed probably 30 pounds between the sheer amount of cheese, many pounds of pasta, and all that cast iron. So good.
I also knew I wanted to include my gnocchi alla vodka recipe. As you can probably tell, I’m very inclined toward the visual presentation of food. There’s a pizza sold at a restaurant called Rubirosa in Soho that has a spiral of pesto etched onto the top of the pie; so I had the epiphany to apply the same technique to an ultra-saucy, rich, cheesy, and comforting casserole full of gnocchi. The red and green contrast was iconic. My brother actually commented upon seeing the dish that it reminded him of the Rubirosa pizza. Bingo!
And for my third recipe, my favorite lobster pasta, based off of a pasta I had in the south of France in a shack a few years ago. Served in the lobster shell, meters away from the waves, accompanied by a nude man fishing for clams to hand to the chef in a plastic bucket to then cook for the patrons minutes later, that pasta was exceptional. Highest quality cherry tomatoes, lots of olive oil, wine, and tarragon (plus lobster meat), there’s nothing really more that screams “summer! eat me now”.
The other highlights: pinwheel lasagna based on Don Angie’s. Instead of their bolognese, I opted for amatriciana sauce (carbonara, but instead of egg yolks, you use tomatoes. following?). Such a pain to make. But so delicious.
I also made a ricotta, mascarpone, brown butter, Meyer lemon filling for some homemade ravioli. Then drowned them in a healthy amount of even more brown butter and olive oil. Topped with slightly candied kumquats. I like to salt this filling a decent amount because it almost ends up tasting like a preserved lemon.
Honestly, don’t do a pasta picnic, or at least don’t do it all yourself. This level of absurdity I think is only meant to exist online. It was impossibly hard to maintain cooking the gnocchi, ravioli, and lobster pasta on the stove top at the same time, all while attempting to bake the arancini, lasagna, and mac n’ cheese.
What you can do and probably should do, is coordinate a potluck with all your friends where you each bring a pasta. Pasta salads work great for this concept by the way, as do baked pastas like lasagna and mac n’ cheese, which are always good at room temperature. Sure, throw in one or two a la minute pasta, but not more than that.
Pretty good! Aside from me accidentally ejecting one of my casseroles of lasagna pinwheels onto the buffet table minutes before people arrived, then me hacking the tablecloth with scissors to extricate any last trace of red sauce stain from the table.
The weather was spectacular, which is so surprising for New York July.
I had the incredible help of my cousin Lily, both as my sous chef and as my videographer. She just moved to New York City a couple weeks ago! And I’m so beyond proud of her and excited for her. She’ll be a large part of team Ryan moving onward.
And it ended up being the most hodge-podgy of gatherings in the best way possible. My dad, brother (the pizza one), and two cousins were in town for a padel tournament, so they all made surprise appearances, also bringing along 2 semi-professional Argentinian padel players, plus one of their girlfriends. The lovely woman who produced my memorial day TODAY show segment was also there. All in all, we had a great time with plenty of pasta, spritzes, negronis, and sun.
Ciao,
Ryan
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serves 6
ingredients
1 stick unsalted butter, divided
4 large sweet onions, thinly sliced
Kosher salt and black pepper
1 lb. large shells or cavatappi (no other shape is allowed, sorry!!)
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
4 cups whole milk
1 lb. gruyere cheese, coarsely grated
8 oz sharp white cheddar cheese, coarsely grated
Chives, for garnish
instructions
In a large pot (non-stick works great) or Dutch oven over medium-high heat, add 2 tbsp of the butter, the onions, and 1/2 tsp kosher salt.
Add the lid and cook for 10 minutes undisturbed to help sweat the onions.
Remove the lid, reduce heat to medium, and continue cooking, stirring occasionally until the onions have reduced significantly and start to turn light brown / stick to the bottom of the pot. Reduce heat to medium-low and continue cooking and stirring frequently until the onions have turned a rich brown color, about 1.5 hours in total. If onions are sticking too much, add a bit of hot water and use that to scrape them off the bottom. Remove onions to a small bowl.
Meanwhile, toward the end of cooking the onions, bring a large pot of water to a boil. Season with a large handful of kosher salt.
Boil the pasta until al dente. Drain (to keep pasta from sticking together, either drizzle with some oil or keep it sitting in a few cups of the pasta water).
Preheat oven to 400 °F.
In the pot you just used for pasta again, heat over medium and add the remaining butter and the flour. Cook, whisking constantly, for 2 minutes.
Gradually whisk in the milk. Then add the cheeses (reserve about 20% for topping the mac) and half of the caramelized onions. Season with salt to taste and A LOT of pepper. Then stir in the drained pasta. Taste for seasoning again.
Add to a large baking dish. Top with remaining cheese and dot with the remaining onion. Cover with foil and bake for 30 minutes. Then remove foil and continue baking until golden brown, another 20 minutes.
Garnish with chives and serve hot.
Tip: The entire mac and cheese, unbaked, can be left in the refrigerator for up to 2 days. Proceed with cooking the same way.
serves 8
ingredients
6 tbsp olive oil
6 large shallots, minced
12 garlic cloves, sliced
2 Calabrian chilies, chopped (or substitute 1/2 tsp red pepper flakes)
3 (4 oz.) cans tomato paste
1 1/2 cups heavy cream
1/2 cup grated parmesan, plus more for serving
Kosher salt
32 oz shelf-stable gnocchi
3/4 cup homemade or store-bought pesto
instructions
Bring a large pot of water to a boil.
In a large skillet, sauté pan, or braiser over medium heat, add the olive oil and shallots. Cook until the shallots turn translucent, 3 to 4 minutes. Add the chilies and garlic and cook for 30 seconds. Add the tomato paste, season with 3/4 teaspoon salt, and cook for 3 to 5 minutes, until the color deepens slightly.
Stir in the heavy cream and parmesan cheese. Keep warm over low heat. Optionally, blend with an immersion blender (or in a standard blender) for a smooth sauce.
Season boiling water with a handful of kosher salt. Boil gnocchi until they float and are al dente (according to package instructions). Transfer gnocchi to the sauce with a slotted spoon. Use pasta water to thin out the sauce if needed. Make sure the sauce is simmering and hot. Taste for seasoning.
Transfer your pesto to a piping bag, snip the tip, and pipe a spiral over the top. Sprinkle heavily with parmesan cheese.
serves 4 to 6
ingredients
2 large fresh lobsters (2 1/2 - 3 lbs.)
3 tbsp olive oil
1 shallot, sliced
6 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
1 small bunch tarragon, chopped
1 tsp red pepper flakes
1/4 cup vermouth, white wine, or rose
32 oz high-quality cherry tomatoes, halved
Kosher salt
16 oz long or short pasta of your choice
3 tbsp unsalted butter, cut into cubes and chilled
1 small bunch chives, minced
instructions
Bring 1” of water to a boil in a large pot over high heat.
Place a lobster on your cutting board. Using a sharp chef’s knife, quickly insert the knife into the lobster’s head just behind its eyes and cut down to dispatch it. Repeat with the other lobster.
Drop your lobsters into the pot and add a tight-fitting lid. Steam the lobsters for 6-7 minutes, until the lobsters are bright red and the tails have curled up slightly. Remove lobsters to a cutting board.
De-meat your lobster tails, claws, and knuckles (watch a YouTube video on how to do this). Wash and save a few of the more beautiful lobster tails or claws for presentation. Set the lobster meat in the fridge.
Bring a large pot of water to a boil.
Meanwhile, set a large sauté pan over medium heat. Add the olive oil and when it’s shimmering, add the shallot and garlic. Cook, stirring occasionally, until they are softened, about 5 minutes. Next add the red pepper and tarragon and cook for 30 seconds. Then add the vermouth or wine and cook out the alcohol briefly.
Dump in all the cherry tomatoes. Season with salt. Cook, occasionally stirring and pressing down on some of the tomatoes, until the tomatoes have broken down and are jammy, about 20 to 30 minutes. Reduce heat to low.
Season your pasta water with a large handful of kosher salt. Drop in the pasta and cook until al dente according to package instructions. Save 1 cup of pasta water.
Drain the pasta. Add it to the tomatoes along with the reserved lobster meat, butter, half the chives, and 1/2 cup of the reserved pasta water. Stir well with tongs to bring all the ingredients together and melt the butter, about 2-3 minutes. Add more pasta water if necessary to keep the sauce glossy. Taste for seasoning.
Dump onto a serving platter; garnish with the remaining chives and reserved lobster shells.
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