Whether it’s box lunches for 2,000 or plated dinners for 350, Northeastern Catering senior executive chef Samantha Kundrat has a menu and a plan for serving stellar food.
When it comes to dining at home, Kundrat is no less intentional.
“If I’m going to have my in-laws over and I want to impress them, I’m going to roll out some fresh pasta,” she says.
Since spring is on the way and the Florida-raised chef can’t get enough of New England’s seasonal produce, Kundrat says her go-to at this time of year is a pasta dish inspired by her time at Boston’s Eataly that incorporates peas as well as a cured Italian pork such as guanciale or pancetta.
“The first sign of spring is peas,” she says.
“This dish is definitely spring comfort food for me. It’s beautiful and fresh,” says Kundrat, who followed up a degree in accounting with a move from Florida to Rhode Island to go through Johnson & Wales highly regarded culinary school’s continuing education program.
For this recipe she uses a type of long, flat pasta called tagliatelle that is similar to fettuccine but a bit thinner.
As much as she loves to roll out fresh pasta, Kundrat, who came to Northeastern in May after working as a chef and manager at Eataly, knows that making pasta is not everybody’s thing.
It’s OK to substitute homemade for fresh pasta at the store, but be sure to look for pasta that is marked “bronze-die” or “bronze-cut,” Kundrat says.
This type of pasta is squeezed through dies or perforated metal plates made of bronze, which gives it a rougher texture than plates made of stainless steel or Teflon.
Instead of being smooth and shiny, “bronze-die extruded pasta will have some texture on the outside and the sauce will really stick to it,” says Kundrat, who in addition to other roles taught cooking classes at Eataly.
“It doesn’t sound like it makes a huge difference,” she says. “It makes a huge difference.”
Preparation time: 20 minutes
Yield: 4 servings
Ingredients:
1 pound fresh tagliatelle pasta
1 cup shelled fresh or frozen peas
1 cup sliced sugar snap peas
½ cup unsalted butter
8 ounces pancetta or guanciale, diced ¼ inch
10 leaves fresh basil
Zest of one lemon
Pecorino Romano Cheese, fresh or grated.
1. Bring a large pot of generously salted water to a boil. Cook pasta, stirring occasionally and adding peas about 2 minutes before pasta is done. Drain pasta and peas, reserving 1½ cups pasta cooking liquid.
2. In a separate sauté pan, render the guanciale or pancetta and do not discard the fat. This will become our sauce. Add the pasta and peas to the sauté pan and toss. Add butter and pasta water and let simmer until the sauce in the pan looks rich and thick and clings to the pasta. Zest lemon into the pan and toss or stir.
3. Lastly, tear the basil leaves with your fingers and add to the pan with a generous handful or about 3 TBSP of freshly grated pecorino cheese. Plate into four warm bowls, garnish with extra basil and enjoy.