FRANKIES 457 CAVATELLI WITH BROWNED SAGE BUTTER 

Moderate

This is by far our most popular dish. It's renowned as a hangover curative among our friends and the 10-to-1 favorite for what a guy will order on a first date. (His date will almost always order the Sweet Potato Ravioli in Cheese Broth. It just works that way.)

Two small but important notes on this otherwise very easy recipe: cutting the sausage into coins is advantageous because sliced sausage has more surface area to brown, and browned sausage is better. Also, the sauce is browned butter. It's a stage of doneness, something we were taught in cooking school: beurre noisette. It should be visibly browned, with a hazelnut-like aroma. Don't skimp on the browning.

Ingredients

  • 1 pound hot sausage
  • 7 tablespoons unsalted butter
  • 8-10 sage leaves
  • Freshly ground white pepper
  • 1 pound Frankies 457 Cavatelli
  • 1 cup grated Pecorino Romano
  • 1/2 cup flat-leaf parsley leaves, coarsely chopped

  1. 1

    Put a large pot of water on to boil and salt it well.

  2. 2

    Using a wide sauté pan, add 1 tablespoon of the butter to the pan and turn the heat to medium-high. After a minute, add the sausage coins in an even layer and let them cook, untouched, unstirred, unfussed with, until they're deeply browned on the first side. Flip and brown them on the B side. When the sausage is browned, remove it from the pan and return the pan to the burner.

  3. 3

    Keep the heat at medium-high and add the sage, the remaining 6 tablespoons of butter, and a few twists of white pepper. Stir the butter and scrape at the browned bits on the bottom of the pan with a wooden spoon. That's when you should drop the cavatelli into the boiling water. After a minute or two, the butter should stop foaming and start to take on color. Continue to cook the butter until it's deeply browned and fragrant, about 5 minutes more.

  4. 4

    Do not drain the cavatelli too thoroughly. The water clinging to the pasta will give the sauce body. Add it to the butter sauce along with the sausage and stir.

  5. 5

    Add the cheese, stir again, and portion the cavatelli among serving plates. Scatter each with a couple of pinches of parsley. Serve immediately.

RED WINE PRUNES WITH MASCARPONE

Easy

This dish was inspired by a dessert of stewed dates made by a chef name Mark Ladner and filtered through the lens of Frank F’s formative years in the southwest of France, where prunes are king. The result combines the heady aroma of cinnamon and hot wine; the sweet, meaty plumpness of braised prunes; and the clean, rich density of mascarpone.

Ingredients

  • 1 pound (2 generous cups) pitted prunes
  • 1 1/4 cups sugar
  • 1 cinnamon stick
  • 2 1/2 cups red wine
  • Two 8-ounce containers of mascarpone cheese
  • Frankies 457 Extra Virgin Olive, for drizzling

  1. 1

    Combine the prunes, sugar, cinnamon, and wine in a small pot and bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Reduce the heat to medium low, so the liquid simmers very gently, and stew for 45 minutes, until the wine is syrupy and redolent of cinnamon. Remove the pot from the heat and discard the cinnamon stick. Let the prunes stand for at least 15 minutes before serving. This allows them to cool slightly and absorb as much of the wine syrup as possible.

  2. 2

    The prunes can be prepared ahead of time. Once cooled, they will keep in their cooking liquid, in a covered container in the refrigerator, for up to a week. Gently rewarm them over low heat before serving.

  3. 3

    Spread a mound of mascarpone—2 1/2 to 3 tablespoons’ worth—into a circular smear on a serving plate. Nestle 6 prunes in the center of each portion of mascarpone, then drizzle the prunes with a spoonful of the syrup and serve.

FRANKIES 457 CAVATELLI WITH BROWNED SAGE BUTTER 

Moderate

This is by far our most popular dish. It's renowned as a hangover curative among our friends and the 10-to-1 favorite for what a guy will order on a first date. (His date will almost always order the Sweet Potato Ravioli in Cheese Broth. It just works that way.)

Two small but important notes on this otherwise very easy recipe: cutting the sausage into coins is advantageous because sliced sausage has more surface area to brown, and browned sausage is better. Also, the sauce is browned butter. It's a stage of doneness, something we were taught in cooking school: beurre noisette. It should be visibly browned, with a hazelnut-like aroma. Don't skimp on the browning.

Ingredients

  • 1 pound hot sausage
  • 7 tablespoons unsalted butter
  • 8-10 sage leaves
  • Freshly ground white pepper
  • 1 pound Frankies 457 Cavatelli
  • 1 cup grated Pecorino Romano
  • 1/2 cup flat-leaf parsley leaves, coarsely chopped

  1. 1

    Put a large pot of water on to boil and salt it well.

  2. 2

    Using a wide sauté pan, add 1 tablespoon of the butter to the pan and turn the heat to medium-high. After a minute, add the sausage coins in an even layer and let them cook, untouched, unstirred, unfussed with, until they're deeply browned on the first side. Flip and brown them on the B side. When the sausage is browned, remove it from the pan and return the pan to the burner.

  3. 3

    Keep the heat at medium-high and add the sage, the remaining 6 tablespoons of butter, and a few twists of white pepper. Stir the butter and scrape at the browned bits on the bottom of the pan with a wooden spoon. That's when you should drop the cavatelli into the boiling water. After a minute or two, the butter should stop foaming and start to take on color. Continue to cook the butter until it's deeply browned and fragrant, about 5 minutes more.

  4. 4

    Do not drain the cavatelli too thoroughly. The water clinging to the pasta will give the sauce body. Add it to the butter sauce along with the sausage and stir.

  5. 5

    Add the cheese, stir again, and portion the cavatelli among serving plates. Scatter each with a couple of pinches of parsley. Serve immediately.

RED WINE PRUNES WITH MASCARPONE

Easy

This dish was inspired by a dessert of stewed dates made by a chef name Mark Ladner and filtered through the lens of Frank F’s formative years in the southwest of France, where prunes are king. The result combines the heady aroma of cinnamon and hot wine; the sweet, meaty plumpness of braised prunes; and the clean, rich density of mascarpone.

Ingredients

  • 1 pound (2 generous cups) pitted prunes
  • 1 1/4 cups sugar
  • 1 cinnamon stick
  • 2 1/2 cups red wine
  • Two 8-ounce containers of mascarpone cheese
  • Frankies 457 Extra Virgin Olive, for drizzling

  1. 1

    Combine the prunes, sugar, cinnamon, and wine in a small pot and bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Reduce the heat to medium low, so the liquid simmers very gently, and stew for 45 minutes, until the wine is syrupy and redolent of cinnamon. Remove the pot from the heat and discard the cinnamon stick. Let the prunes stand for at least 15 minutes before serving. This allows them to cool slightly and absorb as much of the wine syrup as possible.

  2. 2

    The prunes can be prepared ahead of time. Once cooled, they will keep in their cooking liquid, in a covered container in the refrigerator, for up to a week. Gently rewarm them over low heat before serving.

  3. 3

    Spread a mound of mascarpone—2 1/2 to 3 tablespoons’ worth—into a circular smear on a serving plate. Nestle 6 prunes in the center of each portion of mascarpone, then drizzle the prunes with a spoonful of the syrup and serve.