Storm Cooking: When Irene Came to Town

The challenge: plan a meal for a crowd with ingredients that could also be prepared without any power. Why? My night to cook at the Cape Cod cottage coincided with the pending arrival of Hurricane Irene, and with it, a good chance power would be knocked out.

My strategy: Plan A, with power, was to make a meat sauce with the batch of CSA tomatoes I had on hand along with some ground beef and Andouille sausage. We were fortunate--our power was just knocked out for about an hour, while many fellow Bay Staters lost power for a full week. So the recipe I used for the sauce follows. My backup plan was to make a hearty main dish salad with the tomatoes, cucumbers, cannellini beans, and sausage (it was precooked and I figured it could last the afternoon on ice).

36 ozs tomatoes, coarsely chopped (I used fresh--nice way to use a large quantity before they went bad--but canned would work)
1 cup red wine
5 cloves garlic, minced
1 small onion, chopped
2 handfuls fresh basil, chopped
3/4 ground beef
2 medium pre-cooked andouille sausage
several tbsp olive oil
1.5 lbs pasta, short shape like fusilli or penne
salt, pepper and grated parmesan cheese to taste

Heat 1 tbsp olive oil in a large pot. Brown the sausage in the pan, then remove the sausage and set aside to cool. When cooled, slice the sausage into half circles.

Add a bit of extra olive oil if the pan seems dry, then add the onions, saute about 5 minutes until softened. Add the garlic, saute for another minute. Stir in the beef, cook until it starts to brown, about 5 minutes. Pour in the red wine, cook until most of it has been absorbed. Add the tomatoes, sausage and basil. Cook for at least 20 minutes, more is better!

Start water to boil for pasta around time you put the tomatoes on, or 15-20 minutes afterward if you want the sauce to simmer longer. Cook the pasta al dente according to package instructions. When ready, reserve a bit of the cooking water. Drain the pasta, combine with sauce in a pan over low heat, adding a touch of the cooking water. Give it a couple minutes to finish. Add salt & pepper to taste, and pass cheese at the table.

Wine: Served this with a great value Nebbiolo I got for around $12. Unfortunately the bottle got tossed before I made notes on the details, but will aim to figure it out and update here. A Chianti or most other Italian reds would work too.