Edward Giobbi's Spaghetti alla Foriana

By • September 18, 2012 • 23 Comments


Author Notes: "This is my father’s recipe," writes Eugenia Bone, "one I often serve to vegetarians, who almost always have an epiphany when they taste it on spaghetti." And not only does the sauce keep for other uses, covered in olive oil in the fridge, it gets better and better. The aromas of garlic and oregano are lured out, mingling with the nutty bits and perfuming the oil. Bone stuffs pork chops with it, stirs it into seafood stew, and spoons it on top of bruschetta. Sauce recipe adapted from Well-Preserved by Eugenia Bone (Clarkson Potter, 2009).Genius Recipes

Serves 4 with sauce to spare

Foriana Sauce

  • 1 cup walnuts
  • 1 cup pine nuts
  • 5 tablespoons sliced garlic (about 10 large cloves)
  • 3 teaspoons dried oregano
  • 3 tablespoons olive oil plus more for covering the jars
  • 1/2 cup white or golden raisins
  • Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
  1. Place the walnuts, pine nuts, and garlic in a food processor and pulse to a fine chop, until the nuts are like damp granola. Add the oregano and pulse a few more times to combine.
  2. Heat the olive oil in a medium sized skillet over a medium heat. Add the nut mixture, the raisins, and salt and pepper to taste. Cook for about 5 minutes, stirring constantly to avoid burning or searing.
  3. If storing sauce for later, bring 3 half-pint jars and their bands to a boil in a large pot of water fitted with a rack. Boil for 10 minutes. Remove the jars with tongs (the tongs don't need to be sterilized). Simmer new lids in a small pan of hot water to soften the rubberized flange. When the jars are dry but still hot, pack in the Foriana Sauce, eliminating as many air pockets as you can. Fill the jars to about 1 inch below the rim. Add a 1/2-inch layer of oil to cover. Wipe the rims with a paper towel, set on the lids, screw on the bands, and refrigerate. Check on the sauce a day after you make it: you may need to add more oil to ensure it is completely covered.
  4. Be sure to cover the surface of the sauce well with oil after each use. Remove only the quantity of sauce you need for a dish and allow that to come to room temperature. Cover the remaining sauce in the jar with fresh oil and return it to the fridge promptly.
  5. You can hold Foriana Sauce, covered in olive oil in the refrigerator, for 10 days. (Note: Because of a low but very serious risk of botulism, make sure that the sauce heats through thoroughly in Step 2, and do not keep it in the refrigerator for longer than 10 days.)

Spaghetti alla Foriana

  • 3/4 pound spaghettini
  • 1 cup Foriana Sauce
  • 1/2 cup grated pecorino cheese (serve on the side to make the dish vegan-friendly)
  1. Cook the spaghettini in salted boiling water until al dente, about 12 minutes. Drain and toss with the Foriana Sauce. Garnish with the cheese. Check the seasoning and serve immediately.

Comments (23) Questions (0)

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3 days ago Ann.cleary

Is botulism really a risk?

Miglore

2 days ago Kristen Miglore

Kristen is the Senior Editor of Food52

Yes, storing undercooked garlic in olive oil (an anaerobic environment) poses a serious risk of botulism -- but this recipe is safe if prepared per the instructions.

Stringio

29 days ago Patricia Judice

I froze a small portion dry, and it remained flavorful and intact when I defrosted. Then did a finishing toasting in a skillet with olive oil and crushed red pepper.

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4 months ago joannajw

I could eat this for every meal from now on!

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4 months ago joannajw

OMG I'm drooling over the pan as I cook it....don't worry it's all for me :)

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5 months ago neighome

I've made this twice. I love it, but find I need quite a bit more olive oil that called for.

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8 months ago sophiea

Just made it tonight. Delicious! I used Parmesan instead of Pecorino because I had it and it worked great. The garlic and nuts got golden brown and crispy. I added a bit more olive oil to the sauce and pasta (since I made it and used it in the same night, I hadn't gone through the step of canning it and topping it with olive oil in the jar). It wasn't too much oregano and I normally hate raisins but the golden raisins in this context were perfect - little bursts of sweet. Try this recipe!

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8 months ago BSmith

Simply amazing and a very easy recipe!

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8 months ago ellenu

This exceeded my expectations--loved it. I added a little extra olive oil and used about 1/2 the garlic but that was about it.

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8 months ago sweet fang

Can this sauce be frozen?

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8 months ago Kiki

I made this tonight, but had a problem: the mixture was very dry, didn't look l a bit like a sauce. Maybe because of the walnuts which were not wet at all? I added some water,but am not sure if this spoiled the idea.

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8 months ago Jules KCMO

Have you ever used fresh oregano vs dried? I have a ton of fresh in my herb garden but not sure how much to use vs the dried? Thanks for any suggestions -

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8 months ago EM-MV

Reminds me a little of the great Silver Palate pasta sauce recipe Autumno where you soften apricots in garlic-rich oil, and use lots of rosemary for a savory herbal note. Dalibor, the raisin hater, could try dried apricots!

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8 months ago dalibor

EM-MV LOL! I generally hate any kind of fruit in food. Especially salads, even though I like fruit otherwise.

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8 months ago EM-MV

All righty then! But I have served the apricot pasta dish to people without revealing the identity of the savory, chewy bits that soak up the heavy amount of garlic & rosemary. No one has ever guessed correctly.

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8 months ago dalibor

Well, I do like apricots, so maybe I will try this dish and hopefully forget what's in it when I take my first bite. Maybe I can pulverize the apricots in a food processor and add them to the granola sauce.

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8 months ago AmyRuth

Imagining the flavors of the nuts, garlic, oregano and the sweetness of the raisins with the pecorino all sounds fabulous to me, maybe a hint of cayenne just to heighten the profile. Looking forward to eating this in the upcoming fall months.

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8 months ago AmyRuth

Imagining the flavors of the nuts, garlic, oregano and the sweetness of the raisins with the pecorino all sounds fabulous to me, maybe a hint of cayenne just to heighten the profile. Looking forward to eating this in the upcoming fall months.

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8 months ago FrannieC

Definitely going to try it..... Sound very Sicilian

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8 months ago dalibor

Unfortunately.. I hate raisins!

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8 months ago walkie74

This wasn't bad. I think I accidentally over toasted the nuts and garlic, but I'd try this again.

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8 months ago Victoria Carr

3 teaspoons of dried oregano sounds like A LOT.

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8 months ago darksideofthespoon

I actually had a recipe for walnut pasta I was going to make this week, but now I think I'll make this one. I won't miss all the added cream from the other recipe, anyways. This looks wonderful!