Filetto di Pomodoro con Fusilli with Chef G.S. Argenti

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How is it that Italians are the masters of getting seriously delicious flavors with just a few ingredients? In this very simple and easy-to-make pasta dish, pancetta, onions, and tomatoes are combined with a few herbs to create a sublime combination that is at once simple, but not simplistic, yet delectable at the same time. Join Chef G.S. Argenti as he shows you how to make this Italian-inspired pasta with Fusilli. You’ll be glad you did.

[@theoldbigmoose]

I appreciate you teaching us techniques that we can apply to all our sauces and ragus. Could you expand a bit on your technique of going from fry pan to sauce pan and back to fry pan to finish off the serving? I like how you have organized your playlists. With the number of these, even a beginner cook with a busy house should be able to knock out a great dinner or side dish in minutes. If you pair this recipe with a baked rosemary chicken breast, you would be sitting at my Nonna's dinner table.

[@ItalianFood]

This is a great question. I originally cooked the sauce in a larger pan, then transferred it to a sauce pot. When I went to make the actual dish, I pulled out another pan (a smaller one). In reality, I could have left the sauce in the larger pan and just made the one portion in the smaller skillet. Sometimes when cooking food that has a large volume at first and then shrinks (like mushrooms) you want to start in a much larger pan, then as the sauce becomes more compact you transfer it to a sauce pot to complete the cooking. Also in this case a larger surface area at the start in the form of a larger pan helps us cook a dish faster and more evenly. So the initial cooking is done in a larger pan and the simmer and reduction in a smaller one. A larger pan makes it more difficult to simmer away slowly, so we transfer to a smaller one, turn down the heat low and simmer away. So the initial cooking is done in a larger pot at a faster rate, then the simmer in a smaller one at a slower rate. I also just find it more "clean" to transfer to a sauce pot and simmer it down that way. Plus it frees up burner real estate as the larger pan forces me to crowd everything together. In some other videos, you can see how I have to move that specific pan out of the way when working with the skillet because it's too wide for the burners that I have. In a restaurant, we would make the sauce in the larger pan, then transfer it to a smaller pot then when that is done it gets transferred again to an insert pan and held for service. Then when individual orders come in, we use the sauce from the insert. In very large operations a saucier in the main kitchen (hotels mostly) makes the base sauce (20 gallons or more) in a very large pot or kettle. That generic sauce is cooled down and placed in tubs and held in a walk-in refrigerator. Then, individual restaurants (again multiple restaurants are common in very large hotels - Las Vegas for example), go into the walk-in and take a portion of the sauce they need for service. They might make changes to the base sauce with the addition of other ingredients, then either hold that specific sauce in a steam table (hot water) with the sauce in it for service or transfer it to an insert pan and also hold it for service but at room temperature (typically used for that day then discarded if it's not refrigerated) or in a refrigerated insert if the sauce is made once and used over several days. Typically because of food safety sauces that are held in the steam table or at room temperature should be used within 4 hours max and then a new sauce made the following day. That does not always happen but it should be done that way. However, the best restaurants will make a new sauce every day. They may not make a stock more than once a week, but the sauce should be made daily. I hope that answers your question, if not please let me know and I'll clarify.

[@theoldbigmoose]

@@ItalianFood Chef, you are going to give us all PhD's in the culinary arts with your teachings. Thank you for the reply above! Your answers educate us in the whys... so that we can generalize and apply your techniques to new situations.
One of the most enlightening experiences for me was when a friend let me work the line at his "pizza joint" (his words) for the better part of a day about 8 years ago. Man did I sweat my tail off, and boy did I learn a lot about consistent preparation. He stressed how the customers come to get the same meal every time. So I had to be true to his recipes and work flow. Also, I never saw a team work so well together. I also went home totally worn out. Restaurant work is hard work.

[@ItalianFood]

​@@theoldbigmoose Yes, working in a restaurant is not glamorous - it's hot and sweaty and physically demanding. Consistency is key in serving clients the meals they came to eat. In the world of fine dining (Michelin stars) consistency in all areas at the highest level is one of the very crucial criteria that wins you stars. You had a great experience that everyone should have. It's also the secret to success - do something over and over consistently and you attain mastery.

[@capresti3537]

No written recipes?

[@ItalianFood]

I originally did write them out. Then I would get comments like, I did not use the anchovies because I don't like them and I substituted this for that, etc. So, I figured it was a waste of time. However, if you want the recipe for a specific dish, let me know and I'm happy to send it to you. My e-mail is [e-mail]