Fresh wild-caught fish and a fresh take on organic whole-wheat pasta

Fresh wild-caught flounder was $7.99 a pound at Costco Wholesale.

By VICTOR E. SASSON
EDITOR

We went shopping for dinner separately, but managed to turn out a satisfying meal of fresh wild-caught fish, pasta with grated cheese and black pepper, fresh sweet corn on the cob and organic lettuce for our salads.

My wife went to Costco Wholesale in Hackensack, where she found fresh wild flounder fillets from Iceland.

Organic whole-wheat spaghetti with grated cheese and black pepper.

On the way home Friday evening, I stopped at a farmers' market, where I found fresh white corn (45 cents each) and a head of organic lettuce for $2.50.

We had the other ingredients -- from Trader Joe's and Costco -- at home.

My wife seasoned the fish fillets, dusted them in flour and fried them quickly in a non-stick pan with a little oil.

I took a half-pound of Trader Joe's Organic Whole Wheat Spaghetti and cooked it in boiling water for about 8 minutes, a minute or two before the recommended cooking time of 9-10 minutes.

I drained the pasta, then finished cooking it in a pan with a cup of hot pasta water and three or four tablespoons of a butter substitute, I Can't Believe It's Not Butter!

After mixing them well, I added lots of grated Pecorino-Romano sheep's milk cheese and black pepper.

I added more cheese and black pepper to the portion on my plate.

I just winged it after seeing a TV show in which world traveler Anthony Bourdain enjoyed the pasta -- cacio e pepe  -- on a trip to Rome, complete with shots of the cook preparing the dish in the kitchen of a Roman restaurant.

I poured a glass of chianti.

I had the pasta first; then two fillets, hot and delicious right out of the pan, sprinkled with lime juice; and finished with a simple salad of organic lettuce, extra-virgin olive oil and balsamic vinegar.

Fresh sweet corn was my dessert, with nothing on it.

At Teggiano Ristorante in South Hackensack

Image by JonathanCohen via Flickr

Teggiano Ristorante will celebrate its 25th anniversary next year, but I won't be there raising a glass of chianti to its future health.

Oh, there was nothing wrong with the food we had Saturday evening and the service was good, though a bit slow. But this long-established Italian restaurant misses being a place you want to return to time and again to tuck into a great plate of pasta and a glass of red wine.

The restaurant is named after the hometown of Chef-Owner Luigi Bruno, who offers a menu of standard appetizers, pastas and entrees.

We ordered a salad for two, two entrees, a side dish of sauteed spinach, a glass of chianti and soft drinks, and the bill totaled more than $90. Luckily, I had a coupon for a 20% discount I received by joining the restaurant's e-mail club.

I had hoped the salad of baby greens, goat cheese and dried cranberries ($12.50) wouldn't have too much dressing, but it had too little, with nothing left on the plate to sop up with the half a piece of rather ordinary Italian bread I ate. My son loved the toasted garlic-bread slices in the same basket.

My wife and I shared a broiled seafood combination that came with a small portion of ziti in a plain tomato sauce ($28.95). The red snapper fillet, shrimp, scallops, king crab leg and claw, lobster tail and baked and stuffed clams were moist.

Our son enjoyed but couldn't finish his broiled filet mignon (hold the mushrooms), served with big chunks of roasted potato and ziti ($24.95). The spinach in the side dish we ordered was fresh, but the portion was tiny -- just about three forkfuls ($5).

I didn't notice the price of the chianti, but the glass was full. I expected the food to fly out of the kitchen, because only two others tables were occupied during most of our visit, but we had to wait, first for the salad and then for the rest of the meal.

Teggiano Ristorante,  310 Huyler St., South Hackensack; 
201-487-3884. Web site: Established 1986