Pasta, clams Combine in brotherly love

Photo

Photo by: Jeff Lange

Combine Brothers' Anchovie and Walnut sauce served on vermicelli.

The ties that bind us vary for us all. Some bonds form through common work, shared experiences both joyful and sorrowful, similar passions and pursuits, marriage and blood.

For us, it is about shared work and the opportunity to eat together. Hence our e-mail name BrothersinFood@gmail.com.

This month we had the opportunity to talk to another set of brothers, Jeff and Gary Combine, at their Hermitage, Pa., restaurant, Combine Brothers. It’s a family affair with origins going back to 1989, when four brothers, Jeff, Gary, Guy and Chris, decided to renovate a former establishment and start their business.

Their parents and their sister have been involved at different points over the past 26 years. The menu, which was based on the Italian food they grew up on, started small and was adapted as the restaurant gained popularity.

Today the menu features a sizeable selection of Italian appetizers, grilled pizza and a host of pasta options that can satisfy any taste bud.

We began our meal with one of the best appetizers we have had in the area, Combine’s Spicy Clams. The buzz word in food is umami, a Japanese term that translates to “pleasant, savory taste.”

Combine achieves umami in this dish. It begins with a shellfish broth that is perfectly seasoned. They add fresh little neck clams, red and green onions, house-made salsa, chiles and parsley and cook just until the clams open so they are still plump and tender.

It comes to your table in a large bowl and is a beautiful presentation. The clams on their own are delicious, but the broth is really something special. It is salty, fishy and spicy all in the best way possible.

This is served with their softball-sized rolls, made fresh daily. You will need these to sop up every delicious drop of the broth, chiles and onions. This is a well-balanced, amazing dish.

Next up was one of their grilled pizzas. Combine’s has no pizza oven, so their pizza is grilled. They take their fresh bread dough and grill it to create a crispy crust. You can then pick whether it’s red or white and what type of cheese and toppings.

Every pizza is then topped with dried basil, oregano and cracked black pepper. We had a white pizza with a mozzarella, provolone and Parmesan cheese blend, roasted red peppers, chiles, mushrooms and red onion.

The toppings were fresh and plentiful. The crust had a firm bite, and the dried herbs added nice flavor. This offering would be perfect for sharing as an appetizer or as a main dish.

Combine Brothers are famous for their pasta. The thing that sets them apart from most other Italian restaurants is not only the quality and portion size (because they are large), but also the fact that you create your own pasta combination from a vast array of choices.

First pick your type of pasta from among ziti, vermicelli, fettucine, linguine and bow ties. Next choose your sauce from a list of 18 selections, everything from simple red sauce or marinara to black olive pesto and carbonara.

You can top it with various meats and vegetables. We let Jeff and Gary pick some of their favorites.

First up was bow-tie pasta with pink pepper sauce, roasted chicken, button mushrooms and roma tomatoes. The pink pepper sauce is a combination of spicy diavolo tomato sauce and creamy Alfredo. The mushrooms and tomatoes were plump and juicy. The sauce was only slightly spicy, because the Alfredo sauce toned it down. This was a solid entree with nice flavor.

The next pasta dish was our favorite, vermicelli pasta with anchovy and walnut sauce topped with shrimp. Anyone who says they don’t like anchovies has no idea what they’re missing.

The sauce in this entree is so basic but so delicious. The dish starts with pan-roasted walnuts, which are added to a sauce of olive oil, sauteed garlic and anchovy paste. The addition of the shrimp was a perfect combination with the salty anchovy sauce. The browned walnuts add nice texture and savoriness. Sometimes less is more. This dish was superb and one we would highly recommend.

Our last pasta entree was ziti with marinara, house-made crumbled sausage and a meatball. Combine’s makes what they call “Sharpsville” sausage in-house. It is a coarser grind and is uniquely seasoned with the addition of orange zest and peel. The red sauce was tasty and complemented the sausage well.

The meatball was juicy and tender. This was enjoyed with a side of fried greens made of escarole sauteed in garlic and olive oil and seasoned with a bit of crushed pepper. It reminded us of the perfect Sunday dinner.

Jeff and Gary spoke proudly of their food, the cleanliness of their kitchen, and the history of their restaurant. When your name is on the business and your family’s reputation is at stake, you clearly take extra care to do things right. Combine Brothers offers a chance for us all to bond over a good meal.