In the Hands of a Chef (25 page)
Read In the Hands of a Chef Online
Authors: Jody Adams
MAKES 4 APPETIZER SERVINGS
½ recipe Fresh Pasta (see pages 142-43)
Kosher salt
FILLING
8 paper-thin slices prosciutto (about ¼ pound)
3 ounces flat-leaf spinach, trimmed of thick stems, washed, and dried
¼ pound semisoft Italian cheese, such as Fontina, fresh Asiago, or Taleggio, thinly sliced
SAUCE
1 cup light cream
¼ cup freshly grated Parmesan
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
Extra virgin olive oil
¼ cup fresh or frozen peas, blanched briefly in boiling salted water
1 teaspoon freshly squeezed lemon juice
2 teaspoons minced fresh chives
1 tablespoon chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
DO AHEAD:
You can prepare as much or as little of this dish ahead as you like, from simply cooking the pasta sheets to completely filling and rolling the pasta. I like to do everything ahead, leaving only the sauce and the final heating of the nidimi for the day of serving.
1.
Following the directions on page 143, roll the dough out in sheets 6 inches wide. Roll the sheets to noodle thickness (the #6 setting). You don’t need to let the pasta dry before cutting it. Using a pastry wheel, cut 4 rectangles, each measuring 6×8 inches. Discard the rest of the pasta.
2.
Bring a large pot of water to a boil and season with salt. Prepare a large bowl of ice water. Add the pasta sheets and cook, stirring occasionally,
until the pasta is cooked, but still firm, about 1 minute—it’s going to bake, so it should still have a little bite to it. Transfer the sheets to the ice bath to cool, stirring them around in the cold water so they don’t stick together.
3.
Drain each sheet individually in a colander for a minute, then shake off the excess water and lay it on a piece of plastic wrap on a flat work surface. Lay the sheets out so a narrow end of each is toward you. Work quickly; if you leave the pasta sheets in the water too long they’ll stick together. Blot any excess water off the pasta with a paper towel. (If you’re going to assemble the nidimi later, stack the sheets on top of each other, with a layer of oiled plastic wrap between each one, and on the top and bottom as well. Refrigerate until ready to use.)
4.
Arrange the prosciutto in a single layer over the sheets of pasta, leaving an empty 2-inch border along the short side farthest from you. Follow the prosciutto with a heavy layer of spinach and then a layer of cheese. The cheese won’t cover the spinach completely; just make sure you distribute it as evenly as possible. The next step is to roll up the pasta sheets and filling: Starting at the short edge close to you, roll up each sheet as tightly as you can without tearing the pasta. (Take care not to roll up the plastic wrap with the pasta.) The uncovered strip of pasta will stick to the roll, sealing it.
5.
Cut each roll into 3 even pieces, making your cuts straight across the rolls—each piece of nidimi needs to be able to stand upright. (The nidimi can be made up to this point and refrigerated overnight.)
6.
Preheat the oven to 425°F.
7.
Heat the cream in a small saucepan over medium heat. As soon as the cream is warm, whisk in the Parmesan and keep whisking until it has completely melted. Season with salt and pepper and keep warm.
8.
Brush a baking dish with extra virgin olive oil. Stand the nidimi on their ends in the baking dish. Sprinkle 2 tablespoons water around the nidimi. Cover the nidimi with a layer of plastic wrap (tuck the edges inside the dish) and a layer of foil (crimped over the edges of the dish). Bake until the rolls are hot and the cheese has started to melt, about 15 minutes.
9.
Add the peas, lemon juice, and herbs to the sauce and warm through. Make a small pool of sauce on each of four warmed plates. Arrange 3 nidimi in the center of each plate. Serve immediately.
F
azzoletti, handkerchiefs
in Italian, is a reference to the similarity between these folded pasta sheets and the dapper two- or three-pointer that used to grace the breast pockets of men’s suit coats. A couple of generations from now, will anyone still make the connection? I latched on to this dish because it’s a quick and elegant alternative to ravioli. The spinach is put in the center of large pasta squares, then each square is folded in half to make a triangle, then folded again to make a smaller triangle. The “handkerchiefs” are then baked briefly in a lemon cream with the slow-roasted tomatoes and pistachios. It almost makes you wish for the return of snap-brim fedoras.
If you don’t have any slow-roasted tomatoes, you can substitute regular cherry tomatoes, but the effect will be milder.
MAKES 4 APPETIZER SERVINGS
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
3 medium shallots, 1 minced, 2 thinly sliced
1 cup heavy cream Grated zest of 1 lemon
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
½ pound flat-leaf spinach, trimmed of thick stems, washed, and dried
½ recipe Fresh Pasta (see pages 142-43)
½ recipe Slow-Roasted Tomatoes (page 117), using 12 cherry tomatoes or 6 plum tomatoes
2 tablespoons pistachios, toasted (see page 16) and coarsely chopped
¼ cup freshly grated Parmesan
1.
Melt 1 tablespoon of the butter in a small saucepan over medium heat. Add the minced shallot and cook until tender, about 3 minutes. Add the cream and lemon zest and simmer until reduced by one-quarter. Skim off the foam that collects on top of the cream. Season with salt and pepper and remove from the heat.
2.
Melt the remaining 1 tablespoon butter in a large sauté pan over medium-high heat. Add the sliced shallots and cook until they just begin to brown, 2 to 3 minutes (they’ll cook faster than the other shallot because the pan is hotter). Add the spinach, season with salt and pepper, and stir until wilted, about 2 minutes. Transfer to a plate to cool.
3.
Roll out the pasta according to the directions on pages 142-43 until thin enough for ravioli (the #7 or #8 setting, depending on your machine). Lay the pasta sheets out on a floured
countertop and use a pastry wheel to cut out 12 squares measuring 5 to 6 inches on a side. Discard the rest of the pasta. These ravioli squares don’t have to remain moist like classic ravioli because they’re cooked individually, like lasagna noodles. If they dry out a little while you’re bringing the water to a boil, it’s okay.
4.
Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Prepare a bowl of ice water. Season with salt and add the pasta squares to the boiling water, stirring constantly, until cooked, about 1 minute. Scoop the pasta squares out of the pot and plunge them into the ice water, stirring until cool.
5.
Preheat the oven to 450°F.
6.
If using plum tomatoes, cut each half into 4 pieces. Coat the bottom of a shallow 2-quart gratin dish with ¼ cup of the lemon cream. Distribute 12 cherry tomato halves or 12 pieces of plum tomatoes over the bottom of the dish. Sprinkle with 1 teaspoon of the pistachios.
7.
Remove the pasta squares from the cold water, drain, and lay them out on a flat work surface covered with plastic wrap. Put a spoonful of spinach in the center of each square. To make the fazzoletti, fold each square in half to make a triangle, then fold in half again to make a smaller triangle. Arrange the fazzoletti in overlapping rows in the gratin dish. Pour the remaining sauce over the pasta. Scatter the remaining tomatoes over the top, and sprinkle with the remaining pistachios and the Parmesan.
8.
Bake for 10 minutes, or until the fazzoletti are brown and crispy. Serve immediately.
S
emolina gnocchi, with their light,
puffy texture, cheesy crust, and passage from the stovetop to the oven seem more related to polenta (which is also cooked on top of the stove, allowed to firm up, and then may be baked) than to classic potato gnocchi, which are poached. For sheer versatility, they have few rivals. Accompanied by a red wine and mushroom sauce, as in this recipe, they serve as an elegant first course; without the sauce, they’re a side dish for rabbit or veal. At home, my husband likes them as a main course, either with this sauce or a wild mushroom ragout. You can even serve them as an hors d’oeuvre—cut them into canapé-sized diamonds, top with cheese, and bake without layering.
I’ve simplified the traditional marrow and mushroom sauce by creating a separate easy recipe for Roasted Marrowbones. Most people’s experiences with marrow are confined to osso buco, but in this dish you get a beef bone three times the size of an ordinary veal shank, with a triple portion of marrow. The marrowbones require very little effort and the marrow is such a creamy treat when spooned over the gnocchi that you owe it to yourself to try them. If you double the gnocchi recipe (use a shallow oval 2-quart casserole dish instead of a pie plate to bake the gnocchi) and add the marrowbones, you will have a stylish entrée.
MAKES 4 APPETIZER OR, WITHOUT THE SAUCE, SIDE-DISH SERVINGS
GNOCCHI
2 cups milk
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
½ cup semolina flour
½ cup freshly grated Parmesan
1 extra-large egg yolk
1½ tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature
SAUCE
2 to 4 tablespoons unsalted butter
4 shallots, minced
¼ pound domestic or wild mushrooms, cleaned and coarsely chopped into ½-inch pieces
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 cup dry red wine
2½ cups Chicken Stock (page 31) or 5 cups high-quality canned low-sodium chicken broth, reduced to 2½ cups (see page 32)
½ teaspoon chopped fresh thyme
1 recipe Roasted Marrowbones (recipe follows; optional)
DO AHEAD:
Soak the marrowbones a day before roasting in order to draw out the blood. Both the gnocchi and sauce can be made in advance if you want to save yourself some effort on the day of serving. Take the gnocchi through Step 3, then cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate.
Allow the gnocchi to come to room temperature before baking them. If making the sauce ahead, allow it to cool, then cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate. Reheat while the gnocchi are baking.
1.
Heat the milk in a heavy saucepan over medium heat. Season with salt and pepper. When the milk is just about to boil, add in the semolina in a slow, steady stream, whisking constantly. Continue whisking until the mixture is very thick, about 5 minutes. Remove from the heat.
2.
Stir ⅓ cup of the cheese, the egg yolk, and 1 tablespoon of the butter into the semolina mixture. Season with salt and pepper. Pour the mixture into an 8-inch glass pie plate and allow to cool and firm.
3.
Once the semolina mix is firm, use a wet knife to cut gnocchi diamonds with 1-inch sides (15 to 20 gnocchi). Rub a clean glass or glazed ceramic pie plate with the remaining ½ tablespoon butter. Arrange the gnocchi in the dish in overlapping rows. (If not serving immediately, cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate. Allow to come up to room temperature before baking.)
4.
Heat 2 tablespoons butter in a sauté pan over medium heat. Add the shallots and cook until tender, about 3 minutes. Add the mushrooms and season with salt and pepper. Cook until tender, about 10 minutes. Transfer to a plate.
5.
Add the red wine to the pan and reduce to a glaze, about 15 minutes. Return the mushrooms to the pan, add the chicken stock, and reduce by half, about 30 minutes. Keep warm (or allow to cool, cover with plastic wrap, and refrigerate until you need it; the sauce will keep for a day).
6.
Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 450°F.
7.
Sprinkle the gnocchi with the remaining cheese and bake until golden brown, about 20 minutes. If the gnocchi aren’t a lovely golden brown after 20 minutes, run them under the broiler for a minute or two, until they turn the proper color. Allow to rest for 10 minutes before serving.
8.
While the gnocchi are resting, reheat the sauce over low heat. When the sauce is hot, whisk in the remaining 2 tablespoons butter, if desired. Add the thyme and season with salt and pepper.
9.
If serving the marrowbones, return them to the oven for 3 minutes so the marrow begins to melt.
10.
Scoop the gnocchi onto four serving plates, and, if you have them, stand a marrowbone on its end next to each portion of gnocchi. Spoon the mushroom sauce over the gnocchi and serve immediately, accompanied by small spoons for scooping out the marrow.
A
s a matter of strategy,
bake the marrowbones ahead of the gnocchi, then increase the oven temperature to 450°F. Allow the bones to sit on top of the stove, covered with foil, while the gnocchi finish baking.
4 beef marrowbones, each about 4 inches long, soaked 6 hours in several changes of cold water in the refrigerator to draw out the blood
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
4 small sprigs thyme
1.
Preheat the oven to 350°F.
2.
Rinse the marrowbones and pat dry. Season the ends of the bones with salt and pepper. Arrange the bones on their ends on a small baking sheet—the ends with the greatest amount of exposed marrow should be facing up. Insert a spring of thyme into the exposed marrow in each bone.
3.
Roast until the marrow of each bone wiggles like custard when the bone is shaken, about 45 minutes. Cover the baking sheet with foil and leave atop the stove to keep warm while you bake the gnocchi.