Spaetzle

Spaetzle is a German/Austrian type of fresh pasta. The fresh dough has a consistency that is between bread dough and pancake batter. You can make it in a stand mixer using paddle or mix it by hand in a bowl.

Ingredients:

1 cup all-purpose flour

1/4 cup milk

2 eggs

1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg

1 pinch freshly ground white pepper

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 tablespoons butter

Mix together flour, salt, white pepper, and nutmeg. Beat eggs well, add milk and mix until smooth.

Press dough/batter through spaetzle maker, or scrape small pieces of the dough off the wood cutting board edge into boiling water. When spaetzle come to surface cook additional 5 minutes. Transfer to bowl with cold water and when cool remove with strainer and drain.

Sauté cooked spaetzle in butter.

Seafood Mix with Pasta

Last week while shopping in supermarket I spotted 2 Lb bag of seafood mix. It looked so fresh and had a mix of clams, squid rings and tentacles, small slabs of cuttlefish and small shrimps. Since I know that each item requires different cooking time I turned to Chowhound discussion board. For 2 days we went back and forth about best way to prepare it. Originally I was considering seafood risotto, then there were suggestions of a hot pot and few others. I definitely will try the hot pot. Anyway, I have finally settled on cooking it in tomato sauce and serve it with fresh fettuccine. My wife declared it absolutely amazing and a definite and regular repeat.

There isn’t really much of a recipe. I just heated tomato sauce with 2 Tbs. of leftover béchamel sauce and when hot I added the seafood mix that was thawed out and at room temperature. Cook for no more then 3 minutes and at very end mix in 1 Tbs. of chopped parsley. Since this meal is so quick, cook the pasta before, toss in butter and keep warm. Serve the sauce on top of pasta and garnish with chopped parsley.

Veal Shoulder Chops – Osso Buco Style

It has been such a long time since we had Osso Buco, meal that we both love. Reason is simple. We just can’t get 3” thick veal shanks here. Acceptable solution for us is to use thick veal shoulder chop instead. Of course the favorite part of Osso Buco is the marrow, a part that we will have to do without but taste should be similar.

Ingredients:

1/2 tablespoons olive oil

2 pounds bone-in veal shoulder chops

Salt and pepper

2 medium carrots, chopped

2 medium stalks celery, thinly sliced

1 medium onions, chopped

2 cloves garlic, finely chopped

1 cup canned whole tomatoes in juice

1/2 cup dry white wine

1 cup chicken broth

1 bay leaf

1 Tbs. lemon juice

1 teaspoon grated fresh lemon peel plus additional for garnish

Gremolata:

1 Tbs. grated lemon peel

1 tsp. finely chopped garlic

3 Tbs. finely chopped parsley

Mix till well combined.

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In wide-bottom Dutch oven, heat oil on medium-high until very hot. Sprinkle veal chops with 1/2 teaspoon salt and 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper to season both sides. Add veal chops to Dutch oven and cook 8 to 9 minutes per batch or until veal is browned on both sides, turning over once. Transfer veal to plate once it is browned.

After all veal is browned, add carrots, celery, onions, and garlic to Dutch oven, and cook on medium 12 minutes or until vegetables are lightly browned and tender, stirring occasionally.

Return veal, and any juices from plate, to Dutch oven. Stir in tomatoes with their juice, wine, broth, and bay leaf. Heat mixture to boiling on high, stirring and breaking up tomatoes with side of spoon.

Cover Dutch oven and place in oven. Braise 2 hours or until veal is very tender when pierced with fork. Transfer veal to platter. Skim off fat from liquid in Dutch oven.

Place Dutch oven on burner on top of range, and cook sauce on medium-high about 10 minutes or until slightly thickened, stirring occasionally. Add lemon peel and lemon juice and cook 2 minutes.

Meanwhile, cook noodles till al dente and keep warm.

To serve, pour little sauce on bottom of preheated plates, then noodles, more sauce and then meat. Spoon sauce over veal and place tablespoon of gremolata on top for garnish.

Mussels and Linguine in Wine Sauce

While passing by a fish counter at our local Metro supermarket I spotted my favorite fish counter server removing mussels from just received box and placing them in display case. Well, another meal idea was born even though the reason I went shopping in first place was to get my veal chops that I had a rain check for. Mussels can’t wait but veal surely can. These were fresh as well so one day will not hurt. Braised veal chops in mushroom sauce will be my post for tomorrow. Anyway, today’s recipe is basically Linguine con le Vongole but instead of clams I’m using fresh mussels and since I made big batch of fresh pasta two days ago I served it with fresh linguine. And what a treat it was!

Ingredients

3 to 4 Dozen  

1/2 cup Extra Virgin Olive Oil

4 to 6 cloves garlic , sliced

1/4 teaspoon Dried Thyme

1/4 teaspoon Dried Basil

1/4 teaspoon Dried Chervil

1/4 teaspoon Red pepper flakes

3/4 cup White wine

1 cup Italian parsley, chopped

1/2 pound Linguine

Preparation Directions

1. Clean and scrub the mussels, and discard any open ones.
2. In a large stockpot heat the olive oil over low heat, add the garlic and sauté until just fragrant.
3. Turn up the heat to medium-high and add the mussels. Cover the pan and steam the mussels until they open, about 3-5 minutes. Occasionally shake the pan to help them cook.
4. Check the mussels. Those that didn't open, take a small paring knife and try to help them open. If they open and smell good, then you can use them. The stubborn and/or the bad smelling ones, discard.
5. Turn down heat to medium-low and remove the lid. Pour the wine over the mussels and deglaze. Remove the mussels to a side dish, cover to stay warm.
6. Add the herbs and reduce the wine by 1/3. When reduced, stir in the parsley and remove form the heat.
7. Meanwhile, cook linguine in a large stockpot or pasta pot of boiling salted water. When the pasta is al dente, drain the pasta, then toss the pasta with the sauce.
8. Divide the pasta between individual dinner plates. Arrange the mussels attractively around each plate and serve with a little additional fresh parsley on top for garnish.

Definitely more friendly way to serve this meal. Not as photogenic but so much easier to eat!

Cannelloni

Made with Fresh Egg Pasta

What I have seen personally, Fresh egg pasta cannelloni is an Italian wedding favorite. If everything is done from scratch, like Italian banquette halls usually do, it is job for good part of a day and very labor intensive but worth every step and every minute put into producing this meal.

It is not important if you do pasta or filling first but it is more time saving to make the dough first and while it is resting in a fridge, as it must for at least 30 minutes, you start on filling. As I have previously posted recipe for Fresh Egg Pasta, I will not repeat it here. This post is long enough as it is.

Cannelloni Pasta:

To cook pasta, trim fresh pasta sheet into 4” wide sheets and then cut into 4” squares. Save trimmings in a plastic bag with 1 Tbs flour for soup or pasta and sauce dish.

Bring large pot of salted water to boil. Meanwhile, place large steel bowl with cold water next to pot for cooling down cooked pasta. Have a large tea towel ready.

When water is boiling drop in pasta squares one by one and stir to separate them. Boil for 4 minutes and remove to bowl with cold water with slotted spoon. Immediately straighten the sheets and place them flat on towel. Cook rest of pasta same way. Cover pasta with another wet towel and reserve.

To make the filling that can also be used in Ravioli you will need:

Ingredients for Filling:

3/4 lb. ground veal

1 medium carrots, chopped

1/2 stalk celery, chopped

1/4 cup chopped onion

Frozen spinach (10 ounce package), thawed, excess moisture squeezed out

1 teaspoons salt

1 teaspoons white pepper

2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

1 cup dry white wine

1/4 cup heavy cream

3/4 cup smooth ricotta cheese

1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese

2 eggs, beaten

2 teaspoons dry Italian herbs

2 tablespoons chopped fresh basil

Preparation:

In a medium hot frying pan add 1 Tbs. of olive oil and sauté onions, carrots and celery until soft and then add spinach. Add salt and pepper and mix well. Remove to large mixing bowl.

In same frying pan add another tablespoon of oil, then the meat and brown lightly. Break apart any clumps that will form. Add wine and cook till all liquid cooks away. Stir frequently.

Remove to bowl with spinach mixture and combine. Add cream, Parmesan cheese, ricotta cheese, beaten eggs and dry herbs and basil. Mix till well combined. You should be able to form a cylinder with the meat mixture.

Fresh Tomato Sauce:

Place 1 can (about 15 ounces) tomatoes and their juice in food processor; process until smooth.

Heat 2 tablespoons virgin olive oil over medium heat in a large skillet. Add 2 cloves minced garlic and 1/2 cup chopped onion; cook until soft. Add the processed tomatoes, 1 teaspoon each salt and pepper, and cook 5 to 10 minutes or until liquid is no longer watery. Add four chopped fresh basil leaves or a little dried leaf basil, and cook 1 minute longer.

Assembly:

Cooked pasta sheets

Meat and Spinach filling

Béchamel sauce

Tomato sauce

Grated Mozzarella cheese

Place enough filling at front edge of pasta sheet to form about 1 ½” diameter cylinder and make a tight roll. When all are done, set aside.

Preheat oven to 350°.

In a bottom of ovenproof serving dish or baking pan pour tomato sauce and then thin layer of Béchamel sauce. Place rolled cannelloni on top and repeat with layers of tomato and Béchamel sauces. Top with grated Mozzarella or Provolone cheese. Bake for 20 minutes or until sauce is bubbly and cheese has melted.

Fresh Egg Pasta

Made With Food Processor
If you have never made fresh pasta, give it a try using this recipe, it is so easy. There is such a big difference in taste and especially texture between fresh egg pasta and store bought dry pasta. Now, that I found this recipe (on Internet, of course) I will make my own much more often but in smaller batches.

Ingredients:
2 eggs
1 tbs olive oil

1/4 tsp salt
1/2 cup semolina flour, whole wheat flour or white flour
1 cup  (or more) white flour
This simple, painless and quick method of making fresh pasta using a food
processor is much simpler than the length of the instructions, which include directions for dealing with problems, would lead you to believe.
This technique solves the basic problem in pasta making: getting a dough with just the right amount of moisture so that it's neither too soft and sticky nor too dry and hard to work. You start with the moist ingredients (egg and olive oil), then add just enough flour that the dough first gathers into a ball, then breaks up into granules, then gathers itself up again. When that happens, you know you've got just the right moisture content, and you can reward yourself by letting the processor do the kneading for you. The semolina or whole wheat flour that is added first can be used to give the pasta more body (semolina has more gluten than standard flour) or make it more wholesome. They're added first to give these hard-to-work ingredients more chance to dissolve in liquid. You can use as much of them as you like as long as the mixture is still a batter, to give the processor a chance to do its thing.
The first time you make pasta this way, add flour in smaller increments. With experience you'll get a better feel for how fast to proceed, and after three or four batches you'll have a batch of noodles ready in under 10 minutes. Also with experience, you will determine the capacity of your processor; too large a batch will always gum up the works.

Instructions:
Place the eggs, olive oil and salt in the bowl of the food processor and whirl briefly to blend. If using semolina flour or whole-wheat flour, add and process for 15 seconds. This mixture is supposed to make a thick batter, so feel free to add extra flour at this point.
Add remaining flour, 1/2 cup at a time until dough forms a ball. Continue adding flour, 1/4 cup at a time, until the ball breaks up into bead-like granules. If the blob doesn't break up and it doesn't absorb the flour either (that is, you wind up with a blob of dough and flour whirling around in the bottom), then take out the dough and, with the processor running,
feed inch-size pieces of the dough back through the feed chute so that they break up on impact. If the dough is really sticky, add a couple tablespoons of flour first.
If the dough has just the right amount of moisture, it will break up, whirl around for a few seconds, then start gathering itself back up into a ball, ultimately picking up all the stray pieces and rolling around the inside of the processor bowl, making a terrible racket and causing the processor to walk across the counter. When that happens, congratulations! Let it knead itself this way for 15 seconds, then stop the processor, remove the dough to a covered bowl and let it sit for 15 minutes. Proceed to roll it out with machine or rolling pin for the pasta dish of your choice.

If the dough doesn't gather itself up again, it's usually either because it is too dry (it stays granular) or because the gathering process didn't get started properly (it sticks to the inside of the bowl and eventually stops whirling entirely). If the former, add water through the feed chute with the processor running, a tablespoon at a time, until the dough gathers. If
it gathers on the side of the bowl instead of in a ball, then stop the processor, grab some out, form it into a ball, return to the bowl and start the processor again. This will usually pick up the rest of the dough, and off you go. If not, add a tablespoon of flour, process it for a second, and repeat.

Original recipe by Steve Upstill on Chef2Chef Culinary Portal

My pasta machine is driven by commercial 8 quart mixer equiped with foot pedal for easy control.

 This dough needs another tablespoon of flour.

Dough has to be rolled by hand first to fit into rollers.

Sheets of pasta are ready for final processing.