Tag Archives: butter

Pasta

Reginette with Turkey Stock, Caramelized Onions & Rosemary

If you’re wondering what to do with those rich juices from your roasted turkey, and you’re tired of soup or risotto, here’s my favorite recipe: an easy to make yet memorable pasta. The savory depth of the meat juices combined with the nutty flavor of the grated Parmigiano results in something far more than the sum of its simple parts.

After roasting your turkey, add a few cups of water to that roasting pan, scrape well to deglaze the clinging bits, and cook the juices until rich, then save them for the recipe below. You can even freeze the rich juices in ice cube trays for later use. This is one dish where homemade stock (or the reserved juices from roasted meats) really makes a difference; the store-bought stuff just won’t give you the depth of flavor needed to elevate a simple dish to extraordinary status.

And remember: when caramelizing the onions, take it low and slow… no need for sugar, just patience and a low heat and a bit of water to prevent scorching.

For the sauce:

  • 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
  • 2 large red onions, thinly sliced (2 cups)
  • 2 rosemary sprigs, leaves only, minced
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
  • cool water as needed
  • ½ cup dry white wine
  • 2 cups rich turkey stock

For the pasta and to serve:

  • 2 tablespoons salt
  • 1 pound reginette or other fresh, wide pasta noodles
  • 1 cup freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano
  • 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

Make the sauce: Melt the butter over a medium-low flame in a deep, wide saucepan large enough to accommodate the pasta later. Add the onions and rosemary, season with the salt and pepper, and cook until the onions are soft and lightly golden, about 30 minutes, stirring often and adding  a bit of water if the onions start to stick; the trick to caramelizing onions is to cook them slowly and to add a bit of moisture as needed. Watch the flame so the onions don’t burn.

Pour in the wine and cook 2 minutes, scraping the pan to release any caramelized bits into the liquid. Pour in the turkey stock, stir well, and cook over medium-low heat until there is about ¾ cup of liquid in the pan. It will take about 20 minutes. Turn off the heat. The sauce should be very flavorful and intense. (The sauce can be made up to this point 2 days in advance; refrigerate until needed, then warm gently before proceeding.)

Make the pasta: Bring 5 quarts of water to a boil. Add the salt and the pasta. Cook until al dente, then drain, reserving 2 cups of the pasta cooking water.

Transfer the drained pasta to the saucepan and sauté 1 minute over high heat. Add some of the reserved pasta cooking water as needed to thin out the sauce; it should coat the pasta nicely. Stir in the Parmigiano. Drizzle with the olive oil, and adjust the seasoning as needed. Serve hot.

roastjuices-tagliatelle_DSC6045

 

 

Main Course: Vegetarian

Chive-Scented Bread Gnocchi in Sage Butter (Canederli)

These gnocchi are a specialty of Trentino-Alto Adige in Italy’s northeast, where they are called knodel in German or canederli  in Italian. They are usually rolled by hand (like gnocchi) and served floating in soup, but I prefer them pan-fried until golden brown in sage butter. I like my canederli quite soft, so I make the mixture too sticky to roll out on a counter, and use 2 spoons to drop it into simmering water instead.

Canederli should be made with a close-textured, dense, unflavored, stale bread: if the bread is light and airy, or if it is too fresh, it will absorb too much liquid and therefore call for too much flour, resulting in leaden dumplings.  You can use rye bread or whole wheat bread if you like.

I serve canederli as a main course, with an assortment of roasted vegetables, cured meats like Speck (a smoked Prosciutto from Trentino-Alto Adige), and savory cheeses like Asiago or Piave. You can also serve them alongside meat and poultry, where they’ll pick up the sauce; or drop them in a bowl of chicken soup as a soothing starter.

Serves 2 as a main course, 4 as an appetizer or side dish

  • ¼ pound crustless day-old white country bread, cut into 1/2-inch cubes
  • 1 cup snipped chives
  • 1 teaspoon caraway seeds
  • 2 tablespoons plus ¾ teaspoon salt
  • ¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
  • 2 large eggs
  • ½  cup whole milk
  • ¼ cup to ½ cup unbleached all-purpose flour, plus extra if needed
  • 2 tablespoons  unsalted butter
  • 12 sage leaves, thinly sliced

canederliingredients_DSC3770

Place the bread in a large bowl. Add the chives, caraway, ½ teaspoon of the salt, and the pepper. Stir a bit to mix, then add the eggs and mash vigorously with your hands until the bread breaks down. Add the milk and mash again; the point is to create a dense paste with the ingredients at this stage.

canederliingredientsinbowl_DSC3773

Add the flour and mash again with your hands; the mixture should hold together and form a gluey paste; add more flour by the tablespoon if it does not. The mixture should be sticky at this point; if it is not sticky, it will form heavy canederli once cooked. Depending on how stale and dry your bread is, the mixture will require different amounts of flour: drier, staler bread requires less flour. If not cooking right away, cover and set aside for up to 2 hours at room temperature.

Before cooking all the canederli, I suggest testing their texture so you can adjust with additional flour if needed.

When you are ready to serve, bring 4 quarts of water to a boil. Add 2 tablespoons of the salt. Using 2 spoons, drop 1 tablespoon of the batter into the boiling water, and cook until it bobs to the surface. The canederli is not fully cooked at this point, but you can gauge its texture; if it has fallen apart and disintegrated into the water, the batter requires additional flour to hold it together, so add a bit of flour and mix again to incorporate, then test the batter again.  It is fine if a few small bits do come away, but the test canederli should remain mostly whole.

Return the water to a gentle boil. Drop the batter  by the tablespoon into the water, forming about 20 tablespoon-sized dumplings. They will look misshapen and lumpy, and some small bits may float off and break away, but that is fine.  Maintain the heat so the water is just simmering, not vigorously boiling, or the canederli may disintegrate. Cook 8 minutes, uncovered.

canederlidropinwater_DSC3787

canederliinwater_DSC3789

Remove with a slotted spoon to a tray.  You can do this up to 4 hours ahead and hold at room temperature on an oiled tray, covered with plastic wrap.

Melt the butter with the sage over medium-high heat in a nonstick 12-inch skillet. Add the canederli and sauté 5 to 8 minutes, or until golden all over, turning to cook evenly. Sprinkle with the remaining ¼ teaspoon of salt and serve hot.

canederliinpanlater_DSC3793

canederliwithspeckplated_DS3802

Fresh Pasta

Garnet Yam Gnocchi in Sage Butter Sauce

Gnocchi were my favorite pasta when  I was little.  I was especially fond of potato gnocchi in Gorgonzola sauce, which my mom made to perfection. Lately I’ve been making a lot of sweet potato and garnet yam gnocchi; maybe because in winter, I crave something a bit sweet, and using yams or sweet potatoes gives me an excuse to add a touch of freshly grated nutmeg to the dough. 

Whatever type of tuber you use (Yukon Gold or russet potatoes, garnet yams, regular yams, sweet potatoes), be sure to weigh the flesh after baking, before adding the specified amount of flour; that way, your gnocchi will emerge light and delicate, never heavy. And remember: gnocchi dough should never be kneaded, just mixed and gathered gently with your hands, or else you’ll end up adding more flour than necessary and your gnocchi will be heavy.

To learn how to make gnocchi in a hands-on cooking class with me, and to really understand what the correct texture is for handmade gnocchi, check out our cooking class calendar: we feature handmade gnocchi of every variety (even Ricotta) about once a week or so!

yamgnocchicooked

Serves 4

For the gnocchi:

  • 3 medium garnet yams (about ¾ pound each), scrubbed
  • ¼ teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
  • ½ teaspoon salt
  • ¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
  • 1 cup (4 ounces or 130 grams) unbleached all-purpose flour, plus extra for the tray and counter

For the sauce:

  • 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
  • 12 sage leaves, thinly sliced
  • ½ teaspoon salt
  • ¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

To cook and serve:

  • 2 tablespoons salt
  • ½ cup freshly grated Parmigiano Reggiano

Make the gnocchi: Preheat the oven to 350°F (preferably set on convection).

Place the yams on an aluminum foil-lined baking sheet, poke each with a fork once or twice to prevent bursting, and roast until tender when pierced with a knife, about 1 hour and 15 minutes. Cool to room temperature. Cut in half and scoop out the flesh. Place the flesh  in a  bowl. Weigh out exactly 1 pound and reserve the rest for another use.

Using a ricer, puree the yam flesh directly onto the counter.

ricingyam

Stir in the nutmeg, salt, and pepper.

ricedyam

Add the flour and mix with your hands until a dough forms.

flouredyam

dough

The mixture should form a soft, cohesive mass; add a little more flour if the dough is very sticky. Stop mixing once you see no more white streaks in the dough.

Cut into 8 pieces. Dust each piece with flour. With lightly floured hands, gently roll each piece into a 1-inch-thick log. The dough will be soft, but resist the temptation to add more flour unless the dough is really sticky; also be sure not to knead the dough, or else it will require additional flour.

logs

Cut into 1-inch pieces, toss gently with flour, and spread out in a single layer on a floured tray. (The gnocchi can be made up to this point 12 hours ahead, spread out in a single layer on a floured tray, and refrigerated, uncovered, until ready to cook.) Be sure the gnocchi are not touching each other because the dough is soft and rather sticky.

If you’re nervous that the gnocchi are too soft, try boiling just one or two at this point; that way, if they seem too soft once cooked, or fall apart in the water, you can adjust by adding a touch of flour to firm them up.

cuttinglogs

rawyamgnocchi

Make the sauce: Melt the butter with the sage, salt, and pepper in an 8-inch skillet over medium-low heat until aromatic. Keep warm.

To cook: Bring 6 quarts of water to a very gentle boil. Add the gnocchi and the salt, and cook until the gnocchi float to the surface,a bout 1 minute. Remove with a slotted spoon to a wide, shallow platter, reserving 1 cup of the gnocchi cooking water.

Add 1/2 cup of the gnocchi cooking water to the sauce in the skillet and swirl once or twice to combine.  Pour over the gnocchi in the platter and mix gently with a rubber spatula.  Sprinkle with the  Parmigiano, and stir gently to incorporate. Taste for seasoning and adjust if necessary. If needed, thin the sauce out with a bit of the gnocchi cooking water. Serve hot.