Read In the Hands of a Chef Online
Authors: Jody Adams
In the Hands of a Chef (21 page)
MAKES 4 ENTRÉE SERVINGS
1 recipe Basic Pastry Dough (page 343), chilled
6 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
2 pounds orange winter squash such as butternut, delicata, or Hubbard, peeled, seeded, and cut into ¼-inch-thick slices
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
¼ cup sugar
1 teaspoon ground allspice
4 ripe pears, peeled, cored, and cut into eighths
2 tablespoons sherry vinegar
2 leeks, white part only, trimmed of roots and tough outer leaves, thinly sliced crosswise, and swirled vigorously in a bowl of cold water to remove any grit
⅓ pound (5 ounces) Gorgonzola (or your favorite high-quality blue cheese, such as Great Hill Blue or Stilton), crumbled
1.
On a lightly floured surface, roll the dough into a 16-inch circle, about. inch thick. Line a sheet pan with parchment paper. Fold the dough into quarters, transfer it to the sheet pan, and unfold. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 30 minutes.
2.
Heat 2 tablespoons of the olive oil in a large sauté pan over medium-high heat. Add the squash slices, season with salt and pepper, and cook until the squash is tender and golden brown, about 6 minutes. Sprinkle with 2 tablespoons of the sugar and the allspice. Toss until the sugar has melted and caramelized on the squash. Remove from the heat and set aside.
3.
Heat 2 tablespoons of the olive oil in a second large sauté pan over medium-high heat. Add the pears and cook until golden and tender, about 12 minutes. Sprinkle with the remaining 2 tablespoons sugar and toss until the sugar has melted and caramelized on the pears. Add the vinegar and season generously with pepper. Set aside.
4.
Heat the remaining 2 tablespoons olive oil in a medium sauté pan over medium heat. Add the leeks, season with salt and pepper, and cook until tender, 5 to 6 minutes. Let cool.
5.
Preheat the oven to 375°F.
6.
Remove the pastry circle from the refrigerator. Spread the cooked leeks on the circle, leaving a 2-inch border. Alternate the squash and pears over the leeks spoke fashion. Pull up the edges of the crust and gently flip them over the filling to form a wide, rustic edge. Pleat the dough as necessary but do not crimp.
7.
Bake the tart until the crust is crisp and golden brown, 40 to 45 minutes. Sprinkle the blue cheese over the top of the tart and bake for an additional 5 minutes.
8.
Let rest for 5 minutes, then cut into wedges and serve.
S
ome combinations—crust, tomatoes, basil,
a little cheese, and olive
oil—seem to transcend cultural limitations. Everyone who encounters the ingredients seems somehow compelled to combine them in similar ways. My good friend—and recipe tester—Pam Krueger introduced me to these tarts.
This version uses basic unsweetened pastry dough, but you can clearly apply the same combination to puff pastry, phyllo, or even pizza dough; you’ll need about 12 ounces of dough. The recipe easily doubles or triples. Time is your only limitation.
MAKES FOUR 3×4-INCH TARTS
1
recipe Basic Pastry Dough (page 343), chilled
½ cup freshly grated Parmesan
24 beautiful basil leaves
8 ripe plum tomatoes, sliced ½ inch thick
2 shallots, minced
2 garlic cloves, minced
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
DO AHEAD:
Make the dough.
1.
Line a sheet pan with parchment paper. Divide the dough into 4 equal pieces and shape into disks. Roll each disk into a rough 6
×
4-inch rectangle, about
¼
inch thick, on a floured surface. Transfer the dough to the sheet pan. Drape with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 30 minutes.
2.
Preheat the oven to 425°F.
3.
Remove the dough from the refrigerator and sprinkle with half the cheese. Lay 6 basil leaves on each rectangle. Toss the tomatoes with the shallots and garlic and season with salt and pepper. Lay the tomatoes, overlapping them, atop the basil leaves. Drizzle with the olive oil. Sprinkle with the remaining cheese.
4.
Bake for 25 minutes, or until each crust is crisp and golden brown and the tomatoes are soft. Serve hot or at room temperature.
,
WITH A TASTE OF GNOCCHI, POLENTA, AND RISOTTO
I
talians have a culinary genius
for transforming ordinary starches into sensual treasures. In goes flour, potatoes, cornmeal, or rice; out comes pasta, gnocchi, polenta, or risotto. None of these skills is difficult to learn, unless you forswear the use of all kitchen machines.
This chapter includes instructions for making gnocchi, polenta, and a single risotto, but the emphasis is on pasta. Preparing pasta dough and rolling it out with nothing more than a rolling pin is a true skill, and people who are good at it are a wonder to behold, but I suggest an easier route. Mix the dough with a food processor, then employ an inexpensive hand-cranked pasta machine to knead and roll the dough into sheets of fresh pasta. At home, you can roll your pasta sheets far thinner (and make more delicate ravioli) than boutique pasta stores can. Pappardelle and tagliatelle, lasagna made with fresh noodles, exquisitely delicate ravioli, and a variety of “hand-folded” pasta dishes
like fazzoletti
(handkerchiefs) or
nidimi
(little nests) flow from the ability to make fresh noodles.
Being able to make your own fettuccine or pappardelle can also come in handy with leftovers. The remains of any dish of braised meat can be transformed into a new meal by being used as a sauce for fresh pasta.
All of the recipes in this chapter cultivate your ability to pay attention. Italians have taught us to eat pasta a little chewier than we used to. Risotto is supposed to have a little resistance left in the
grains; potato gnocchi are done when they’re cooked through with just a hint of resilience in them. You have to taste and make a judgment. Timings like “3 to 5 minutes, “ “about 10 minutes, “ etc., should be taken as guides, not inflexible rules. With a little experience, you can sense when things are nearing completion. The process is akin to grilling a steak and relying on an instant-read digital thermometer. If you press the steak with your finger each time you take a reading, after a while you’ll be able to tell from how the meat feels whether it’s time to remove it from the grill. The same is true of these dishes. Learn to judge doneness by how the pasta or gnocchi feels in your mouth; use times only as a general guideline.
T
he rewards of making fresh
egg pasta are far out of proportion to the amount of effort required. The task is made easy with the use of a food processor and an inexpensive manual pasta machine. Here are a few tips to make your first experience rolling the dough a little easier.
Don’t skip the first few passes through the widest setting of the rollers. This kneads the dough, developing the gluten and helping it become more elastic.
If the dough sticks to the rollers, dust it with a little flour.
If a small tear appears in the dough, patch the tear and roll the dough through the same setting of the pasta machine again. For larger tears, wad the sheet into a ball, flatten it with your palm, and start again, beginning with the widest setting of the rollers. Tears may occur if the dough is sticking to the rollers or you’re rolling too fast.
You should be able to roll a small piece of dough from start to finished sheet in about 10 minutes. Try not to work more slowly than this, or the dough will start to dry out while you’re rolling it.
You can roll out fresh pasta a day ahead of cooking. Make a stack of sheets, layering them between parchment paper dusted with semolina flour. (Semolina is a little coarser than regular flour and keeps everything from sticking.) Put the stack on a tray and refrigerate, covered with plastic wrap, until you’re ready to cut the pasta. I generally prefer not to use made-ahead pasta for ravioli, because it’s harder to seal than dough that you’ve just finished rolling. If you do want to use dough you’ve made in advance, be sure to moisten the ravioli sheets with a little water around the pockets of filling to get a good seal.
MAKES 1 POUND
2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour, plus extra for rolling
3 extra-large eggs
1.
Put the flour in the bowl of a food processor. Beat the eggs in a bowl with a fork. With the food processor running, add the beaten eggs in a steady stream. Process until the dough comes together and is smooth and elastic, about 4 minutes. If the dough seems sticky, add a little more flour. Put the ball of dough in a bowl and cover with plastic. Let rest for 20 minutes.
2.
Divide the dough into 6 pieces. Cover 5 of the pieces with plastic. Flatten the remaining piece of dough slightly with your hand, dust it with flour, and crank it through a manual pasta machine with the rollers set at their maximum distance apart, the #1 setting. Fold the dough in thirds as though you were folding a business letter and run it through the machine again, feeding the narrow side into the rollers. Repeat the process of folding and rolling 4 or 5 more times. This process kneads the dough and prepares it for the next step of thinning it. Don’t hesitate to sprinkle the dough with flour as necessary as you continue running it through the machine; you don’t want it to stick to the rollers.
3.
Gradually roll the dough to the desired thinness, narrowing the distance between the rollers with each pass of the dough. If the dough tears, just patch it together and roll it through the same setting again, a little more slowly this time. If the dough sticks to the rollers, sprinkle it with flour. (You will soon get the feel for the right speed and the proper level of moisture to keep the dough rolling efficiently.) After you’ve rolled the dough through the #6 setting, it should be thin enough to cut into any string pasta. For ravioli, the dough should be rolled slightly thinner. If you have an older machine there may be only one more setting; otherwise, the machine may go up to #9. For ravioli, roll the dough through #7 if that’s your highest setting, or through #8. (I never use #9—the dough becomes too delicate to handle easily.)
4.
Let the dough dry for 5 to 10 minutes before cutting it into noodles. Ravioli should be prepared while the dough is still moist. Transfer the cut noodles to a board or a sheet pan covered with a towel lightly dusted with flour.