Farfalle with Scape + Basil Pesto with Sautéed Chanterelles

July 14, 2021 by Philip Buccellato in mushrooms, pasta, wild food

Farfalle with a creamy basil + scape + toasted pine nuts + pecorino pesto topped with sautéed chanterelles foraged earlier in the morning. Pasta dough blended 75% 0 Manitoba flour from @mulinocaputo and 25% Semola Rimancinata Cuore from @molini_del_ponte_drago @gustiamo . Pretty killer combination using the best of what’s in season right now. Recipe as follows and a short video of the process below.

The Farfalle

Ingredients

300 g 00 Flour

150 g Semola Rimancinata Cuore

250 g eggs (beaten before mixing)

*Portioned for 5 - 6 people

Directions

Mix the flours and dump out the weighed amount onto a clean work surface.
Use your hand to form a well (like a volcano) in the center of the flour.
Carefully pour your eggs into the center and begin slowly mixing together with a fork. Gradually, carefully, work your way all around to incorporate the eggs with the flour, without breaking the outer wall. A bench scraper is a handy tool to have at this point if you have one.
After about 5 - 10 minutes it will start coming together into a shaggy mass. Begin using your hands to knead the dough together. Work diligently for another 5 minutes until it is no longer shaggy.
Use the edges of your hands, knuckles, to work the dough until it starts to form a smooth ball. Knead it, applying pressure, into the work surface. Fold it. Knead it again. After about ten minutes it should be smooth and ready to rest.
Cut the dough into two and wrap each in plastic wrap. Set into the fridge for at least 30 minutes.
The following steps revolve around using a mattarello (Italian rolling pin) - but you could also do this with a pasta machine. Remove one of the dough balls, unwrap, and place in the center of your work surface. Apply a light dusting of flour to both the surface and the top of the dough.
Slowly apply downwards pressure with the rolling pin, starting from the center of the ball and moving outwards. Repeat, methodically, always working from the center outwards. The sfoglia (pasta dough) will gradually begin to flatten and create a large round sheet on your work surface. If you’re finding the dough sticky, use a tiny bit more flour. Periodically flip the dough over and work from the other side. This process requires a little elbow grease and about 10-15 minutes of your time. You’ll know you’re done when the dough stops pulling inwards on itself and the thickness is about 2-3 mm. It should be light and delicate but be able to retain it’s shape. Allow the dough to air dry for about 5 minutes. Dust with a very light sprinkling of semolina.
For the next part of the process I highly recommend watching the video below. Using a pasta cutter, cut the sfoglia into rectangles about 1 inch wide by 2.5 inches long (or approximate a pinky length). Traditionally you’ll use a serrated cutter but you’ll notice in the video that I forgot in my haste so my farfalle has smooth edges. Use three fingers, one placed in the center and two on the outer central edges of the narrower side. Gently, firmly pinch from the outside in and slowly lift the center finger and press the edges together. Lift and place to the side to allow to air dry for another 30 mins to an hour. Repeat until you have finished all the rectangles and save the outer scraps for maltagliati. Take out the other dough ball and repeat the whole process.
The fresh pasta will cook in about 3-4 minutes in you boiling salted water.

The Pesto

Ingredients

Large bunch of basil

3-4 garlic scapes

Half a cup of pecorino Romano

3/4 cup of good olive oil

Pinch of salt

1/2 cup of toasted pine nuts

Directions

I kept this very simple and just used a food processor - combined all the ingredients and blended in about 30 seconds. The true way to do pesto is to use a mortar and pestle if you have the time and energy. I had a full day of foraging and making pasta and decided the pesto needed to be easy. With the addition of the pecorino this pesto is super creamy and decadent.

The final dish

Before cooking the pasta, clean and slice your chanterelles into a manageable size. I sauteed mine in olive oil with a little fresh thyme, salt and pepper until they were well browned and significantly reduced in size - which took about 8-10 minutes. You want to make sure your mushrooms are well cooked. Set aside.
After draining the cooked pasta (always reserve extra pasta water in case you need to thin out the sauce/pesto), immediately toss the pasta with the pesto and stir so they are completely coated. Mix in your wild mushrooms and toss together.
Serve into individual bowls and finish with some freshly grated pecorino Romano.
Enjoy.

Pan Fried Gnocchi with Ramp Pesto

April 01, 2020 by Philip Buccellato in pasta, wild food

It’s still a bit early in the season so most ramps are too young to harvest. With a little effort we found a more mature patch along a sunny south eastern facing ridge. We harvested just enough leaves for a small batch of pesto and left the bulbs in the ground. For the pesto I kept it super simple. Ramps, pistachios, olive oil, and salt blitz in the food processor and served on top of pan fried gnocchi (in lots of butter) and some freshly grated Parmesan and ground pepper. It’s a once a year kind of meal.

If harvesting ramps, don’t yank the bulbs, don’t raze entire hillsides, don’t take more than you need. They take seven years to reach maturity.

Video of the process below.

Gnocchi Ingredients

2½ pounds russet potatoes (about 4 large)

1¼ cups all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting

2 teaspoons kosher salt

1 egg

Butter

Instructions

Boil potatoes for 35 - 45 minutes until fork tender.
Drain and allow to cool so you can handle them but they need to still be warm for the next step. If allowed to cool they’ll become gummy.
Peel the potatoes with your fingers or by using the edge of a spoon. Cut up the potatoes into small chunks.
Press all of the warm potatoes through a potato ricer into a large bowl.
Sprinkle on the flour and salt, and work together with your hands for about 30 seconds. Make a well in the center of the bowl and pour in the egg, which should already be beaten.
Mix together with your hands for another 30 seconds.
Pour out the contents of the bowl onto a well dusted work surface and continue to knead together for another 1 - 2 minutes. An important note is to not overwork this dough. The more you work it, the denser the gnocchi will be.
Divide the dough into about 4 - 6 different balls and dust each with more flour.
Begin rolling each ball out with your hands to create a long rope of rough about ¾ inch thick. Use more flour if it feels like the dough is sticky. And again, don’t overwork!
Using a knife or bench knife, cut each rope into approximately 1 inch pieces.
You could stop here, and transfer them to a tray dusted with semolina to prevent sticking.
Or you can continue with embellishing them a bit by using the tines of a fork to create the classic dimples and grooves you might often see. Carefully take each individual piece in your fingers, and with your other hand press the tip of your fork into the center of the gnocchi, and roll it gently to form the grooves. Now you can set it into your tray with semolina until ready to cook.
Bring a big pot of water to boil. Cook the gnocchi for about 4 minutes until they float to the surface. Drain the gnocchi.
In a heavy skillet, melt butter and bring up to medium/high heat.
Transfer the boiled gnocchi into the hot pan and allow to crisp for about 3 minutes on each side. They’ll start to turn golden brown and form a nice texture on the shell, while the interior stays light and fluffy.
Now toss the pan fried gnocchi with the pesto. Plate each portion and top generously with freshly grated parmesan and black pepper.

Pesto Ingredients

¼ cup of pistachios

½ cup olive oil

Sprinkle of salt

Two handfuls of washed ramp leaves

Grated parmesan (optional)

Instructions

Shell the pistachios and blitz in the blender
Add all of the other ingredients and blend until smooth
Add more olive oil if pesto is too thick

Homemade Cavatelli with Wild Ramp Pesto

May 12, 2019 by Philip Buccellato in wild food, pasta

Ramp season is fleeting. Next year I plan on making a few extra batches of pesto to keep in the freezer to extend the season a little longer.

Ramp pesto is so simple and tasty. I puree the ramp leaves (stems removed and bulbs left in the ground) with good extra virgin olive oil, toasted pine nuts, salt, and pepper. If using right away I’ll finish it by incorporating a healthy amount of grated parmesan and a little melted butter to make it creamy. If freezing, I’ll leave out the cheese and butter and add this in fresh after it is defrosted. I garnished this plate with fresh chive blossoms and more toasted pine nuts. The pasta was a handmade semolina cavatelli which are deceptively easy to make. See video below for the whole process.