Category: Pasta

Butternut Squash and Mascarpone Ravioli with Hazelnut Brown Butter

Posted by foodess on Sun 15th of Mar, 2009 10:02:23 PM

Mother nature is having a no-holds-barred temper tantrum outside my apartment. The rain is pelting down so hard that the windows are trembling in their frames. And the wind is thrashing so violently that it sounds like there’s a tornado brewing in our chimney. Hence the need for a dinner that doubles as a warm hug. Enter brown butter drizzled over homemade squash ravioli.

Butternut squash is one of my favorite vegetables. Mashed, I love its thick, starchy texture - it is sweet, subtle, creamy and comforting. I equally love it cubed and roasted, then tossed with goat cheese in a pasta. Or pureed with a touch of cream to make a simple and delicious soup. Not to mention its starring role in baked goods like muffins. Also, a butternut squash packs a lot more flesh than other squash varieties due to its shape. It has only a small cavity with seeds in the knob at the base, and the entire length is solid and edible. In need of a comfort food to take the chill out of the howling wind, I opted for roasting a squash as a filling for chewy, homemade pasta.
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Homemade Fresh Pasta

Posted by foodess on Wed 25th of Feb, 2009 10:14:11 PM

There is something hugely satisfying about making fresh pasta. Not only is its taste and texture incomparable to anything you get dried, it is very easy to do, and it is fun! It is a great idea for a dinner party - just knead up some dough, and let everyone roll it out and make the shapes they like. You could choose to prepare several fillings (my good friend Marnie makes sweet onion with ricotta, wild mushroom with mozzarella, and squash with marscapone) and do a ravioli making demonstration. Let everyone make what they want while they mingle, just keep a pot of water boiling on the stove, and a simple marinara sauce bubbling next to it.

Pasta is such a staple of the North American diet, yet most consider it something that comes in a box, not something to make at home. If you have never made it, you might not believe me when I tell you how straightforward and quick it really is. Just a pile of flour on a clean counter with a few eggs cracked into it. (That’s it, that’s the whole recipe). The kneading is the hardest part - because it is such a stiff dough, you’ll have to put your back into it. (I broke a sweat - does that count as a workout?). After ten minutes of grunting and puffing and knocking the dough around the counter, you’ll need to let it rest for about 30 minutes. This relaxes the gluten, so it will roll out without springing back on itself - you may need the rest, too, if you haven’t been toning those kneading muscles.
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Gnocchi with Brown Butter and Sage

Posted by foodess on Fri 30th of Jan, 2009 06:21:19 PM

I cannot express to you the sheer genius of this dish, for both it’s thrilling simplicity and for its ability to make me salivate Pavlov-style every time it crosses my mind. I am not exaggerating in my assertion that this is possibly the best weeknight dinner ever.

This is likely to be at least partly due to the fact that brown butter is my secret lover. Yes, since I discovered it - in it’s toasty, golden lusciousness - I have been entangled in a turbulent affair consisting of one breathtaking, buttery moment in the kitchen after another. *Don’t tell Adarsh. I try to play it cool around him when brown butter is present.

Please – go do the following, it will change your life. Go lop off a hunk of butter, park it in a frying pan, and watch the magic as it goes from yellowy, frothing, buttery-ness to a clear, brown liquid with an intoxicatingly sweet and nutty aroma. Toss in some hot gnocchi, or fettuccine, or your butter-vehicle of choice. But for goodness sake, toss something in. Quickly. Or you may find yourself lapping it straight from the pan. And you don’t want to be caught in that position.

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