Hello Readers,
My very good friend Laura Giordano from Puglia and I have entered a really cool team blog contest sponsored by KitchenAid of Italy. The following blog represents my half of the entry and you may read Laura's story on her blog at A Pinch of Italy. Wish us luck Blissful Adventurers!
I met Laura Giordano on a warm evening just outside the Bari train station in Puglia, Italy. She and my business partner Antonello had just begun a lovely courtship that year and he had purported that Laura was an exceptional cook on par even with his own mother (an enormous compliment by Italian standards). Laura came running to my wife and I as Antonello was trying to find a spot for the car and I was immediately surprised by her beauty, smile, and the graceful ease at which she moved along the sidewalk in her light jacket, jeans, and tennis shoes. Within minutes we were discussing food together in my broken Italian and her very good English. That evening we would be having the famous panzerotti at a street side café and we were both obviously anticipating the experience and enjoying a moment we would relive time and again.
Laura has now grown into the executive chef for Southern Visions Travel, a company in Puglia Italy that I helped to get off the ground and continue to support, advise, and foster on many levels. My wife and I make yearly pilgrimages to Puglia. In my travels to Puglia I am ever amazed at the wonders of the world of food created by the capable hands of my friend Laura. Just this year Laura prepared the most stunning vermicelli with mussels and a chocolate and walnut torta that left me in the most serene of comas for hours.
Now, for 2010 we decided to put a little twist on our holiday traditions. My wife is a nurse and was forced to be on call at the hospital this Christmas and therefore we could not leave town to visit family as is normally the case, so Laura and Antonello decided to spend their first Christmas away from Italy and visit us here in Houston. It was apparent that some great culinary bridges were to be built over this holiday and when Laura presented me with a blog contest to share the story of our friendship and a family recipe for Christmas, I had to accept the challenge (because I knew the results would be amazing).
Laura and I pondered ideas for Christmas dinner and decided we should marry our 2 cultures in some way. We considered some of my family dishes and ideas from my grandmother as well as things from Laura’s past and settled on something that would be just perfect: an old family recipe from Laura’s mother from Naples: Anolini al Brasato. These scrumptious half-moon filled pastas are stuffed with the braised pulp of a beef roast and loads of parmigiano cheese then cooked, buttered, and served with a reduction sauce made from the beef braise (basically the core and essence of pure beef, if demi-glace is blood, then this reduction sauce is plasma J). Of course to give the dish a 2 continent pedigree we would use only an incredible piece of Texas grass-fed beef to impart the most decadent flavors.
Not only were we making this amazing pasta from Laura’s wonderful Mom, we were also doing some huge Texas steaks, root vegetable mash, and a little tomato and mozzarella di Bufala (from Campania) stack, and 2 outstanding bottles of Italian vino: the 2004 Brunello di Montalcino from Il Poggione and the otherworldly Graticciaia from Puglia’s top tier Vallone winery. This was going to be an elegant Christmas day meal for 4. Of course, as luck would have it, my wife was called in to work on Christmas morning with no timetable for a return and so when she made it home in the late morning we settled for sausages cooked in bacon fat with eggs over easy cooked in the fat of sausage and bacon and served over Anson Mills white polenta and jack cheese. This was one of the most decadent Christmas brunches (albeit impromptu) I have prepared and a good stomach prime for the big feast of the evening that followed.
In between meals of course there were stockings to open, Christmas packages as well, and some PS3 Calcio to be played (I was cheated). Then we went on to prepare the stunning meal (bear in mind that the brasato was begun several days in advance and doing this whole process in one day could be a bit masochistic)
Nevertheless, the meal was sublime and the Anolini were like the most delicate pillows of down filled with the velvet hammers of meat essence and cheese. Laura’s and my friendship extends over 2 continents and is bound inexorably by our enormous curiosity for eating, cooking, and finding creative ways to spend more time eating and cooking. I only wished I looked as good in an apron as she does. Ti saluto Laura Giordano!
Here is the recipe for Anolini al Brasato.
For the Filling
2 Eggs Beaten
1 2lb Beef Roast (I like eye of round and prefer grass-fed, but any flavorful beef roast can work, you just may have to adjust your cook times) This roast will be used to create the decadent braised stock/sauce only.
3 thick slices of killer bacon (do not use crappy bacon, it sucks) or imported pancetta (about 5 round slices) I like to cut these into small pieces with scissors for even cooking.
7 tbsp Butter (unsalted)
4 tbsp Butter (for finishing the pasta)
¼ cup finally chopped onion
¼ cup finally chopped carrot (I like to grate mine)
¼ cup finally chopped celery
¼ cup Tomato Paste (once again do not use crappy store brands, try one from Italy)
3 ½ quarts of good quality beef broth (I like to make my own with beef short ribs, but feel free to use a high quality and preferably organic variety from the store) Keep simmering on the stove until ready for use.
14 oz. Parmigiano Reggiano cheese (grated freshly that day)
3-4 Tbsp Extra Virgin Olive Oil
¼ tsp Cinnamon
¼ tsp fresh ground Nutmeg (if you must use pre-ground I will look the other way)
4-5 whole cloves
Salt and Pepper to Taste
1 ½ Cups Decent Red Wine (I like Salice Salentino from Puglia)
1. Bring the beef roast to room temperature by leaving covered on counter for at least 3-4 hours. Season the beef with salt and pepper
2. Heat a Dutch oven or large heavy bottomed pan over medium high heat and Melt the butter and add the olive oil.
3. As soon as the oil is hot and the butter fat is melted away add the vegetables and cook over medium high heat until slightly soft (about 2 minutes)
4. Add the bacon or pancetta to the pan and until it begins to render slightly
5. Add the roast and brown on all sides making sure to move the vegetables and keeping the heat high enough to brown the meat rather than steaming
6. Add the tomato paste and cook till it begins to give off an orange tint
7. Add the wine and cook for 1 minute
8. Add the beef stock (making sure you have enough to fully immerse the roast if not, add some water as the roast must be completely submerged in order to braise properly)
9. Add the cinnamon and the cloves
10. Cover the Dutch over and simmer/braise for 4-6 hours at very low heat
11. Remove the roast and allow it to cool (the roast can be used as main course for your meal with root vegetables and peas as it is finished for this recipe. It should completely fall apart when pulled with a fork)
12. Strain the stock from the Dutch oven through a fine mesh sieve pressing the pulp through as much as possible without getting whole pieces of vegetables. It should be pretty thick
13. Now place the strained sauce into a large saucepan and reduce to about 4 cups of thick decadent (very dark brown) sauce
14. If you want to really make a special plate you can strain again or leave as is:
15. Divide the stock in two portions
16. Take half of stock (at least 2 full cups) and mix in the parmigiano and once it has cooled slightly the beaten eggs (so they will not curdle). Mix this till light and fluffy with a wood spoon. Set aside and keep cool for filling the Anolini pasta.
17. Keep the remaining stock/sauce on low heat and becoming even thicker over the next hour down to 1.5 cups.
For the Pasta:
14 oz 00 Flour (look for this in finer grocery stores and specialty markets)
5 Egg Yolks (break the eggs precisely and retain the 5 shell bottoms)
5 Egg shell bottoms filled with water and rested on the counter
We created the pasta completely by hand. This recipe could also be made by machine and use a pasta roller; however, I will explain how we made it completely by hand.
1. Measure the flour and place in a pile on a workable cool surface like stone, marble, or a butcher block (well floured)
2. Form a nest in the top of the flour that will hold the egg yolks and place all 5 in the nest
3. Begin working the flour and whole yolks together with a fork until fully incorporated but not yet dough
4. Now, with the hands begin kneading the dough adding one egg-shell of water at a time as the dough becomes dry and crumbly
5. Once all the water is incorporated and the dough is spongy and pliable, knead a few moments more to make and leave in a ball
6. Allow the dough to rest covered by a kitchen towel for 30 minutes at room temperature.
7. Begin rolling the dough out into thin sheets about 18-22 inches in length and 10-12 inches in width. This will take several attempts and the work surface must stay very well floured.
8. Once you have sheets, cut the sheets into 3-4 inch wide strips of very thin pasta
9. Use an espresso cup or cookie cutter with a small round diameter to cut rounds of pasta and place rounds on a well floured baking sheet. This recipe should make between 60 and 100 individual Anolini
10. Begin filling the discs of pasta with about 1tbsp. of the filling prepared above. The pasta should hold just enough filling to easily fold in half into a half-moon shape.
11. Once all the Anolini are filled and folded, use a table fork to crimp the edges closed as it is essential the filling does not leave the pasta during the cooking process.
12. The filled and crimped Anolini should be on a floured baking sheet and ready for cooking
a. May be finished 1 hour before cooking
To Prepare:
1. Bring a large pasta pot of water to a boil
2. Add a generous pour of Kosher salt to the boiling water
3. Add the Anolini in batches (about 20-30 at a time) and cook till they float + another 30-40 seconds
4. Remove from heat and place in a buttered dish kept ever so slightly warm
5. When all the Anolini are finished cooking toss with the remaining butter and place 8-12 on warmed plates smeared with 1-2 tablespoons of the remaining concentrated sauce
6. Serve immediately with an aged Aglianico (Taurasi from Campania is a good option)
