Smoked Olive Oil Carbonara
Servings: Makes about 4 servings
1 recipe, pasta all uovo (recipe below)
5 ounces smoked olive oil
8 ounces thinly sliced guanciale, chopped (If unavailable, bacon or pancetta will work well)
4 egg yolks
6 ounces grated pecorino cheese
2 sprigs fresh oregano or marjoram, leaves picked from the stems
1 tablespoon freshly ground, coarse black pepper
Salt to taste
1. Make fresh pasta first. It is best to store it in the freezer or cook it right away.
2. Fill a large pot with water and season aggressively with salt. Begin heating the water while working on the rest of the recipe.
3. In a large sauté pan over medium heat, render the guanciale (lightly brown it while melting the fat) until it becomes crisp.
4. Add 3 ounces of the olive oil, the cracked black pepper and oregano leaves and reduce heat to low. Allow the flavors to infuse on low heat for about 5 minutes.
5. While the sauce is cooking and when water reaches a rolling boil, drop pasta into your water. Cook pasta for about 3 minutes, then drain, reserving the pasta water.
6. Add the pasta to the sauté pan with guanciale, pepper, oil and oregano. Add the egg yolks and 2-3 tablespoons of the pasta water and half of the cheese (as the pasta water contains starch, it will make the sauce creamy). Stir quickly and constantly to incorporate, about 1 minute. Do not allow this to sit on the heat without stirring or the eggs will scramble.
7. Divide the pasta between four bowls, spooning any leftover sauce over the top. Drizzle the remaining olive oil on top and sprinkle with the remaining cheese.
For the Pasta all' Uovo (Fresh Egg Pasta):
Servings: makes about 4 servings
11 ounces of all-purpose flour
3 large eggs, at room temperature
1 teaspoon salt
1. Place the flour on your work surface and make a well in the center.
2. Break the eggs into the well and add the salt. With a fork, begin to gently beat the eggs in a circular motion, incorporating approximately ½ of the flour.
3. Using a bench scraper, bring the entire mixture together.
4. Knead the dough with your hands for 3 to 4 minutes. At this stage, the dough should be soft and pliable. If bits of dried dough form (which is normal), don’t incorporate them into the dough — brush them off of your work surface.
5. Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and let it rest for 20 minutes.
6. Cut the dough into four pieces and recover with the plastic wrap to prevent a skin from forming.
7. Remove one piece of the dough at a time from the plastic wrap and knead through the rollers of a pasta machine set at the widest setting. Fold the dough like a business letter to form three layers, pressing out all of the air. Turn the open end of the dough to the right (like a book) and repeat the rolling process. Continue the folding and rolling process five times on this setting.
8. Repeat the folding and rolling process for the three remaining pieces of dough.
9. Roll a piece of the previously kneaded dough through the pasta machine, reducing the setting with each roll until reaching the narrowest setting. Do not fold the dough between each setting.
10. Cut the spaghetti using a chitarra (wire pasta cutter) or kitchen aide attachment
11. Cook the pasta in boiling, salted water until desired doneness, about 3 minutes. Drain well. Reserve for the carbonara.
Roasted Beets with Bitter Greens, Walnut Oil Emulsion, Blue Cheese and Walnut Oil Powder
Servings: Makes about 4 servings
8-10 baby red beets, washed, unpeeled
8-10 baby gold beets, washed, unpeeled
8-10 baby candy stripe beets, washed, unpeeled
2 ounces canola oil
1 sprig thyme
1 sprig rosemary
1 small red onion, peeled and thinly sliced
1 head frisée, washed, dark green leaves removed, trimmed
1 bunch arugula (about 8 ounces) washed
4 ounces creamy blue cheese (such as gorgonzola), crumbled
1 cup walnuts, toasted, chopped
2 ounces sherry vinegar
1 ounce honey
5 + 2 ounces walnut oil
2 ounces tapioca maltodextrin (sometimes sold as N-Zorbit) - note: this must be measured by weight!
Salt and pepper to taste
For the beets:
1. Preheat oven to 300 F.
2. In a mixing bowl combine beets, salt and pepper, canola oil, rosemary and thyme and toss to evenly coat. Transfer to a small baking dish and cover tightly with foil. Roast beets until very tender, 20-45 minutes depending on the size of the beets. You can check for doneness by inserting the tip of a paring knife into the largest beet. If there is little-to-no resistance, the beets are ready.
3. Allow beets to cool just enough that you can handle them. Discard the herbs. Using a paper towel, rub the skins to remove them from beets. Slice each beet in half (or quarters if they are larger). Reserve.
For the walnut oil emulsion:
1. In the pitcher of a blender, combine ½ cup toasted walnuts, sherry vinegar, 1 ounce cold water, honey and a pinch of salt. Purée until smooth. With the blender running, slowly stream in the 5 ounces of walnut oil, forming a thick, emulsified sauce. Reserve.
For the walnut oil powder:
2. In a medium mixing bowl, combine 2 ounces walnut oil with 2 ounces tapioca maltodextrin. Mix until a crumbly, slightly moist powder forms. Transfer to a mesh sieve and tap the powder through over a sheet pan. This will break up the clumps. Reserve. Note: Tapioca Maltodextrin is a natural extract used to turn liquid oils into powders because each grain has the ability to hold a huge amount of fat. It can be found on the internet and at some specialty stores. If unavailable, skip this step and serve with finely chopped walnuts instead.
To assemble:
1. Toss the roasted beets, remaining walnuts, greens and half the emulsion together in a mixing bowl. Season with salt and pepper. Reserve.
2. Spoon a little of the remaining emulsion on each of four plates, making a small pool in the center.
3. Layer the beet mixture on top of the emulsion.
4. Divide the blue cheese crumbles evenly and sprinkle over each plate.
5. Top with a dusting of walnut oil powder. You can sprinkle it directly through the sieve if desired.
Tigernut Oil Ice Cream With Roasted Apples, Rolled Oat Crumble, And Honey Tigernut Oil Drizzle.
Servings: makes 4-6 servings
For the tigernut oil ice cream:
Servings: makes about 3 ½ cups
1 ¾ cups whole milk
¼ cup heavy cream
¼ teaspoon kosher salt
½ cup plus 2 tablespoons sugar
4 large egg yolks
1/3 cup tigernut oil
1. Bring milk, cream, salt and ½ cup sugar just to a simmer in a medium saucepan, stirring to dissolve sugar; remove from heat.
2. Whisk egg yolks and the other 2 tablespoons of sugar in a medium bowl until pale, about two minutes. Gradually whisk ½ cup hot milk mixture into yolks. Whisk yolk mixture back into remaining milk mixture in saucepan. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until thick enough to coat the back of a wooden spoon, about 2–3 minutes.
3. Strain custard through a fine-mesh sieve into a medium bowl set in a large bowl of ice water; whisk in oil. Let cool, stirring occasionally. Process custard in an ice cream maker according to manufacturer’s instructions.
4. Transfer ice cream to an airtight container, cover and freeze until firm, at least 4 hours.
For the roasted apples:
3 tart apples (like Granny Smith), peeled, sliced into wedges
3 sweet apples (like Honeycrisp), peeled, sliced into wedges
Juice of half of 1 lemon
¼ cup granulated sugar
½ teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon salt
1. Preheat oven to 350 F.
2. Combine all ingredients in a large mixing bowl and toss to coat.
3. Transfer to a oven safe dish and roast apples in a single layer until tender and browned, but not falling apart. Reserve.
For the rolled oat crumble:
¾ cups old-fashioned rolled oats
¾ cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 cup light brown sugar
¾ cup cold butter
1. Preheat oven to 325 F.
2. Mix brown sugar, oats, flour and cinnamon in a separate bowl. Use a pastry cutter or two forks to mash cold butter into the oats mixture until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs.
3. Spread mixture on sheet pan lined with parchment. Pat the topping gently to even and bake until crispy and lightly browned. Remove from oven and reserve.
For the honey tigernut oil drizzle:
4 ounces honey
4 ounces tigernut oil
½ vanilla bean, split open, seeds scraped
1. In a mixing bowl, whisk oil, honey and vanilla bean seeds together until evenly mixed and thick.
To assemble:
1. Layer the warm apples directly on a plate or wide bowl. Sprinkle the crumble over top, breaking up any very large pieces as you go. Top with one scoop of ice cream. Spoon the honey tigernut drizzle over the top and serve.
