Barilotti Pasta, Sauteed Morel & Hedgehog Mushrooms, Martha Washington Asparagus, Ramps, Chive Blossoms, Pea Greens, French Tarragon, Sherry Nage
Barilotti means "little barrels" in Italian, referring to the shape of noodles used in this dish. This particular pasta comes from the Puglia region of Italy and is made from Durum semolina flour. This dish is one of the rare examples when I will purchase a product instead of making it on my own. I do this anytime I feel like a product is better than what I can make myself. Or, as in this case, when I just don't have the necessary equipment needed to make something. So until Haley allows to spend a few hundred dollars on a die cut pasta extruder I'll just have to leave it up to the pros.
The sauce was the only part of this dish that took any sort of time to prepare. And once it was ready everything else came together in a matter of minutes. I began by sweating off some shallots and garlic in butter before tossing in some of the morels. I poured in two cups of chicken stock and a quarter cup of sherry vinegar and reduced it by about 75%. At this point I dropped in a healthy amount of very cold butter and emulsified it with a stick blender.
I brought some salted water to a boil and dropped in the pasta barrels to cook for about 8 minutes. While this was happening I melted some butter in a sautee pan and tossed in the ramps cooking then for about two minutes. The asparagus was added next followed by the mushrooms about a minute later. Everything was cooked til just barely tender.
I spooned some of the nage into the bowl and built the dish from there. I carefully placed some of the strained pasta barrels into the broth followed by the ramps, asparagus and mushrooms. I finished it off with a garnish of raw pea greens, French tarragon, chive blossoms and pieces of asparagus tips.
Product:
Organic Martha Washington Asparagus - Culton Organics
Organic French Tarragon - Culton Organics
Organic Pea Greens - Queen's Farm
Local Wild Ramps - Happy Cat Farm
Organic Chive Blossoms - Root Mass Farm
The sauce was the only part of this dish that took any sort of time to prepare. And once it was ready everything else came together in a matter of minutes. I began by sweating off some shallots and garlic in butter before tossing in some of the morels. I poured in two cups of chicken stock and a quarter cup of sherry vinegar and reduced it by about 75%. At this point I dropped in a healthy amount of very cold butter and emulsified it with a stick blender.
I brought some salted water to a boil and dropped in the pasta barrels to cook for about 8 minutes. While this was happening I melted some butter in a sautee pan and tossed in the ramps cooking then for about two minutes. The asparagus was added next followed by the mushrooms about a minute later. Everything was cooked til just barely tender.
I spooned some of the nage into the bowl and built the dish from there. I carefully placed some of the strained pasta barrels into the broth followed by the ramps, asparagus and mushrooms. I finished it off with a garnish of raw pea greens, French tarragon, chive blossoms and pieces of asparagus tips.
Product:
Organic Martha Washington Asparagus - Culton Organics
Organic French Tarragon - Culton Organics
Organic Pea Greens - Queen's Farm
Local Wild Ramps - Happy Cat Farm
Organic Chive Blossoms - Root Mass Farm