contributing once again, our VP of Culinary Dev – Wade Wiestling
When not working at Oceanaire, or staring at my iPhone, or eating in other restaurant type establishments, I do enjoy cooking at home. Most of the time, for the daddy of 5 yr old, cooking at home is something that ensues like a “Top Chef” quick-fire elimination challenge. A fast paced, short, simple and high pressured contest with a varying reward each week. Hurriedly, I rummage around to see what is lying in the confines of the fridge, checking out the pantry, looking at what is hidden in back of the freezer, seeing whats in my spice rack that I haven’t used since last year. I pull everything out, then quickly make up a plan, cook it and get it on the table within 1/2 hour or less… DROP YOUR KNIVES! TIMES UP!… some days more so than others.
On my day off this past weekend, I decided to slow down and do things my way. Slow food. I wanted to slow things down for a change and do things deliberately. Once I had everything mapped out, this dish came together in less than a 1/2 hour. This toasted pasta dish was inspired by a dish I was craving, a dish I used to make some years ago, in another life if you will. It is a pasta dish, a pasta from the Italian region of Tuscany that is made in the “style” of risotto, the classic Italian rice preparation based on a technique, resulting in a luxuriously rich and creamy pasta dish…
How it started… this is not so much a recipe, as it is a blueprint for deliciousness. We have some diced onion, minced garlic, some mixed dried mushrooms, dried pasta, chix broth, Parimigiano-Reggiano, extra virgin olive oil, whole butter, and some leftover cooked bacon…
First thing I did was rehydrate the dried fungi. I had some dried porcini, dried shiitake, and few dried morels in a mason jar hidden in the back of my spice cupboard. Heat up about 1 cup of chix broth just to a boil, and pour over the dried mushrooms, set aside for about 20 minutes or so to steep and soften the mushrooms…
Put the rest of the chix broth (1 qt. give or take a cup) on a med low flame. Once boiling reduce heat to barely a simmer to just keep hot. For this dish, I like to use, what else, my lime green Le Crueset dutch oven. It makes a great risotto pot. The heavy, enameled cast iron distributes the heat evenly. It gets hot and stays hot… it’s a green beast.
Heat 2 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil and 2 Tbsp of clarified butter over medium heat until hot and fragrant…
When the oil is hot, add a 1/2 box (1/2 lb) of dried pasta. I am using elbow pasta, but you can use any dried pasta that is small and evenly shaped such as penne, fusilli or orzo (I have even used spaghetti or linguine broken into smaller pieces). Only 1/2 lb. because the pasta will swell and double in size when the liquid is absorbed.
Stir it up. The oil is hot, so the pasta will start to toast and brown very quickly. The key is to toast it evenly, so you hafta keep stirring it frequently.
After a few short minutes, the pasta will start to toast and develop a wonderful golden brown color and roasty aroma….
The pasta will turn a lovely golden brown color. You will also start to notice a gentle nutty aroma, not unlike popcorn or fresh roasted peanuts, as the pasta continues to brown… it smells like heaven.
Once evenly toasted, add the diced onion and minced garlic, continue stirring. Cook until the onion is translucent and the garlic is lightly toasted….
Add the cooked and chopped bacon… continue cooking.
Man o’ man… look at that beautiful photo! This comes together quickly. Continue cooking, continue stirring frequently, keep an eye on it and enjoy the scent of toasted pasta, onion, garlic, and smoked bacon wafting through the kitchen. Now is a good time to crack open a bottle of wine…
Next add a splash (1 cup??) of wine, use whatever you have open, red or white, to de-glaze the pan over med heat, this will bring a halt the browning process. Stir it around, stir it frequently until that first incorporation of liquid has been absorbed, and then pour yourself a glass while you’re at it…
Here is where it gets a little ticky-tacky… we need to add the hot chix broth 1 ladle at a time… stirring the pasta until the liquid has been absorbed…
Stirring, stirring, stirring… we’re making pasta, like risotto!
Stir until each ladle full of liquid has been absorbed into the pasta. Repeat about 4-5 times. Continue adding the hot broth 1 ladle or 1 cup at a time, and stirring frequently…
Stir until all the liquid has been absorbed… the pan should be nearly dry before the addition of more hot liquid.
OK, now we add the liquid from the re-hydrated mushrooms. This liquid has been steeped with the flavor of the dried fungi, so this imparts another layer of flavor into the pasta…
Once the fungi liquid has been absorbed, go ahead add all the re-hydrated mushrooms to the pasta in the pot…
Add the rest of the hot chix broth until it is all gone. Keep stirring, the pasta is releasing it’s starch into the dish, as opposed to being dumped out with the pasta water, resulting in a creamy and satisfyingly luxurious look and mouth-feel…
Here is where it gets difficult for most people (but not for me as I am a highly trained professional)… liberally add some grated parmigiano-reggiano and some whole butter. Restaurants dirty little secret… DON’T SKIMP! This is the difference between a good dish and a great dish…
Parmigiano-Reggiano, whole butter, take it over the top. We’re not counting calories and fat, we’re counting on adding flavor and silky consistency. Now season the pasta with some salt and a few grinds of black pepper. Stir it in and ….
…finally, if you have some, finish it with a flourish of white truffle oil. This will take it way over the top and off the hook.
This is a simple peasant dish, made luxurious and sexy with a few teaspoons of the funky fungi essence…
Dish it up! Serve it up! And finish with yet another dose of fresh shredded Parmigiano-Reggiano…
TIMES UP! Here is the finished product. The structured flavors of toasted pasta, earthy dried mushrooms, smoky bacon, funky truffle and chix broth make this dish sturdy enough to pair with many a red wine variety. Enjoy what you like, drink whatever you like, it’s just dinner after all… Cheers! Bon Appetito!
