Chef Annes Pappardelle Recipes

PAPPARDELLE WITH WILD BOAR RAGU

Steps:

• In a food processor, puree the garlic, carrots, celery and onions into a coarse paste. Reserve.
• Coat a large, wide pot with olive oil and bring to a high heat. Sprinkle the boar generously with salt and add to the hot pan. Cook the boar until it is VERY brown on all sides. Remove the boar from the pan and reserve.
• Ditch the excess oil in the pan. Add a few drops of new oil and add the pureed veggies to the pan. Season them with salt, and brown them until crud forms on the bottom of the pan. Scrape the crud off the bottom of the pan (don't let the crud burn- it adds A LOT of flavor).
• Return the browned boar to the pan and add the tomato paste and cocoa powder. Stir to combine and cook the tomato paste for 2 to 3 minutes, stirring frequently. Toss in the chopped juniper berries.
• Add the wine and stir to combine. Bring to a boil, reduce to a simmer and let the wine reduce by half.
• Add water to the pan so it covers the boar by about 1-inch. Toss in the bay leaves and thyme bundle. Taste the liquid and season with salt if needed (it will). Bring the liquid to a boil, reduce to a simmer and let cook for 3 hours, adding water as the liquid level reduces. Taste frequently and re-season as needed.
• During the last 30 minutes of cooking time, let the cooking liquid reduce and the sauce get thick.
• Also during the last 30 minutes of cooking, bring a large pot of water to a boil over high heat to cook the pappardelle. Pasta water should ALWAYS be well salted. Salty as the ocean! TASTE IT! If your pasta water is under seasoned, it doesn't matter how good your sauce is, your complete dish will always taste under seasoned. When the water is at a rolling boil add the pappardelle and cook until al dente. Reserve 1/2 cup of the pasta cooking water.
• While the pasta is cooking, remove 1/2 of the ragu from the pot and reserve.
• Drain the pasta and add to the pot with the remaining ragu. Stir or toss the pasta to coat with the sauce. Add some of the reserved sauce if needed to make it about an even ratio between pasta and sauce. Add the reserved pasta cooking water and cook the pasta and sauce together over a medium heat until the water has reduced. Turn off the heat and give a generous drizzle of the big fat finishing olive oil. Toss or stir vigorously. Divide the pasta and sauce into serving bowls or one big pasta bowl. Top with grated Parmigiano. Serve immediately.
• Wine Pairing Suggestion: Chianti
• Place the flour on a clean, dry work surface. Make a hole (this is also called a well) in the center of the flour pile that is about 8 inches wide (bigger is definitely better here). Crack all of the eggs and the yolk into the hole and add the olive oil, salt and 1 to 2 tablespoons water.
• Using a fork, beat the eggs together with the olive oil, water (or more if needed) and salt. Using the fork, begin to incorporate the flour into the egg mixture, be careful not to break the sides of the well or the egg mixture will run all over your board and you will have a big mess! Also, don't worry about the lumps. When enough flour has incorporated into the egg mixture that it will not run all over the place when the sides of the well are broken, begin to use your hands to really get everything well combined. If the mixture is tight and dry, wet your hands and begin kneading with wet hands. When the mixture has really come together to a homogeneous mixture, THEN you can start kneading.
• When kneading it is VERY important to put your body weight into it, get on top of the dough to really stretch it and not to tear the dough. Using the heels of your palms, roll the dough to create a very smooooooth, supple dough. When done, the dough should look VERY smooth and feel almost velvety. Kneading will usually take from 8 to 10 minutes for an experienced kneader and 10 to 15 for an inexperienced kneader. Put your body weight into it, you need to knead! This is where the perfect, toothsome texture of your pasta is formed. Get in there and have fun!
• When the pasta has been kneaded to the perfect consistency, wrap it in plastic and let rest for at least 1 hour. If using immediately, do not refrigerate.
• To roll the pasta: Cut off 1/3 of the pasta dough, reserve the rest and keep it covered.
• Squash the pasta with the heels of your hands to facilitate it going through the pasta roller. Dust with flour. Put the pasta through the roller set on number one. Roll the dough through 2 times, dusting it with flour if it feels sticky or tacky.
• Fold the pasta into thirds and put it through the machine on number one again.
• Change the setting on the pasta roller to number two and run the pasta through. Continue to roll the pasta through the machine, changing the setting each time to a larger number (this will make the opening on the pasta machine smaller). When you get to the desired thin-ness (I recommend number six), cut the pasta into 10-inch lengths. Flour the dough generously and stack them in a pile. Cover the stack with plastic or a clean tea towel and proceed rolling the rest of the pasta.
• When the pasta is all rolled, take 3 sheets of pasta and fold both ends of the pasta over each other until they meet in the middle.
• Using a sharp knife, cut the pasta rolls into 1-inch widths. Unroll the pasta "ribbons" and dust with semolina and reserve on sheet trays.

CHEF ANNE'S ALL-PURPOSE PASTA DOUGH

Steps:

• Put the flour on a clean dry work surface. Make a hole (this is also called a well) in the center of the flour pile that is about 8 inches wide (bigger is definitely better here). Crack all of the eggs and the yolk into the hole and add the olive oil, salt and water.
• Using a fork beat the eggs together with the olive oil, water and salt. Using the fork, begin to incorporate the flour into the egg mixture; be careful not to break the sides of the well or the egg mixture will run all over your board and you will have a big mess! Also, dont worry about the lumps. When enough flour has been incorporated into the egg mixture that it will not run all over the place when the sides of the well are broken, begin to use your hands to really get everything well combined. If the mixture is tight and dry, wet your hands and begin kneading with wet hands. When the mixture has really come together to a homogeneous mixture, THEN you can start kneading.
• When kneading it is VERY important to put your body weight into it, get on top of the dough to really stretch it and not to tear the dough. Using the heels of your palms, roll the dough to create a very smooooooth, supple dough. When done the dough should look VERY smooth and feel almost velvety. Kneading will usually take from 8 to 10 minutes for an experienced kneader and 10 to 15 for an inexperienced kneader. Put your body weight into it, you need to knead! This is where the perfect, toothsome texture of your pasta is formed. Get in there and have fun!
• When the pasta has been kneaded to the perfect consistency, wrap it in plastic and let rest for at least 1 hour. If using immediately do not refrigerate.
• Roll and cut the pasta into desired shape.
• How smooth and supple!

CHEF ANNE'S ALL-PURPOSE PASTA DOUGH

Steps:

• Mound the flour on a clean, dry work surface. Make a big hole (called a well) in the center of the flour pile-bigger is definitely better here. Crack the eggs into the hole along with the extra yolk, olive oil, and 2 tablespoons water; season with salt. Using a fork, beat the eggs together with the olive oil, water, and salt and begin to incorporate the flour into the egg mixture. Be careful not to break the well or the egg mixture will run everywhere and you'll have a big fat mess on your hands (and your board). When enough flour is incorporated that you can handle the dough, use your hands to combine everything really well. If the mixture is tight and dry, wet your hands a bit. When the mixture is homogeneous, start kneading . . .
• To knead the dough, it's VERY important to put your body weight into it, to get on top of the dough, and really stretch it. Be careful not to tear it-the idea is that you stretch the dough, not rip it. Use the heels of your palms and roll the mixture over itself. When it's done it should be smooth, supple, and velvety and look like the head of a preemie Cabbage Patch doll. Kneading will take anywhere from 8 to 15 minutes, depending on how experienced you are. (Don't hold back: This is where the perfect, toothsome texture of your pasta is formed. Get in there and work it!)
• When the pasta is ready, wrap it in plastic and let it rest for at least an hour at room temperature before rolling. If you're making the dough ahead of time, wrap, refrigerate, and bring to room temperature before using.
• To roll out pasta, you need to run the dough through the pasta roller a bunch of times to get it long and thin. To start, cut off about a quarter of the dough (remember, the bigger the piece you start with, the longer your dough is going to get), keeping the rest wrapped up so it doesn't dry out. Squish the dough to flatten it-this will help it run through the pasta roller more easily. Where do we start? We start at the beginning! Run the dough through the pasta roller starting on the widest setting, number 1. Then dust the dough with flour, fold it into thirds, and put the dough through this setting two more times. If the dough ever feels sticky or tacky, give it a little dusting of flour. Now adjust the setting to number 2 and repeat the process again-changing the setting each time until your dough is the desired thickness. Once the dough is rolled out, be sure to keep the pasta sheets covered so they don't dry out. Depending on what I want to use the pasta for, I usually stop around number 5 or 6. For long noodles I keep it thicker, and for ravioli or stuffed pasta, I keep it thinner. All pasta machines are different, so you need to judge how your pasta machine works and adjust your rolling accordingly. Once you get the thickness you want, repeat this process with the remaining pieces of dough.
• For whole wheat pasta, substitute 2 cups of whole wheat flour for 2 cups of the all-purpose white. Whole wheat flour is really dry, so you'll likely have to add some water. Start with 1/4 cup water and see how it goes. You don't want tight, nervous-feeling dough, but how much water you need to add depends on what the flour is telling you that day.
• Pasta needs to be cooked in lots of water that's salty like the ocean. Every single time I cook pasta I taste the water to make sure it's correctly seasoned. This step is imperative; if you don't season your pasta water correctly, it doesn't matter how good your sauce is, your pasta dish will never recover.
• So here's what you need to do: Season your pasta water abundantly (as I said, like the ocean-not the Dead Sea!), bring it to a boil, add the pasta, and give it a good swish to make sure the pasta doesn't stick together. Don't crowd your pasta; it needs plenty of room to swim around.
• You want dried pasta cooked al dente, which means "on the tooth," so cook it about one minute less than the package directions recommend (it's going to cook more once you add it to the sauce). When you bite into any well-cooked dried pasta, you should see a little nugget of hard pasta on the inside. It shouldn't be crunchy, but it should definitely have a toothsome bite.
• Fresh pasta is a different story. It has not been dried so it's impossible to get that dry white center, and a limp noodle is no fun. Fresh pasta cooks very quickly, so it's essential to pay attention. What you're looking for is a noodle that's tender but also has that toothsome texture when you bite into it.
• Once the pasta is cooked, whether fresh or dried, you need to perform the marriage of the pasta and sauce by draining the pasta and cooking it in the sauce for a couple minutes, until the sauce hugs the pasta. It's a good idea to always reserve a little of your pasta cooking water; you never know when you're going to need to loosen up your sauce, and this is the way to do it. As the pasta and sauce cook, give them a sprinkey-dink of grated Parm, a drizzle of big fat finishing oil, and stir or toss VIGOROUSLY. This is the glue that holds the marriage of the pasta and sauce together-they should cling to one another! Serve the pasta immediately, and know that proper etiquette is to start eating right away-don't wait for everyone to be served.
• Type of Pasta: Ravioli / Machine Setting: Approximately 6-7 / Desired Size/Shape: Thin pasta sheets
• Type of Pasta: Pappardelle / Machine Setting: Approximately 5-6 / Desired Size/Shape: 1-inch-wide ribbons
• Type of Pasta: Tagliatelle / Machine Setting: Approximately 5-6 / Desired Size/Shape: 1/4-inch-wide ribbons
• Type of Pasta: Tagliolini / Machine Setting: Approximately 4-5 / Desired Size/Shape: 1/8-inch-wide ribbons

HOMEMADE PAPPARDELLE

Steps:

• Whisk the "00" flour and 3/4 teaspoon salt in a large bowl, then make a well in the center. Whisk the whole eggs and egg yolk with the olive oil and 2 tablespoons water in a measuring cup, then pour into the well. Stir together until a craggy dough forms. (If the dough is too crumbly, add up to 1 more tablespoon water.) Turn out the dough onto a generously floured surface and knead, folding the dough onto itself, until smooth, about 10 minutes. Wrap in plastic wrap and let rest at room temperature for 1 hour or refrigerate overnight; bring the dough to room temperature before using.
• Cut the dough into 4 equal pieces. Cover 3 of the pieces and set aside. On a semolina- dusted surface, roll out the remaining piece of dough as thin as possible with a rolling pin so it is nearly see-through. Roll up the sheet into a thin log. Slice crosswise into 3/4-inch-thick strips. Transfer the pasta to a baking sheet dusted with semolina, then sprinkle with more semolina. Repeat with the remaining dough. Cover with plastic wrap until ready to cook.
• Bring a pot of salted water to a boil. Add the pappardelle and cook until tender, 5 to 6 minutes. Drain, reserving 1 cup cooking water. Toss with your sauce, adding the reserved cooking water as needed to loosen.

POMMES CHEF ANNE WITH PARMESAN

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F.
• Working 1 potato at a time, slice very thinly on a mandoline. It is important to work with purpose here (quickly) because the potatoes will discolor. Do not put the potatoes in water because this will wash the starch off of them.
• Coat an 8-inch ovenproof nonstick saute pan with olive oil. Starting from the center of the pan, make concentric circles of potato slices. Remember that eventually the bottom will be the top, so it is important for the first circles of potatoes to look pretty. Brush each layer with olive oil and sprinkle every 2nd or 3rd layer liberally with grated Parmigiano and salt. After every layer of potatoes, press the potatoes so they are very compact. Repeat this process with the remaining potatoes.
• Place the pan over medium heat and cook until the olive oil begins to sizzle and the potatoes begin to brown on the bottom, about 10 minutes.
• Place a tight-fitting lid on the pan. Drain the excess oil out the side of the pan. THIS STEP IS EXTREMELY IMPORTANT!!! After the excess oil has been drained, completely flip the pan so the cake is turned out onto the bottom of the lid, then slide the cake off the lid back into the pan so the brown side of the cake is now up and the top becomes the bottom. We see now why draining the excess oil is important: if you attempt this without draining the oil, it will drain out on your wrist and burn you.
• Transfer the pan to the oven and bake until the cake is fork-tender, 20 to 25 minutes. Cut into wedges and serve.