Cavatelli with Cardoons, Chestnuts, Chanterelles & Fontina

From Michael Berardino, Chef de Cuisine at Dell’anima restaurant.

Ingredients
1 lb cavatelli fresh (see recipe below) or dry
8 stalks cardoon (you can also substitute 8 marinated artichoke hearts)
2 lemons
2 bay leaves
4 sprigs thyme

1 tbs. butter
1/4tsp. olive oil
1 lb. chestnuts toasted, peeled, and sliced
1/4 lb. chanterelle mushrooms cleaned and split
1/2 cup bechamel sauce (see recipe below)
4 oz. Fontina Val d’Aosta, grated

2 tbs.chopped parsley
Salt

Trim the cardoons (if using artichoke hearts, season with herbs and lemon juice and skip to next step) and peel the fibrous outer skin from the stalks. Slice on a slight bias into 1/4″ thick pieces. Place the cardoons in a medium saucepan and cover with water. Add 2 lemons, 2 bay leaves, 4 sprigs of thyme and bring to a boil over medium high heat. Cook until tender, about 35-40 min. Drain the cardoons and allow to cool.

Bring 6 qts of water to a boil and add 2 tbs of salt.

In a large saute pan melt 1 tbs butter and 1/4tsp olive oil over medium high heat. Add the cardoons and brown slightly. Add the chanterelle mushrooms and cook for about 5 minutes. Toss in 1/2 off the chestnuts and add the bechemel sauce. Remove from the heat.

Cook the pasta for about 6-8 minutes. Drain well, reserving some of the cooking water. Toss the pasta in the saute pan with the bechemel sauce, and add some of the pasta water to back the sauce out slightly. It should just coat the pasta. Toss with the chopped parsley and the half of the Fontina Val d’Aosta. Trasfer to an oven safe dish, top with the remaining cheese and chestnuts. Bake in the oven for about 5-7 minutes, or until the cheese has melted.

Cavatelli dough: (for the ambitious)

1c semolina flour
1/2c AP flour
3/4c water

Yield: 1 pound
Combine flours in bowl. Make a well in the center of the flours and slowly incorporate the water to form a stiff dough. Once the dough forms a ball, transfer to a lightly floured surface. Knead the dough until it is smooth and elastic, about 5-6 minutes. Divide the dough into 8 pieces. Keep the dough covered with a towel when you are not working with it. Take one piece of dough and roll it out into a long rope that is 1/2″ thick. Cut the dough into 1/2″ think pieces. Take a bench scraper and flatten each piece of dough while dragging the bench scraper across the table to make the dough curl slightly. Lay the shapes out in a single layer on a towel while you finish forming the rest of the pasta.

Bechemal sauce:
2tbs + 1tsp. unsalted butter
2 tbs. flour

1 1/2c. milk
1/4tsp. Nutmeg
salt to taste

For the roux: In a medium sauce pan heat the butter until melted. Add the flour and whisk until smooth. Cook over medium heat until golden brown, about 7 minutes.

In a separate pan warm the milk until it is just about to boil. Slowly add the milk to the roux, whisking constantly until very smooth. Bring to a boil and cook for about 30-45 seconds. Remove from the heat and season with nutmeg and a pinch of salt.

Risotto con Barbabietola e Humboldt Fog

Makes 4 servings

4 beets (about 2 1/2 pounds without the tops)

2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1/2 cup minced onions
1 tablespoon minced shallots
1 1/2 cups Carnaroli rice
2 cups hot vegetable stock
2 cups hot beet juice (see Note)

1 cup shredded beets (see procedure below)
2 teaspoons goat butter, cut into bits
1/2 cup freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano
cheese
1/2 pound Humboldt Fog, crumbled into small pieces
Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

Note: For a more concentrated flavor of beets and a deeper purple color, use only hot beet juice in substitution for vegetable stock. Otherwise, you can use equal parts vegetable stock and equal parts beet juice. You will still see a vibrant color of purple, and the flavor of beet will be prevalent.

To Shred the Beets:

Cut off the beet tops if any and scrub the beets well with cold running water. In a medium-sized saucepan, simmer the beets until tender when pierced. This can take up to 45 minutes. Drain the beets and allow them to cool completely and then peel the outer layer. With a box grater, shred the beets until they are finely shredded.

For the Beet Juice:
Follow the same procedure of cooking the beets as above, but reserve about 1 cup of the beet cooking liquid. Puree the beets and reserved liquid together in a blender.

For the Risotto:

In a heavy, wide 3-to 4-quart casserole or pot, heat the olive oil over medium heat. Cook the onions and shallots together until golden, stirring often, about 6 minutes. Add the rice and stir to coat with the oil. Toast the rice until the edges become translucent, 1 to 2 minutes.

Add 1/2 cup stock and 1/4 cup beet juice and 1/2 teaspoon of the salt. Cook, stirring constantly, until all the stock has been absorbed. Continue to add liquids, alternating between hot stock and beet juice, in small batches – just enough to completely moisten the rice – and cook until each successive batch has been absorbed. Stir constantly and adjust the level of heat so the rice is simmering very gently until the rice is creamy but al dente. Add the shredded beet about 5 minutes before the risotto is finished cooking. Stir well to combine. The total cooking time will take approximately 16-20 minutes from the time the first liquid was added.

Remove the casserole from the heat and beat in the butter until completely melted and then the cheese. Adjust the seasoning with salt, if necessary, and pepper.

On a large serving plate, spoon 3 heaping tablespoons of risotto onto the plate and smooth out into a circular shape. Top the risotto with the crumbled Humboldt Fog cheese. Serve immediately.

Optional: For a more decadent version of this risotto, drizzle a teaspoon of 10 or 25-year aged balsamic vinegar atop the finished risotto.

Try Chef Nicotra’s Cheese Creations at…



Felidia Restaurant NYC
243 East 58th Street
New York, NY 10022
(212) 758.1479

From James Distefano of Rouge Tomate

This time of year really offers an amazing bounty of local ingredients that are just screaming to be kept simple. Whether you are a professional chef, a cooking enthusiast or somebody who just cooks occasionally I feel like there is one dominating philosophy…and that’s to keep it simple. Keep it as simple as you can and let the ingredients shine. At Rouge Tomate, where I am the pastry chef, this ethos really allows us to support our network of local farms to source the best ingredients possible at the peak of their ripeness. I feel like this composed cheese plate is an excellent example of this philosophy of staying local and in season and letting the product’s virtues speak for themselves. Black mission figs are one of these fruits that really represent this time of year…a time that marks the end of summer but also welcomes the fall and all of its bounty. The cheese that I’ve decided to pair with the black mission figs is the Coupole, produced by the Vermont Butter and Cheese Company. It reminds me of so many of the great goat cheeses of the Loire Valley but it allows us to keep things local and in turn a bit more sustainable. I feel like this dish can be a great first course, something that could be brought to a potluck, a picnic or in my case, the final notes to a great meal.

BLACK MISSION FIG (serves 4-6)

1 pt. fresh black mission figs
2 sprigs. Marjoram, picked. Smaller leaves only
1/4 cup candied sunflower seeds*
Pinch fleur de sel
Pinch fresh, cracked black pepper (preferably from a pepper mill)
1-2 Tbl. High quality aged balsamic vinegar (at least 12 years old, 25 would be better)

1 pc. Coupole goat cheese
1 loaf Multi-grain bread. Sliced into half inch thick pieces.

*CANDIED SUNFLOWER SEEDS:
1 Tbl. butter
2/3 cup sugar
Pinch sea salt

2 cups sunflower seeds

Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees Fahranheit.
Place sunflower seeds on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper and lightly toast in the oven until they become light golden brown. This should take roughly 10-15 minutes. Once they are done remove them from the oven and place them on a cooling rack.
Next, toast the multi-grain bread on a baking sheet to a light golden brown as well. Once they are done remove them from the oven and place them on a cooling rack.
In a medium size sauté pan, combine butter, sugar and salt and melt over a low flame.
Once all of the butter has been melted turn the heat up to medium high and continue to cook the mixture. It’s important to stir to insure even caramelization of the sugar.
Once the sugar has caramelized to an amber brown, add the sunflower seeds to the pan and stir to evenly combine. Once the sunflower seeds have been evenly coated, pour them on to a baking sheet lined with parchment paper and that has also been sprayed with non-stick baking spray. This will prevent the seeds from sticking to the paper.
Allow the seeds to cool at room temperature. Once they are cool, gently break them apart with your hands or gently crush them using a rolling pin. Store them in an air-tight container in a cool, dry space.

To assemble the dish:
Rinse and dry the figs, remove the top stem and quarter them. if they are on the smaller side, simply cut them in half.
Arrange them on a dish or in a shallow bowl.
Lightly season them with a pinch of fleur de sel and a pinch of black pepper. If you are using a pepper mill, a couple of turns will be suffice.
Next, drizzle the figs with the aged balsamic vinegar. Depending on your tastes, you can either drizzle a little or a lot.
Following the balsamic, add the marjoram leaves and candied sunflower seeds to this deliciousness.

You can either gently stir to evenly combine everything or you can let the ingredients sit on top of the figs. It’s about how you want your dish to look.

For our first installment of Chef’s Corner, we’ve picked one of our favorite cheeses, Cabot Clothbound Cheddar, and the fantastic
Finocchiona Mini
from Columbus Salame company. Chef Nicotra of Felidia Restaurant has three suggested applications for these delightful treats!

Cheese & Salumi Plate
For a simple and delicious snack, cut the
Finocchiona mini
on the bias into 1/4 – inch thick slices and serve with chunks of the Cabot Clothbound Cheddar, Calmyrna Figs and Mitica Homemade Membrillo.

Salad of Haricot Vert, Pickled Red Onion, Cabot Clothbound Cheddar and Toasted Almond Olive Oil

Ingredients:
1 cup cooked haricot vert
1 pickled red onion
1/2 cup white balsamic vinegar
2 tablespoons almonds, toasted
Extra Virgin Olive Oil

8 ounces Cabot Clothbound Cheddar

To pickle the red onion: Peel and slice into any shape you would like. Blanch in boiling water and then cool immediately in ice water. Marinate in the vinegar for a minimum of 2 hours or up to overnight. (The longer you allow the onions to marinate, the more flavor will be imparted).

To make the toasted almond oil: Lightly toast the almonds in a nonstick skillet for a few minutes. In a blender add the extra virgin olive oil and almonds and blend until creamy.

To plate: First mix together the haricot vert and pickled onions with the toasted almond oil, add salt to taste. Make a mound of the salad on a plate and top with crumbled Cabot Clothbound Cheddar.

Finocchiona Mini
with Fennel Salad & Cabot Clothbound Cheddar

To see Lidia’s tips on preparing fennel, click here.

Using a mandolin, a very sharp knife, or the wide slot of a grater, slice the bulb of the fennel. Be sure to keep a few of the fennel fronds to mix with the slices of raw fennel. Dress lightly with good extra virgin olive oil. Thinly slice the
Finocchiona mini
into round discs and lay out in a circular pattern on a plate. Top with the raw fennel slices and fronds, and shaved Cabot Clothbound Cheddar. Add sea salt, to taste.

Try Chef Nicotra’s Cheese Creations at…



Felidia Restaurant NYC
243 East 58th Street
New York, NY 10022
(212) 758.1479