Italian Food Lovers

More Thanksgiving recipes from the Italian Food Lovers Chef Network! Today we have with us Chef Mark Grimes from Pinstripes Restaurant, proposing a mouth-watering recipe for your Thanksgiving menu: Roasted Pumpkin Ravioli with Balsamic Brown Butter.

Be ready, this is not a very easy recipe, as there are several preparation steps and several items to assemble during the preparation of this gourmet recipe. Let’s see all all preparation steps one by one, as suggested by Chef Mark Grimes.

ROASTED PUMPKIN RAVIOLI WITH BALSAMIC BROWN BUTTER
A recipe by Chef Mark Grimes
(serves 6 to 8)

PASTA DOUGH - Ingredients

- 33.6 oz flour (Farina di grano tenero Tipo “00” if possible, or any type 00)
- 1 tablespoon Academia Barilla Natural Sea Salt with Orange Zest
- 4 egg yolks
- 1 oz Academia Barilla Monti Iblei Extra Virgin Olive Oil
- 7 oz water

PASTA DOUGH - Preparation

In your mixing bowl, combine flour and kosher salt and mix on speed #1 for 30 seconds. Add egg yolks, olive oil and water and continue to mix on speed #1 for approximately 4 minutes. As the dough begins to form, turn your mixer up to speed #2 and continue for an additional 5-7 minutes.

Once the dough has formed a ball and the inside of the mixing bowl is clean, the dough is ready. Remove the dough and wrap tightly in plastic and allow to rest 30-45 minutes at room temperature before use.

ROASTED PUMPKIN - Ingredients

- 6 pie pumpkins
- 4 oz butter
- 2 oz honey
- 1 oz maple syrup
- 1/4 tablespoon Academia Barilla Sapori Italiani Herb Mix
- 1/4 tablespoon nutmeg
- 1/4 tablespoon cinnamon
- 1/2 tablespoon Academia Barilla Natural Sea Salt with Orange Zest
- 4 thyme sprig – fresh and cleaned
- 1 qt water

ROASTED PUMPKIN - Preparation

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Carefully split squash in half, end to end with a French knife. Remove meat and seeds from the insides and place in to water. Cube butter into 12 pieces and rub generously on the flesh side of the pumpkins and place any excess in the center (1 cube per half pumpkin).

In a small mixing bowl combine honey, maple syrup, herb mix, nutmeg, cinnamon, natural salt and thyme and mix together. Place pumpkins flesh side up on a sheet tray and with a large spoon, drizzle mixture evenly on each half pumpkin.

Roast the pumpkins at 375 degrees for 45 minutes, or until fork tender. While the pumpkins are roasting, separate the seeds from the meat of the pumpkin and lay out on a sheet tray to dry. Once the pumpkins are roasted let them cool for 15 minutes and then extract the pumpkin from the skins, process through a food mill, cool and reserve.

ROASTED PUMPKIN AN MASCARPONE FILLING - Ingredients

- 8 roasted pumpkin, pureed (or organic pumpkin filling)
- 1/2 pound mascarpone cheese
- 1/2 pound cream cheese (room temperature)
- 1/2 pound goat cheese
- 1 tablespoon white balsamic vinegar
- 1/4 tablespoon Academia Barilla Sapori Italiani Herb Mix
- 1/4 tablespoon nutmeg
- 1/4 tablespoon cinnamon
- 1/4 tablespoon Academia Barilla Natural Sea Salt with Orange Zest
- 4 thyme sprig – fresh and cleaned
- 1/2 pound honey
- 1/2 pound maple syrup

ROASTED PUMPKIN AN MASCARPONE FILLING - Preparation

Before you begin ensure that all components are room temperature. Combine all dry ingredients in a small mixing bowl. In a large mixing add the roasted pumpkin puree and gently fold in marscapone cheese, cream cheese, goat cheese and white balsamic vinegar, the maple syrup, the herb mix and the honey.

Add dry ingredients and mix until all is completely incorporated. Cover with plastic and place in the refrigerator for 1 hour.

EGG WASH - Ingredients and preparation

- 4 egg whites
- 4 oz heavy whipping cream
- 1 oz water

Whisk together in small mixing bowl and reserve until ready to assemble the ravioli.

SPICED PUMPKIN SEEDS - Preparation

Preheat oven to 200 degrees. Lay out seeds from pumpkins on a sheet tray and place in the oven for 30 minutes. While the seeds dry, combine 1 tablespoon all spice, 1 tablespoon cinnamon, 1 tablespoon nutmeg, !/2 tablespoon Cayenne pepper and 3 tablespoon natural salt salt.

Once the seeds are out of the oven, heat oven to 375 F degrees, toss seeds with spice mixture and bake for 15-20 minutes.

ROASTED PUMPKIN RAVIOLI

Remove pasta dough from the plastic and cut in to 4 oz piece. Start at the biggest setting on your pasta roller and move the dough through 2 times. Now move down one setting and repeat the process.

Continue to roll out the dough until it is your desired thickness for the ravioli, however do not go past #3 or the dough will become too thin and tear as you assemble the ravioli. Roll out all the dough in to sheets and sprinkle each with a little bit of flour and spread so that as you stack the sheets they do not stick.

Remove your pumpkin marscapone filling from the refrigerator. Sprinkle and spread some flour on your work surface and lay down 1 sheet of pasta dough.

Place 1 oz of pumpkin marscapone filling on the sheet about 2 inches apart the entire length of the sheet. This will give you room to assemble and cut the ravioli. Brush each edge of the sheet with egg wash and fold the top over the filling to the bottom.

Cup your hands around each spoon of filling to rid the ravioli of air. This will eliminate tearing and splitting the dough while cooking. Once the dough is secure around the filling and the top and bottom together, cut your ravioli with desired shape cutter. Place the ravioli on a floured sheet tray and reserve until ready for cooking.

Bring 1 gallon of water and 2 tablespoon salt to a rolling boil. Only place as many ravioli in the boiling water as to not change the temperature and ensure even cooking speed. Once the ravioli have floated to the surface and remained there for 20-30 seconds they are ready to serve.

BALSAMIC BROWN BUTTER - Ingredents and preparation

- 1 oz butter
- 2 oz Academia Barilla Balsamic Must aged 8 year
- 2 oz honey
- 2 tablespoon fresh sage julienne
- 1 tablespoon Academia Barilla Natural Sea Salt with Orange Zest

Cube butter in to 32 even pieces and place in a medium sized sauté pan on medium flame. Let the butter melt and skim impurities from the surface with a spoon. Once the butter has melted, continue to leave over medium heat while it begins to brown.

Add the balsamic, honey and kosher salt and whisk in to butter. Once the butter has the aroma of toasted nuts it is done. Remove from the heat and add fresh sage julienne. Be careful with the butter in that it is extremely hot. Reserve for service.

FINAL PREPARATION

Toss ravioli with balsamic brown butter. Garnish with shaved pecorino and spiced pumpkin seeds, micro arugula.

This has been easy but very long in terms of preparation, as all good things it took a lot of attention. Thank you Chef Mark Grimes for sharing with us this Thanksgiving pasta creation. More gourmet recipes for Turkey Day coming up tomorrow, stay tuned!

We are late with this recipe since we promised you, as well as Chef Tony Mantuano and wine expert Cathy Mantuano, our new guests at the Italian Food Lovers Chef Network, that this recipe would have been published last week, only that we have been really busy traveling around the world here at the Academia Barilla blog editorial team.

After the PKN conference in Parma, we had to head to NY for a big event - no anticipations about it, we’ll blog about it later!

Now it is finally time for the first recipe provided by Chef Tony Mantuano of Spiaggia, the top Italian restaurants and cafe in Chicago, Illinois. Wine expert Cathy Mantuano also sent us a great recipe for a classic Italian cocktail, so today you finally get both recipes! Here we go with the first one.

CRISPY PARMIGIANO FLATBREAD
A recipe by Chef Tony Mantuano
(makes 16 large pieces)

NOTES AND TIPS FROM THE CHEF

This cheesy flatbread is so satisfyingly crunchy and easy to make that you will want to bake it regularly. We recommend using a manual or electric pasta machine to roll out the dough for these crispy, paper-thin treats. Using a rolling pin will yield slightly thicker results. After just one bite you will understand why this is one of the most sought-after recipes in our restaurants.

INGREDIENTS

- 2 envelopes active dry yeast

- 11⁄2 cups warm water

- 2 tablespoons Academia Barilla extra virgin olive oil, plus more for brushing

- 4 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting

- 2 cups freshly grated Academia Barilla Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese
- 1 teaspoon sea salt


PREPARATION

Combine the yeast and warm water in a small bowl and let sit until bubbly, about 5 minutes. Stir in the olive oil.

Put the flour and salt in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the dough hook or in a large bowl. Pour in the yeast mixture and mix on low speed or with your hands until the water is absorbed and a shaggy dough is formed.

Knead the dough on a lightly floured board until the dough is uniform and smooth, 2 to 3 minutes. It will be slightly sticky.


Divide the dough into 4 equal pieces and shape into balls. Dust with flour and place on a floured cookie sheet. Cover with plastic wrap and let the dough rise in a warm place until doubled in size, 1 to 2 hours.


Preheat the oven to 425°F. 
Have ready 2 nonstick cookie sheets or grease regular cookie sheets with olive oil.
 Working with one dough ball at a time (cover the remaining dough with a moist kitchen towel until ready to use), dust the ball with flour and flatten with your hand.

Cut the dough in half and roll half the dough through a pasta machine with the rollers set midway apart. Dust the dough with flour if it becomes sticky. Reduce the space between the rollers one setting at a time until you have reached the last setting and the dough is a smooth, thin sheet.

Transfer to a cutting board and cut in half on an angle into large pieces so that 2 will fit on a cookie sheet. The pieces should each be approximately 4 inches wide and 12 inches long. Roll and cut the remaining half in the same manner as the first.

Place the rolled dough on the cookie sheets. Brush lightly with olive oil, sprinkle with about a quarter of the cheese, and bake until golden brown, 12 to 14 minutes. Let cool on a rack before serving.

Repeat this process with the rest of the dough balls, rolling and baking until all the dough is used. Stored in an airtight container, the flatbread will keep for up to 2 days.


Buon appetito from Chef Tony Mantuano, Academia Barilla and Italian Food Lovers!

Please see next blog post for Wine expert Cathy Mantuano’s recipe.