I’m over winter and ready for spring and all of its flavors.
On the bright side, only four more days until spring. March 19th is the spring equinox. Yahoo!
I’ve been busy starting my seeds for the growing season. How about you?
Decided to dive into spring a bit early with an artichoke-inspired dish. Artichokes aren’t something I prepare very often. Can’t readily find fresh, local artichokes in my neck of the woods.
However, I do have a source for top-notch marinated, grilled artichokes, from one of my favorite South Philly go-tos. If you ever find yourself in Philly, I highly recommend a stroll down 9th Street to peruse some old school Italian groceries, bakeries, butcher shops, kitchen supplies and restaurants, etc. These artichokes came from Claudio. Am becoming a regular there for their artichokes and Calabrian chiles. They have a no-nonsense mentality, but I think they’re slowly warming up to me 🙂
I made a simple filling for my stuffed pasta – mezzaluna — with the artichokes. Mezzaluna translates into ‘half moons’ in Italian.
It’s a little bit of work, but I really enjoy the meditative repetition of piping and folding the pasta. You can enjoy the mezzaluna right away, but they also freeze well. When you’re in the mood for pasta, just toss the frozen mezzaluna into a pot of boiling, salted water.
I served the mezzaluna with some artichokes I crisped up in a skillet, pea shoots, toasted pine nuts and a light Parmesan cream sauce.
Artichoke Mezzaluna
Makes 7 dozen (used 2 1/2 inch round cutter)
Artichoke Filling (recipe below)
Pasta Dough (recipe below)
Lightly flour your work surface. Cut your ball of dough into quarters. Remove one piece, keeping the rest covered in plastic so it doesn’t dry out.
Flatten the piece of dough with a rolling pin. Next, run the dough through your pasta machine starting with the largest setting (typically ‘0’ or ‘1’). Run it one to two times through each successive pasta roller setting until very thin (e.g., next to last setting on my Kitchenaid pasta roller attachment).
Lay the pasta sheet on a lightly floured work surface. Using a 2 1/2-inch round cutter, cut the sheet into rounds.
Pipe the filling, about 1 teaspoon, in the center of each round. Lightly brush the perimeter of the pasta with water. Fold the round in half, to form a half moon (mezzaluna), pressing out as much air as possible.
Optional: Press the tines of a fork along the curved edge to seal and create a decorative pattern.
Artichoke Filling
2 tablespoons butter
1/2 cup diced shallots
10 ounces, oil packed artichokes, drained
1/2 cup (about 1 1/2 ounces) freshly grated Parmesan
1/3 cup loosely packed parsley
1 large egg yolk
Zest of 1 lemon
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
Pinch of chile flakes
Heat the butter in a skillet. Add the shallots and sauté until soft and translucent, but not browned. Set aside to cool.
Combine all ingredients in a food processor. Pulse until well combined, scraping down the bowl as necessary. Transfer filing to a piping bag.
Pasta Dough
2 well-packed cups 00 (or unbleached all-purpose) flour
1 teaspoon salt
2 large whole eggs
5 egg yolks
Mix the flour and salt. Place the flour on a dry, clean work surface and form it into a mound. Use the flat bottom of a measuring cup to create a well in the middle.
Add the eggs and egg yolks to the well.
With a fork, gently beat the eggs; be careful not to disturb the walls of the flour. Slowly begin to incorporate the flour walls into the egg mixture. Continue mixing the flour with the eggs until you have a shaggy, solid mass.
At this point, using your hands, start folding and forming the dough, incorporating the rest of the flour until you have a stiff, solid mass (removing any dry clumps of flour).
Knead the dough for about 7-10 minutes. Drive the heel of your hand into the dough, rotate the dough 45 degrees, and repeat until the dough is firm and bouncy and has a smooth, silken texture. Wrap the dough in plastic and let rest at least 30 minutes.
NOTE: the dough might seem dry at first, but as it rests it will slowly absorb water and rehydrate.
