Agnolotti With Sausage Food

AGNOLOTTI BOLOGNESE

Steps:

• For the pasta dough: Whisk the 00 or all-purpose flour and the semolina flour in the bowl of a stand mixer to combine. Make a well in the center.
• Combine the whole eggs, yolks, milk and olive oil in a small bowl and pour it into the well. Using the dough hook, mix on low speed until the dough just starts to come together, then increase the speed to medium and mix for 5 minutes.
• Lightly flour your work surface and turn the dough onto it. Knead the dough by hand until it is smooth and elastic, and springs back when you press it with your finger, about 10 minutes. Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 1 hour.
• For the filling: Combine the ricotta, mascarpone and Parmesan in a small bowl. Put the mixture in a pastry bag and refrigerate until needed.
• For the ragu: Put the beef stock, red wine and porcinis in a small saucepan. Bring to a boil over high heat, reduce the heat and let the mixture simmer.
• Heat the olive oil in a Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add the beef, hot and sweet Italian sausages and prosciutto and cook, breaking up the beef and sausage with a whisk, until well browned, about 10 minutes. Season with some salt and pepper.
• Stir the tomato paste into the meat, then stir in the rosemary, thyme, garlic, bay leaves and onions and cook, stirring, until the onions soften slightly, about 5 minutes.
• Strain the beef stock mixture into the meat. Add the tomatoes and bring the mixture to a boil. Reduce the heat so the mixture simmers and cook, stirring occasionally, until thickened, about 45 minutes. Add the cream and continue to simmer another 15 minutes or so. Stir in the parsley. Taste and adjust the seasoning if necessary.
• To fill and finish the agnolotti: Cut the dough into 4 pieces. Set a pasta roller at the widest setting.
• Pass the first piece of dough through the roller, fold it in half and run it through again. Fold the dough in half again, dust it with flour, and run it through the roller again. Reduce the width setting on the roller and run the dough through. Continue to run the dough through, reducing the width with each pass, until the pasta is thin enough so that you can see the shadow of your hand through the other side. Lightly flour your work surface and lay the pasta sheet on top.
• Pipe 1 teaspoon of filling about 1 inch from the edge. Continue to pipe additional teaspoons of filling 1 inch apart, from one end to the other. Fold the dough over so that it extends about an inch past the filling (it won¿t extend to the opposite edge), press to seal the long edge and then trim the excess dough from the sealed side. With your fingers perpendicular to the table, pinch between the mounds to seal the filling in. Then use the cutter to cut between each mound, through the pinch, creating little purses. Dust the finished agnolotti with flour. Refrigerate until ready to cook. Repeat the process with the 3 remaining pieces of dough and the filling.
• Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil over high heat. Add the agnolotti, stir and, when they float to the surface, leave them in the water for an additional minute. Use a spider or slotted spoon to transfer the agnolotti to a large bowl. Ladle over some ragu, toss, drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with grated Parmesan. Serve immediately.

AGNOLOTTI WITH SAUSAGE

Steps:

• In a medium heavy-bottomed skillet, melt butter over medium-high heat. Add onions. Cook until onions are soft and have lost their moisture. It may be necessary to adjust the heat so that onions do not brown. Reduce heat to medium-low, and continue to cook so that onions brown slowly, stirring frequently, until dark brown but not burned, about 45 minutes total cooking time. It may be necessary to adjust the heat to prevent them from burning.
• Heat olive oil in a medium skillet. Crumble sausage into skillet. Cook, stirring occasionally, over medium-high heat until lightly browned. Do not to let the meat dry out. Add cream, and cook, stirring, for 2 minutes. Transfer to a large heat-proof bowl. Break sausage into marble-size pieces, if necessary. Set aside.
• Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add peas and onions to sausage in bowl. Add agnolotti to boiling water. Place bowl over pot of boiling water to warm through. Cook until al dente, following label directions. Strain pasta, and add to bowl with sausage mixture along with a few tablespoons boiling water. The sauce should not be wet or runny. The agnolotti should be well coated and shiny from the sauce. Transfer to serving dishes, and season with pepper. Serve immediately.

AGNOLOTTI AL BURRO E SALVIA

Steps:

• Make the dough from the flour and the eggs (like a bread dough) and put it in a bowl, cover it with plastic wrap, and let it sit until it has risen.
• In the mean time, blanch the cabbage, drain it, squeezing well to extract moisture, and mince it. Then sauté it until done in the butter. Take out the cabbage and set aside.
• Brown the sausage and when brown add cooked meats together and heat until hot.
• Mince the cooked meats quite finely (if need be you can blend them, but be careful not to make a paste). Combine all the ingredients of the filling in a bowl and mix them thoroughly with your fingers to obtain a homogenous mixture, seasoning it to taste with salt, pepper and nutmeg.
• Take the pasta dough and roll it out dime-thin. Cut the sheet into two equal-sized pieces, dust one lightly with corn meal, roll it up, and cover it so it stays moist.
• Dot the half of the sheet still on your work surface with blebs of filling about the size of a small hazelnut, putting the dots in rows that are about an inch apart (I have seen agnolotti that are smaller).
• Unroll the other sheet, shake off the corn meal, and lay it over the first.
• Tamp the sheet down well around the filling, so it sticks, and cut the agnolotti free with a serrated pasta wheel.
• Come time to cook them, heat the butter in a pan with the sage, and remove it from the flames when the sage begins to whisper (you don't want to brown the butter or burn the sage).
• In the meantime, bring broth to a boil.
• Boil the agnolotti in broth, skimming them off, into a serving bowl, as soon as they rise to the surface.
• Season them with the butter and sage, and serve with freshly grated cheese, and thinly sliced truffle, if you have it.

AGNOLOTTI WITH SAUSAGE AND RICOTTA FILLING AND BURST CHERRY TOMATO & PANCETTA SAUCE

Steps:

• Put the flour onto 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 5 eggs into the hole and add 2 tablespoons of olive oil and 2 teaspoons of kosher salt. Using a fork, beat the eggs together with the olive oil 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 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 it rest for at least 1 hour. If using immediately, do not refrigerate.
• Heat a large saute pan over medium-high heat with 2 tablespoons of olive oil. Add the onion, a pinch of crushed red pepper and kosher salt to taste. Saute the onion until translucent, 5 minutes. Add the sausage and break it up with a spoon. Cook, stirring occasionally, 7 to 8 minutes or until the sausage is browned. Add the sage and stir to combine, then deglaze the pan with the white wine and reduce until the wine has cooked off, 5 minutes. Turn off the heat and let it cool down slightly.
• Add the ricotta, 1 cup of Parmesan and the remaining egg into a large bowl. Mix well to combine. Add the sausage mixture into the ricotta and mix to combine. Scoop the ricotta and sausage mixture into a pastry bag and set aside.
• Add the remaining 2 tablespoons of olive oil into a large saute pan and turn on the heat to low. Add the pancetta and gently cook to slowly render the fat, stirring occasionally, until the pancetta is crispy and most of the fat has rendered out, 10 minutes. Add the cherry tomatoes, 1/2 cup of chicken stock, a pinch of crushed red pepper and kosher salt to taste. Cook on a gentle simmer until the cherry tomatoes have softened and burst and the sauce has reduced, 5 to 7 minutes. Add the remaining 1/2 cup of chicken stock and continue to cook until the sauce has slightly thickened, another 5 or so minutes.
• Unwrap the pasta dough and cut off one third, keeping the larger piece covered. Using your hands, flatten the dough and sprinkle it with a little flour. Pass the dough through the pasta roller on the widest setting (mine is #1), then fold each end towards the center in thirds, like an envelope. Dust with more flour, then pass through the machine again. Repeat this process 3 to 4 times, folding the dough and flouring each time. Decrease the width to #2 and pass through the machine. Fold again and dust with flour. Continue to #3 and repeat, just folding and flouring once until you've reached #5. Lay the pasta sheet onto your board and arrange some basil leaves on one half of the sheet. Fold the dough in half to cover the basil leaves, dust with more flour, then pass through the machine one more time on the thinnest setting (mine is #6), so the basil leaves become part of the pasta dough sheet. Set aside and cover. Repeat with the remaining dough and basil leaves.
• Place the sheets of dough onto a floured surface. Lightly brush the lower half of each strip (the part closest to you) with water. Snip the corner off the pastry bag. Pipe 1-inch mounds of filling, 1 inch apart, onto the middle to lower half of each strip. Fold the dough over the filling to meet the bottom edge that's brushed with water. Press around each ball of filling with your index fingers, making sure there are no air bubbles. Cut out the agnolotti using a fluted pasta wheel. Transfer to a baking sheet dusted with semolina.
• Set up a large pot of boiling water and generously season with kosher salt. It should be as salty as the sea. Add the agnolotti and cook for 2 to 3 minutes.
• Add the cooked agnolotti directly from the boiling water into the sauce along with 1/4 cup of the pasta water. Toss to combine until the pasta is nicely coated. Add 1/4 cup of the Parmesan, most of the sliced basil (leave a bit for garnish) and a big fat drizzle of nice extra-virgin olive oil and toss to combine.
• Plate, then garnish with more Parmesan and sliced basil.