So the first dish of the week is going to use a part of the beetroot which you may never have tried. The leaves of beetroot are also known as Swiss chard, which is from the same family as what we know as silverbeet. With a taste similar to spinach it works with cuisines in many of the same ways. However, the slight difference in flavour provides a new twist on well worn flavour combination. This was my first attempt at a rotolo, which is cooked in an interesting way by wrapping in a tea towel and poaching in a baking dish filled with water in the oven. The ricotta is lightly browned in the oven before adding to the filling, bringing a wonderful caramelized flavour to the dish. There is a large amount of marjoram in the dish which I was cautious of initially. However, its wonderful floral scent marries perfectly with the nutty brown butter sauce and hint of nutmeg, drawing you in to have a taste. Then its slightly sweet taste brings out the earthy flavours of the chard though the rich ricotta. The recipe is in the comments section courtesy of Tobie Puttock.
For the Rotolo:
ReplyDelete400 gm (leaves of 3 bunches) beetroot leaves, trimmed and washed
400 gm baby spinach leaves
350 gm ricotta, coarsely crumbled
2 tbsp olive oil
1 cup (about 2 bunches, loosely packed) marjoram leaves
180 gm butter
1½ onions, finely chopped
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
20 gm (¼ cup) finely grated parmesan, plus extra to serve
1 pinch freshly grated nutmeg
½ lemon, juiced
For the Pasta Dough:
250 gm “00” flour
2 free-range eggs
1. For pasta dough, sift flour and a pinch of salt onto a clean bench. Make a well in centre, add eggs and using a fork gradually work eggs into flour until combined. Knead dough for 10 minutes or until smooth and elastic. If the dough is sticky add more flour. Wrap in plastic and rest for 30 minutes.
2. Preheat oven to 220C. Blanch beetroot and spinach leaves in boiling salted water for 30 seconds, drain and refresh under cold running water. Drain well, squeeze out excess water and coarsely chop. Set aside.
3. Scatter ricotta over a greased and lined oven tray, drizzle with 1 tbsp olive oil, season to taste. Bake for 15 minutes or until starting to brown.
4. Coarsely chop half the marjoram leaves and set aside. Melt 1 tbsp butter in a large frying pan over medium heat, add onion and garlic and cook for 10 minutes. Add beetroot and spinach leaves, chopped marjoram and season to taste. Reduce heat to low and cook for 5 minutes or until heated through. Cool and combine with ricotta, parmesan, nutmeg and season to taste.
5. Using a pasta machine with rollers at widest setting, feed dough, lightly dusted with semolina flour, through rollers. Fold dough in half lengthways, feed through rollers again, repeating until smooth, reducing settings notch by notch until dough is translucent and 2mm thick. Cut pasta sheets into 40cm lengths, join 3 side by side, brushing long edges with water and overlapping slightly, then press to join edges to form a single piece about 40cm square.
6. Carefully place pasta sheet on a clean non-fibrous tea towel. Spread ricotta mixture evenly over pasta, leaving a 10cm strip at edge farthest away from you. Starting with the edge closest to you, roll pasta in the tea towel away from you firmly to enclose pasta and filling. Secure ends of tea towel with string and at regular intervals to ensure it keeps its shape during cooking.
7. Line a 10cm deep baking dish or fish kettle with a clean tea towel, then place the rotolo on top. Cover with cold water and bake for 40 minutes. Using tongs carefully transfer the rotolo to a chopping board or platter. Unwrap tea towel and using a sharp knife cut rotolo into 6 slices.
8. Meanwhile, melt butter in a frying pan over high heat, add remaining marjoram leaves and cook for 3 minutes or until marjoram is crisp and butter browned. Remove from heat and add lemon juice. Place rotolo slices on plates, drizzle with butter, scatter with parmesan and serve.
Have made this tasty number several times - great recipe and great book!
ReplyDelete