2014 is coming to an end, and I like to end it with a delicious rustic Southern Italian pasta dish called “cavatelli“. They’re consumed in many Southern regions but mainly come from Molise area. Usually cavatelli are made with semolina flour, I made mine with both buckwheat and spelt flours to make this dish even more hearty and rustic. I love the complexity of unrefined grain flours with their nutty flour and beautiful brownish color. You can make them the traditional way using white flour or if you want to avoid refined flours, try this version.

Those are really easy to make and not time consuming like the other types of pasta. You can serve them with anything you want, but are mostly served in a tomato based sauce. Their shapes absorbs the tomato sauce very well and I think they are mainly suited for these types of sauces.

If you want to make this dish vegan, then remove the parmesan, and that would make a delicious vegan dish.

Ingredients for 2-3

For the pasta

• 150 g buckwheat flour
• 150 g whole grain spelt flour
• warm water

For the sauce

• 3 garlic cloves, chopped
• 3 tbs olive oil
• 1.5 cups cherry tomatoes, chopped
• 1 fresh chili (peperoncino), finely chopped
• 1 handful of baby kale
• salt and pepper to taste
• Parmesan

Preparation

For the sauce

Heat olive oil in a pan, add garlic. Cook and stir for a few minutes until fragrant. Add chili pepper, salt and pepper. Cook for about 5 minutes until the tomatoes are soft, add kale and stir until wilted.

For the cavatelli

In a wooden board, mix spelt flour and buckwheat flour, add enough warm water to make a paste. Knead to form a smooth dough for about 5 minutes. The dough needs to be smooth and elastic and not sticky. Form a round ball shape, then using a rolling pin, roll the dough to form a sheet of about 7 mm thick. Cut strips of about 1 cm like in the picture.

Roll each strip on the board to form a thick “spaghetti” of about 7 mm thick. Cut the “spaghetti” in 2 cm long cylinders and using two fingers tips roll each cylinder so that it excavates the center of the cylinder (see picture). Proceed the same way with each cylinder.

Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add cavatelli and cook for about 5-7 minutes. Keep some cooking water (about 3-4 tbs) to add to the sauce.

Drain cavatelli and add to sauce. Add parmesan and basil and mix well.

I had some broccoli that I needed to use, and I did not feel like eating them in pieces, so I figured if I made purée, what else could I combine them with. One thing led to one other and one thought led to one other, so here it is, a little timbale as we call it in French. In the culinary world it’s a deep and tall mold, and any preparation that has been mounted this way can be called timbale.

If you are in the mood for some greens, and a little salmon, this could be it. Believe it or not, this is an express dish, that is done in 30 minutes, so it’s always something to consider when your time is limited in the kitchen like most working people.

You can use baby kale instead of spinach, or any leafy green you like and use cauliflower instead of broccoli. This can be served as an appetizer or entrée for a light meal.

Ingredients for 4 people

• 200 g cooked smoked salmon, shredded
• 4 cups broccoli florets
• 1 tbs olive oil + 1 tsp
• 2 garlic gloves, crushed
• 1 bag of baby spinach or baby kale
• salt and pepper

For the dill sauce

• 1 tbs olive oil
• 1 shallot, chopped
• 1 glass dry white wine
• fish fumet
• 1/2 tsp lemon juice
• 1 tbs dill, chopped
• 2 tb crème fraîche

 Preparation

Start by making the sauce. Heat olive oil in a small pot, add shallots and soften for about 2 minutes. Add wine and fumet and reduce for about 5-7 minutes. Add lemon juice, dill and crème fraîche.

Bring large pot of salted water to a boil. Add broccoli and cook until tender. Drain well and mash using a potato masher. Adjust with salt and pepper and a little olive oil. Keep warm.

In a large pot, heat olive oil and add garlic crushed. Stir to get the flavor out, then add greens at high temperature until wilted. Adjust with salt and pepper. Keep warm

Using a rind, mount in a plate by starting first with some broccoli purée at the bottom. Add spinach, then salmon, then proceed with another layer and end with the salmon.

Place some dill sauce around and serve hot or warm.

]]> http://citronetvanille.com/blog/2014/06/smoke-salmon-broccoli-puree-and-spinach-timbale-dill-sauce/feed/ 0