Andyboy Cooks!

Pasta with Lemon Cream and Prosciutto

 

This is a nice and simple pasta dish that you can eat for dinner at home or serve to company. The presentation of the draped prosciutto is really something else. If you look through the ingredients there may be one that jumps out as a little peculiar: mint. Trust me... it works. Many people who haven't cooked with mint before assume that the sweetness that is often associated with it (candy, for example) is a natural part of the herb, and it isn't. It's the same thing with chocolate. Chocolate isn't sweet, but it becomes sweet when you add a boatload of sugar to it. The mint here is terrific and will have your guests scratching there heads (which is aways a good thing). The recipe came from Epicurious (but I think it may have come from Giada DeLaurentis first). One last note - I used fresh fettucini insteat of penne. :)

Pasta with Lemon Cream and Prosciutto

2 tablespoons (1/4 stick) butter
3 large shallots, minced
3/4 cup low-salt chicken broth
1 cup whipping cream
2 teaspoons grated lemon peel
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
2 cups frozen green peas, thawed
2 tablespoons thinly sliced fresh mint leaves
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
12 ounces penne pasta

12 thin slices prosciutto
Freshly grated Parmesan cheese


Melt butter in large nonstick skillet over medium heat. Add shallots and sauté until translucent, about 2 minutes. Add broth. Simmer over medium-high heat until mixture is reduced to 1/4 cup, about 2 minutes. Add cream, lemon peel, orange peel, and cayenne. Simmer until sauce thickens slightly, about 3 minutes. Add peas; simmer just until heated through, about 2 minutes. Stir in mint and lemon juice. Season sauce to taste with salt and pepper. Meanwhile, cook pasta in large pot of boiling salted water until tender but still firm to bite, stirring occasionally. Drain; return pasta to pot. Toss pasta with sauce to coat.

Divide pasta among plates or bowls. Drape prosciutto slices atop pasta and serve, passing Parmesan separately.

Makes 4 servings.

Chocolate Ganache Tart with Fresh Raspberries

 

I decided to whip up a dessert last night, saw this on foodgawker and thought it looked nice. It was terrific and the only change that I made was using raspberries instead of strawberries (they were on hand). The recipe came from Former Chef.

Chocolate Ganache Tart with Fresh Raspberries

1 Sweet Tart Dough (see below)
8 oz good dark chocolate
8 oz Heavy Cream
2 baskets fresh rasperries

Tart Pan with removable bottom

Once the tart shell is cooked and cooled, heat the cream in a heavy bottomed pot, just until it gets very hot; do not boil. Put the chocolate in a bowl and pour the hot cream over it. Whisk until all the chocolate is melted. Yield is approximately 2 cups.

Pour the chocolate into the baked tart shell and chill in the refrigerator for about 1/2 an hour until it is almost firm. Place the raspberries across the top of the tart. Cover with glaze if you want, especially if you are making a day in advance.The glaze keeps the fruit looking fresh and moist and keeps it from drying out in the refrigerator. An easy glaze can be made out of melted and strained apricot jam.


Sweet Tart Dough


1.5 cups all purpose flour
2 Tbsp Sugar
12 Tbsp Butter (1 1/2 sticks, cut into 1" pieces)
1 egg yolk
2 Tbsp cold water
1/4 tsp. salt (only use if you are using unsalted butter)

Preheat oven to 425 degrees.

Directions for making in food processor
Fit bowl with metal blade. Add flour, sugar and butter to bowl (add salt if butter is unsalted). Put on the lid and process in short bursts, about 10 times to break up the butter into the flour. Mix the egg yolk and water in a small bowl and with the processor on, pour the egg/water mix through the tube in the lid into the bowl. Keep mixing until the dough forms into a ball inside the bowl. Remove and form into a small cake.

If you don’t have a food processor and want to make it by hand, that works too. Just follow the same steps you would for pie dough; cut the butter into the flour and sugar, working it through by hand until it becomes like coarse meal or breadcrumbs. Mix in the egg/water mixture with a fork until it’s incorporated and the dough comes together in a soft ball.

At this point you can press the dough into the tart pan, or roll it out on a lightly floured surface. Once rolled out, put it in the pan and press the dough into the edges, pulling off any excess.

Because the filling for this recipe is not cooked in the tart shell, the crust needs to be fully baked by itself. To keep the center of the crust from puffing up and cracking during baking, you’ll want to weigh it down.

Cut a piece of parchment paper or foil to fit the bottom of the tart pan. Tip; fold a square in 1/2 and then 1/2 again to make a smaller square. Cut from edge to edge in a semi-circle equal to 1/2 the diameter of your pan.

Pierce the bottom of the dough with a fork and put the paper on top.
Weigh down with pie weights or beans.
Bake for 8 minutes or until the edges of the crust begin to color. Remove from oven, and carefully remove the paper and beans. Put the tart back in the oven and bake until crisp and golden, about another 8 minutes. Remove and let cool. Fill.