prosciutto

Asiago Mac and Cheese Pie with Truffled Potato Crust or Timballo di Maccheroni

27 Jan 2012
Asiago Mac and Cheese with Truffled Potato Crust

 

I have a not-so-classic Asiago Mac and Cheese Pie with Truffled Potato Crust for you today that could pass for a geography lesson, or maybe even a life lesson. It may seem like a simple but comforting baked pasta, but unique ingredients and an international pedigree make it something more too.

This "pie" is dense with penne pasta, creamy Wisconsin Asiago cheese and Tuscan kale. I have given it an Idaho potato crust that is scented with truffle oil. I call it a non-traditional pie, but it's really a variation on timballo di maccheroni, a traditional drum-shaped baked pasta dish from Naples and the surrounding Campania region of Italy. Some few years ago, in a movie called "Big Night," the preparation of a timballo di maccheroni was featured in a big way. It made a big impression on audiences. Me included. Recipes for timballi proliferated and suddenly the dish came to the attention of Americans. Since then I have made some variation many, many times. But the more I make it the more it becomes (at least in my mind) another great take on good ole Mac & Cheese. Another example of cross-cultural culinary calisthenics.

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Asiago Mac and Cheese with Truffled Potato Crust

Asiago Mac and Cheese with Truffled Potato Crust (timballo di maccheroni)
By jgreghenry Published December 26, 2011
Prep time: 90
Yield:1 (Servings)

Ingredients:

  • 1 lb dried penne pasta
  • 1.5 lb idaho russet potatoes
  • 1 T unsalted butter
  • 1 t white truffle oil
  • 2 scallions, white & light green parts, minced
  • 1 pn each, kosher salt and freshly cracked pepper, plus more as needed
  • 2 c half and half
  • 0.25 t crushed red pepper flakes
  • 4 large eggs, lightly beaten
  • 2 large egg yolks, lightly beaten
  • 2 c asiago cheese, grated
  • 0.25 t freshly grated nutmeg
  • 1 T vegetable oil
  • 1 shallot, peeled & minced
  • 3 c lightly packed shredded tuscan kale
  • 4 oz sliced prosciutto
  • 12 sage leaves, minced
  • 0.25 c parmesan cheese, grated, plus more for passing

Directions

Cook the penne according to package directions until al dente. Drain and set aside to cool.

Heat oven to 375°F. Bake potatoes until tender, about 45 minutes. Let them cool slightly, then peel the potatoes with your hands. The peels should come off easily. Discard the skins. Push the potatoes through a ricer into a medium-sized bowl. Stir in the butter, truffle oil and scallions until well mixed. Season with salt and pepper. Using your fingers, press the potato mixture evenly across the bottom of a 9-inch springform pan. Bake until lightly browned on the edges, about 25 minutes. Let cool on a wire rack.

Bring the half-and-half to a boil in a medium-sized saucepan set over medium heat, stirring occasionally. Remove from heat and stir in the red pepper flakes. Let the mixture cool slightly, then briskly whisk in eggs, egg yolks, Asiago, and nutmeg. Season with more salt and pepper and set aside.

Heat vegetable oil in a large skillet set over medium heat. Add shallots and cook, stirring occasionally, until softened, about 2 minutes. Add the kale and cook, stirring occasionally, until wilted, about 5 minutes. Remove from heat, season with salt and pepper and set aside.

Stir the cooked penne, Asiago mixture, kale mixture, prosciutto, and sage into a large bowl until well combined. Scrape this mixture over the potato crust and spread evenly. Top with the Parmesan cheese and bake until well-browned on the tips of the penne, about 45 minutes. Remove from oven and let cool slightly on a rack before releasing the springform pan. Slice into wedges and serve warm with additional Parmesan passed at the table.

Savory Pies- Prosciutto Wrapped Fig Hand Pies with Pecans & Gorgonzola Cheese

05 Nov 2011
Prosciutto Wrapped Fig Hand Pies with Pecans and Gorgonzola Cheese

Hand pies are the new cupcake, says the Washington Post. Hand pies seem to be like regular pies, only smaller and more portable, call them palm-sized pastries.

I admit I never fully embraced the cupcake movement so I am not too sad to see them displaced. Which is why in 3 years of blogging I have never presented a single cupcake recipe. Not that I don't eat cupcakes (everyone eats cupcakes). I just don't celebrate them the way so many of my blogging brethren do. But hand pies are different. I can embrace something like that. After all they are designed to fit in my hand. The very definition of embraceable. So it's not really that hypocritical of me to post about hand pies with in 30 days of their coronation by The Washington Post as the next big little thing.

My version is Prosciutto-Wrapped Fig and Pecan Hand Pies with Gorgonzola. It's just one of the savory pies I am presenting in this week long tribute to all sorts of pies served before the coffee and dinner mints. This may not be a dessert pie, but it does have some sweet elements to it as well. It's a fig pie, with honey. But there is more to it than that so it is swimming in enough umami that I see this as a first course, possibly a brunch or even a not to sweet but highly decadent snack on the go.

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Prosciutto Wrapped Fig and Pecan Hand Pies with Gorgonzola

Prosciutto Wrapped Fig and Pecan Hand Pies with Gorgonzola
By jgreghenry Published October 24, 2011
Prep time: 60
Yield:1 (Servings)

Ingredients:

  • 2.5 c all-purpose flour, plus more for rolling surface
  • 1 t kosher salt
  • 8 oz (2 sticks) cold unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
  • 0.25 c ice water
  • 5 oz pecan pieces, shelled
  • 3 T olive oil
  • 0.5 t lemon zest
  • 0.5 t thyme leaves, minced
  • 1 pn each salt and pepper
  • 8 sli prosciutto
  • 8 whole figs, stem end trimmed
  • 4 oz gorgonzola, crumbled
  • 0 honey, as needed
  • 1 large egg yolk, lightly beaten with 1 tablespoon water, for egg wash

Directions

Make the crust: Pulse flour and salt in a food processor until combined. Add butter, and process until mixture resembles coarse meal, about 10 seconds. With machine running, add ice water in a slow, steady stream until dough just comes together (no longer than 30 seconds). Divide dough in half, shape each into a square, and wrap in plastic. Refrigerate dough for at least 1 hour (or up to 2 days), or freeze for up to 1 month.

On a lightly floured surface, roll out cold dough to 1/8 inch thick. Using a paring knife, cut out eight 5-inch squares, and fit into cups of standard sized muffin tin, leaving an overhang all around. Refrigerate for 30 minutes. Save the leftover dough for another use.

Make the nut filling: Put nuts in a food processor. With processor running, slowly add oil until mixture is finely chopped. Add lemon zest and thyme leaves; season with salt and pepper. Scrape mixture into a small bowl and stir until combined. Set aside.

Make the hand pies: Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Divide the nut filling evenly in the bottoms of chilled dough-lined muffin tins. Warp each trimmed, whole fig with one slice of prosciutto, placing each into a nut filled dough-lined muffin tin hole. Sprinkle the tops with gorgonzola, adding a small drizzle of honey. Brush with egg wash.

Place the muffin tin in the pre-heated oven and reduce heat to 375. Bake pies until top crusts are golden brown and the figs are quite soft and the prosciutto is crisp, about 25 minutes. Let cool completely in the tin on a wire rack. Remove hand pies from tins and serve with a drizzle of honey.

I'm too Sexy for my Grill: Grilled Avocado with Prosciutto

10 Sep 2011
Grilled avocado with prosciutto

I know you love your grill. In fact I have seen you in that backyard of yours cooing into its grates. I bet you grilled half the summer away with that smoky look of longing burning in your eyes. The lusty licking of flames doesn’t scare you. Yep, you and your grill got a good thing going on.

I get the attraction. The lure of tasty summertime meals served charred and smokin’ in the sultry summer air is enough to get anyone’s grill on.

But be honest– after an entire summer of grilling are you feeling restless? Are you longing for something sautéed and saucy? It’s only natural. Flames are great, but do you ever wonder what sous vide would be like? What? I am just asking…even a grill master has the right to look around a little bit, so long as you keep your tongs in your apron.

Now I am not suggesting any drastic changes between you and that sweet grill of yours. I know it's a mighty sexy beast. But maybe just maybe you've grown tired of the same old routine. Maybe grilling has lost some of its heat.

Well, lucky for you, grilling isn’t just for burgers, steaks and chicken! So put your brain to work and spend the last rays of summer fantasizing about fun foods that you may not have considered grilling!

That's just what me and my old grill did. We shook things up. Introduced a few new flavors. Nothing exotic, nothing dangerous. But the thrill of the unfamiliar reminds me just what a grill I got. Look at the hot mess we made! The bread is grilled, the prosciutto is grilled. Even the avocado is grilled!

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