Spring is the time for peas. In Italy, peas are a seasonal food to be relished on the spot. Yes, you can get frozen peas there, and peas do freeze well. But suggest frozen peas to one of the “little old pasta” ladies working in Bologna, and you’ll get a cold stare.
Search out for fresh peas. And some pea shoots, too, for this pasta dish employs a pea puree that is smooth in texture and dense in flavor.
This recipe comes from Flour + Water: Pasta, the seminal pasta cookbook by San Francisco chef Thomas McNaughton. It’s an important and surely intense cookbook. The recipe here will take you some time to concoct. Great food is not made in a flash. So, open up a bottle Italian white.
The first ingredient here is Tom’s Standard Egg Dough pasta. I’m not going to duplicate that recipe here. I’m trying, not too subtly, to encourage you to buy the book and make his pasta treasure. In the directions below, there are references to page numbers in the book for fuller explanation of some of the techniques; this really is a pasta textbook.
Alternatively, you can probably hunt down a pasta store selling fresh sheets of pasta, for fresh — spring fresh — is the theme of this very green recipe.
Well, let’s talk about that freshness. Garganelli is a fresh tube pasta with a long mythological history. Something about a cat eating a meat filling for pasta and a housewife having to improvise. You need some special equipment [a garganelli comb] to make it and that task is carefully delineated in the book. Even Tom knows we have limits so you can substitute dried penne here and not be too too far off the mark.
Garganelli with Prosciutto and Peas
Yield: serves 4
Ingredients:
- 1 recipe Standard Egg Dough or penne for four
For the pea puree:
- 5 ounces English peas
- ½ cup pea shoots
- 1 tablespoon whole milk
- About ¼ cup water
- Kosher salt
For finishing:
- 2 tablespoons pure olive oil
- 3 ounces diced prosciutto
- 1 tablespoon minced green garlic, or 1 ½ teaspoons minced garlic
- 1 ½ ounces spring onions, diced into ⅛-inch pieces
- 1 ½ cups chicken stock
- 5 ½ ounces shelled English peas
- 4 tablespoons butter, chilled
- 3 cups baby arugula
- Juice of ½ lemon
- Kosher salt
- Freshly ground black pepper
- Freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano, for finishing
- 20 arugula flowers, stemmed, for garnish (optional)
Preparation:
Dust 2 baking sheets with semolina flour and set aside.
To make the pasta, follow the instructions for the Egg Dough (page 6).
Using a pasta machine, roll out the dough to 1/16 inch thick.
Cut a 2-foot section of the pasta sheet and cover the rest of the dough with plastic wrap. With a sharp knife or straight wheel cutter, cut the pasta dough into 2-inch squares. Place one square on the garganelli comb, positioned diagonally, so two corners are at the top and bottom.
Place the dowel on the bottom of the comb. Using your fingers if necessary, curl up the corner so it curls up around the dowel to help get the tube started. In one smooth but firm motion, roll the dowel away from you from the bottom corner to the top corner, forming the tube-like garganelli.
Place the garganelli on the prepared baking sheet, uncovered, to air dry at room temperature until ready to cook. Repeat with the remaining dough.
Have ready a bowl of ice water.
To make the puree, cook the peas and shoots in boiling salted water until tender, about 2 minutes. Transfer to the ice bath and cool completely, about 2 minutes. Remove the peas from the water and store, refrigerated, until ready to use.
Put the peas and shoots in the jar of a blender. Add the milk and begin to puree. Add just enough water, roughly ¼ cup, to achieve a smooth puree. Season with salt. You should have about 2 cups.
To finish, bring a large pot of seasoned water to a boil (see page 18).
Heat a 12-inch sauté pan over medium heat until hot but not smoking. Add the olive oil and heat until it gently ripples on the surface of the pan. Add the prosciutto. It should sizzle the moment it hits the pan. You want to brown it a bit without making it crispy, about 1 minute. This step will infuse the oil with the prosciutto flavor, which will permeate the entire dish.
Add the green garlic and spring onions and cook, stirring occasionally, until the vegetables are translucent, about 5 minutes. You want to keep stirring to prevent the garlic from burning.
Add the chicken stock, bring to a boil over medium heat, and allow the stock to begin to reduce. If using homemade garganelli, you want the stock to begin boiling in the pan before you drop the pasta in the water.
If using store-bought dried penne you should add the pasta to the water when you begin cooking the prosciutto.
Increase the heat under the sauté pan to medium-high and bring the liquid to a boil. Cook about 1 minute. Add the peas to warm through. Once the pasta is cooked 80 percent through, until almost al dente, about 2 to 3 minutes if using homemade Garganelli, add it to the pan. Cook in the pan for about 2 minutes. Add the butter and the pea puree and vigorously swirl the pan to create an emulsion. We want to keep reducing until the sauce coats the noodle.
Turn off the heat and gently fold in the arugula. Toss the pasta to incorporate the arugula. Add the lemon juice and season with salt and freshly ground black pepper.
To serve, divide the pasta and sauce between four plates. Garnish with grated Parmigiano-Reggiano, sprinkle with arugula flowers, if using, and serve immediately.
Source: Flour + Water: Pasta by Thomas McNaughton [Ten Speed Press, 2014]
Photography Credit: Eric Wolfinger