Black Trumpet Caramelle

Serves 3-4

Black trumpets are as rare as they are delicious. Also known as black chanterelles, black trumpets have a similar apricot-like aroma and and incredible flavor. While preparing this dish, I couldn’t help but stick my nose in a bowl of freshly washed trumpets and chanterelles and whiffing—it was like swimming in a lake of sangria. Very intoxicating.

Caramelles are a trendy ravioli. The word in Italian means “candy,” because, well look at it. My initial plan was to make a single solid-colored ravioli, but it truly begs to be giddy and fun looking, the more I thought about it.

I love how the spirulina color came out; plus, it wasn’t any additional work to make it, aside from sprinkling it in to the flour, of course. Orange carrot proved to be a nice contrast. Aside from juicing the carrots, and cleaning its mess, it was still pretty easy.

These would be great served with any number of sauces. I finished them with some special vadouvan curry butter a la Jeremy Fox. If there recipe weren't so long and complicated, I'd include it here. 

If you want to shave at least an hour off of this meal , stick to single-color dough. But you might find it difficult to resist the temptation to make it colorful, just like I did.

For the pasta dough:

For the spirulina dough:

• 1 cup 2 tablespoons “00” pasta flour
• 3/4 tablespoon spirulina powder
• 1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons hot water
• Extra all-purpose flour, for dusting

For the carrot dough:

• 1 cup 2 tablespoons “00” pasta flour
• 1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons carrot juice
• Extra all-purpose flour, for dusting

For the ravioli filling:

• 1.2 pounds black trumpets, rinsed and cleaned
• 1 tablespoon butter
• A splash of sherry wine
• 1 teaspoon minced garlic
• Salt and Pepper, to taste
• Fresh gratings of parmigiano-reggiano, quanto basta
• 1 cup whole-milk ricotta, drained
• 1 preserved lemon wedge, finely diced and flesh discarded
• 1/4 cup leek blossom buds
• Additional salt and pepper, to taste

Make the pasta dough: For the spirulina dough, mix the flour and spirulina in a stand mixer with the paddle attachment on low speed for a minute. Slowly stream in the hot water until a dough forms. Continue kneading by hand or machine for 3 minutes. Wrap the dough in plastic and let rest for thirty minutes.

For the carrot dough, mix the flour and carrot juice in a stand mixer with the paddle attachment on low speed until dough forms. Continue kneading by hand or machine for 3 minutes. Wrap the dough in plastic and let rest for thirty minutes.

Make the ravioli filling: Preheat a sauté pan over medium high heat. Add the mushrooms and dry sauté for a few minutes, occasionally discarding the water that separates from the mushrooms.When all of the water has cooked off, stir in the butter. Next, add the garlic and sauté for a minute. Deglaze with a splash of sherry and stir until the alcohol has cooked off. Remove from the heat and season with salt, pepper and parmigiano-reggiano. Set aside to cool.

Meanwhile, add ricotta, diced preserved lemon, and leek blossom to a mixing bowl. Add the mushrooms and finish with salt and pepper, to taste. Set aside.

Finish the pasta: Starting with your base-color dough, roll the dough to the fourth-thinnest setting on your machine. Lightly flour both sides and cover with a towel. Next, roll the cross-hatch color dough to the third-thinnest setting. Use a spaghetti pasta attachment or simply your knife to make tagliatelle.

Dab a wet paper towel onto the base-color pasta sheets. Overlay strips of the cross-hatch dough, pressing it gently into the base-color pasta sheet. Trim off any excess tagliatelle. Take a rolling pin and gently, but firmly, roll over the two overlapping doughs. Finally, run the dough through to the second thinnest setting.

Form the caramelle: cut the pasta sheet into 3x2 rectangles. Use a fluted pasta cuter along the width for nice frilly edges. To make the ravioli, first flip the rectangle over so that the solid, single base-color dough is facing up. Place a small spoonful of filling on the rectangle edge closest to you. Roll the dough over the filling and pull back to tighten. Roll the cylinder over itself again and use your two pointer fingers to press down on either side of the filling. Using a drop of water to help the pasta stick to itself, crimp the pasta together outside the filling, closing the airtight seal. Repeat with remaining pasta rectangles and filling.

Bring a generously salted pot of water to a boil. Drop the pasta in the pot and let cook until the pasta has all floated to the surface, about a minute. Remove the ravioli from the water and dress with your sauce of choice.