Anolini Pasta With Onion Soubise, Caramelized Onion, Brown Butter, Marcona Almond

Anolini Pasta With Onion Soubise, Caramelized Onion,
Brown Butter, Marcona Almond

It’s been almost one year to the day since I started this blog. Happy birthday to Slow Veggies! Last April saw me out of a job as a result of COVID-19, quarantining at home and needing something to do. Like everybody else, I suddenly found myself having more time than ever to experiment with home cooking, and figured I’d stay even busier if I blogged about it. I wasn't sure what I was trying to gain from it all. Thirty recipes and over 7,000 10,000 blog views later, I feel like I am hitting my stride. 

Cooking and blogging about cooking quickly became its own feedback loop—one activity naturally lent itself to the other. As the year went on, the blog became a springboard for me to discuss my favorite cookbooks. I tried putting new spins on said author’s recipes. Eventually, I went crazy for mushroom foraging. I was learning to identify edible mushrooms, all while pushing myself to come up with the most creative ways I could think of to cook them. I will always remember this—the catharsis of being out in nature and foraging for myself, while putting my kitchen skills to the test, and chronicling the whole process. Koji and fermentation kept me busy while mushrooms were hiding for the winter, and the story continued. I feel like I’ve reached the point where I can say that I am cooking and chronicling the kind of food that I really love, meanwhile reaping the benefits that come about while immersing myself in the creative process. 

I could go on, but I would like to thank all of those who have been so supportive of me in this creative journey! I am looking forward to continuing down this path of cooking and writing, however that may take shape.

Let’s get down to the recipe.

Last Sunday night I challenged myself to make my best ravioli yet. The occasion: a hangout with my good buddy Chad, who I hadn’t seen in a few weeks. Chad and I love cooking together, and we always seem to push each other to new heights. I decided to make anolini pasta.

Let’s get one thing straight: my anolini pasta is pretty untraditional. Anolini, from Parma, Italy, is traditionally filled with stewed beef, and served only on special occasions. I didn’t know this before I stamped them out into anolini shapes, and even if I did, I would not have changed a thing. I just like the shape for ravioli. There, I said it.

This recipe features onions in two ways: caramelized onions and onion soubise. My first venture into the pairing of caramelized onions and pasta happened a few weeks ago while making dinner with my parents. We followed a recipe by Marc Vetri for parmesan-stuffed pappardelle noodles with onion marmalade that was fantastic. Onion soubise is an emulsified sauce of onions sautéed in butter, and I got the idea from a coworker just a few days earlier. I didn’t know whether it would pair with pasta, but I also couldn't imagine otherwise. 

I achieved the pretty pasta color with a dash of spirulina powder. Nothing wrong with a colorful dough!

The ravioli filling is certainly my best to date: cheesy ricotta and pecorino, sweet caramelized onion, bright acidity from the lemon zest, a touch of nutmeg, and my favorite: caramelized buckwheat koji. I imagined it would be a far more flavorful and inventive substitution for breadcrumbs.

The dish is finished with a sprinkling of sweet, crunchy marcona almonds and some nutty brown butter. A touch of celery leaf is enough to take you from the peaks of Butter Mountain back down to earth. The soubise is like a voluptuous cloud that engulfs the ravioli. What else can I say? We couldn’t stop moaning while we were eating it! Try it for yourself!

For the pasta dough:

• 285 g all-purpose flour
• 15 g semolina flour
• 1 tablespoon spirulina powder
• 1 tablespoon hot water
• A pinch of salt
• A dash of olive oil

For the caramelized onions and onion soubise:

• 3 sweet onions, julienned
• 2 tablespoon butter
• Whey, or water, to deglaze

For the pasta filling:

• 2 cups ricotta
• 1/4 cup pecorino, grated
• 1 lemon, zested
• 2 tablespoon caramelized onions
• 2 tablespoon caramelized koji
• A dash of freshly grated nutmeg
• Salt and pepper, to taste

To garnish:

• 1 tablespoon brown butter
• Some marcona almonds, crushed
• Inner yellow celery leaves

To make the pasta dough: Mix all ingredients until a shaggy dough forms. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and knead for 10 minutes. Wrap the dough ball in plastic and let rest for 1-2 hours, or a minimum of 30 minutes if you’re really hungry.

To make the caramelized onions and onion soubise: Meanwhile, melt the butter in a sauté pan over medium high heat. Sauté the onions with a pinch of salt and brown sugar until the onions are translucent and white, about 10 minutes. Transfer half of the onions from the pan, along with any butter than can easily be poured out of the pan, to a blender. Add a splash of whey and blend until you are left with creamy sauce. Set aside.

Continue to cook the remaining onions in the pan over medium heat, adding a spoonful of whey to deglaze from time to time, until completely caramelized. Remove from the heat and set aside.

To make the pasta filling: Combine all of the ingredients. Transfer the filling to a pastry bag and set aside in the fridge until ready to use.

To shape the pasta: Roll out the pasta to the second thinnest setting and square off each end of the sheet. Fold the pasta sheet in half and make a gentle crease, then unfold the pasta. Pipe the equivalent of roughly 2 tablespoons of the filling on half of the sheet, leaving an inch of room on either side. Spritz the sheet with water to help the pasta stick to itself. Fold the other half of the sheet over the half with the filling. Use an anolini puncher or a cookie cutter or whatever you want to cut the pasta into shapes. Discard the scraps and save for another use (crackers?). Transfer the pasta to a baking sheet lined with parchment paper and dusted with flour. Set aside.

To cook the pasta: Season a large stockpot full of boiling water with enough salt to make it taste like the sea. Add all of the pasta and cook for 1 minute. Transfer the cooked pasta to a bowl and toss in a spoonful of brown butter to prevent sticking.

To plate, spoon a few spoonfuls of onion soubise into a bowl. To one side of the bowl, place the caramelized onions and crushed marcona almonds, along with a sprig of inner yellow celery leaves. To the other side of the bowl, place some of the anolini pasta. Spoon some brown butter directly over the pasta, and anywhere else you want in the bowl. Serve hot.