Recipe: Triangoloni, ricotta, amaretti, radicchio, balsamic

the appetizer:

Pasta Sfoglia by Ron and Colleen Suhanosky, includes recipes like Fresh Egg Pasta; Triangoloni, ricotta, amaretti, radicchio, balsamic; and Bucatini all'amatriciana.

Cookbook

Triangoloni, ricotta, amaretti,
radicchio, balsamic

Makes 24 triangoloni

When I started my chef job at Galleria Italiana in Boston, the kitchen was already making a version of this triangle-shaped filled pasta. They were filling the triangoloni with goat cheese and serving them with a simple tomato sauce. I thought that they could be more complex, so I added slightly sweet, crushed amaretti cookies to the filling and topped the pasta with a sweet-and-sour sauce of bitter radicchio and dense, syrupy balsamic vinegar. With this recipe, I think that I've brought together two memorable food experiences—the ravioli, filled with radicchio and balsamic vinegar and topped with crumbled amaretti and brown butter, from the Ristorante Picci in Reggio Emilia; and the triangoloni of Galleria Italiana.

1 recipe Fresh Egg Pasta, cut into sheets for filled pasta
1 pound whole milk ricotta
8 amaretti cookies
(4 double packages; see Resources, page 194 of the book), crushed
Rice flour for dusting
3 tablespoons unsalted butter
1/2 pound radicchio, finely shredded (about 4 cups)
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/2 cup balsamic vinegar
1/2 cup Pasta Water (below) Grated Parmesan cheese for garnish

1. Add the ricotta and amaretti to a large mixing bowl. Stir to combine.

2. Cut 2 inches off the length of the pasta sheets and proceed to make four 4-inch squares from each sheet. Line up the squares, 4 at a time, on a clean, dry, rice flour-dusted work surface. Place 1 tablespoon of the ricotta filling slightly off center of each square. Use a pastry brush dipped in water to moisten the edges of the square. Fold the square to form a triangle. Working from the filling out to the edges, use your fingers to press down and seal the triangoloni. Trim the edges with a sharp knife. Store on a rice flour-dusted baking sheet.

3. Add the butter to a 10-inch skillet over high heat. When the butter has melted, add the radicchio and pepper. Stir to coat the radicchio with the butter.

4. Bring a large pot of salted water (see recipe below) to a boil. Use your hands to place the triangoloni, 1 at a time, in the boiling water. Stir gently so that the triangoloni cook evenly. After they float to the top, cook for about 7 to 8 more minutes.

5· Stir the radicchio in the skillet. When it has wilted, add the balsamic vinegar. Agitate the pan from time to time In order to deglaze it. When the vinegar has reduced to a syrup, about 3 to 5 minutes, turn the heat to low and add the 1/2 cup pasta water.

6. Use a wire-mesh skimmer to remove the triangoloni from the pot and place them directly into the skillet. Gently fold into the radicchio.

7. Serve immediately with grated Parmesan cheese.

Pasta Water

You have to have a pot of boiling water before you can even think about cooking pasta.

5 quarts water
2 tablespoons kosher salt
2 pounds fresh or 1 pound dry pasta from your selected recipe

Seasoning the water with salt is an important part of my "making pasta" philosophy. I believe that each component of a dish that's cooked separately needs to be seasoned separately. When the pasta begins to cook in salted water and releases it starch, it produces yet another ingredient, pasta water. There are many recipes in this book where I ask for the addition of this starchy water to the sauce. Adding it ensures a good marriage between the pasta and the sauce. When cooked pasta is added to the sauce, it will absorb the extra pasta water, NOT the sauce. The sauce will then coat the pasta.

(Note: I think that it's important to use a wire-mesh skimmer or tongs to remove pasta from the pot. When wet pasta is added directly into the sauce, both components join to become the one dish.)

from:
Pasta Sfoglia
From Our Table To Yours, More Than 100 Fresh, Seasonal Pasta Dishes
by Ron and Colleen Suhanosky
Wiley 2009
Hardcover; $29.95; 204 pages
ISBN-10: 0470371331
ISBN: 978-0-470-37133-6
Recipe reprinted by permission.

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