Gourmet Pasta Plates
Popular Dublin restaurants Sprezzatura launched a ‘Guest Chef Takeover Series’ in aid of Dublin Simon Community this month which sees some of Ireland’s top chefs serve up their signature pasta dish with all proceeds going to the charity. Here are three to try at home.
Spaghetti with Meatballs
Domini Kemp of Itsa Dublin
Serves 4
Ingredients
Allow 120g of spaghetti per person.
Meatballs
∂ 50ml olive oil
∂ 2 onions, peeled and diced
∂ 6 cloves garlic, peeled and chopped
∂ 1 tbsp oregano, chopped
∂ 250g sausage meat
∂ 200g minced beef
∂ 100g parmesan, grated
∂ 1 egg, beaten
∂ 50g breadcrumbs
∂ Pinch nutmeg
∂ Salt and pepper
Tomato Sauce
∂ 50g olive oil
∂ 6 cloves garlic, peeled and chopped
∂ 1 bay leaf
∂ 1tsp dried oregano
∂ 2 chopped tomatoes
∂ 2tsp caster sugar
∂ Splash of red wine
Method
Meatballs
1 Heat up a few glugs of the olive oil in a large frying pan and very slowly (over a gentle heat), sweat the onions and garlic until very soft.
2 Transfer them to a bowl and let them cool fully before mixing with the rest of the ingredients.
3 Shape into small golf balls and chill for ten minutes or overnight.
4 Heat up another few glugs of olive, preferably in a non-stick frying pan oil and fry the meatballs until dark brown all over (about 10 minutes).
5 Keep warm while you heat up the tomato sauce.
Tomato Sauce
1 Heat up the olive oil and sweat the garlic along with the bay leaf, oregano and then add the tinned tomatoes.
2 Season with the sugar, salt and pepper and add a Parmesan rind if you have one spare.
3 Add the red wine and simmer gently for 20 minutes, occasionally stirring making sure it’s not burning because of the sugar.
4 The Parmesan rind can be rinsed off and used again or else chucked away if it’s warbled too much.
Assembly
1 Add the meatballs to the hot tomato sauce and heat thoroughly while you cook the spaghetti in a big saucepan of boiling salted water, to which you’ve added a splash of olive oil.
2 Cook until al dente, drain and pour another couple of tablespoons of olive oil, season and toss.
3 Spoon over the tomato sauce and meatballs.
4 Garnish with chopped parsley (or not) and plenty of grated Parmesan and black pepper.
Beef & Black Pudding Ragù
The Gastro Gays
Ingredients
∂ 250g beef mince
∂ 200g black pudding
∂ 2.5tbsp tomato purée
∂ 500ml Guinness
∂ 1 beef stock cube
∂ 2 small white onions, finely diced
∂ 2 large cloves of garlic, finely diced
∂ Carrot, finely diced
∂ 2 celery stalks, finely diced
∂ 2 bay leaves
∂ Thyme sprigs, no leaves
∂ Salt and pepper
Method
1 In a pot over a medium heat with 2 tbsp of olive oil add the onions, carrots, celery and garlic.
2 Mix well, then add 1 tsp salt and the bay leaves, mix through again and clamp on the lid as you turn the heat down to low.
3 Allow the vegetables to sweat down and soften slowly over 15-20 minutes, stirring every five minutes and taking care not to burn.
4 When the soffritto is so soft all the vegetables almost disappear, crank the heat back up to medium and add the tomato purée, stirring and cooking out over a further 2-3 minutes.
5 Add the beef and allow it to colour before crumbling in the black pudding and stirring everything together.
6 Add a little of the Guinness to the pot to deglaze, scraping anything that’s caught on the bottom.
7 Follow with the rest of the Guinness and the stock cube, bringing up to the boil then reducing the heat to a gentle simmer.
8 Pop in the thyme and simmer for 90 minutes, stirring every 20-30 minutes, then uncover for a final 20-30 minutes until it thickens luxuriously.
9 Remove the bay leaves at this stage. Taste, and adjust seasoning with salt and pepper as needed.
10 Serve with pappardelle (or your favourite pasta) and a grating of hard cheese like Parmigiano Reggiano or Pecorino.
Cashew And Coriander Pesto With Goat Cheese Pasta
Lina Gautam from Monty’s of Kathmandu
I personally like to add grilled prawn and broccoli at the end.
Ingredients
∂ 120g spaghetti
∂ 2 cloves garlic
∂ 10g fresh ginger
∂ 30g fresh coriander with stems
∂ 1 fresh green chilli
∂ 15g goat cheese
∂ 12g cashewnut
∂ salt to your taste
∂ 1tbsp lemon juice
∂ 2tbsp olive oil
∂ 50g baby spinach
Method
1 Add spaghetti in boiled salted water until it is cooked.
2 While the spaghetti is cooking, add together garlic, ginger, coriander, green chilli, cashew nut, lemon juice, goat cheese, salt and olive oil.
3 Add about a tbsp of water and blend into nice thick paste.
4 Add freshly made pesto onto the hot spaghetti and toss baby spinach and serve.
› Every seven days a top chef creates a bespoke pasta dish for Sprezzatura’s two restaurants running through to November with all profits from the sale of this weekly dish donated to Dublin Simon Community. For more visit sprezzatura.ie