Italian Comfort Food...Passatelli in Brodo

 

Basically noodles in broth, this rich, satisfying soup hits all the notes.  Sturdy noodles made from bread crumbs, Parmesan and eggs with a bit of lemon and touch of nutmeg. The broth, while usually chicken, tonight was vegetable with a dose of Turmeric to give it color and health benefits. A hearty soup for a cold night, I started early today and looked forward all day to putting it together.  Since I didn’t want to hit the stores today with the snow and street situation, I used what I had on hand. I made the noodles while I had the mixer out and used my meat grinder attachment to press the pasta. Worked great! I allowed the pasta to hang out in the fridge, covered and dusted with flour. When it came time to eat, I brought the broth to a rolling boil, dropped the noodles in and let them simmer after I turned down the heat. It gave the broth a chance to thicken nicely before spooning into bowls with more Parmesan and a grind of black pepper (improves the bio availability of the Turmeric.)  Great dish. 

For the Passatelli:

1 cup of plain bread crumbs (I used Panko)

1 cup Parmesan, freshly grated, real stuff.

2 large eggs 

Zest of a lemon

Grind of nutmeg

I used my mini processor to make the dough, adding a tablespoon of flour to tighten it up if needed. Let that rest for an hour before extruding the pasta either in a meat grinder or potato ricer. I dusted the finished product with flour on a plate and covered in the fridge till dinner.

For the broth I used vegetable which I augmented with 1/2 an onion, 2 celery stalks, 2 carrots, 3 crushed garlic cloves and a few peppercorns with a teaspoon of thyme. Salt to taste and simmer for about an hour. Strain and use. Chicken broth would have been made in a similar manner but adding a few chicken legs or bone in, skin on breasts. I almost always add Turmeric to improve the color and add health benefits. 

Enjoy! We sure did. 

Rye Bread kick

 

We unabashedly loved the marble rye at Walmart but it was a cat and mouse game with them and finally no more was baked at our store. We complained on deaf ears as the bread was quite popular but to no avail. I was messaging with my friends the Whitman’s when she sent a photo of a beautiful Deli Rye she had pulled from her oven. A few tweaks back and forth and I find the recipe came from a book we both  had in common so off I went to do a little experimenting. 

Firstly I had to research every recipe out there and the first loaf, which I knew the dough was too stiff, turned into a brick. We went thru about half before I gave up on it. The birds loved it though. 

So back to the recipe in the book which made enough dough for several loaves but the dough was wet and floppy. Not a real issue but the free form loaf did not stand up well in the oven. The rest of that dough went into a couple of pans this time and produced a nice sandwich loaf although it was pale in color and Brenda likes her bread dark. I also incorporated a tanzhgong. See below.

We finished that loaf mostly as toast, which was spectacular. One loaf went next door as payment for clearing the drive for us. So today it was time to make another batch. I cut the recipe in half and used a single loaf pan. I thought about the brick loaf I made and how dark it was with the addition of cocoa. So to this recipe I added a tablespoon of cocoa and a tablespoon of molasses. Both ingredients intensify the rye flavor and compliment the caraway seeds. Success! A nice loaf, dark and tasty. Toasted well and was a lovely soft texture but sliced like a dream for sandwiches. 

Deli Style  Rye (one loaf)

1 1/2 cups warm water

1 packet of yeast

2 teaspoons of salt

2 teaspoons caraway seeds

1/2 cup rye flour

2 3/4 cups AP flour

Optional...1 tablespoon of molasses and 1 tablespoon of cocoa

I used a tanzhgong with 1/2 cup water from above and 1 tablespoon of flour, mix and cook to form a mashed potato consistency, cooled and added that to the dough while mixing. 

Combine the dry ingredients. Bloom the yeast if you like and add the molasses to it. Add wet to dry and mix to form a pretty wet dough. If the dough is too dry add a bit more water.

Let the dough rest for 40 minutes then with wet hands, stretch and fold then let rise till double. 

I baked this in a Pullman pan but any loaf pan will do. Deflate the dough and shape into a loaf, place in the greased pan and allow to rise. Mine topped the pan. Score the top and bake at 400 degrees about 40 minutes or till the internal temp is 195 degrees or higher.