Nettle leaf, mushroom and black truffle tortellini in vegetable and millet broth ( Tortellini di foglie di ortica e tartufo Nero in brodo vegetale)
Cuisine:
Italian Cuisine
As I started my job in “Devbhoomi” Uttarakhand, precisely in scenic, aromatic and beautiful splendour, located among the gorgeous Himalayan mountains- Mussoorie, I was excited for my culinary journey in a new place. Strolling through the local stores and the vegetable markets in Mussoorie, I discovered many fresh and local ingredients, a few I had read about before and some that I was a stranger to. I started learning more about them and incorporating them in my recipes using a mix of methods that I learned in Mussoorie and the ones I learned during my research on Italian cuisine in the past years.
Here, I present to you, two of my favourite recipes that I created, combined into one wholesome dish. I have used the Italian method of making a pre-ferment called “Biga” to prepare my bread, as it provides a unique flavour to the bread along with an airy texture which makes the bread crisp from the outside and soft and light from the inside. I have used “Barnyard millet seeds” and “Saccorosso flour from Caputo” for this bread as this flour is ideal for breads with high hydration and long fermentation and the millet seeds provide crunch to it. It also provides elasticity to the bread along with great texture. The vegetable broth has been prepared using fresh vegetables that we grow in the farm at our hotel. It is served with mushroom and truffle tortellini prepared from fresh “nettle leaf” and “Semola flour from Caputo”. The flour provides the perfect al dente bite to the pasta. Asparagus, Barley, Barnyard millet, Amaranth millet and Carrots have been added to the broth to add a bite to the entire dish. A touch of basil pesto enhances the flavour of the dish and the toasted slice of bread on the side celebrates the International year of Millets!
Ingredients
For the pasta dough
1 Caputo Semola Flour - 200 grams
2 Nettle leaf - 70 grams (Boiled & Pureed)
3 Olive oil - 25 grams
4 Water - 40 grams (Warm water)
5 Salt - 5 grams
For the Filling
1 Onion - 10 grams (Chopped)
2 Garlic - 7 grams
3 Mushrooms - 200 grams (Chopped)
4 Black truffle - 1 grams (Shavings)
5 Ricotta - 30 grams
6 Parmesan - 15 grams (Grated)
7 Oil a few drops (For sautéing)
8 Salt & Pepper - as per taste (For seasoning)
9 Truffle oil a few drops
For the broth
1 Carrot - 140 grams (Rough cut)
2 Onion - 100 grams (Rough cut)
3 Garlic - 5 grams (Rough cut)
4 Leek - 70 grams (Rough cut)
5 Celery - 70 grams (Rough cut)
6 Mushroom stems - 250 grams (Rough cut)
7 Clove - 5 nos
8 Bay Leaf - 2 nos
9 Black Peppercorn - 6 nos
10 Parsley stems - 200 grams (Rough cut)
11 Water - 1 litres
For the Bread
1 Caputo Saccorosso Flour - 275 grams
2 Yeast - 4 grams
3 Sugar - 3 grams (Caster sugar)
4 Salt - 6 grams
5 Barnyard Millet - 70 grams (30 grams (lightly toasted) + 40 grams)
6 Olive Oil - 3 grams to oil hands while folding
7 Water - 220 litres
For the Pesto
1 Basil leaves - 30 grams (bleached)
2 Garlic - 3 clove
3 Pine nuts - 24 grams (toasted)
4 Olive oil - 40 grams
5 Parmesan - 15 grams
6 Salt & Pepper - as per taste (For seasoning)
For the main dish
1 Barnyard Millet -15 grams (Boiled)
2 Amaranth Millet - 20 grams (Boiled)
3 Asparagus - 6 stems (Only tips, blanched)
4 Carrot - 50 grams (Brunoise, boiled)
5 Barley - 50 grams (Boiled)
6 Parmesan - 15 grams (Shavings)
7 Pesto - 1 dollop
8 Microgreens and Edible Flowers as required (For Garnish)
Preparation
For the tortellini:
1) Roast the nettle leaf over naked flame, then boil them for about 3-4 minutes. Take them out in ice water and then pulse to form a pureé
2) Put the semola flour on a clean counter top. Make a well in the middle of the flour and add the nettle leaf pureé, water and oil in the well.
3) Starting from the middle, work your way around the flour to form a pasta dough.
4) Do not overknead, as this will make the dough extra chewy. Let the dough rest for about 15 minutes.
5) While the dough rests, take a nonstick pan, heat oil and sauté onion and garlic in it. Then add the mushrooms to it. Sauté until the water dries up a little.
6) Take the mushrooms out in a bowl and add ricotta, Parmesan and truffle shavings to it. Set the seasoning according to taste and keep aside.
7) Now take the dough and using a pasta machine or a rolling pin, form thin pasta sheets. Cut these sheets into squares of 2 cm x 2 cm each.
8) Add the mushroom mixture in the centre of these square sheets and fold two side of the square over the other two sides to dorm a triangle with the filling intact.
9) Pinch the side carefully to seal in the filling. Now press the filling from the centre towards the tip of the triangle and fold the other two side outward and pinch them together to form a tortellini.
For the Broth:
1) Roughly chop the mushroom stem, carrots, onions, garlic, parsley stems, leeks and celery.
2) In a stock pot, add the water and the vegetables along with the whole spices. Let it cook over simmer for about 45 minutes.
3) In a pan, boil the amaranth millet. After it is cooked through, starin the millet and reserve the water. Add this water to the broth.
4) In another pan, boil the barnyard millet until cooked through. Then add the water after straining to the broth. Also boil some barley until cooked, strain them and add the water left to the boiling broth.
5) After the vegetables have released their flavours and the broth has been cooking for 45 minutes, strain the broth and reserve the liquid.
6) Cut some carrots in brunoise and boil them until cooked but still crunchy.
7) Take the tips of the asparagus and blanch them for about 30 second and them starin them and put them in ice cold water.
8) Keep all these aside for a while.
For the Pesto:
1) Separate the basil leaves from the stem.
2) In a sauce pan, boil some water and add salt to it. Add the basil leaves to the boiling water for about 30 seconds, then starin and add the leaves to ice cold water.
3) In a blender or food processor, add the garlic and pulse. When the garlic is still a bit coarse, add the blanched basil leaves, pine nuts and parmesan shavings to the blender and pulse it slowly until its still slightly coarse. Then add the oil and pulse to form pesto. Add seasoning as per taste
For the bread:
1) To make the big a, first mix half the quantity of flour, yeast and water in bowl. Add the entire amount of sugar to it. 2) Let it ferment for about 18 hours. After 18 hours, take the rest of the ingredients from the list and add them to a stand mixer. Knead them together to form a dough, now add the big a to the new dough and keep on kneading until the dough does not stick to the sides of the bowl anymore.
3) Let the dough ferment for about 1 hour. Then do the first folding, for this, oil your fingers and slowly stretch in the dough from all the four sides and pinch inside. The flip the dough to turn the fold inside,
4) After 30 minutes, repeat the folding for the second time and then flip the dough to turn the fold inside.
5) After 30 minutes do the third fold. For this, take the dough out on a floured surface and then fold in the dough from all the sides into the centre and then roll it into a log and put it in a bowl and let it shape and ferment for about 30 minutes.
6) Take the dough out on a baking tray, let it ferment for about 15 minutes. Cover the baking tray with a bake proof intensity and bake the bread at 250 C for about 15 minutes, then remove the cover and then bake it for about 15 minutes.
7) Take it out fro the oven and let it cool on a cooling rack.
8) After it has cooled down, cut out a thin slice of bread and toast it.
Assembling the dish:
1) Boil the tortellini in salted water. After its cooked, stain it and take it out in a bowl. Drizzle some oil on it and keep it aside.
2) Take the boiled barley, heat it a little with some water and then toss it with some Parmesan.
3) Take the plate, and a small food ring and put the Parmesan tossed barley it the ring in the centre of the plate. Press it down a little and let it set.
4) take the ring out and set the tortellini around the barley along with the carrot cubes. Now take the blanched asparagus tips and set them on top of the barley.
5) Sprinkle some boiled barnyard millet on the tortellini and add the boiled amaranth on top of the asparagus.
6) Garnish with micro greens and edible flowers and serve the hot broth on the side in a tureen.
7) Serve hot