Hand-Stamped Pasta Coins (Corzetti) with Pesto, Green Beans and Idaho Potatoes

RH Staff

From: Chef Tony Mantuano, Spiaggia, Chicago. Yield: 6 servings.

as needed, basic pasta dough (recipe follows)
2 Tbsp. Ligurian Pesto Sauce (recipe follows)
3 cups chicken stock or prepared broth
2 Idaho® Potatoes, peeled and cut into 1/2" dice
1 1/2 cups green beans, cleaned
12 oz. lump crab meat, picked over for shell fragments
6 Tbsp. unsalted butter
to taste, sea salt and freshly ground pepper

BASIC PASTA DOUGH (YIELDS 8 DOZEN CORZETTI):
2 cups type 00 semolina flour
1 tsp. salt
8 egg yolks, lightly beaten
1/3 cup water

LIGURIAN PESTO (MAKES 1/2 CUP):

2 cups fresh basil leaves
1/2 clove garlic, finely chopped
1 1/2 Tbsp. pine nuts
as needed, sea salt
1/4 cup grated Romano cheese
1/4 cup grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese
2-3 Tbsp. extra virgin olive oil

For basic pasta dough: Mound flour on pastry board. Make a well in center and add salt and egg yolks. Using fork, gradually fold flour into eggs, adding water little by little until you have a soft dough. Knead a few times until smooth, then form dough into a ball and wrap in plastic. Refrigerate 1 hour. To roll and cut pasta, cut dough into 6 pieces. Working with one piece at a time (cover remaining dough with moist kitchen towel until ready to use), dust dough with flour and place between rollers of manual or motorized pasta machine at widest setting. Pass dough through, fold in half, sprinkle with flour, and roll again. Dust again with flour if dough becomes sticky.

Continue process, reducing space between rollers one setting at a time until dough is a thin, smooth sheet. Dough can generally be rolled 6 times on first setting before tightening roller. Then, reduce times you roll by one with each new setting until setting #5 is reached, when rolling once will be enough. Finished pasta sheets should be about 6" wide and 12" long. Let pasta sheets dry on lightly floured board and parchment paper for 5 minutes before cutting into corzetti (pasta coins).

For Ligurian Pesto: In blender, chop basil, garlic, pine nuts and pinch of salt. Add grated cheese gradually, and work into a paste. Slowly add olive oil in fine stream until pesto is smooth and creamy.

For service: Roll out pasta dough into thin sheets as directed and make corzetti pasta discs.

In medium saucepan over medium high heat, bring chicken stock to simmer. Cook until stock is reduced by half, about 12-15 minutes. Meanwhile, bring large pot of lightly salted water to boil and blanch potatoes until cooked but firm. Drain and set aside. Have a bowl of ice water ready. Bring another pot of lightly salted water to boil and blanch green beans for 2 minutes. Drain and immediately transfer beans to ice water to stop the cooking.

Meanwhile, bring a large pot of lightly salted water to boil. Add 48 corzetti and cook for 3-4 minutes after they rise to the surface. Pasta should be firm to the touch. Drain pasta and put it back into the pot. Add chicken stock, green beans and potatoes to pasta and cook 2-3 minutes over very low heat to allow pasta to marry with the sauce. Take pasta off the heat. Add butter, stirring delicately to combine. Taste and adjust seasoning. Divide corzetti among 6 warmed plates. Drizzle with pesto sauce and serve immediately.

IDAHO POTATO COMMISSION