4 perfect pasta recipes

Recipes by Michele Sciotti, Executive Chef, Leonardo, Stella Di Mare Hotel, Dubai Marina

Potato Gnocchi with Lobster Ragout
Prep time: 1 hr 15 mins
Cook time: 15 mins
Serves: 4
Ingredients
Fish bones, to prepare stock
Water, as required
200 gm potato
120 gm egg yolk
100 gm flour
4 gm nutmeg
28 gm salt
6 gm black pepper
80 gm Parmesan cheese
80 gm white onion, sliced
10 gm garlic
75 gm carrot
75 gm celery
800 gm lobster shell
120 gm cherry tomato
150 gm fresh tomato
40 gm tomato paste
2 gm black pepper
80 gm butter
120 ml olive oil
800 gm lobster
4 gm basil leaves
Method
Slow cook the fish bones in water for 4 hours; strain and reduce till you achieve the desired consistency.
Bake potatoes at 170°C for 45 minutes; peel, cool, and mash.
Add the egg yolk, flour, nutmeg, salt, pepper and Parmesan cheese; mix well and shape it like a small egg.
Sauté the onion well with garlic, carrot, celery and lobster shell.
Add cherry tomato and some fresh tomato, together with some tomato paste.
Pour in the fish stock and let it boil for an hour.
Finally, add some butter and strain well. Set aside.
Blanch the gnocchi for about two minutes.
In another pan, add some olive oil, sauté some garlic and add the lobster.
Cook well, then add the lobster sauce and continue cooking till it reduces.
Mix the gnocchi together with the sauce and serve, garnished with basil leaves.

Spaghettoni Cacio Peppe
Prep time: 15 mins
Cook time: 13 mins
Serves: 4
Ingredients
120 gm beef bacon
400 gm spaghettoni
150 gm Parmesan cheese
80 gm Pecorino Toscano
150 gm veg stock
25 gm salt
10 gm black pepper
40 ml olive oil
Method
Thinly slice the beef bacon and bake in an oven at 165°C for 30 minutes.
Boil the pasta in hot water with some salt for about 13 minutes. Drain.
Finely grate the pecorino and parmesan cheese.
Add them to a bowl with a dash of hot water.
Add the pasta and toss it very gently; add some veg stock and ensure the liquid is of a thick consistency.
Plate the pasta and add the creamy sauce from the tossing in the previous step.
Garnish with the crispy bacon. Season with salt and pepper, drizzle with olive oil and serve.

Hare Ravioli with Cannelloni Beans Cream
Prep time: 30 mins
Cook time: 5 mins
Serves: 4
Ingredients
360 gm rabbit
160 gm carrot, plus extra
80 gm celery
40 gm leeks
45 gm white onion
Olive oil, as required
160 ml veg stock
150 ml rabbit jus
60 gm Parmesan cheese
95 gm cannelloni beans
270 gm semolina flour
6 egg yolk
20 gm salt
50 gm green zucchini, finely chopped
50 gm yellow zucchini, finely chopped
Sakura mix, to serve
Method
For the rabbit jus, roast rabbit bone and sauté with some mirepoix vegetables; boil for 5 hours, then strain and reduce till you have the desired consistency.
In a pan, sauté the carrot, celery, leeks and onion in some olive oil.
Add rabbit meat and cook with veg stock and rabbit jus till the meat is tender. Mince the soft, cooked rabbit meat. Once cooled, add some parmesan cheese.
Soak the cannelloni beans till they become soft. Blend to get a thick cream.
To make the pasta dough, make a mound with the semolina and a well inside it for the eggs. Using a fork, start beating the eggs, adding a little flour at regular intervals till incorporated.
When the egg is no longer liquid, knead the dough for a few minutes until smooth. Cover with cling film and rest for 20 minutes.
Shape a quarter of the dough into a rectangle using your hands. Run the dough 2-3 times through your pasta machine, having set it to the largest setting (usually 1).
Set machine to the next narrow setting and repeat. Continue till you reach the narrowest setting and the dough is super thin.
Cut a thinly rolled pasta sheet into 1 1/2-inch squares with a pasta wheel. Place 1/2 tsp meat filling in the centre of each square and fold diagonally to form triangles. Seal the edges well. Wrap one of the triangles around your finger and pinch the bottom corners together and give a half twist. Repeat for the rest of the tortellinis and rest on a well-floured surface.
Blanch the pasta till cooked.
Sauté zucchini and carrots in olive oil. Place the cannellini beans cream in the middle of the plate, add the tortellini and zucchini-carrot mix on top, and garnish with sakura mix. Serve.

Pappardella Al Pomodoro
Prep time: 45 mins
Cook time: 5 mins
Serves: 4
Ingredients
For the pappardella:
250 gm flour 00
3 whole eggs
Pinch of salt
For the tomato sauce:
5 red beef tomatoes, crushed
1 garlic clove
100 gm onion
Salt and pepper
Method
To make the pasta dough, make a mound with the flour and a well inside it for the eggs. Using a fork, start beating the eggs, adding a little flour at regular intervals till incorporated.
When the egg is no longer liquid, knead the dough for a few minutes until smooth and soft. Cover with cling film and rest for 20 minutes.
Shape a quarter of the dough into a rectangle using your hands. Run the dough 2-3 times through your pasta machine, having set it to the largest setting (usually 1).
Dust the top of the sheet of dough with flour and loosely roll it into a cylinder.
Using a sharp knife, cut into 3/4-inch-wide slices.
For the sauce, place a large skillet over medium heat, and sauté garlic and onion in oil until tender. After two minutes, remove the garlic.
Add crushed tomatoes, season with salt and pepper and cook for 45 minutes on low heat until slightly thickened. Blend and strain; let it rest.
Cook the pasta for two minutes in boiling water, together with some salt.
Sauté pasta with a touch of olive oil, warm up the sauce and plate as desired.