Our next Twitter chef was chosen by Di; I was really excited to see that she picked Jacques Pepin. Hubby and I have spent many hours watching his Fast Food My Way show on PBS, although I've never actually made a Pepin recipe.
Tonight we needed a quick meal, so I whipped up his ricotta dumplings with red pepper sauce. I got the recipe here, although you can also find it here or (a slightly adapted version) here.
The sauce was made by simmering a cut up red pepper with a cut up tomato in water. These are then run through a food mill to get rid of the seeds and skins. Salt, freshly ground pepper, and corn starch are stirred in, and finally butter and olive oil are added. I think the sauce should've been much thicker, and if we weren't in a rush to eat and get the kids to bed, I might have spent more time getting it to thicken.
The dumplings were also easy: ricotta, Parmesan, salt, pepper, an egg, and some flour were whirred in the food processor for ten seconds. Then I stirred in some chives. I dropped the dumplings into a big pot of simmering water for ten minutes. When the dumplings were finished, I drizzled some sauce over the top, and served them with left-over chicken, salad, and some berries.
Hubby thought this dish was quite yummy; he said they were like a fancy hors d'oeuvres you might get at a wedding. I didn't love them; I just didn't think they had a very strong flavor. I'm hoping I can get to some other Jacques Pepin recipes this month!
Looks good. And thanks for reminding me to get my Avatar post up!
ReplyDeleteAck! I really need to find time to look through my cookbooks & pick some things to make. I'm glad you found an easy recipe to try. =)
ReplyDeleteI wanted to make this recipe, too. Now I'm disappointed you didn't like them... Maybe I should try a different recipe.
ReplyDeleteBummer that you didn't care for the first recipe of his you tried. I'll bet the next one will be better! I made some of Giada's ricotta gnudi in broth for the first time this winter and I loved them, but you do have to buy whole milk ricotta and a good brand of it to get the best flavor.
ReplyDelete@Phyl and Di: I'm hoping to try more of his recipes (hopefully some I like better), but I knew I'd better post while I was thinking about it or I'd never remember!
ReplyDelete@Andrea: My hubby really liked it, so maybe it was just me. I think it would've been a lot better if I'd used less water over the veggies and cooked it down a bit longer to thicken the sauce.
@Mel: I did use whole milk ricotta...I think the problem was more with the flavorlessness of the sauce....maybe I shold try Giada's recipe!
Well they look good...that whole plate of food looks great to me. I am just thinking of the flavors and thinking those would be something I might like to try here. These chefs are such fun for avatars...each month I can't wait to make something from one of the chefs and see what everyone else chose to make also!
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