Actually, let me restate that. Always when I have a craving, I have to give in. Don't judge me.
Therefore, when Hunter and I were in a pasta shop in Brooklyn on Saturday and saw fresh pappardelle for sale, we just had to buy it and figure out what it would go with from our Ad Hoc cookbook. This week, we would pick the recipes and control our own destiny rather than letting a random flip determine our menu.
Menu- May 31
meatballs with pappardelle (p. 50)
endive and arugula salad with peaches and marcona almonds (p. 140)
We started this weekend's adventure by making the Oven-Roasted Tomato Sauce (p. 333). Though the recipe took 2 hours, it was so simple and hands off that we barely had to think about it. Onions, leeks, fennel, and garlic went into the oven with some olive oil in an oven-proof pot. Then brown sugar and vinegar. And then San Marzano tomatoes, some pureed and some just chopped. That's it! Just some basic ingredients and a little love and out comes a deliciously sweet and chunky tomato sauce.
While the tomato sauce was cooking in the oven, we prepared the meatballs: a mixture of beef, pork, and veal with lots of fresh herbs, and just enough egg and breadcrumbs to hold everything together. We had leftover panko crumbs from the previous week so we substituted those in for the homemade bread crumbs. A small piece of fresh mozzarella was stuffed into the center of each of the meatballs and they were ready to go into the oven.
Chef Keller provides a recipe to make the pappardelle from scratch but I'm not convinced that it's worth the effort. Especially because I don't have a pasta roller and since great Italian specialty shops in NYC offer the fresh pasta made already...or maybe I'm just making excuses. Maybe one of these days...
Anyways, the meatballs took a little more time than directed (about 10 more minutes in the oven), but boy did they taste delicious. They just melted in my mouth. mmmmmmmmm.
We decided to pair our meatballs with a crisp and refreshing salad and chose the endive and arugula salad. The dressing was a vinaigrette composed of peach puree (we bought pureed peaches sold as baby food and added some cinnamon and lemon juice), shallots, parsley, and vinegar. After that, we just had to toss the endive and arugula and add in the peaches and almonds and we were ready to eat!
Yuck or Yum
meatballs with pappardelle: d- "these meatballs are incredible. I wish the mozzerella had melted a little more into the meat...perhaps next time we set the oven slightly lower and cook them for a little longer. I really liked the tomato sauce- the flavors really came together well while the sauce was cooking in the oven." h- "The flavors were great together, but the cheese could have been more melty. I also would have preferred the tomato sauce to be less chunky; next time i'd probably elect to puree both cans."
endive and arugula salad with peaches and marcona almonds: d- "yum! the sweetness of the peaches (although they could have been slightly sweeter) paired really nicely with the bitterness of the endive and arugula and the almonds added the perfect note of buttery crunch!" h-"i added too much dressing to the salad, but when I was able to get a well balanced bite with all the components and not too much dressing, this dish was outstanding."
