Homemade butternut squash fettuccine with red wine braised beef Ragù

I adore the passion Italians have for home-cooked food with an Old World approach. The pride they take in preserving authentic traditional family recipes that have been handed down for generations; the process of making pasta, artisanal cheeses, cured meats, balsamic vinegar, and wines. 

There is something so brilliant in the simplicity of the Italian kitchen. With just a handful of the finest seasonal produce, and the very best ingredients, you can create the most flavorful dishes that are both rustic and exquisite. Hands down, it's my favorite cuisine to cook and eat, in particular pasta!!!

This recipe takes a bit of cutting and prepping, but once everything is in the pan, the oven does the rest of the work for you. The veggies, meat, and wine create such a rich, flavorful sauce that's so wonderful over the homemade fettuccine that absorbs the ragù sauce so well.
It's slow food at its best and the kind of comfort food that fills your home and the neighbor's… ;-) with wonderful aromas! It's cozy and perfect for this time of year, when squash is in season and the air is getting chilly! 

Homemade butternut squash fettuccine with red wine braised beef Ragù

Serves 6

By Tal Shofman-Schejter

Making fresh pasta is quite simple, versatile, and so satisfying. A pasta machine is a must for rolling the dough perfectly and well worth the investment! I hope this post inspires you to give it a try.

Cook's notes:

• The proper way to cook pasta is using a big pot of boiling water to allow plenty of room for the pasta to move around, which prevents it from sticking together. After the water comes to a rolling boil, add about 2-3 tablespoons of kosher salt. The water should taste like the sea. Unlike dried pasta, cooking time is short and requires between 5-6 minutes or until al dente. Drain well in a colander.

• I use roasted squash puree in the pasta dough to give it an orange hue. The taste is less notable.

• For the ragù, I used chuck roast, which is a cut of beef marbled with fat and sinew, but any cut of meat with fat such as short ribs or ox tail would be wonderful too! The fat renders out and the meat gets so tender, it falls apart and melts in your mouth.

• Both recipes can be made ahead of time and kept in the freezer. Simply arrange fettuccine in a single layer on a baking pan and wrap tightly with plastic wrap. Store ragù in an airtight container and freeze for up to 4 weeks.

Ingredients

For the beef ragù:
3 Tbsp. olive oil
3 pounds chuck roast, cut into 2-inch pieces (you can use short ribs or ox tail), room temperature
Salt and freshly ground pepper
1/3 cup flour for dredging
1 medium onion, peeled and cut into 1/2 inch dice
2 medium carrots, peeled and cut into 1/2 inch dice
2 celery stalks, cut into 1/2 inch dice
8 cloves of garlic, peeled and finely chopped
1 6oz (170g) can of tomato paste
2 cups (500ml) red wine (Shiraz, Cabernet or Chianti)
2-3 cups chicken stock
1 28oz (800g) canned peeled plum tomatoes, crushed with your hands
1 Tbsp Glaze of Aceto Balsamico di Modena 
2 Bay leaves
2 sprigs of fresh thyme leaves

To serve
Homemade butternut fettuccine *see recipe below or dried fettuccine
Good quality extra virgin olive oil
Parmigiano Reggiano

Method
Preheat oven to 150C (300F) degrees.
Heat 2 Tbsp olive oil over medium-high heat in a large, heavy-bottomed pan or enamel-coated Dutch oven.

Season meat well with salt and pepper. Dredge in flour until evenly coated and shake off any access flour. Sear beef (don't crowd the pan) in batches on all sides until it is browned. Transfer to a plate and set aside.

Add a Tbsp. of olive oil and the onion, carrots and celery and sauté, stirring often with a wooden spoon, until vegetables are browned, about 10 minutes.  Add garlic and tomato paste and cook for 4 more minutes. Add wine and deglaze the bottom of the pan, stirring and scraping up browned bits; cook and reduce wine by half.

Add 2 cups chicken stock, crushed tomatoes, balsamic glaze, bay and thyme. Taste and season with salt and pepper and arrange the meat in a single layer. The liquid should come half way up the sides of the meat. (Add the remaining stock and water if needed).

Bring to a gentle simmer and cover with a tight-fitting lid. Put the pan in the oven on the lower rack and braise for 3-4 hours, until meat is very tender and falling apart.

Carefully remove meat and strain braising liquid into a medium pot. Shred meat with 2 forks and add to the strained sauce. Adjust seasoning with salt and pepper and serve over the cooked fettuccine. Drizzle with extra virgin olive oil and top with grated parmesan.

Ingredients
For the butternut squash fettuccine:  
1/2 c. butternut squash puree
6  large egg yolks
1/2 tsp. salt
2 1/2 cups 00 flour plus more if needed
Semolina flour for dusting fettuccine

Method
In a small mixing bowl, whisk together squash puree along with the yolks and salt.

Mound the flour on your counter and make a well in the center. Pour the squash and yolk mixture into the well. Using a fork, begin incorporating the flour into the mixture, working from the outside edges. When the dough becomes too stiff to mix with a fork, begin kneading it.

Add more flour onto the dough and knead until it is no longer wet and sticky, about 5 minutes. Wrap the dough in plastic wrap, and set aside for 1 hour at room temperature to rest.

Cut dough into 4 pieces. Working with one piece at a time (keep the remaining pieces covered with plastic wrap to prevent it from drying out). Flatten dough into a square shape slightly thinner than the pasta machine's widest setting (number 1). Dust dough very lightly with flour, and feed through machine fold lengthwise into thirds and rotate 90 degrees. Repeat 4 times on the same setting.

Turn the dial to next narrower setting. Pass dough through twice. Continue to press dough, passing it through ever-finer settings, two passes on each setting, until you reach number 6 on your pasta machine.

Cut the rolled dough into 12 inch pieces and keep it covered on a lightly semolina dusted parchment paper. (You can stack all your rolled pasta in between sheets of parchment paper dusted with semolina). Working with one piece of rolled dough at a time, pass through the fettuccine attachment of your pasta machine. Arrange on prepared baking trays lightly dusted with semolina flour. Repeat with the rest of the dough.
* See cook's notes for how to cook pasta.

Stuffed tomatoes with rice, lamb and basil pesto {gluten free}

Stuffed foods, particularly vegetables, are a favorite in Israel and across the Middle East. We stuff just about anything in this neck of the woods: grape leaves; giant beets and Vidalia onions; eggplant and zucchini; tripe for the Shabbat hamin; bulgur-wheat dough balls filled with seasoned ground meat called kibbeh; and even stuffed carp heads for the Jewish New Year, Rosh Hashanah!

On special gatherings and during the holidays, mom would make (and still makes to this day) a glorious pot of bell peppers and cabbage leaves stuffed with a mixture of rice and meat, and festive Cornish game hens stuffed with jeweled rice -- a Persian-style steamed Basmati rice decorated with bits of dried fruits (and sometimes slivered almonds and pistachios).

A few years ago, while working as a freelance recipe contributor for the Israeli magazine Laisha, I was asked by the food editor to develop recipes for their annual monthly calendar. While I was brainstorming ideas for the month of July, the first ingredient that came to mind was tomatoes.   

Around the same time I was writing the recipes for the calendar, the first farmers’ market opened at the Tel Aviv port Shuk Hanamal. At the crack of dawn, farmers from regions far and wide bring their fresh fruits and vegetables; creating vast, colorful displays that attract buyers who appreciate the balance of exceptional quality and value. Friday mornings are special. Outdoor stalls welcome guests, who interact with the local growers. You can transform a whole week’s menu by adding produce from your local farmers’ market, the inspiration for this dish came right there and then.

When I was growing up in Israel, we had only one type of tomato! Nowadays, Israelis enjoy a wonderful variety of tomatoes, such as heirloom, cherry, grape, beefsteak and plum… tomatoes in all shapes and colors. Among them, the Tomaccio -- a special cherry tomato cultivated by several laboratories in Israel. Although tomatoes are grown year-round in greenhouses, the summer months are the natural peak season for the tomato harvest. For my best results, I always buy tomatoes that aren’t quite ripe and leave them on the kitchen counter to sit at room temperature, out of direct sunlight. This way, I can keep an eye on them and use them at their optimum desired firmness or ripeness.

This is my take on a classic Mediterranean-inspired dish. The emptied cavities of the tomatoes are being shmeared with a generous amount of fragrant basil pesto and stuffed liberally with a flavorful meat and rice filling that will transport you to Greece and Italy with the very first bite!

The stuffing and the pesto can be made way in advance. Serve them warm or at room temperature with a drizzle of good quality extra virgin olive oil, a dollop of tangy labneh and a leafy salad, if you like!

Support your local farmers’ markets!  Go visit and look for inspiration. Take a chance on a new ingredient. And don’t forget the tomatoes. :-)

Stuffed tomatoes with rice, lamb and basil pesto

By Tal Shofman-Schejter

Serves 12

Ingrediends
For the basil pesto:
2 bunches of fresh basil leaves
2 garlic cloves, peeled
2 tablespoons pine nuts, toasted
1/3 cup good quality extra virgin olive oil
1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese
Salt and freshly ground pepper to taste

For the filling:
12 ripe and firm medium-large tomatoes
1/4 cup pine nuts
5 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1 medium red onion, peeled and thinly sliced
200 gr. ground lamb or veal
3 cups pre-cooked basmati rice
6 oil-packed sun dried tomatoes, drained and finely chopped
Salt and freshly ground pepper to taste

To Serve
Labneh (optional)

Method
Pesto:
Put all the ingredients in a food processor or a blender and whiz together until you get a chunky consistency. Store in the fridge until you are ready to use it.

Stuffed tomatoes:
Preheat oven to 450f degrees.
In a medium skillet, heat 1 tablespoon olive oil over medium heat, add pine nuts and sauté until golden. Transfer to a medium bowl.

Add another tablespoon of oil and the sliced onion, sauté until golden.
Transfer to the bowl with nuts. Add 1 more tablespoon of oil to the pan and the ground lamb or veal and sauté, over high heat, stirring and breaking down the meat, until golden brown. Transfer the meat along with the cooked rice, sun dried tomatoes and season with salt and pepper.

Slice tops of tomatoes and scoop out flesh.
Place tomato shells in a baking dish just large enough to hold them in a single layer.

Season insides of tomato shells with salt and pepper. Shmear tomato cavities with a heaping teaspoon of pesto each. Fill each tomato with the filling, place back tops and brush tomato skins with the rest of the oil, season all over with more salt and pepper.
Bake until tomatoes are soft and warmed though, for about 30 minutes.

Serve warm or at room temperature drizzled with high-quality extra virgin olive oil and a dollop of labneh.

Enjoy! xx

*This recipe was originally published in Laisha Magazine.