Quick post – My brother Thomas and I cooked up an Italian feast yesterday, probably the most excellent use of a Sunday possible. Sunday sauce (or gravy, if you lean that way) was the star – a huge, slow simmering pot of sauce, filled with meat treasures. This batch had the full monty – Italian sausage, meatballs, eye of round, pork chops, and braciole.
But wait, there’s more. We started with some baked clams which were okay but we didn’t have good product. Then we moved on to some handmade ravioli, which looked like crap but ended up presenting better than expected after cooking. Some of them stuck to the counter while I was rolling out the dough, then tore when I lifted them up. Though for whatever reason the filling didn’t really fall out when cooked. They were filled with asparagus cut thin on the extreme bias, with whipped ricotta, lemon zest, and Parmigiano-Reggiano. Those were gently simmered, then finished in a butter and water emulsion with more asparagus in the pan, plated with wood sorrel and a variety of edible flowers from PRFM.
Then we made gnocchi. I really love the method I learned by watching Marco Canora on Ozersky TV. Don’t be a slave to recipes. We eyeballed the flour using his technique, and decided when we had enough flour using feel. Those were also quickly simmered, finished in a pan with cream, lemon juice, and long shavings of baby zucchini and squash. A good vegetable peeler is such an important tool to me. I highly recommend .
Gnocchi may have been the best version I’ve ever made. While certainly not health food, it didn’t feel heavy, and the cream sauce came off really bright. There was only a cup of cream for six portions, far from an embarrassing per person consumption level.
We hung out for 60-75 min before proceeding to the sunday sauce, a power move. Thomas nailed it. And he sent me home with some leftovers…tonight’s dinner is solved.
If you’re hanging out with family and eating, we’ve gotta have some wine, right? (Even though I’m sick with a cold and woke up feeling worse than I did the day before). Another stellar value from Le Caveau in Chamblee. Juicy, but with amazing acid.
Actually, wait, don’t buy any of this. It’s terrible.