Pappardelle with Chorizo Ragu
One of our favourite cookery writers and stylists, Donna Hay, has inspired this recipe.
Serves 4
Ingredients
400 gr dried chorizo
1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
2 sprigs rosemary
1 red chilli
2 cloves garlic
salt and pepper
good glug of red wine (about 100 ml)
1 x 400 g can peeled tomatoes
2 tablespoons brown sugar
400 g pappradelle
250 g buffalo mozzarella
green salad, to serve
Method
Remove the cases from the chorizo and roughly chop. Place into a Magimix (foodprocessor) and process until finely chopped, resembling minced meat. Set aside.
Bring a pan of salted water to the boil for the pasta. Finely chop the garlic, deseed the chilli and finely chop half of it (or more depending on how spicy you like it). Heat the olive oil in a large frying pan over medium-high heat. Strip trip the leaves from the rosemary stalks and chop them roughly. Add the rosemary to the pan and cook for 30 seconds until crisp. Remove and set aside. Add the chorizo, garlic, chilli, salt and pepper to the pan and cook for 3-4 minutes until golden and crispy, stirring often.
Add the wine and cooked cook for 30 seconds to 1 minute. Add the tomatoes and brown sugar and bring to a simmer. Turn the heat to low and cook for 5-7 minutes. ( If you find that too much oil has come from the chorizo, you can also spoon a little off). While the chorizo is cooking, cook the pasta in the boiling water according to the package instructions. Drain and reserve 100 ml of the cooking liquid.
Add a little of the reserved cooking liquid to the chorizo mixture to start with, making sure ragu has a nice consistency. Divide the pasta between 4 bowls. Top with the chorizo ragu and tear the mozzarella over. Sprinkle over the crispy rosemary, drizzle with some of the chorizo oil in the pan and serve with a green salad simply dressed with olive oil.
All Butter Croissants
There is nothing better than warm, butter, flakey croissants straight from the oven. Making them yourself takes a little practice, but the results are SO worth it. Serve with farmhouse butter, good jam and a cup of coffee. Heaven!
Ingredients
625g strong white flour, plus extra for rolling out
12 g salt
75 g sugar
40 g fresh yeast
500g butter, chilled
1 egg, beaten
Method
The day before you want to bake the croissants, place the flour, sugar, salt and yeast in the bowl of a mixer fitted with a dough hook, or a large mixing bowl. Pour in 350-400ml cold water and mix until it comes together as a soft dough.
Turn out the dough onto a lightly floured work surface and knead for a good 8-10 minutes, or until the dough feels smooth, stretchy and elastic. Return to the bowl and set aside to rest.
Sandwich the chilled butter between two sheets of greaseproof paper and roll out to a 30x20cm rectangle, about 1cm thick. Chill in the fridge until needed.
Turn the dough out again onto a lightly floured work surface. Roll it into a rectangle 60x30cm. Peel the greaseproof paper from the butter and place the butter centrally on top of the pastry rectangle. Fold one edge of the pastry over the butter to half-cover it, then do the same with the other edge of the pastry so that the butter is covered. Fold the rectangle in half lengthways, then give it a quarter-turn and roll out again to a rectangle measuring 60x30cm.
Repeat the folding, turning and rolling process, as before, three more times (do not roll out the pastry the final time you fold and turn it). Wrap the pastry in cling film and chill in the fridge overnight.
When the pastry has rested, roll it out to a thickness of 0.5cm. Cut the pastry into two 50x20cm strips, then cut each strip into triangles about 10cm wide at the base.
With the narrow point of one of the pastry triangles facing away from you, use your fingertips to stretch the two points of the triangle nearest to you out sideways so that they bow a little. Roll the pastry over itself, curling it into a traditional crescent shape, so that the furthest point of the triangle ends up curled over the top of the croissant. Repeat the process with the remaining pastry triangles to create about 20 croissants.
Place the croissants onto baking trays lined with silicone paper or baking parchment. Brush them all over with the beaten egg, then set aside to prove for 30-45 minutes. (The croissants can be frozen at this point, if desired.)
Preheat the oven to 190C/170C Fan. Bake the croissants for 20-25 minutes, or until risen and golden-brown. Serve warm with jam and butter.
We, the Amsterdam Flavours chefs, hope you enjoy this recipe as much as we do. If you have any questions on how to prepare it or just want to send us your feedback, you can reach us here Contact Amsterdam Flavours
A Look Back at Opening Week and Rens Kroes' Book Launch
Wowzers!! What a week we've just had. Last Wednesday 10th June was an historic day for Amsterdam Flavours. It was our first official day open and a race against the clock to get our new place at the Westergasfabriek ready on time. The long days, moments of stress and worry have paid off and we now have a magnificent space to show for it.
We opened straight away with the book launch and pop-up restaurant for Rens Kroes. We cooked and served a menu comprising recipes from her new book Powerfood 2 - van Friesland naar New York. We met the most amazing people in the last few days and the buzz and hype around our new place was phenomenal. We still need to come down to earth!
Here's a look back in pictures of everything that's happened over the past week. And what does the future hold we hear you ask? Many more exciting things!
P.S. please all feel free to visit us at our new place at the Westergasfabriek in Amsterdam.