Restaurant (Re)creation: SPQR's Gemelli with Green Spring Vegetables, Black Pepper + Ricotta Salata

My husband and I recently had date night at SPQR and I had the most divine dish.  It was a Gemelli pasta with green spring vegetables, mascarpone, black pepper and ricotta salata.  It was fresh and light, yet creamy and totally satisfying.  We both agreed that I ordered the best dish and I promptly devoured it.  Two days later, I decided to try it in my own kitchen.  My neighborhood Whole Foods was fresh out of mascarpone, so I used whole milk ricotta instead.  Otherwise, I tried to stick pretty true to SPQR's preparation.  This meal can be cooked in mere minutes and looks like it came straight from a Michelin star restaurant.  That sounds like a winning combination to me.  Hope you agree!

Serves 4-6

Ingredients:

• 16 oz. Gemelli pasta
• 1/2 lb. English peas, shelled
• 1/4 lb. snow peas, sliced diagonally
• 8-10 stalks of asparagus, sliced diagonally
• 1/2 cup whole milk ricotta (or mascarpone)
• 3-4 tbsp. extra virgin olive oil
• Kosher salt
• freshly ground black pepper
• grated ricotta salata, for finishing

Directions:

-Bring a large pot of salted water to boil.

-Shell the peas, and diagonally slice the snow peas and asparagus in 1/2 inch pieces.

-Add the Gemelli to the boiling water and cook for 2 minutes less than the package suggests.

-Add the peas and asparagus and cook the pasta and vegetables for an additional 2 minutes.

-Remove from heat, drain, and return to the cooking pot.

-Drizzle 3 tbsp. olive oil over the pasta and vegetables and season with salt and ample pepper.

-Scoop in 1/4 cup of ricotta and mix until well distributed.  

-Spoon the pasta onto plates and top with grated ricotta salata and freshly ground black pepper.

-Add a dollop or two of the remaining ricotta to the top of the pasta and enjoy immediately.

SPQR

1911 Fillmore St.

San Francisco, CA

(415) 771-7779

Recipe Creation: Grilled Fig, Peach + Goat Cheese Pizza

This recipe is easy, seasonal, and perfect for a warm evening when you want to get out and take advantage of your grill (or someone else's).  You can throw on any of your favorite ingredients and change it based on whatever is in season, or happens to be in your fridge.  I use pita bread as the crust because it makes nice individual pizzas, but you can also use pre-made or homemade pizza dough.  If you are like me though, making homemade pizza dough after work is not in the cards.  You can take this concept on the road too, and have a little "pizza bar" and your guests can make their own personal pizzas with different toppings.   The possibilities are endless...

Serves 2

Ingredients:

• 2 pitas (whole wheat or white)
• 1/2 cup part-skim ricotta
• 1/4 cup crumbled goat cheese
• 4 figs, sliced thinly
• 1 peach, cut in quarters and sliced thinly
• 1/4 shallot or red onion, sliced thinly
• Olive oil
• Salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

-Preheat grill on medium-high heat.

-Meanwhile, sauté shallots in olive oil until translucent and slightly crispy.

-Remove shallots from heat and set aside.

-Spread about 1/4 cup ricotta on each pita and top with sliced figs and peaches.

-Sprinkle with crumbled goat cheese.

-Place pita pizzas on the grill and cover.

-Grill pizzas for 10-15 minutes, or until the pita begins to crisp and the cheese begins to melt.

-Top with crispy shallots, and season with salt and pepper.

~Enjoy~

Restaurant (Re)creation: Seven Hills' Ravioli Uovo

The Ravioli Uovo is the signature dish at Seven Hills, and for good reason.  It was featured as one of the top 101 Most delicious Noodle Dishes in the Country by New York Magazine and Seven Hills has become famous for it.  To quote a review from SF Food Critic, Michael Bauer, the raviolo is a "saucer shaped packet plump with ricotta, and spinach that becomes a nest for an egg yolk.  It's surrounded by a pool of brown butter and a drizzle of truffle oil.  As you cut into the pasta, the yolk lubricates the brown butter and after the final bite was consumed, I used bread to sop up every last drop."  I wasn't going to use Bauer's quote in its entirety, but I simply couldn't have described the dish better myself.  It's like magic.

My (re)creation for this ravioli is not directly from the chef, but rather, it was pieced together from some hints and pictures from the chef, and by scouring the internet for techniques and ideas.  I cheated and used wonton wrappers, which made smaller ravioli than the restaurant version, but they worked quite well and are much simpler than making homemade pasta.  Don't get me wrong, there is nothing better than homemade pasta, but that was going to be a little too time-consuming.  I decided to top the ravioli with shaved parmesan, which melted onto the warm ravioli.  I just used white truffle oil and omitted the brown butter because it was perfectly delicious without, but if you want to stay true to the original, just drizzle with a little brown butter on top.  Your friends will love you forever if you make this decadent treat for them.  If they don't, they're crazy.  Michael Bauer would agree with me on this one. 

Makes 6 ravioli

Ingredients:

• 12 round (or square) wonton wrappers
• 6 organic eggs
• 1/3 cup whole milk ricotta
• 1 small handful of spinach
• white truffle oil (for drizzling)
• 2 tbsp shaved parmesan
• olive oil
• salt & pepper, to taste

Directions:

-Warm a skillet over medium heat and drizzle in some olive oil.  Toss in the spinach and cook for about a minute, or until wilted. 

-Remove spinach from heat and let cool.  Then chop and set aside. 

-In a small bowl, mix the spinach and ricotta together and season with salt and pepper to taste. 

-Place 6 wonton wrapper on a dish or tray and scoop 1-2 tsp of the ricotta mixture into the center of each wrapper.  Make a small indentation with a teaspoon in each ricotta mound, creating a "bed" for the yolk.

-Crack 5 eggs, one by one, and cup in your hand, letting the egg whites drip into the sink.  You should be left with just the yolks (intact).  For the last egg, crack it and cup it in your hand as before, but do it over a bowl, catching the egg white (to be used for brushing/sealing the wrappers.)

-Place one yolk in each ricotta "bed."  Brush the perimeter of the wrapper with a little egg white and top with a wonton wrapper, sealing carefully.

-Meanwhile, bring a medium-sized pot to boil.  Place ravioli, two at a time, in the boiling water and cook for 90 seconds.  Remove with a slotted spoon and set aside on a plate. 

-Once all the ravioli are cooked, place them on plates and top with shaved parmesan (or brown butter) and a generous drizzle of truffle oil. 

Magic.

Seven Hills

1550 Hyde Street

San Francisco, CA

(415) 775-1550

http://sevenhillssf.com