A Successful Cloning

Last Saturday was the first really nice day so far this spring and I was excited to celebrate it by finding a patio to lounge on with my brother, his girlfriend and my parents.  We were in Bragg Creek anyway since my brother was taking his new puppy to the vet, so we all ended up at Madrina's Ristorante a cozy cabin nestled in the trees across the street from the main shopping complex.  The patio is a spacious and in a super sunny spot, which also coincidentally, provided the perfect vantage point for us to keep an eye on the pesky puppy "sleeping" in the car. 

After some serious deliberation I ordered the Roseline al Forno which was a tightly rolled sheet of pasta filled with ham and mozzarella cheese, served sliced into three pieces with a tomato rose sauce.  The pasta was sooo fabulous that I ended up passing bites around the table for everyone to try. 

I liked it so much in fact, that Sunday afternoon I popped over to the Farmers' Market and picked up tomatoes, basil, smoked ham and provolone to try making it myself.  It was nice to see all the glossy red tomatoes, fresh herbs and baby cucumbers lining the isles, instead of the Christmas decorations and cookies that filled the place when I last visited in December.  And in not much time -but several $ later- I found everything I wanted except for the pasta.  So, I thought I'd make it on my own.  Homemade pasta, no problem.

And I was right as far as the dough went anyway.  It's just flour, egg and a touch of water.  The harder part proved to be the rolling of the darn thing.  I tried to roll it by hand with a rolling pin, but after half an hour of rolling and only a pie plate sized circle of pasta, I gave up.  Man that stuff is springy.  I was on a stool pushing all my weight into it and as soon as I lifted the rolling pin off -BOING-  it would just bounce back, mocking my attempts.  That was enough of that.  If I'd wanted that kind of work out I'd have been down the hall at the gym not making pasta, so it was off to Home Outfitters for me to pick up this pasta maker. 

Once I had that it was a piece of cake.  Yeah!  I win!   

Roseline Al Forno

Sauce:
4 medium to large vine ripened tomatoes
8 basil leaves
salt
2 tbsp olive oil
4 tbsp heavy cream

Pasta:
100g sliced smoked ham
grated smoked provolone cheese
2 - 6 inch x 24 inch strips of pasta

Make the pasta using any basic pasta recipe and roll to the dimensions in the recipe above.  Cook the two sheets in boiling salted water until almost done and then drain and cool slightly.

While the pasta is cooking start to prepare the tomato sauce.  Score the bottom of the tomatoes with a sharp knife and then plunge them into boiling water for about 30 seconds, drain and peel off the skins.  Once peeled put them in a food processor with the basil leaves and puree.  Don't process until completely smooth, leave some small chunks of tomato and basil visible.

Heat 2 tbsp evoo in a saute pan and add the tomato sauce.  Add salt to taste.  Simmer until thickened and just before serving add the heavy cream.

Once the pasta has cooled lay out the sheets, one at a time on a flat surface, preferably with the narrow end facing you to make it easier to roll.  Line the surface with slices of the smoked ham, leaving a 2 inch space at the end farthest from you and then sprinkle with the grated cheese.  Starting with the narrow end closest to you roll the pasta into a tight roll all the way to the end.  The two inches of uncovered pasta should adhere to the roll creating a seal.  The finished roll should be between 2 1/2 and 3 inches thick and six inches wide.

Take the entire roll and steam over a pan of boiling water to warm the pasta and melt the cheese.  I set the rolls in a vegetable steamer above a pan of water for a few minutes.  Remove the rolls from the steamer and using a sharp knife trim the ends to make a clean cut and then slice into three segments.  To plate spoon tomato sauce into the bowl, arrange the three slices on top of the sauce, spoon a bit of extra sauce over the pasta and sprinkle with fresh basil.   

Comments

[Sara]

i really like your picture - i thought they were some kind of bone at first.
which market did you go to? :)

[Liz]

Hey Sara, thanks! I was at the Curry Barracks market. I think I'll head to Crossroads this weekend to see if the BC farmers have arrived yet, but it's probably too early.
Liz

[chanelle]

i would say that is a VERY successful cloning! looks so enjoyable! alas, i do not have a pasta maker...yet another thing to add to my million item long list of kitchen must-haves. i always tell my husband that i don't want diamonds - just kitchenware - haha!

[Liz]

We think exactly alike. It's ALL about the kitchen stuff! :o)