By Elin Jeffords
for TNAZ TechChowNow!
Royal Palms Chef Lee Hillson happily kneading what will become pasta carbonara Iron Chef-style.
Lee Hillson hefts around some heavy-duty credentials. They include sharing a London flat with enfant terrible chef Gordon Ramsey and living to tell about it, as well as competing heroically on Food Channel's iconic Iron Chef (he lost by one point to Cat Cora).
Despite his British ancestry, the executive chef of Royal Palms Resort and in-house T.Cook's restaurant brings a Mediterranean sensibility to his menu. That means using a lot of fresh pasta, which also means using the versatile Kitchen Aid, the cooking tool he considers indispensable.
T. Cook's, the place to eat more of Hillson's menu.
"It's the most amazing thing in the kitchen, I just love it." says Hillson. "The multiple, interchangeable parts allow you to tackle all kinds of kitchen tasks."
Hillson says there is a lot of mystique involving fresh pasta and people think it's a special occasion dish, but nothing could be simpler. In fact, short of the resting time for the dough and with the ingredients all prepped, Hillson made the pasta carbonara in less than 10 minutes.
The Kitchen Aid, true and sturdy chef's tech partner.
He flattened the rested dough on a floured surface and cut a piece approximately 5 by 3 inches, folding the dough in thirds and stretching a few times. He then worked the strip of dough through the Kitchen Aid pasta roller attachment until it was thin, elastic and glossy.
After making as many sheets as needed, he popped the cutting tool in the Kitchen Aid and cut the pasta into thin strips (or, as the Italians call it, linguine). Curled in a tangle, the finished strips need only 4 –5 minutes in boiling, salted water. (Hillson says it is fine to let the pasta remain in the water for a few minutes before adding directly into the sauce.)
Stretching the dough.
Talking about the versatility of fresh pasta, Hillson mentioned flavoring the dough with powdered mushroom or tomato puree to get different flavors and colors. He also stressed that since fresh pasta is more delicate than the dried, store bought variety, it's important to match the sauce to the noodle with thinner sauces working best and chunky, thicker sauces complementing dried pasta.
Pasta Carbonara Iron Chef-Style
Basic Fresh Pasta Dough
1 lb, 1 oz bread flour
4 whole eggs
2 egg yolks
1 ½ tbls olive oil
Cutting the dough into linguini strips.
If mixing by hand, pour the flour on a clean, dry work surface. Make a well or indentation in the flour. Mix eggs, yolks and olive oil in a bowl and pour into center of the well. Pull the flour up and over the egg mixture slowly, combining thoroughly. (If the dough seems a little dry, add a sprinkle of water.) After it is mixed, knead and form into a tight ball. Wrap in plastic and let rest about one hour in refrigerator.
If using a food processor, put all ingredients in the bowl and mix. The finished product will resemble breadcrumbs. Remove, knead, form into ball, wrap in plastic and let rest for one hour in refrigerator. Prepare pasta as desired.
Hillson's finished dish, pasta carbonara Iron Chef-style.
Pasta Carbonara
Sauce
6 ozs pancetta
3 cups heavy cream
6 cloves garlic
1 sprig fresh thyme
10 slices prosciutto (Costco has the best deal on prosciutto and pancetta. Remainder can be frozen.)
4 egg yolks
Coarsely torn Italian parsley
Good quality Parmigiano-reggiano
24 oz fresh linguine
Preheat oven to 400 degrees and start pan of salted water on to boil.
Cut the pancetta into ½ inch cubes, place in large pan and sauté until fat is rendered. In a separate pan, place cream, garlic and thyme and reduce by ¾. Strain the cream and set aside. Cut two of the slices of prosciutto in half crosswise. Place on baking sheet. Slice the rest of the prosciutto into thin strips. Carefully place an egg yolk onto each piece of prosciutto and put in oven. At this point, place pasta in boiling water for 4 – 5 minutes. Add strips of prosciutto to rendered pancetta and warm up. Add ¾ cream sauce and pasta and stir. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Pool a little sauce on each plate. Divide pasta mixture among plates and top each one with an egg yolk on a square of prosciutto (yolk will be warm but still raw). Sprinkle with parsley, grate on cheese and serve.
Serves 4.
Tip: Heating plates will help pasta stay warm.
Consuming raw or undercooked eggs may increase your risk of foodborne illness.