Porcini Ravioli Salad with a Garlic-Anchovy-EVOO Dressing

Parfois, quand je me sens ennuyé ou sans inspiration, c'est bien d'avoir des amis qui m'inspirent. J'étais enlisé dans la routine et donc n'avais pas envie de cuisiner, mais heureusement, mes amis sont là pour susciter l'inspiration. Ces récentes séries de recettes ont été inspirées par la femme d'un vieil ami avec qui j'ai eu toutes sortes de frasques et bêtises quand nous étions jeunes, y compris la conduite sans permis, faire la fête trop, la consommation d'alcool chez les mineurs, et bien sûr, la gueule de bois conséquente etc. mdrrrr 😝😁😈😇

 

Il s'est depuis installé, s'est marié avec une belle femme, et ils ont un adorable petit garçon. Ils sont maintenant aussi propriétaires d'une de mes pâtisseries préférées "Fluff Bakery", et bien que la femme fait les gâteaux les plus incroyables, elle est aussi une cuisinière fantastique. J'ai eu le privilège de manger sa cuisine maison qui étaient si délicieux, cela m'a inspiré à recommencer à cuisiner à la maison.

 

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This is a riff on the earlier tortellini dish, but here I melted anchovies into the garlic-flavoured olive oil dressing, and switched up the dumplings and vegetables. I'd come across a beautiful head of cauliflower in the market, in the most striking purple, and wanted to incorporate that into some kind of roasted veggie pasta salad. 

 

I'd also seen Mrs Fluff utilise anchovies in her olive oil and drizzle that emulsion over her vegetables, so I thought I'd try that as a sort of dressing in a salad. The acute fishiness may be a skosh off-putting at first, but its saltiness really does mellow out into the most incredible flavour. 

Ingredients (feeds 2-4 pax):

1 large head purple cauliflower, cut into florets, about 5 cups

1 large head broccoli, cut into florets, about 5 cups

1 small tin anchovies, about 5 fillets 

1/2 cup almond flakes

10 cloves garlic, sliced thinly into chips

4 stalks fresh rosemary

1 cup edamame, cooked and peeled

1 packet porcini mushroom ravioli, about 250gm

approx 1 cup extra virgin olive oil ("EVOO") 

salt

Directions:

1) Toss purple cauliflower florets in EVOO, salting lightly, and roasting at 220C for about 35 minutes, turning up to 230C for the last 5 minutes to really brown up those edges.

2) In the meantime, fry anchovies in 4 tbsp EVOO on low heat, mushing up the anchovies into the oil, about 3 minutes. Don't worry about the anchovies smelling fishy or the little fish bones or that the mush looks like crap, it will melt and mellow out into a glorious golden toasty accent to the garlic and nuts, trust me.

3) Add almond chips and toss, letting it toast for about a minute. 

4) Add garlic chips and toss through.

5) Add rosemary and toast for about another 7 minutes or until the garlic is crispy and golden brown. Turn off heat and remove rosemary, it's like what Chef Anne Burrell always says, it's fulfilled its destiny.

6) Toss broccoli florets in EVOO, salting lightly, and roasting at 220C for about 35 minutes, turning up to 230C for the last 5 minutes to really brown up those edges.

7) Cook ravioli according to package directions in salted water, draining it about 30 seconds before its prescribed cooking time and reserving a few tablespoons of salty pasta water.

8) Add pasta and 1 tbsp pasta water to the anchovy-garlic chip-almond EVOO blend and turn on heat to medium, tossing through. Turn off heat thereafter.

9) Assembly time: intersperse the ravioli with roasted cauliflower and broccoli and top with edamame and extra lashings of toasty anchovy-flavoured garlic and almond chips.