Roasted Bell Peppers, Capers and Taglioni

This dish has no particular story attached to it. Except for I like roasted bell peppers. Just the other day, I begun to fancy roasted bell peppers with capers. This is what I ended up with.

Summer is the best season to toy with bell peppers -or paprika as we call it- as it's not very expensive and the veggies are in good condition. Obviously, bell peppers are not native to Finland, and those grown in greenhouses year around are very expensive. So most of the variety is brought from abroad. Use of bell pepper was quite minimal in Finland until 1960-70's from where it became more widely known and is now an everyday veggie.

I heard a story dating back to early seventies from the more rural parts of Finland. Someone's granpa saw a bell pepper in a store, gave it a good hard long look and after fumbling it a while, placed it into his shopping basket. At home he sat by the table, grabbed his knife and cut a bit off it.  To his astonishment, it wasnt like an apple ,"Gosh, it's hollow!". Then he cut a fine piece off it, chewed and spat out with a grimace. And hurled it away to the wall!

Anyways, I'll stop gabbing and move onto the recipe. Have a nice weekend everyone!

Roasting Bell Peppers

1. Set the oven grill to max. Halve bell peppers, remove stem and seeds. Place them over an oven proof grill. Mine's a dish with a grill, I put some water on the bottom so that juices wont burn and cause smoky smell.  Roast the bell peppers for about 10 minutes or when the peels bubble and turn black. Turn the oven dish around half way as many ovens dont roast evenly.

2. That's the bell peppers roasted. Now cover with a towel and let cool down a bit (but not to get cold).

3. Peel the bell peppers while they are warm, the peel will loosen easily. It may be more sticky at the sides where the peel didnt roast too good but you can leave thin strips of peel intact, if they sit tight.

This is what you should get. Now the bell peppers are ready to use in marinade, salad or a sauce.

Roasted Bell Peppers, Capers and Taglioni

I suggest you make the pasta boil-ready before beginning with the bell peppers. Or you can crank it into ribbons while the bell peppers roast and rest. How to make fresh pasta you can read here. Boil the pasta before making the sauce, drain, put back into kettle and lid on it. Set aside.

Cream used in this recipe is something known in Finland as "cooking cream", lighter, thicker cream-like substance. It doesnt curd if you boil it with salt. This recipe makes for one person.

• 2 roasted bell peppers
• 1 red onion
• 2 garlic gloves
• 1 dl cream
• 2-3 tbsp capers
• Oil
• Pepper, pinch of salt

1. Dice onions, cut garlic and cut the bell peppers into fine strips.








2. Saute onions until lightly softened and transparent. Add bell peppers and stir and mix on a medium heat for a few mins. Add the capers and stir for a minute more. Add cream and let lightly simmer until the sauce thickens (a few minutes).





3. Taste for salt, add pepper or some herbs if you like. Mix with pasta on the pan (I use the kettle to allow more vigorous mixing). Garnish and serve!

Taglioni with Grape Sauce

Here's a dish I invented when I was still studying at the uni, money was tight but you got to eat something! So I took the grapes sitting on the table and made them into a pasta sauce. This sauce is probably better with cheese filled ravioli, or pasta with some other shape but I do love long thin pasta ribbons. I dont mind what you call them (I am already confused) - bavarettine, taglioni, linguini - I christen mine "taglioni".

Hints and Tips

Now, I am gonna give basic instructions how to make fresh pasta here but the net is actually abundant with them. You can also buy fresh pasta and use it instead. If you are determined to do everything from the scratch, read on. If you just want the sauce, scroll down.
By the way, if you are thinking getting your first pasta machine, here's two tips:
1. Buy a sturdy one, not one of those flimsy models. It has to be heavy. When you lift it up, you should get the feeling "this is good for clubbering a burglar senseless".
2. See that it can be properly attached to the table. Nothing is more irritating than loose pasta machine when you trying to work your dough.

Phasing the work

1. Make the pasta dough. Cover and let rest.
2. Meanwhile, slice, dice and saute veggies. Prepare the sauce.
3. Put a big kettle with cold water to boil. While the sauce is simmering, work the pasta into shapes (ribbons, ravioloni)
4. Finish sauce, boil pasta.

Making Pasta Dough

The basic ingredients for pasta dough are durum flour, eggs, olive oil and salt. You can also add tomato paste or garlic paste. You can blend the ingredients in a food mixer. Here's how you do it by hand. Check measurements from your durum flour bag, or use approx. 2,8 dl flour for 2 (medium) eggs, a tbsp olive oil and half tsp salt. This dough is one of those where you need to feel your way through, so exact measures are hard to give. Add flour rather conservatively to begin with, you can always add more but too much ruins the dough. Traditional instructions advise to make the dough on a table but I use a bowl, it's easier to control egg leakage. If you have a gentleman in the house, let him do the kneading, it's hard work! ;)

Measure ingredients in a bowl or on a table. Pour flour in first, make a well in the midde and put eggs, oil and salt in the well.

Mix the wet ingredients into flour working from side to middle.

Dough is ready for kneading. Knead on a table until the surface is smooth and doesnt stick to anything. If its sticky, add little more flour. Kneading takes approx. 6-8 mins.






Now the dough is ready. It should feel firm, not sticky and dry to touch. Cover it with a plastic wrapper or towel and let rest. If you are using a pasta machine, the dough does necessarily not need to rest. You can put it in a fridge too, it'll keep 48 hrs. If you're making the grape sauce below, get down to it now.

Use your pasta machine (or a rolling pin) to roll out pasta. See your machine leaflet for instructions. Here I made the pasta sheet to size 5 with my Atlas pasta machine.

Use the part for making ribbons to make taglioni. Cover the ribbons or put in a freezer if you made extra (when you prepare it, dont thaw just put it in a boiling water).

 

Grape Sauce

This makes for 2 persons. If you have ripe tomatos kicking about, you can put them in too. I usually do this in kind of a rustic way, I let the peels stay in and all. If you want a smoother sauce, you can press it through a sieve but it takes some extra effort.

• 600 gr seedless grapes (and tomatos).
• 2 onions
• 1-2 garlic gloves 
• Olive oil
• Touch of stock concentrate, pinch of salt
• Pepper, basil, small pinch of dried sage
• Grated parmesan to garnish

1. Halve grapes, dice onion and slice garlic. Put olive oil in a pan and saute them on medium heat until the fruit starts to soften and break a little. Then lower temperature, cover with a lid and let simmer lightly. Make the pasta into ribbons now or if you use premade pasta, go browse the net for 20 mins or so, stir occasionally.  Put water to boil for pasta.

2.  When everything is quite a pulp (press thru sieve now if you're feeling fussy), add seasoning. You can lightly press the more whole looking grapes with a wooden utensil and mix to get smoother texture. Let simmer a bit more.

 3. The sauce is ready. Add some oil in boiling water and cook pasta, it should take only a few minutes as the ribbons are so thin. Fish one ribbon out and taste for readiness. It should feel al dente. Mix pasta and sauce.

Garnish and serve!