Pasta & Noodles

This recipe is part of the Epicurious Online Cooking School, in partnership with the Culinary Institute of America. To watch it being made, and to learn how to make other Italian classics, check out the videos.

We like vegetarian mains in summer; for a heartier dish, add shredded rotisserie chicken or sliced grilled steak.

For this dish, be sure to use the vacuum-packed type of gnocchi, not those that come hard and dry in a box, as they are full of preservatives. You can also buy fresh gnocchi at many specialty food shops, or even make your own (see page 109), though that’s not really necessary for this dish. It’s a little spin on the basic gnocchi dish that’s also a really colorful meal-in-one, packed with spinach and cheese.

I happen to love gnocchi; they’re like little pillows in your mouth, and very, very comforting. Although you can get them at any grocery store these days, when I have some time, I still enjoy making them at home.

Although it’s not a true-blue, all-American macaroni and cheese because it’s made with wide egg noodles rather than the more traditional elbow macaroni or small shell pasta, this is probably the version I make most often. It’s a dish I fell in love with when I first had it years ago at Harry’s Bar in Venice. Later I re-created it at home as the ultimate comfort food and also to bring back memories of Venice.

In these vegetarian rolls, shredded cabbage adds cancer-fighting betacarotene; nori—sheets of dried seaweed—supplies calcium, magnesium, and iron; and shiitakes boost the immune system, thanks to the active compound lentinan. Look for soba noodles and nori in the Asian foods section of your grocery store.

Traditional Japanese soba noodles can be made of wheat or buckwheat, a fruit seed related to rhubarb that’s loaded with manganese and the antioxidants quercetin and kaempferol. Because the seed is also gluten free, buckwheat noodles are a good choice for those with gluten sensitivities.

Here’s a spicy noodle dish that’s packed with vegetables; covering the pan during cooking helps trap the steam so the vegetables soften more quickly (and retain their nutrients). Look for soba noodles made entirely of buckwheat flour; besides being gluten-free, they are more nutritious than soba made from whole-wheat flour.

This refreshing roll packs a lot of health within its wrapper: Kiwifruit provides vitamin C; savory peanuts are rich with B vitamins, vitamin E, and healthy monounsaturated fat; fresh mint leaves soothe the digestive tract. Look for the noodles and wrappers in the Asian foods section of your grocery store.

The hearty flavor of these dumplings lends itself to a range of preparations. Tossing with basil pesto is perhaps the most common, but gnocchi can also be served with brown butter and sage or doused in a hearty ragù, like Bolognese Sauce (page 383).

This stew is a variation on the well-known French favorite, boeuf bourguignon, also made with mushrooms and onions; here, stout replaces the red wine, but you could make the stew with either. There are a few steps that help enrich the flavor of this dish, all of which are classic in making some stews. First, lardons are cooked to render their fat for use in subsequent steps (they are added to the stew at the end, too). Next, the beef is browned and the pan deglazed to incorporate all of the tasty bits. Then, a bit of Dijon mustard is stirred into the aromatics. For even richer flavor, you can add about a half cup of glace de Viande (page 52) along with the stock. The stew is thickened with a small amount of flour and by simple reduction; that’s why the lid is kept partially askew while the stew simmers, to allow some moisture to escape. Buttery noodles make a perfect accompaniment, as they soak up some of the flavorful broth, while julienned carrots and freshly grated horseradish add fresh flavors—and a little textural contrast—to the otherwise rich dish.

When people talk about good gnocchi, you always hear about how “light” they are, but I find that just because gnocchi are light doesn’t mean they’re good. More often than not, gnocchi taste and feel to me like boiled mashed potatoes or mushy dumplings. It wasn’t until I had good gnocchi, which, in addition to being light, had some texture and springiness to them, that I realized how good they could be. Matt worked really hard to ensure that our gnocchi had those qualities. This dough is very starchy and sensitive, so the gnocchi must be formed and served the same day the dough is made. You must use russet potatoes.

We serve this rich, meaty ragù alternately with gnocchi (page 172) and pici (page 168). When the ragù is tossed with gnocchi, the flavor becomes like a rich and delicious meat-and-potatoes dish. It manages to be exotic and familiar at the same time. We use only duck legs and not the whole duck because the meat from the legs is more moist and lends itself better to long cooking. You will probably have to special-order the legs from your poultry purveyor, so when you do, make sure to ask for the livers, too. Alternatively, you can make this ragù with one whole duck, cut into pieces. Not only will this be easier to find but also you’re guaranteed to get the liver with it.

Drain the noodles well before coating with sauce.

You can purchase a whole roast duck at your local Chinese restaurant. Some varieties of noodles suggest soaking them in boiling water instead of cooking them; check your package instructions before preparing them.

Similar greens—such as yow choy, also known as choy sum (which looks almost identical to bok choy but bears small yellow flowers), broccolini, or even regular broccoli—will work well in this dish if you can’t find Chinese broccoli. You can buy wide rice noodles at Asian grocery stores, or use the narrow rice noodles (often labeled “pad thai noodles”) that many supermarkets carry.