Step 1: Dice 1 medium eggplant, and mix with ¼ teaspoon of salt in a mixing bowl
Step 2: Dice 2 medium yellow onions (not Vidalia onions)
Step 3: Thinly slice 10 cloves of garlic
Step 4: Cut off the top and stalk of 1 medium artichoke, and snip off the tips of the visible leaves, then add to 4 quarts of boiling water in a large pot, and boil for 30 minutes
Step 5: Remove the artichoke from the water, and remove all of the green leaves and throw them back into the boiling water
Step 6: Cut the bottom remaining stalk off of the artichoke, and cut the remaining leaves and hairs off the top, and quarter the heart and add to the boiling water, then boil for 15-30 minutes
Step 7: Filter 1 cup of the artichoke water through a coffee filter to remove small pieces
Step 8: Toss eggplant, onions, and garlic into a pot with ¼ cup of olive oil, and sautee between medium and medium low heat for 15 minutes. After 15 minutes, pour the artichoke water into the mix, turn heat up to medium, and cook until most of the water has evaporated.
Step 9: Open 1 large can each of peeled tomatoes, crushed tomatoes, and tomato puree. The brand doesn’t matter, these two brands are just the best tasting in my opinion. Dump the puree and the crushed tomatoes into the pot with the eggplant/onion/garlic mixture, add 1 tablespoon each of basil and parsley, and heat covered on medium low heat for 15 minutes
Step 10: Chop the peeled tomatoes and add to the pot
Step 11: Mix together ½ cup of Italian bread crumbs, ½ cup of chopped and crushed pine nuts, ½ cup of grated parmesan cheese, and enough olive oil that when combined together, looks like wet beach sand
Step 12: Using a meat mallet/tenderizer tool, pound and flatten 4 skirt steaks on each side until nice and thin, then spread a light coating of the bread crumb mixture all over one side
Step 13: Roll up each piece of braciole tightly, then use kitchen twine to tie each piece in the middle and the ends
Step 14: Fill a large pan with enough olive oil to cover the bottom about ¼ inch deep, and brown all sides of the braciole on medium low to medium heat. Once brown, add to pot of sauce, cover, and heat on lowest heat setting for 3-4 hours
For the pasta, I decided to do ravioli tonight. The process is way too messy to do while attempting to take pictures, so here is the recipe for the basic pasta to make any type of noodles you want. You absolutely need a spaghetti roller machine or Kitchen Aid attachment to do this, or it will take you all day.
Pasta Dough Ingredients
2 cups of all purpose flour
2 cups of semolina flour
8 large eggs
Mix together the flour and semolina in the bowl of a stand mixer, or mix them up and create a mound on the counter top with a crater in the center. If using a stand mixer, add the eggs to the dough and mix them together with the paddle or dough hook until well mixed. On the counter top, crack the eggs into the center of the flour and semolina. Use your fingers to gradually draw the dry ingredients into the center, mixing them with the eggs. The dough will be hard to mix at first – a pastry scraper will help you draw it all together – but eventually it will come together and be relatively smooth.
Knead the dough with the heel of your hand for at least three minutes until the dough is very smooth. The dough should not feel sticky. If it sticks to your fingers, knead in a small amount of flour, just enough so your fingers come away clean when you pull them away. Wrap the dough and let it sit at room temperature for an hour.
To roll out the pasta, on a lightly floured surface, cut the dough into six or eight pieces. Working one piece at a time, fashion each piece into a rough rectangle, then pass it through your pasta machine on the widest setting (usually #1). Fold dough in half or in thirds and pass it through again. Then fold and pass it through one more time.
Continue passing the pasta through the machine, closing down the opening of the rollers a few notches with each pass (and dusting them very lightly with flour or semolina if the dough is sticking) until you’ve reached the desired thickness. Then, if you wish to make fettuccine or spaghetti, use the pasta cutter attachment to cut the sheets into the desired thickness, or cut the pasta by hand on the counter top with a chef’s knife to whatever size strands or shapes you want.
Like I said, I decided to go with ravioli. If you have a ravioli cutting tool, it makes life easier. For the filling, I used a mix of parmesan, ricotta and asiago cheese, with a little bit of spinach.
Just before you serve the sauce, soak 3 whole bay leaves in it where you can see them to remove them. Let them soak in the sauce for 15 minutes, then remove them. Remove the braciole, cut off the strings, and slice it. Then add 2 handfuls of grated parmesan to the sauce and mix together.
Here is the final product……
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Pictures, ingredients, and instructions will follow later today.
