Casa Laguna Recipes

This is the recipe for Chef Josh Roberts’ entry in the Casa Laguna Culinary Cook-off. Ravioli for breakfast? You bet! Here’s everything you need to know to make this unique and flavorful dish—quite literally, “from scratch.”  In addition to the ingredients listed below, you’ll need six eggs for poaching, and some finely chopped chives for garnish. This recipe served six hungry judges.

Whole Wheat Pasta Dough

• 1 ¼ cups whole wheat flour
• 2 whole eggs
• ½ teaspoon of Olive Oil
• ¼ teaspoon of salt 

To make the dough:  Make a mound of the flour in the center of a large cutting board. Make a well in the middle of the flour and add the eggs and oil. Using a fork, beat together the eggs and oil mixture. Begin to incorporate the flour, starting with the inner rim of the well. The dough will come together when half of the flour is incorporated. Start kneading the dough with both hands, using the palms of your hands. Once you have a cohesive mass, remove the dough from the board and scrape up any leftover crusty bits. Discard these bits. Lightly flour the board, the dough should be elastic and a little sticky. Continue to knead for another 3 minutes, remembering to dust your board when necessary. Wrap the dough in plastic and allow resting for 30 minutes at room temperature.

Ravioli Filling

• 2 Portobello mushrooms, gills removed, and diced.
• ½ cup of cream
• 1 whole shallot brunoise
• ½ teaspoon of minced garlic
• ½ teaspoon olive oil
• ¼ teaspoon of dried Italian seasoning
• pinch of red chili flake
• salt to taste 

Clean mushrooms with dry cloth to remove any potential loose dirt. Remove steam and gills from Portobello mushrooms and dice into small quarter-inch pieces. Sauté mushrooms in pan with olive oil until they have noticeably reduced in size to due evaporated water. Add shallots and garlic and continue cooking until shallots are translucent and garlic has not burned. Add cream, dried Italian seasoning and chili flake. Reduce until cream is thick. Remove from heat and chill in fridge for 15 min. or till cool.

Making the Ravioli: Divide the pasta dough in half. Roll out the first half in a pasta machine. Work from the largest setting to the smallest, rolling the dough through each setting twice. Stop short for the final setting. Lay out the rolled sheet of dough on a clean, flat work surface. Portion out the “Ravioli Filling” using a #30 scoop. Place filling on one side of pasta dough making sure there is about a two-inch gap in between mixture. Brush the other half of the sheet with water, and then fold it over the first. Run your fingers around each pocket of the filling, pressing to seal, and then cut the ravioli into rounds using a ring mold.

Cooking the Ravioli:  Fill up a medium sauce pan ¾ way to top with warm water. Add a teaspoon of olive oil and salt. Oil prevents the ravioli’s from adhering to one another if cooking multiple at a time. Bring water temp to 200°. Violent boiling will cause the ravioli to break. Cook for 5 to 7 min or until desired doneness.

Brown Butter Hollandaise

• 2 Eggs Yolks
• ½ lb. Unsalted Butter
• 2 oz. warm water (poaching liquid for eggs)
• 1 ½ tablespoons Balsamic Vinegar
• Cayenne Pepper and Salt to taste
• Fold in diced chives 

In a medium saucepan, completely melt the butter over medium-high heat. When the butter starts to brown and produce a nutty aroma remove from heat and add Balsamic Vinegar. The acid in the vinegar will cause the butter to react and boil up. Set aside and let settle for 5 minutes. Fill a medium saucepan with a couple inches of water, and bring to a simmer over medium heat.  In a medium heatproof bowl, combine the egg yolks and 1 ounce of warm water. Whisk until the yolks are light and frothy. Place the bowl over the simmering water and whisk constantly and vigorously until the yolks are thickened and light, about 3 to 4 minutes.  Remove the saucepan from the heat and slowly drizzle in the brown butter mixture into the eggs while whisking constantly. Whisk in salt and cayenne pepper to taste. Fold diced chives into the sauce at the end.

Fried Shallots

• 1 lb.  clarified butter
• 2 shallots, julienne (paper thin)
• ½ cup flour
• salt to taste 

Melt down 1lb. of unsalted butter in the microwave. Using a ladle skim and discard white foam that rises to the top of the butter after melting. In a medium sauce pan pour the remaining clear golden butter and heat to 230°. Using a food slicer set the dial to as low as it can go without compromising the integrity of a clean sliced shallot. Lightly dust with flour making sure to shake of any clumps before frying. Fry shallots immediately after coating with flour. Shallots will take approximately 30 min. at 230° to reach golden brown. Remove shallots from butter and lay on a sheet tray lined with paper towels to soak up reaming moisture. Season with salt.   

Shallot Sautéed Asparagus Wrapped in Pancetta

• 2 Tablespoon olive oil
• 6 deli thin slices of  Pancetta
• 18 medium-sized Asparagus
• ½ teaspoon of garlic
• 1 Tablespoon of shallots
• salt to taste

In a large sauté pan over medium-high, heat olive oil. Add shallots and garlic and sauté until translucent. Add asparagus and sauté until slightly wilted. Remove mixture from heat and set aside for 5 min. or until cool enough to handle. Portion three asparagus and wrap in pancetta. Repeat process for all six servings. Pan Fry pancetta at the seam of where it was wrapped to prevent unwrapping. Serve Immediately.

Plating: Poach six eggs, then stack your Benedict with ravioli on the bottom, followed by a poached egg–then top with hollandaise and fried shallots. Serve asparagus on the side with a little drizzle of extra hollandaise. Garnish plate with a light sprinkling of chives.