Experiments in Pasta #3: Chipotle-Adobo Noodles with Stewed Chile Pork
This is my latest endeavor in home-milled grain pasta. I began by milling 5 oz durum wheat, 2.5 oz hard red wheat, and 2.5 oz hard white wheat. I didn't do any sifting this time.
To the ground wheat I added:
1/4 teaspoon chipotle chile powder
1/4 teaspoon ancho chile powder
1/4 teaspoon smoked Spanish paprika
1/2 teaspoon ground annato powder
In a blender, I combined
2 room temperature eggs
One whole chipotle pepper (from a can of chipotles in adobo sauce)
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon olive oil
I poured this into the mound of flour and began working in. Overall I added probably 2 tablespoons of warm water as I worked everything into a cohesive whole, then kneaded by hand for 12 minutes. The dough was really, really stiff.
The dough rested for 3 hours, then I rolled it out and ran it through the spaghetti cutter on my Atlas.
While the noodles hung to dry, I had three thick-cut pork chops to which I'd applied a dry rub that morning. They were cut into cubes and browned in a mix of olive oil and butter. After the were nicely browned, I dumped the following into the pan on top:
8 oz. sliced mushrooms
Diced red, yellow and orange sweet peppers (1 large ea)
1 diced onion
3 finely diced cloves garlic
This cooked down on the stovetop for 20 minutes. I stirred in an 8 oz can of tomato paste, then added a cup of stock (I used chicken because that was what I had open in the fridge. Beef would have been fine, as would vegetable for that matter). A pinch of kosher salt and a healthy grind of black pepper, then into a 350 degree F oven with a lid on for an hour. When done, cook the dried pasta for 4 minutes in boiling water, then add to the pan and mix for a couple of minutes. Chop some fresh cilantro and add at the last minute.
The result was great -- I'd been a little worried that the noodles were going to be too strongly flavored; I didn't want it to taste like chile powder. Apparently my guesses on quantities worked out, because they had an obvious taste without being overwhelming.
Comments
Beautiful photos lyodb and the finished dish looks to die for!
I used a real camera instead of my phone for this batch, I'm much happier about how they came out.
Pasta looks absolutely gorgeous! How much heat did the pasta have on its own with the chipotle pepper and the chile powders?
There was no real heat at all, just flavor. One whole chipotle and less than a tablespoon of chile powder apparently wasn't enough to add significant heat to that much flour. I didn't add any this time, because I was unsure about how the pasta was going to come out, but next time I make it, I'll chop up a habenero and a couple of whole jalapenos and add that to the sweet pepper mix to get some heat.
I can get away with pasta on occasion, but not often, so making it, would mean making a double batch and freezing half of it after it was dried. Not as good as a fresh batch each time, but the time would be better spent to make enough for another meal and freeze it. This certainly looks delicious and the sauce could be made easily when needed. I like spicy but sometimes just the flavour is good too!