Rabbit carrot and chamomile tortellini

Rabbit carrot and chamomile tortellini

“Many years ago, when the food guide award dinners at the old Hilton in Rome (now Waldorf Astoria) were endless, at some point I had to abandon them due to professional commitments. But I was sorry to miss one memorable dish and so Heinz Beck admitted me into his kitchen. Seeing him work, I fell in love with the physical commitment involved, and the quality that this produced.

Heinz arrived to Rome in 1994 after an almost exclusively German experience. They entrusted him with the 'La Pergola', whose name was more of a Roman trattoria style than of a restaurant with starry aspirations. This immediately began an unthinkable revolution for the capital, which had remained far behind the evolution of the North.

'La Pergola' went crazy on “live” TV when on 'Porta a Porta' in 2001 we announced the achieving of their second Michelin star. And again when he hosted the BMW Guide dinners (which consecrated Heinz as chef of the year in 2004, one year ahead of his third star), he had the great generosity of hosting great emerging chefs who would go on to establish themselves in the following years. The recipes he has dedicated to our wines are a proud plunge into the nostalgia of the past and a promise for the future.”

Bruno Vespa

The recipe

Chicken Filling

1⁄2 Chicken breast
Cream
1/2 egg white
100 gr Rabbit
100 gr Rabbit
Rabbit scraps
Chicken filling
White wine
Herbs, thyme and rosemary
Garlic
1⁄2 Carrot
Egg white
1⁄2 celery stalk
Madeira
1⁄2 onion
Extra virgin olive oil
Pepper
Salt

Tortellini

50 gr Flour
4 gr Semolina
Parmesan
Water
Salt
2 yolks

Chamomile Infusion

10 gr Chamomile
3 gr Turkish rose petals
100 gr rabbit stock Kuzu

Ricotta mousse

20 gr Cream
5 gr Chamomile
40 gr Ricotta
Salt

Carrot Puree

3 Carrots
Extra virgin olive oil
Salt
Veal Stock

Baby Carrot

4 baby carrots
1⁄2 Passion fruit
50 gr veal broth
Extra virgin olive oil
Salt

Carrot Chips

100 gr Carrot
1 gr Tapioca Flour
Salt

The Method

1. Chicken filling: Cut the chicken breast into small pieces and process together with the cream, egg whites, salt and pepper. Pour the mixture into a special Pacojet beaker, freeze and pacotize.

2. Rabbit: Cut the rabbit into pieces, place them in a baking dish and brown in the oven at 220 ° C. In a saucepan, combine the celery, carrot, onion, garlic, thyme, rosemary; braise and deglaze with white wine. Add the previously browned rabbit and water; when it starts to boil, cook for 45 minutes and clarify, if necessary, with carrot and egg white. Reduce the rabbit stock and set aside. Bone the rabbit thighs, shread the meat and prepare the tortellini filling by adding the chicken filling, thyme, rosemary, oil, madeira, salt, pepper, and the celery and carrots cut into small dice brunoise.

3. Tortellini: Prepare a pasta dough with flour, semolina, egg yolks, a pinch of salt and as much water as necessary. Leave to rest for 1 hour. Roll out the dough into fine sheets, brush with some beaten egg and, using a tea spoon, place some dabs of filling on the sheet. Score out the pasta around each dab with a round pasta-cup, fold into a crescent shape and then close in the two ends, forming the tortellini.

4. Chamomile Infusion: Mix the rabbit stock with the kuzu and infuse the mixture with the chamomile and Turkish rose for 5-6 minutes. Filter and set aside.

5. Chamomile ricotta mousse: Bring the cream to a boil, add the chamomile and leave to infuse for 4-5 minutes. Filter the cream, add the ricotta, season with salt and blend. Finally, put the mixture in a whipped cream dispenser with two “cream” charges.

6. Carrot puree: Clean and peel the carrots, cut into rounds and cook them in a saucepan with oil and salt. Process the carrots to reduce them to a puree adding a little broth if necessary.

7. Baby carrots: Peel and vacuum-cook the carrots at 85 ° C for 20 minutes with oil, salt, veal broth and passion fruit. Drain and color on the grill.

8. Carrot chips: Centrifuge the carrots. Blend the juice obtained with the tapioca flour until a consistency needed to spread it on a silpat cooking mat is reached. Dry in the oven at 65 ° C for 12 hours. Decoration for the dish: wild fennel.

Preparation of the dish

Cook the tortellini in boiling salted water for 3-4 minutes, drain and toss with the Parmigiano Reggiano. Spread 2 quenelles of carrot purée on the plate, place the tortellini on top and add the ricotta mousse. Complete with baby carrots, wild fennel and carrot chips. Once on the table, sprinkle with the chamomile infusion.