Kitchen Gadgets for the Chef

Fun and functional gadgets that are worthy of space in your kitchen

BY JASON ROSS

Not every gadget deserves a spot in your kitchen: Cooking with your hands and a good chef’s knife can work for just about everything. But some gadgets ll their need—or even a few needs—so well that making room for them is worth it as they earn their spot with their usefulness.

Check out the selection of gadgets on page 8. They could help in making pasta dough and the Ricotta Ravioli with Butter Sauce recipe here, not to mention add a little fun, along with function, to your cooking. These are just a few kitchen gadgets I love, and will make you, or the chef in your life, a little faster, a little ner, and maybe even a little happier in the kitchen.

PHOTOGRAPHY TERRY BRENNAN

FOOD

STYLING LARA MIKLASEVICS

Pasta Dough

MAKES 6 SERVINGS

Here is a good, easy-to-work-with pasta dough. It uses soft all-purpose and hard semolina flour for flexibility and a little bite.

½ pound all-purpose flour plus extra for dusting as needed

½ pound semolina flour

Pinch of salt

5 lightly whipped eggs

1 tablespoon olive oil

1. In a large mixing bowl, use a balloon whisk or fork to combine the flours and salt.

2. On a clean work surface, make a wide, shallow mound of flour, about 6 inches across, with walls of flour about 1 inch high.

3. Pour the eggs and olive oil into the well in the flour.

4. Use a fork to pull flour from the sides of the well, and gradually incorporate the flour into the eggs using the fork. Continue pulling flour into the eggs, working around the well and stirring the flour into the egg mixture with the fork, until dough begins to form, and becomes too thick to handle with a fork. As the dough forms, scrape it off the fork and mix the remaining flour and dough with your hands until the flour is fully incorporated into the dough.

5. On a clean work surface, knead the dough by folding and pushing it with the heels of your hands, rotating and repeating. If the dough is sticky and hard to handle, add a little extra flour. Knead for 10 to 15 minutes until the dough is silky smooth.

6. Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and let it sit at room temperature for 30 minutes. This will allow the dough to relax and make it easier to roll out without springing back.

7. The dough is now ready to roll and cook. It can be wrapped in plastic film, and refrigerated for up to 1 day, although it is best used on the same day. Longer time will result in greyish discoloration.

Ricotta Ravioli Filling

MAKES 6 SERVINGS OR ABOUT 30 RAVIOLIS

Use this ricotta mixture to fill ravioli—and if you have any left over, use it as a flavorful sandwich spread.

1 clove garlic

1 teaspoon salt

2 teaspoons lemon juice

¼ teaspoon black pepper

3 cups whole milk ricotta

¼ cup grated Parmesan cheese

1 tablespoon minced herbs (basil, parsley, or chives), optional

1. Use a silicone roller (like the one shown on page 8) to peel the garlic, then use a micro grater (also shown on page 8) to shave the garlic into fine mince. In a small mixing bowl, combine garlic, salt, and lemon juice. Let the mixture sit for a couple minutes to soften the flavor and texture.

2. Next, use a spoon to mix in the pepper, ricotta, Parmesan, and herbs, if using. Mix until well combined. Taste the cheese mixture and add salt or lemon juice, if desired.

3. Use immediately or transfer to a lidded container and refrigerate up to 1 week.

Ricotta Ravioli with Butter Sauce

MAKES 6 SERVINGS

This recipe uses the Pasta Dough, Ricotta Ravioli Filling, and the ravioli mold, as well as the other gadgets covered on page 8.

Pasta Dough, rested (see recipe left)

Ricotta Filling (see recipe left)

Semolina flour, for dusting

1 gallon boiling water and pinch of salt for cooking pasta

Cooking spray

1 tablespoon olive oil

2 shallots, minced

4 tablespoons unsalted butter

Pinch of salt and pepper

Grated Parmesan cheese, for serving

1. After the dough has rested, cut it into four equal pieces with a kitchen knife. Smaller pieces of dough are easier to roll. If using refrigerated dough, allow the wrapped dough to warm a bit at room temperature for about 30 minutes.

2. Either use a pasta machine or a rolling pin to roll the dough into noodles wide enough and long enough to fully cover the ravioli mold—like wide lasagna noodles. Roll the dough thin—nearly 1⁄8 to 1⁄16 inch—but not so thinly that it tears easily.

3. Spray the ravioli mold to help the dough to release and lay a noodle over the metal frame covering all the ravioli sections. Use the plastic form to press the dough gently and make little depressions in the dough for the filling.

4. Spoon about 1½ tablespoons of ricotta filling into each ravioli depression.

5. Use a pastry brush or your fingers to brush water onto the edges of the pasta around the filling. This will help seal the pasta around it.

6. Lay another noodle over the filled ravioli form. Use a rolling pin and push the two sheets of pasta together. Be firm and press with some pressure so the ravioli maker cuts into the dough, leaving clean cut raviolis.

7. Invert the ravioli maker and let them fall out onto a tray. Use a dusting wand to sprinkle generously with semolina flour on all sides.

8. Repeat the process until the dough and filling are used. The ravioli could be stored covered on a tray overnight, but are better served the same day. They can also be frozen, wrapped on a tray, and then transferred to zip-top bags in the freezer for up to 6 months.

9. Cook the ravioli in salted boiling water until tender, about 3 to 5 minutes. While the ravioli cooks, add the olive oil to a large sauté pan and sweat the shallots on medium-low heat for about 2 to 3 minutes.

10. Use a slotted spoon or a kitchen strainer and add the cooked ravioli to the shallots and butter, along with about ½ cup of the pasta cooking water. Swirl in the butter, salt, and pepper, using a sauce whisk to incorporate the butter into the sauce. Try to push the pasta to the sides of the pan so you do not break the ravioli with the whisk. Whisk until all the butter is incorporated, and the sauce is thickened and shiny. If it gets too thick, add in another 1 or 2 tablespoons of the pasta water.

11. Serve the ravioli immediately in pasta bowls, making sure each piece is coated in a little sauce. Sprinkle with grated Parmesan.

Nutrition (per serving):

Calories: 630, Fat: 30g (Sat: 15g), Cholesterol: 225mg, Sodium: 740mg, Carb: 67g, Fiber: 2g, Sugar: 1g, Protein: 24g

Continued on page 8 food

Gadgets You’ll Love

Make life in the kitchen a little easier and add some fun with these tools.

1. Ravioli Maker Press

Handmade stu ed pasta is impressive, wonderful, and yummy—and, unfortunately, time consuming. While a ravioli maker will not drastically change that, it will make shaping the ravioli much faster. If your maker has 10 or 12 slots, then bingo—you are now 10 or 12 times faster than you would have been had you made them without the press. The metal frame’s cutting feature does some of the work for you, sealing the “pillows” so there is no need to spend time pinching raviolis by hand. Also, each ravioli will be the same shape and weight, all cut to the exact same size. Use the ravioli maker for other lled doughs like pierogi, or dumplings and pot stickers.

2. Dusting Wand

This is such a sweet little gadget for dusting foods neatly and quickly. Instead of the alternative of a ne strainer and a spoon, this duster holds our in the end of the wand, in a capsule, and then when it is time for dusting, you just shake it a bit. Use it to dust breads, pasta, mu n tins or cake pans, or ll it with powdered sugar and garnish tarts, cakes, and all types of sweet treats.

3. Micro Grater

Two things about a micro grater: Every chef has one, and no other tool can replicate what it does. There simply is no other tool that can shave and grate foods as nely and wispy as a micro grater. Use it for cheese, lemon zest, spices such as nutmeg, dark chocolate, garlic, and probably 20 other foods.

4. Silicone Garlic Peeler

If you use fresh garlic at home with any frequency, then you know the di culty of peeling garlic, especially for dishes that require more than just a few cloves. Like magic, these tubes whisk away the peels from garlic with minimal e ort, and hands stay clean of garlic’s famous garlicky “perfume.”

5. Sauce Whisk

A sauce whisk functions just like a balloon whisk except it’s better and smarter for warm sauces made in a pan, such as butter sauce or gravy. The at whisk lays against the bottom of at-sided pans and is able to bind and incorporate sauces faster and without as much movement, e ort, and splashing as a regular balloon-style whisk. ■