Bittman on Mini Cannelloni, 10 Alternative to Sliced Tomatoes, Batali on Mozzarella in Carozza and Greed, Beautiful Artichokes
Mark Bittman – We’ll forgive the usually rational Mark Bittman for suggesting the home cook use pre-made “wanton wrappers” when making mini cannelloni at home and suggest you look at his otherwise very good recipe. The problem with using “wanton wrappers” is that it’s not the same food type as pasta. If you don’t have the time to make homemade pasta, which Bittman suggests many home cooks do not, then go out and buy a package of dry cannelloni pasta from a reputable pasta maker like Rustichella and remember that dry pasta is always better than a pasta substitute (irregardless of all the blog posts on how “wanton wrappers” can be substituted for fresh pasta).
The Kitchn – We all love tomatoes and most of us understand it’s a sin to buy winter tomatoes (not the act itself but the fact that winter tomatoes are tasteless and bland), but what if you desire a few juicy tomato slides in your sandwich? The editors at The Kitchn say no problem just try one of their 10 alternative to the sliced tomato in your sandwich.
Mario Batali – The celebrity chef was sued by numerous restaurant workers and he’s agreed to a settlement of $5.25M. The settlement involves approximately 1,100 employees and covers accusations the celebrity chef and his partner illegally confiscated employee tips. While Batali may be struggling with ethical issues while building his food empire, his Mozzarella in Carozza recipe looks good (though we’d suggest he rethink the concept that “greed is good”).
Silverstro Salentine – A beautifully photographed article on artichokes in southern Italy from Salentine. The article also goes into detail on how to clean fresh artichokes and the author suggests never serving the tasty vegetable during a large dinner party unless you want to spend the entire day cleaning artichokes.
In fairness to Bittman, or Alaina Sullivan, who wrote the article on Bittman’s blog, the recipe for making wonton wrappers at home is the same as a recipe for making pasta dough. It’s flour, egg, salt, and water. So assuming you purchase wonton wrappers that are not overly processed with chemicals and additives, if the thickness is acceptable to you, it is essentially pasta. Wonton, kreplach, pierogies, raviolis, cannolis, etc. are all stuffed noodles. Look up the recipes for any of these and you’ll be hard pressed to find a difference in how to make the dough. The variation in the filling is what gives each its individual ethnic identity.
We’ve actually tried using premade wanton wrappers to make stuffed pasta (about 5 different store brands) and they all turned out sort of slimy and mushy even after less than a minute in the water. I don’t think pre made wanton wrappers are pasta-like at all. If the recipe for wanton and pasta is the same, and you’re going to make dough at home, then the home cook might as well aim for pasta (as the end product). Most wantons wrappers I’ve used not only taste very different than pasta (dry or fresh) but the thickness is also not comparable to the correct thickness for pasta. I’ve also read that traditional wanton dough is made with wheat flour, water, salt, and lye.
That was supposed to read cannelloni, not cannoli. I would definitely NOT use a wonton wrapper for a cannoli. But a good cannoli would be nice right now with my freshly roasted Sumatran peaberry coffee. Also, as I said before, you have to make sure the thickness is acceptable to you. In the photos on Bittman’s site, the wrappers they used appear on the thin side, and get a little too browned and blistered than I would like. I’m sure I would have no problem eating these if presented to me. This recipe doesn’t seem to save any time over making regular cannelloni, so if you’re going to make the effort I’d make the real deal. But maybe this would be an option if you’re looking for something smaller to serve to a gathering as an amuse-bouche or
hors d’oeuvre.
I ate at one of Batali’s restaurants in Vegas. Now I want my money back! Shame on him. As if he wasn’t hauling in enough cash from the rest of his food empire. Stealing from wait staff. Doesn’t get much lower than that.
It’s not just the “filling” but the whole package.
Confession. My wife and I have used wonton for butternut squash ravioli in the past because of the speed with which we could do it. Not as good as homemade pasta, but not bad either. Coupled it with a sage and brown butter sauce, which did its job of enhancement…
Hi Joe
Thanks for the comment. I think lots of folks have used the wanton technique for pasta (including me!). I think it’s up to the individual / family if they want to use the wanton technique as a substitute for pasta, as I mentioned to Dr. K. below.
Some folks think there is a difference with wanton dough and other folks thing it’s just the same as homemade pasta (I’m with you I think there’s a difference and would rather take the time to make fresh pasta dough or simply use high quality dry pasta, even for stuffed pastas like cannelloni). If you don’t have time to make ravioli from scratch and have a high quality Italian market in the area I’d even suggest buying pre-made ravioli from a reputable shop (as many families due in Italy).
Vince