Ian Boden's Pretzel Pasta
Chef Boden at work in his kitchen. Photo credit: Courtesy Ian Boden
Yahoo Food is a proud sponsor of Indie Chefs Week, a three-night dinner series in Costa Mesa, California celebrating America’s best up-and-coming chefs. Every day, until the first dinner on October 16, we’ll feature one chef and his or her favorite recipe. Oh, and tickets are still available!
Who: Ian Boden, chef and owner of The Shack in Staunton, Virginia. Food writer Josh Ozersky called The Shack “the incredible restaurant in the middle of nowhere that nobody knows about” in Esquire earlier this year. (They do now!)
Tool he can’t live without: Black steel pans for frying. He has many.
Ingredient he’s obsessed with: Good old French’s yellow mustard.
His recipe: Pretzel Pasta with Country Ham, Yellow Mustard Sauce, Arugula, a piquant example of “Boden’s fondness for lively punctuation,”as critic Tom Sietsema called it in the Washington Post.
Pretzel Pasta, Country Ham, Yellow Mustard Sauce, Arugula
by Ian Boden
Serves 4-6
2 cups unsalted dark sourdough pretzels
2 cups 00 flour
4 shallots
2 springs thyme
1 bay leaf
2 cups dry vermouth
2 cups heavy cream
1 cup yellow mustard
Salt
Freshly-ground black pepper
8 oz. salted, cured ham (such as Edwards Surryano)
2 oz. arugula
Grind pretzels and flour in a food processor until they reach a uniform, powdery consistency. Sift through a fine-meshed strainer. Place the flour mixture in the bowl of a standing mixer fitted with a dough hook. Mix on slow, drizzling in 2/3 cup water water until a loose dough is formed, about 3 minutes.
Place dough on a work surface and knead until a smooth dough has formed. (When dough is pulled, it should be very elastic, with no bits of dryness.) Wrap in plastic and refrigerate for at least one hour.
Meanwhile, combine shallots, thyme, bay leaf, and vermouth in a saucepan and reduce over medium-high heat by two thirds. Add heavy cream and reduce again by half. Whisk in yellow mustard and season with salt and pepper. Strain and set aside, keeping warm.
Remove pasta dough from fridge and roll into your favorite shape. (Gemelli or gnocchi are Boden’s favorite shapes for this dish.)
Bring a pot of heavily salted water to a boil, add the pasta. Meanwhile, gently warm the mustard sauce. When pasta is just shy of al dente, strain and add to warmed sauce along with a little bit of pasta water.
To serve, place dressed pasta in a large bowl and garnish with ham and arugula.
