Recipes give a taste of Batali's style

By Wanda A. Adams
Advertiser Food Editor

A weekend spent in the company of the ebullient Mario Batali is one rich in anecdote, in information and, of course, in toothsome meals.

Batali, who is vacationing in Hilo this week, hosted a pair of four-hour, hands-on classes last weekend, the first-ever Culinary Conversations program sponsored by the Mauna Lani Bay Hotel and Bungalows on the Kohala Coast.

The first class, in a spectacular Mauna Lani home, resulted in a totally trashed kitchen (semolina flour everywhere!) and a delightful light and easy luncheon. The second was in an equally breathtaking setting — the gardenside kitchen at Hirabara Farms in Waimea, owned by Kurt and Pam Hirabara. It began with a classic Tuscan pasta dish demonstrated by Batali and was completed with two presentations by Mauna Lani executive chef Edwin Goto.

These recipes, which might form the basis of a three-course meal, illustrate Batali's honest, gutsy style, with the focus on well-selected, ultra-fresh ingredients and homey cooking techniques.

Pici (pee-chee) is an easy hand-rolled pasta with a texture reminiscent of good, fresh Shanghai noodles, udon or spaetzle. They take a little while to roll, but a group can make short work of it. Invite your guests into the kitchen to help you make what Batali calls "thick little fat short spaghettis." Or make the pasta ahead of time, place on baking sheet, freeze and store in plastic bags until needed (pour frozen pasta directly into boiling water and add a couple of minutes to cooking time).

At Hirabara Farms, Batali used cardoon, a bitter relative of the artichoke, but he said celery and fennel root may be substituted because fresh cardoon isn't available commercially in Hawai'i.

A note on cheese: Batali considers Parmegiano Reggiano, the authentic kind made in the Reggiano region of Italy, "the undisputed king of cheeses."

If he found out you'd used domestic parmesan or — shudder! — the stuff in the green canisters, he'd probably fly back to Hawai'i and beat you. The real thing — always labeled Parmegiano Reggiano on its rind — is available in some island grocery stores and specialty food outlets.

Pici Pasta with Vegetables and Parmesan

• 4 cups semolina flour
• 3/4 cup to 1 1/4 cups water
• 6 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
• 1/4 pound celery
• 1/4 pound fennel root
• 1 red onion
• 1 head radicchio
• Salt and pepper to taste
• 3/4 cup grated Parmegiano Reggiano cheese
• 4 scallions

Make pici dough: Pour 3 cups semolina flour onto counter or rolling surface. Make a well in the center and pour in water and 2 tablespoons olive oil. Mix with fork until the water and oil are mixed in. Gather and knead to form a smooth dough. Dough should be slightly tacky but not wet (add additional flour or water or oil as needed). Knead 10 minutes, pushing the dough away with the heel of your hand, folding the far end over and toward you, turning one quarter turn. Cover the dough with a clean kitchen towel and allow to rest 10 minutes.

Prep the vegetables and set each aside: Wash and pat dry celery and fennel root. Peel strings from celery, cut into 2 1/2 inch lengths and slice into thin sticks. Slice fennel into thin sticks. Halve and slice red onion thinly and break into segments. Quarter radicchio head and and cut into half-inch pieces.

Form the pici: Bring 6 quarts of water to a boil in a soup or pasta pot while you make pasta. Pour remaining cup of semolina flour onto cutting board. Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper. Cut off inch-square knobs of dough. Roll each knob lightly between hands to form a 5- to 6-inch rope about the thickness of a piece of chalk or the average stalk of asparagus. Gently drag each rope through semolina and place on parchment paper, making sure the pieces do not touch each other. Continue until all pasta is rolled, layering pasta with parchment paper as needed. Cover with parchment paper or a kitchen towel.

Heat a large sauté pan over medium-high heat and add remaining 4 tablespoons olive oil. Add celery, fennel and onion and cook until softened, 4-5 minutes; continue to saute, stirring occasionally, until soft and light golden brown — 4-5 minutes. Turn off heat and stir in radicchio.

Drop the pasta pieces carefully into the boiling water and cook until al dente but a little chewy, about 5 minutes. When pasta is done, use a Chinese-style basket strainer to pull pasta out, drain over pot and add to sautéed vegetables along with 1/4 cup pasta cooking water. Turn heat to high under saute pan, and saute 3 minutes, tossing to coat. Remove from heat and add half of the grated cheese and all of the scallions, and toss quickly. Turn into platter and add sprinkle remaining cheese over. Serve immediately. Serves 6 as a smallish first course, 4 as an entrée.

This easy pan-roasted fish course incorporates nutty fresh greens, a brightly flavored citrus dressing and firm-fleshed hamachi (yellowtail snapper) with a crunchy glaze of Hawaiian salt.

Batali used black salt from Moloka'i — a finely ground sea salt blended with charcoal; R. Field is attempting to bring this to O'ahu but doesn't have it yet. White Hawaiian salt or 'alaea (the reddish kind that contains ocherous earth) could be used; be sure it's a medium grind, not chunky crystals. Batali said this treatment isn't for every cut of fish, but he would also use it with 'ahi or salmon fillets.

Meyer lemons are slightly sweeter and more complex in flavor than conventional yellow ones; if you can't find them (they're sometimes available at farmer's markets or from R. Field or other specialty stores), use half lemon and half lime juice and zest).

Hamachi "Semi Crudo" with Hawaiian Salt and Greens

• 9 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
• 2 pounds hamachi fillets, skinless, 1 1/4 thick
• 2 tablespoons freshly ground black pepper
• Zest and juice of 4 Meyer lemons
• Zest and juice of 2 oranges
• 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
• 1 tablespoon black mustard seeds
• 2 cups fresh baby arugula or other tender greens
• Hawaiian medium-grind salt
• Freshly ground pepper

Make the citronette dressing: Place half of the lemon juice and all of the lemon zest and all of the orange juice and zest in a small mixing bowl. Add mustard and mustard seeds and slowly whisk in 4 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil. Set aside.

Heat a 12- to 14-inch saute pan over medium-high heat and pour in 2 tablespoons olive oil. While pan is heating, press a light coating of Hawaiian salt onto each fillet of hamachi on one side only. Grind fresh pepper onto each fillet.

Place each fillet, salt side down, in sizzling pan. Cook 4 minutes without turning (hamachi should turn color halfway through).

Meanwhile, in a small bowl, dress tender baby arugula or other tender greens with 2 tablespoons olive oil and the remaining Meyer lemon juice.

Remove hamachi to cutting board, slice and place on a large platter. Arrange dressed greens over and around fish. Drizzle citronette around the plate. Sprinkle with fine salt and serve.

Serves 6.

This dessert is typical of Batali's preference for country-style, fruit-based meal enders that are not overly sweet. It requires some last-minute prep but comes together quickly with the help of an electric mixer and a kitchen gas torch.

Draft a helper and leave everyone else chatting at table while you prepare this quick brulée. If you don't have one of those handy torches you see so often on the Food Network, you can broil the bananas in the oven; watch carefully so they don't burn, and use tongs to lift them onto the platter as the sugar will burn you. See the eggless variation below if you don't care to eat raw eggs.

Bananas Brulée with Italian Cream

• 10 eggs, separated
• 3 cups granulated sugar
• 4 tablespoons pure vanilla extract
• 8 cups mascarpone cheese or cream cheese, room temperature
• 2 quarts heavy cream
• 1/2 cup superfine or baker's sugar
• 12 ripe apple bananas

In a medium bowl, whisk together the yolks and sugar until pale yellow. Add the vanilla and whisk to combine.

In a separate bowl, whip the eggs whites into soft, glossy peaks. Using a spatula, gently fold the cheese into the egg whites until just combined.

In a separate bowl, whip cream to soft peaks. Fold into cheese mixture.

Gently fold egg-yolk mixture into mascarpone mixture until no yellow streaks remain.

Cut bananas in half lengthwise (no need to remove skins) and arrange, cut side up, around the edges of a large platter. Sprinkle bananas with sugar. Using a cooking torch, burn sugar to caramel-ize. Pile mascarpone cream in center and serve immediately.

Eggless alternative: Omit eggs. Whip cream until softly thickened, stir in vanilla and slowly whip in granulated sugar; do not overmix. Fold softened cheese into whipped cream and serve with bananas as above.