Fig season is coming to a close, and autumn is on the way, so I tried to combine the two! I combined Marc Vetri’s recipe for fig and caramelized onion caramelles (they look like candy and you’ll eat them like they’re candy) with my favorite favorite thing ever - caramelized sweet potato! For some added autumn goodness, I also threw on a sparse sprinkling of rosemary, which really made a huge difference. The sweet potato adds some body to the dish, and some bite to the pasta. I’m considering that next time I should incorporate some sweet potato into the pasta dough itself, but that could absolutely fail, so we’ll see how it goes.
The Gorgonzola fonduta is really my favorite part of this recipe. It compliments the sweet and savory flavors of the pasta better than I could have imagined. I hope you guys like this flavor combination because I will be posting at least 4 similar dishes in the coming weeks. I can’t get enough of it!
Butter Count: Fonduta, and a lot of it
INGREDIENTS:
2 Tbsp olive oil
1 batch pasta dough
2 yellow onions, thinly sliced
1 sweet potato, cubed
15 black mission figs
1/2 cups Parmesan, grated
1/3 cups heavy cream
5.5 oz Gorgonzola, crumbled
2 or 3 sprigs rosemary
Black pepper
Instructions:
Add the oil to a pan placed over medium heat. Add the onions and the sweet potato. Saute, stirring occasionally, slowly browning the onions until deeply amber.
Transfer the mixture to a food processor. Add the Parmesan and pulse into a puree. Transfer the mixture into a piping bag with a large, round tip.
Roll the pasta out into sheets, thin enough that when you rest the sheet on a patterned kitchen towel, you are able to distinguish the pattern through the dough. Make one sheet at a time, leaving the rest of the dough wrapped in cling wrap. Slice each pasta sheet in half lengthwise, then cut the two strips into squares.
Pipe about 1/4 tsp of the filling into the center of each square. For each square, fold two opposite sides toward each other so that they overlap, then press down onto the edge, rolling your fingers toward the center so that the filling puffs into the center - Do not roll so far that the filling bursts out of the overlapping pasta fold.
The caramelles should each have foldable tabs on either end of the center puff, and each tab should have two corners. Fold each corner toward the center of its tab and press down to seal.
Place the caramelles on a baking sheet in a single layer and cover. Freeze while forming the rest of the pasta. Freeze all of the caramelles at least 2 hours, until thoroughly frozen - If you skip this step, all of the caramelles will leak while being cooked.
Bring a pot of water to a boil. Add a splash of olive oil and a big pinch of salt. Add the caramelles and cook about 7 minutes, until cooked and warmed through. Note that the cooking time is shorter than usual because the pasta is so thin. The caramelle tabs should be chewy in the end, and the center pasta should basically melt in the mouth.
While the pasta is boiling, make the fonduta. Bring the cream to a light boil in a small sauce pan. Remove from heat and add the Gorgonzola, whisking until smooth. Return the fonduta to stove over as low a heat as possible to keep warm.
Pour the fonduta through a very fine sieve directly onto plates. Top with the caramelles, a sprinkling of fresh rosemary leaves, and a crack of black pepper.
Wipe up the leftover fonduta with fresh figs for dessert.
Make another serving of fonduta and just drink it straight.