Divya Gugnani: Hi, I’m Divya Gugnani and we’re here at Drago Centro, the hottest new cumber to the L.A. downtown dining scene. This inviting interior is inspired the Realto Bridge and the adjacent market place in Venice, Italy. So, let’s go behind the burner and see what inspires the chef.
We’re here Celestino Drago, chef-owner. So, let us know what are we making today?
Celestino Drago: Let’s see. We’re going to make a great dish, Spaghetti alla Chitarra with pesto trapanese is a pesto but from Sicily. This is a traditional pesto from Liguria just basil and pine nuts. This version is a Sicilian version with tomato and ham. We start making the pasta first. Semolina then we can add all-purpose flour, eggs. I like to put a little white wine into the deli but you can do with water.
Divya Gugnani: You said that one of your best tips for people when they cooked at home is to relax and wind it in to a way and they should enjoy a glass of wine while they’re cooking.
Celestino Drago: Salute!
Divya Gugnani: Salute! Put it on low speed.
Celestino Drago: Low speed, incorporate, now what we’re going to blend in a little bit, we’re just going to put a little bit of the basil. We already blanched it before and strain it to make sure the pasta is going to become green. Turn it off again and then we’re just going to boil a little beans right here. We make sure after the dough is done we’re just going to roll it very nicely. Let it rest at least a couple of hours. That’s what we’re going to come up with. It’s just like when you pinch like a baby.
Divya Gugnani: Just like when you are pinching a baby, that’s the way the dough should feel. So, I’m just flouring the surface to get ready for the dough.
Celestino Drago: Kind of flatten the dough. Now, we’re going to do two things here. We’re going to do the old fashion way. Make sure when you start doing this work here then the pasta is at room temperature. You want to take it off from the refrigerator then you add some cheese here to work with. Make smaller pieces here, cover with a little bit of plastic so they don’t dry right here. So, it doesn’t dry out.
It’s very important to use a flat surface just because it’s much easier to work and also you want to make sure that the pasta going to be even everywhere. That’s what I’m trying to do. I’ve got a string here and that’s how we’re going to cut the pasta. We’re just going to get it right here and lay it flat over here. We press a little bit then with a rolling pin.
Divya Gugnani: I see things falling.
Celestino Drago: That’s what you’re going to do. After that, I just want to go with this. I’m just playing. We have the pasta right there. If you want to do the old rolling pin, you can just use one of this little machine, just to roll. Always make sure you have a little flour. This is a little pasta machine. It’s not too expensive. I mean every pantry should have one of this.
Divya Gugnani: Now, this one from the pasta roller and then I’m going to kind of run this through.
Celestino Drago: And then you can just do the pasta. You can make like a little bit of nest like or you can just lay it like that. Do the one I keep in the refrigerator for a very long time but you can just keep over there for a little Semolina and pop and then from there just do the boiling water and then get a pasta.
Now, we’re going to do the tomato sauce very quickly, olive oil, a little onions, already chopped and then we have here a tomato and let’s have the sauce here, cook it very slow and we’re going to have the basil. Then, what we’re going to do with this, we’re just going to blend everything and that’s with the almond, a little bit of toasted almond and a little bit of garlic and that’s what’s going to come up.
Divya Gugnani: So, this is the final dish.
Celestino Drago: Here we have the final product right there. What did we do here, the skin of tomato?
Divya Gugnani: It looks like Sopressana for a second but it’s not.
Celestino Drago: No, and we’re just going to put a little bit of garnish and again almond. I always like to see as a garnish but what is inside the dish. Then, we should go and make a pesto. Make sure again you have a basil. We’re going to blanch it and a little water. We’re going to do almond, blanch basil, a clove of garlic, Parmesan cheese. We’re going to do later, olive oil and that’s it. Boiling water is very important. It got to be boiled before you put the pasta in. Make sure that the water is salted. The pasta is here by the time.
One thing with the pesto, I don’t like to warm it up but we will warm up the tomato paste. Make sure that the pasta is dried, toss it with the sauce. We have the tomato paste with the almonds right here. We put a little bit on the bottom of the plates. So, you want to roll it up. We’re just going to go here.
Now, is the garnish time, we’re going to put a little almond. We’re going to sprinkle with a little bit of Parmesan cheese, slice it right there and a few little piece of this tomato skin on top. And voila, you’ve got the dish ready. This is such a great dish and again the ingredients you have to really almost packing on the plate.
Divya Gugnani: It’s so flavorful. You’ve got this crunchiness. The almonds are ere, the tomato flavor and the very bold flavor of the basil that’s coming through.
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