Gabriele Corcos, known as the Tuscan Gun, was the latest guest of #BUTTALAPASTA, La Cucina Italiana IG live event series hosted by Editor in Chief Maddalena Fossati. Gabriele, a native of Florence, prepared a quick and tasty pasta with a very Tuscan ingredient, cavolo nero, or Tuscan kale. His recipe includes just a few ingredients: gemelli, which can be replaced with other short pasta like conchiglie (shells), guanciale, garlic, grated Parmigiano Reggiano and/or Pecorino Romano and Tuscan kale.
Here are the steps and tricks to make his green-packed delicious dish:
He blanches a few leaves of Tuscan Kale by immersing it in boiling water for 2 minutes. “The best way to preserve the nice green color is to put them directly in iced water after cooking them, and add a pinch of baking soda” he explained. “Make sure to squeeze them dry and then reopen the leaves to keep the texture intact.” If Tuscan kale is not available, it can be replaced with other greens like broccolini rabe.
He uses the same water to cook the pasta. While it is cooking, first he sautés a non-stick pan diced guanciale (it can be replace with pancetta), and then when crispy, he adds chopped garlic. “Make sure the guanciale is thoroughly cooked”, he advises. When the garlic is browned, he mixes in the kale.
He stirs in the pasta, and preserves a cup of cooking water. When the pasta is well mixed with the greens, he adds a blend of grated Parmigiano Reggiano and Pecorino. “Any good dry and aged cheese will work,” he said. He finally adds some cooking water to the pan and stirs all the ingredients together. “You can top the dish with toasted pine nuts or bread crumbs,” he noted.
He only seasons the pasta with salt when it is plated, as the guanciale and cheese already give it a lot of flavor.
According to Gabriele, this is a perfect dish to keep for leftovers. However, he advises against warming it up in the microwave: “Quickly sauté it in the pan, or add mozzarella cheese, Parmigiano and some bread crumbs and bake it instead,” he recommends.
After preparing the pasta, Gabriele gave the followers a tour of his impressive collection of 1700 cookbooks and La Cucina Italiana magazines that his mother kept for him for his trips to Italy. He also discussed his plan to soon move back with his family to Tuscany, after twenty years in the US, first in Los Angeles and then in New York. “There is a lot of the Italian lifestyle that you take for granted when you grow up there,” he confessed, “life in New York is very hectic”.
You can follow Gabriele Corcos and his wife, Hollywood actress Debi Mazar, cooking live on their upcoming IG Live on Wednesday May 13 at 6pm EST.
Tune in to @LaCucinaItalianaUSA to connect with more celebrity chefs and Maddalena Fossati in #BUTTALAPASTA Instagram live series.