“Floribbean” Orecchiette
Sweet Pepper Curry Cream Sauce | Fried Watercress Root | Grape Tomato
By Louis Robinson | Barilla Rep Your Region 2017 Finalist
What inspired the dish?
“My thought process behind this dish was to bring a Caribbean flare to a pasta dish, which you don’t often see. I chose the orecchiette pasta because the shape worked well with the rest of the ingredients used and made for easy plating. It also has a really good bite to it which made it a more interesting textural component on the dish.” – Louis Robinson
REPRESENTING
Sarasota, FL
INGREDIENTS
- 5 tbsp. Olive oil
- 3 tbsp. Jamaican curry powder
- 2 large Shallots, sliced
- 4 cloves Garlic, chopped
- 5 ea. Yellow sweet peppers
- 2.5 cups Heavy cream
- 3 tbsp. Cilantro, finely chopped
- 3 tbsp. Scallions, finely sliced
- 12 ea. Watercress roots or cilantro root
- 1 box Barilla Orecchiette
- tt. Salt
- AP Flour
- Canola Oil
- 12 ea. Grape Tomatoes, cut in half
GARNISH
- Sorrel Leaves
- Nasturtium Leaves
- Edible Flowers (if you can’t find these, you can use any garnish that has a nice tart flavor)
DIRECTIONS
- In a large pan add olive oil. Once oil is hot, add the curry powder. Allow to toast in the oil for a minute.
- Add the shallots and garlic and allow to sweat.
- Meanwhile, roast the sweet peppers over a gas burner or broil them in the oven until blackened in spots. Rub off most of the blackened skin and chop roughly.
- Add the charred sweet peppers and heavy cream to the pan. Bring to a boil and reduce to simmer.
- In a saucepan, add two inches of canola oil, for frying.
- Lightly dredge watercress root in flour. Fry each root in the hot oil for approx. 20 seconds or until crispy. Place on a wire deck to drain and sprinkle with salt.
- Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add the Barilla pasta and follow package directions, cooking the pasta for 11 min until al dente. Be sure to stir your pasta periodically so that it doesn’t stick.
- Once pasta is almost done cooking, blend curry mixture in a high speed blender until completely smooth, and season with salt, to taste. If mixture is too thick, thin it out with some pasta water.
- Drain your pasta and toss lightly with the curry sauce, cilantro and scallions (reserving some of the sauce for plating).
TO ASSEMBLE
- Arrange pasta in a circle around a plate.
- Pour curry sauce in the middle of the circle.
- Place grape tomatoes and fried watercress root on top and around pasta.
- Garnish with tart garnishes. Enjoy!
