Cappeletti in Brodo: Vegan Natale/Christmas

I would prefer not to celebrate Christmas. I try, in my own ways, to resist the tainted parts of a holiday that perhaps at some point just meant a refocusing on relationships and interconnectedness. Food is a refocusing process for me during these times, something that serves as a pivoting link to people and places that otherwise, make little sense to me and in which I make little sense. 

Vegan experience: Meat eating family members become hyper-defensive and offended by the mere presence of vegan food because it implies a perceived lack of meat. The presence of vegan food, of vegetables, actually creates an augmented, carnivorous fervor- an increased desire for more meat. Where does this come from?!?

Cappelletti in Brodo translates to Little Hats in Broth. It's a 'traditional' Natale/Christmas lunch in which, as far as I can see, women put forth an incredible amount of effort to make pasta dough, shape it into tiny little pieces, and boil them into a homemade broth. Here is my vegan version of this meal. I have to say, this was amazing! It requires 3 separate components, broken down into many steps. This is a day long endeavor that makes enough first course servings for about 8 people (with extra pasta to freeze).

Cappelletti in brodo: a lentil walnut stuffing and homemade broth with spinach

1. Making the Pasta

ingredients

4 cups of pasta flour plus a lot extra for dusting later

(pasta flour is a mix of fancy durum wheat and semolina)

3 Tb olive oil

pinch of salt

1 ½ cups water

pour our pasta flour onto surface and create a well in the center. Add in the olive oil and incorporate lightly. grind in some sea salt and start adding the water a little bit at a time. keep incorporating until you have a dough that is not too sticky, then knead for a couple of minutes until it is a little softer than an earlobe. Cover immediately with a towel so it doesn't dry out. 

2. Make the broth

ingredients

1 large onion, chunked

3 carrots

2 celery

4 cloves of garlic

4 peppercorns

2 bay leaves

water

salt

lemon peel

handful of parsley on the stem

combine all ingredients except lemon peel in a large pot with water. bring to boil and then simmer for an hour. Remove parsley stems when they start to look a dark muddy green. they impart their flavor rather quickly so no need to keep them in the full amount of time. Once cooled, strain the broth and really press the liquid out of the vegetables. Keep on the stove, throw in the lemon peel, and wait until you are ready to heat and serve. Literally a few minutes before serving, throw in some baby spinach leaves. 

3. The Pasta filling

ingredients

olive oil

1 cup of cooked, crunch lentils

minced onion

mined carrot

minced celery

½ cup finely chopped walnuts

nutmeg

salt and pepper

vegan parmesan (optional)

saute minced veggies until translucent. add lentils, cook through. add walnuts, nutmeg, salt and pepper. transfer to bowl to cool. Mash up slightly to form a thick, textured paste. Use broth, water, or vegetable cooking water to aid this process. Add in vegan parmesan and mix.

  *note: I don't love vegan replacement products generally- but for some reason vegan parmesan is one that I constantly use and like*

4. Assemble. 

This part is really intense, just in case you don't feel like this is intense already...

Divide pasta dough into 4 parts. Take one part and role out in long rectangle. Put through floured pasta maker (I start rolling out a level 5, then move down to 3). Cut longer rectangle in half. Take first half and fold over into thirds. Roll out with flaps facing horizontally inwards into rectangle again (basically the opposite way). Repeat this 3-7 times. Once your pasta is in thin, long rectangles it is ready to cut into squares. Repeat with all four pieces of dough. FLOUR CONSTANTLY

Cut into squares, flour, and line up. 

The formation goes as the following: take square, fill with a teaspoon of filling, fold over into triangle, dabbing the inside edges with water to seal. Take two bottom points of the triangle and seal together with water. The third point should stick up. The pasta should look like a bishops hat. Repeat. Line on floured parchment paper lined cookie sheet. Either use immediately, refrigerate, or freeze any pastas you aren't cooking that day. 

Boil the pasta in salted water. Serve into soup bowls with a touch of olive oil. Ladle in broth with spinach. Top with chopped parsley and cracked black pepper. Serve! 

*Note: I made the pasta a little to big. It is a real skill to have the patience and dexterity to make this type of pasta small and delicate. I will make the pasta thinner, more uniform, and smaller next time.*