It Doesn’t Always Work Out

21st January, 2010: Posted by G.L. Pease in Editorial

Exploration is one of the great joys of cooking for me. Trying new things. Playing in the culinary sandbox. Getting an idea into your head that won’t let go until you make it real. It’s almost constant in my kitchen, and fortunately for those I feed, things generally work out more often than they don’t. Mostly. Sometimes, though,  even well conceived plans fall just a little flat, and don’t deliver what we expect.

Monday, I had it in mind to make manicotti with a pumpkin creme sauce. Family was coming, it was cold and raining, and was the perfect night for a hearty, delicious dish to satisfy hearty appetites. A big pot of minestrone and a loaf of crusty bread would fill in any gaps. Manicotti ai crema di zucca it would be.

I knew what I had in mind. The idea was borne in a cannelloni that I’d tasted just a couple weeks ago, but I wanted to spice it differently, give it some added textural contrast, make it my own. The ingredient list was easy enough – ricotta, asiago, chard, pignolis, pumpkin, creme. The filling came together nicely with the cheeses, the chiffonade of chard sautéed in olive oil with a little garlic, and the toasted pignolis. Nice. A little seasoning, and it was delightful.

The sauce, not so much. Pumpkin, cream, spices, herbs. The flavors were great, but the density went astray. Simply, it was too thick, and adding any more liquid would dilute the intensity of the flavors of the pumpkin that I wanted. By the time the manicotti came out of the oven, the flow just wasn’t there. This isn’t to say that the result didn’t taste good – it did. The aromas were wonderful, and everything came together nicely on the palate. It was delicious, but there was a presentational and textural quality that was simply wrong, or rather, not what I was after. Where I wanted the manicotti to be rich and dense, and almost swimming in a pool of the crema di zucca, I got something more akin to a tubular lasagne. And, there’s the problem.

Expectations are conjured by the act of naming something. Had I made this as a lasagne, it would have been, to me, more successful. In fact, adding layers of mozarella and a little gratin of Parmigiano would have added wonderfully to the textural elements, and given the dish a big, rustic quality, hearty and satisfying. But, I expect a manicotti to be different, slightly more refined – not a lasagne at a masquerade ball.

The dish wasn’t exactly a failure. Everyone enjoyed it, and tolerated my whingeing that it wasn’t quite what I’d had in mind. (I neglected to remember the advice of Julia Child – I don’t recall where I heard it first – who said words to the effect of, “When things don’t come out the way you expect them to, call it something else, and serve it with pride.” Right. I meant to do that. Glad you’re enjoying it.) Not that my dinner guests are easily swayed by whatever protestations I may utter. They’ll either enjoy the food, or they won’t, and what I say about it will usually be simply cast aside as just a further demonstration that I am never quite completely satisfied with anything. My friends know me too well.

So, it’s back to the drawing board for me. My plan, now, is to refocus this recipe, and turn it into a killer lasagne. If it works the way I think it might, I’ll write down the recipe. But, I’m also going to revisit the manicotti, working the cream sauce in a different direction, and making it what I was after in the first place. Maybe I’ll put the pumpkin into the filling, and make a simple besciamella for the sauce. Dunno. But, when you’ve got lemons, make lemonade, and citron confit, and Marrakesh Chicken, and lemon sorbet, and lemon pie, and maybe even a Lemon Drop before dinner. Enjoy!

-glp

3 Comments »

3 Responses

  1. Ben Says:
    February 14th, 2010 at 12:31 pm

    Good heavens. This dish sounds divine, despite its textural obstinance. I really think I should be a part of the experimenting and refining process, as taster-in-frequent-residence, of course. I actually think it sounds better as a lasagna than as manicotti…pumpkin loves that dry heat. But I would be happy to try both versions and give you my opinion. Let’s do this before spring summons us away from the warm and wonderful comfort dishes.

  2. The Epicure's Asylum at Flavorevolutions Says:
    February 17th, 2010 at 11:12 pm

    [...] remember that I wrote about a not quite successful version of this very dish in a previous column, It Doesn’t Always Work Out. Since then, I’ve been working away at various approaches to the sauce, to the filling, to [...]

  3. The Epicure's Asylum at Flavorevolutions Says:
    March 12th, 2010 at 9:33 am

    [...] remember that I wrote about a not quite successful version of this dish in a previous column, It Doesn’t Always Work Out. Since then, I’ve been working away at various approaches to the sauce, to the filling, to [...]