Shrimp Wonton Soup

If you know me at all, you probably know that I have a serious soft spot for homemade pasta. The fresher and eggier, the better. But within that category, filled pastas  are probably my favorite. I can’t imagine not ordering a plate of handmade ravioli, agnolotti or tortellini at a good Italian restaurant, or Chinese dumplings, Himalayan momos or Afghan ravioli at their respective establishments. So naturally, when it comes to soup, I’m a big fan of the wonton. 

Talley and Beryl are some of our best foodie friends and since they just got married (!!) and will be moving away in about a week (sob..), we wanted to squeeze in one last dinner party. Earlier in the week, the Thai-style Chicken Legs and Mango Slaw recipes on Smitten Kitchen caught my eye, which made choosing a main course all the easier. It also presented me with the perfect opportunity to make wonton soup, which I had been daydreaming about for over a year, as the starter course.
 
We began our dinner outside at the picnic table in the garden. Even though it was a warm, balmy evening, the hot soup somehow tasted refreshing and light. It left me wanting more, which is precisely the goal of the first course. But I also think that a large bowl with some baby bok choy would serve as a really nice main course. 

Since this soup has a delicate, clear broth, I would advise that you take the time to make your own stock. It sounds daunting but only requires dumping a few ingredients into a large pot, covering with water, and letting simmer for a couple of hours. Our neighborhood Whole Foods has a little freezer chock full of chicken, lamb and beef bones just for that purpose. Otherwise, you can always buy a package of wings or use the leftover carcass from a roasted chicken. Trust me, it’s worth it.

Shrimp Wonton Soup
The following recipe is very clean and light. If you’d like more intense flavors, feel free to add a ½ teaspoon or so of freshly grated ginger, a pinch of sugar and a few minced water chestnuts to the filling. Wontons filled with both pork and shrimp are delicious, too.

For the stock:
3 pounds chicken backs, necks, wings
6 slices ginger, each about ¼-inch thick
3-4 green onions, cleaned and cut into 1-inch pieces
10-12 cups water, enough to just cover
Salt and white pepper to taste

For the wonton soup:
1 lb raw shrimp, cleaned and deveined
1/2 teaspoon fish sauce
1/2 teaspoon sesame oil
1 1/2 teaspoons rice vinegar or dry sherry
Pinch of salt
Good pinch of white pepper
1 tablespoon chopped chives, plus more for garnish if desired
2 tablespoons freshly chopped cilantro, plus more for garnish if desired
1 teaspoon corn starch
1 package wonton wrappers (you’ll need between 30 and 45 wrappers)
6 cups stock
Toasted sesame oil to taste

Place the bones, ginger and green onions into a large stock pot. Add enough water to just cover. Bring to a boil, skim off the gunk that floats to the top, and reduce the heat to low. Cover and simmer for about 2 hours. Season with salt and white pepper to taste.
 
Note: I was greedy and added too much water, which left me with a weaker broth. This can be remedied by simply boiling the stock, uncovered, until it reduces down a bit.

Rinse the shrimp under cold water and pat dry; chop them coarsely and transfer to a medium bowl. Add the fish sauce, sesame oil, salt, pepper, chives, cilantro and corn starch; toss well and let marinate in the refrigerator for about an hour.

  






There are numerous ways to form the wontons. Regardless of your chosen method, you will only want to place a slightly rounded teaspoon of filling in the middle of each wrapper, then wet your finger with water and run it around the wrapper edges. From here you can fold as desired. 

Here's how I folded most of mine 

And here are a few other ideas

Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Add the wontons and simmer, stirring occasionally, until they are cooked through and float to the top (the shrimp will turn pink/opaque), about 4 minutes. Using a slotted spoon, transfer wontons to serving bowls. Ladle hot broth over the top; garnish with chives and/or cilantro and a drizzle of toasted sesame oil. Serve hot.

Shrimp Ravioli and Red Vodka Sauce

I've been waiting for this moment - when my pasta-making adventures would bring me face to face with the queen bee herself, ravioli - for a very long time. As you may already know, I get weak in the knees around the stuff. It's what I order anytime I go back to New York. It's what I dream about when I'm not in New York. I've got it bad. I find store-bought ravioli incredibly uninteresting. And doughy. But homemade? Fugeddaboutit!

So with Martha's pasta maker in hand, I cranked out some paper-thin sheets of delicate dough (this time I made it with 2 cups of flour, 3 eggs, salt and a drizzle of olive oil). Deciding on the perfect filling involved a lot of hand wringing. I mean, this was historic, me making my first ravioli, and I simply HAD to get it right. After about an hour of online browsing, I felt even more pressure and indecisiveness. Since the weather has been scorching hot (for Seattle, anyway), I wanted to pick something on the lighter side. Mushrooms, rich cheeses and cream sauces wouldn't do. Then it hit me: shrimp! And what veggie a) tastes delicious pureed, and b) accompanies shrimp perfectly? Leeks!

So I crossed my fingers and started mixing. Sauteed leeks, cooked shrimp, garlic, eggs, ricotta, a little Parmesan and a handful of fresh herbs got whizzed in the food processor. Figuring out how to best assemble the ravioli was tricky, to say the least, but I eventually found a modus operandi that worked. After hearing other people's ravioli war stories, I too was anxious about them falling apart in boiling water....but they didn't.

I decided to serve these buggers with a simple, quick red vodka sauce and I've gotta say, it was a match made in heaven. Tristan and I ooooo'ed and ahhhh'ed throughout the entire meal, muttering how unbelievably delicate the pasta was, how light and fluffy the filling turned out and how insane that the whole process took me 3 whole hours!

But honestly, I'd spend 3 hours like that any day.



Shrimp Ravioli
Scallops, lobster or crab could easily be used in place of the shrimp. And I think a simple lemon butter sauce would be an excellent alternative to red vodka sauce.

Fresh pasta sheets
3 tablespoons butter, divided
2 thin leeks, washed and thinly sliced (whites and light green parts only)
Salt
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 lb shrimp, peeled, deveined and roughly chopped
8 ounces (about 1 cup) ricotta cheese
3 eggs
3 tablespoons freshly grated Parmesan
3 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley (or a mixture of parsley & chives)

Egg wash: 1 egg + a few splashes of cold water

Melt 2 tablespoons butter in a large skillet over medium heat. Add leeks and a pinch of salt; sautee, stirring frequently, until softened but not browned, about 5 minutes. Add garlic and sautee a minute longer. Transfer to a food processor.

In the same skillet over medium heat, add remaining tablespoon butter. Add shrimp and cook, stirring, just until no longer transluscent. Remove from heat and transfer to food processor.

Add ricotta, eggs, Parmesan, herbs and a pinch of salt to the leeks and shrimp. Process in short pulses until mixture forms a chunky paste. Cover and place in refrigerator until ready to use.

Work with one pasta sheet at a time on a lightly floured surface. Place tablespoons of shrimp filling on upper half of pasta sheet at 1 1/2-inch intervals. Using a pastry brush or simply your finger, brush all edges with egg wash, including in between filling scoops. At this point, I find it easiest to cut segments of 4 ravioli (unless you have another set of hands helping you).

Starting at one end, carefully fold bottom half of pasta sheet over the upper filling, doing your best to match up edges. Work your way down the 4-ravioli segment, slowly removing air pockets as the pasta sheet is laid over the top. Using a pizza wheel or pastry scraper, cut into individual ravioli. I was scared to death about them falling apart when boiled, so to ensure success, pinch all edges of each ravioli together using fingers or the tines of a fork. If they become a little warped, simply trim with cutter to get clean edges. Place ravioli on a cornmeal-dusted baking sheet to prevent sticking; place in refrigerator. Repeat process with rest. At this point, ravioli can be frozen for later use.

Bring a large pot of generously salted water to a boil. Add ravioli, one at a time, and cook for about 6 minutes (they should float). Drain and serve with sauce of choice.



Quick Red Vodka Sauce
This sauce only takes a few minutes to make and can be used in a multitude of pasta dishes.

2 tablespoons butter
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes
1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley
2/3 cup vodka
1/2 cup heavy cream
1 large can (28 oz) pureed or crushed tomatoes

In a medium saucepan over medium heat, melt butter. Add minced garlic and red pepper flakes; saute until garlic is just fragrant, about 2 minutes. Add vodka and bring to a simmer; cook about 4 minutes. Add tomatoes, fresh parsley and cream and continue simmering for about 8 minutes. Adjust seasoning and serve hot.

The First Taste of Spring

Tristan and I went to the University District farmers market on Saturday with the simple intentions of getting breakfast (buckwheat crepes) and buying a dozen free range eggs. Good thing I brought two bags because we filled them both. Not only did we get three types of lettuce and two parsley starters for our urban garden window boxes, we filled the kitchen counters with curly fiddle heads, butter potatoes, rhubarb, freshly picked spinach, our beloved eggs and, the surest sign of spring, asparagus.

The first of our treasures to be gobbled up were the leafy greens. And what a breakfast it was! I quick boiled the spinach, sprinkled it with a bit of apple cider vinegar, topped it with fried eggs and served the whole shebang with buttered, sprouted grain toast. There's nothing quite like bright, yellowy-orange yolk running into fresh greens. Truly and utterly satisfying.

We decided to have the asparagus for dinner. When I lived in Europe I collected all sorts of recipes and one in particular came to mind. It was from the Swiss magazine Kochen and called for tender white asparagus to be pan fried in a light, crunchy almond coating. The picture alone makes my mouth water every time and I couldn't wait to try it. However, I had green asparagus and something told me it wouldn't quite translate. Back to the bookshelf it went.

My inspiration finally came in the form of Gourmet's May 2009 issue: Lemony Risotto with Asparagus and Shrimp. Bingo! I've always loved the hypnotic process of stirring hot broth into Arborio rice until it gives up its starch and asks for more liquid. I tend to get lost in the creamy swirls. I am happy to say that after 30 minutes, we had a dish that welcomed Spring as if it were royalty.


Lemony Asparagus and Shrimp Risotto
A wonderful way to use the first asparagus of the season. Adapted from Gourmet, May 2009.

4 cups chicken stock
1 cup water
1 bunch asparagus, trimmed and cut into 1-inch pieces
2 tablespoons butter, divided
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 large shallot, finely chopped
1 1/2 cups Arborio rice
1 glass dry white wine
3/4 lb uncooked medium shrimp, peeled and deveined
1 tablespoon grated lemon zest
1/2 cup freshly grated parmesan
Freshly chopped parsley

In a medium saucepan, bring broth and water to a simmer. Add asparagus and simmer, uncovered, until just tender and bright green, about 4 minutes. Using a slotted spoon, transfer asparagus to an ice bath to stop the cooking process. Drain and set aside. Keep broth at a bare simmer.

In a 4-quart pan over medium heat, cook shallot in 1 tablespoon butter and olive oil until softened, about 4 minutes. Add rice and cook, stirring constantly, for one minute. Add wine and cook, stirring constantly, until absorbed. Add 1/2 cup broth mixture and briskly simmer, stirring constantly, until absorbed. Continue adding broth 1/2 cup at a time, letting each addition be absorbed before adding the next, until rice is creamy and tender but still al dente, about 20 minutes. Stir in the shrimp and cook until just cooked through, about 3 minutes. Stir in the asparagus, lemon zest, remaining tablespoon butter, parmesan, parsely and salt and pepper to taste. Serve warm.