Rye Tagliatelle alla Suomi

So my final Pasta dish for our pasta month is a Finland inspired one. I hope you have enjoyed these recipes and are inspired to make your own pasta and get experimenting. I have enjoyed it and I know my family and friends have enjoyed eating it.

This pasta is inspired by my experience of Finland (Suomi being the Finnish word for Finland). I chose to make the pasta using some rye flour. Finland produces around 76,000 tons of Rye every year, most of it being consumed by the populace. Rye is very well suited to Finland's harsh climate and it can be made into long term breads like crisp bread. I attempted to try and make a half and half ratio of durum and rye flour but it wouldn't work, too dry and flaky. I settled on a 3:1 ratio instead. I also used gherkin because pickling is another popular thing in Finland (and other Nordic countries), these countries have many varieties of pickled herring and salmon, as well as cucumbers and beetroot. This has roots in Finland's history where the winters are long and so storing food available in the spring and summer was essential to survival. I used reindeer as my meat content, Reindeer is a very lean, nutritious meat that really gives this dish a unique Finnish touch.  The final touch to my Finland inspired dish is smoked cheese, smoking is another tradition used in Finland to help preserve food. Finland has many smoked hams, cheeses and fish. When I put these flavours together they worked beautifully, the smoked reindeer combines with the gherkin and gives a crunchy slightly sweet taste whilst the smoked cheese sauce gives it a wonderful smoky creamy texture.

To make enough for 4 you will need:-

300g Durum Flour
100g Rye Flour
4 eggs
2 tbsp olive oil
50g butter
300g smoked reindeer, cut into slices
1 small onion, finely diced
1 clove of garlic, crushed
125g gherkin, cubed
200g smoked cheese
100g parmesan
300ml double cream
seasoning

We shall start by making the pasta.Combine the flours in a bowl and make a well, add the eggs, olive oil and some seasoning. Use a fork and beat the eggs and start incorporating the flour until all is mixed. Then take out of the bowl and start kneading on a clean surface. You want it to become smooth. Once you reach that stage wrap well in clingfilm and put into the fridge.

Now we can start on the sauce. Add your butter to a pan over a medium heat, once melted add the onions and garlic and sauté for 2 minutes, add the reindeer and gherkin and sauté for another minute. Pour in the cream and cheeses and simmer until all the cheese is melted. Add seasoning if require and then take of the heat.

Put a pan of  salted water on the stove and bring to a boil. While the pan is coming to the boil we can get the pasta ready. Take your dough out of the fridge and cut into four pieces. Like with the Fresh pasta recipe, flatten out your piece and start rolling through the machine on the 0 setting, fold it over and run through a couple of more times. Then start reducing the number, rolling it through each time until you reach number 5. Any more will start ripping the pasta because of the coarser rye grain. Now run it through your tagliatelle cutter and set aside. Repeat with the other three pieces.

Your water should be boiling so add the pasta and cook for 3-4 minutes. Warm your sauce back up and then place on your table. Drain the pasta and place in a bowl and also place on your table. Set out the plates and get everyone around the table. Eat and enjoy a true taste of Finland.

Karjalanpaisti, Karelian Hot Pot A National Dish from Refugees.

Karelian Hot Pot (or Stew) is considered the national dish of Finland but its popularity throughout Finland is a recent occurrence. 75 years ago Finland was plunged into a war that it didn't want, the Soviet Union invaded with over 750,000 troops and all that Finland could do was send 250,000 young men, with antiqued equipment to stand against the Red Bear. After a valiant defence which saw the Soviet Union stalled on every front, peace negotiations managed to end the war. However, despite all that Finland did, it lost 11% of its territory and 30% of its economy. The territory was mainly the eastern region of Karelia and given the choice, the Finnish citizens decided to pack up and move away from the Russia areas leaving a ghost region. This caused the biggest refugee crisis that Finland has seen. With the move, the Karelians brought with them many things, like food, music and history.

One such dish, and the most recognised alongside Karelian Pastries, is the Karelian Hot Pot. This dish arose as a festive meal due to the scarceness of meat. It is another dish that exemplifies the simpleness but wholesome tastiness of Finnish foods. It traditionally uses bits of beef and pork cooked in water, black peppercorns and salt. However, nowadays, it is usually seen with added ingredients like allspice, carrots and onion. It is so quick to prepare and is just braised in a iron pot in the oven.

This is a great dish for those with little time, like on Sundays.

So for a nice feeding of 4/5 people you will want to have:-

250g stewing beef, cut into 1" pieces
250g stewing pork, cut into 1" pieces (alternatively you can use just 500g of beef or pork)
1 large onion, sliced
2 carrots, sliced
1tsp salt
1tsp black peppercorns
1tsp allspice
2 bay leaves
250ml beef stock
500ml water

Preheat your oven to 150C. Brown your meat in the iron pot over a medium heat, take out the meat and set aside. Now add a little bit of oil to the pot and add the onions, cook for 30 seconds, add the carrots and meat, salt, peppercorns, all spice and bay leaves. Stir until all mixed and add the stock and water. Cover with a lid and place in oven for 3 and a half hours.

You can also turn it down to 125C and cook for 5 and a half hours.

It is normally served with mash potato and lingonberry jam.

So go on, give it a try, this is a perfect dish for Sundays as you can make it all up the day before and just pop in oven before you head out to church.

Smoked Reindeer Liver with Potato salad and Beetroot Purée

A friend from work gave me a wonderful gift last week, a smoked Reindeer liver. This gift was in response to a conversation earlier in which I stated I hadn't tried reindeer liver before. Reindeer is a popular meat in Finland (as well as other Nordic countries) and is used in everything from Soups to Pizzas, Steaks to Bagels. Products from reindeer, like milk, cheese and meat are considered some of the healthiest in the world. A recent Norwegian study showed that 100 grams of meat contains your daily dose of omega 3-6, double the amount of Vitamin B12, high in Iron, Zinc and low in fat (around 2% , Beef is around 9%).

As Reindeer is a big part of Finnish culture, I wanted to produce a dish I thought reflected Finnish food culture but also wanted to make it in a way that you would see served in a good quality restaurant. I decided upon all the ingredients based upon my perceptions of their use in Finnish cuisine.

So for this you will need (feeds 4):-

Beetroot purée:
2 medium beetroot, trimmed (around 400g)
1 clove garlic
50g butter, melted
1 tbsp Greek yoghurt
pinch of coriander
pinch of salt and pepper

Potato Salad:
1 Basic Mayonnaise recipe
2 medium potatoes, peeled and cooked
2 gherkins, diced

Lettuce
200g smoked Reindeer Liver, sliced
Carrot, grated for decoration

Boil your beetroot in lightly salted water until soft. Cool down and put into the blender with the garlic, butter, yoghurt, coriander and some seasoning. Turn on until it makes a nice paste and put into the fridge.

Mix the potatoes and gherkins into the mayonnaise. Now it's time to construct your plate. Put some lettuce on the bottom and top with your potato salad. Stack your liver slices on top and then place some carrot on the liver. Using two spoons, shape your beetroot purée and put on the plate. Serve with some fresh bread and butter and watch everything disappear into the satisfied mouths of your guests.

In our home the children eat the same as the adults.... however beetroot isn't all the child friendly.