World's Best Pasta: In Switzerland??

One reason we chose the east side of France is because it’s close to the main north/south autoroute, and so it’s easy zip over to Italy, our favorite tourist destination. But we’re closer to Switzerland, and travel there has been a delightful and unexpected surprise. It’s a country that has few parallels when it comes to natural beauty, and it’s full of lovely old towns with interesting architecture and history.

We took a long week-end last month and went to Fribourg, a walkable, charming town near Bern, the capital. The commercial area, pretty in its own right, is at the top of the hill, and deep in the valley is the quiet, medieval part of town. You can walk down and take the funicular back up. Here is a factoid I love about the city: the river divides the town into German and French speakers. On the French side they pronounce it free-boor and on the German side, fry-bourg. Love it that these sometimes contentious groups can’t even agree on the pronunciation of their city’s name.

For some whimsical fun: A museum called Espace Jean Tinguely-Niki de St.-Phalle, with fantastical works by a famous Fribourg kinetic artist. He makes these wonderful sculptures—contraptions really—that bump and grind, twirl and pivot. It’s participatory art, you push the button, and off it goes.

If you go: Switzerland in general is chic et chère, but we stayed in a great value hotel called the Faucon, on a nice rue piétonne (pedestrian street) right in the heart of the action, with newly renovated rooms (www.hotel-du-faucon.ch).

A RECIPE CHALLENGE: World’s Best Pasta Cook-off

Our favorite restaurant in Fribourg was Bindella (www.bindella.ch), an Italian restaurant which had that rare combination of fabulous food, stunning ambiance, and reasonable prices. I’m a closet vegetarian, so when I chose the cheese ravioli with lemon sauce, everyone rolled their eyes: boooring! By the end of the meal, they were in a fight for a bite. We agreed it was one of the best pasta dishes we’ve had, EVER.

I will describe it for you: homemade ravioli stuffed with ricotta, always good. But the sauce! Light but deeply and seriously lemony, then topped with the tiniest, crunchy croutons. We all puzzled over what gave it the intense flavor. Lemon zest? Preserved lemon? The taste was much stronger and richer than just lemon juice. Ron said, “Make this sauce!!”.

The next afternoon, I dropped by, hopeful. Luck was with me: The only person in the restaurant was the chef, who was sitting at the bar nursing a beer. I hopped on a bar stool and posed my question. “Lemon zest”, he told me. “ But here is the secret: you must first sauté it, maybe with a few shallots. Then you de-glaze the pan with lemon juice, perhaps a splash of wine, a little fond de volaille ( a sort of powdered bouillon) or bouillon, and reduce it. Very easy”, he said, finishing with a shrug.

Hah. I tried it at home. It was actually quite good, but it wasn’t the same. My skills don’t extend to homemade pasta (on my list to learn) and OK I didn’t have a baguette handy for the croutons, so I faked it with some frozen bread crumbs. It was quite good, but the sauce wasn’t quite that perfect sauce I sought.

Problems: How long do you cook the zest? It burns easily. Then how do you thicken it? My sauce was quite thin. His sauce was thicker and richer, and I suspect he was holding out on me---I think he added copious quantities of butter. He was, after all, on the French side of the river.

And so, mes amis, will anyone take up the challenge? To make the ultimate pasta with lemon sauce, using this concept, or a recipe of your own. I’m going to give it another try too. Allons-y!

RECIPE: My First Attempt At Lemon Pasta

Photo: The restaurant Bindella. Photo above this one: in front of the Hotel Faucon.

Here’s what I did, admittedly with only spaghetti in the pantry and homemade bread crumbs I had in the freezer.

for 2 servings:

Topping:
½ cup coarse bread crumbs from a baguette
1 tablespoon butter
¼ cup grated fresh parmesan
2 tablespoons chopped parsley

1/2 lb. of spaghetti (225 grams)
3 Tablespoons of butter, divided
Zest & juice of 2 lemons
1 small finely chopped shallot
2 teaspoons fond de volaille
1/3 cup white wine

Make topping: sauté bread crumbs in 1 tablespoon of butter, adding sea salt and ground pepper to taste, for 3 or 4 minutes or until lightly browned. Put them in a bowl and set aside to cool. Grate cheese and chop parsley, add to bread crumbs.

Cook pasta. Meanwhile, Sauté the zest and shallots in 1 tablespoon of butter on medium heat for about 2 minutes. Add juice and wine, stirring. Then stir in remaining butter, a tablespoon at a time. Pour over hot pasta on heated plates. Sprinkle topping over and serve hot.

Comments this past week: Joyce is cooking up fried summer squash patties and Rebecca tries a pear tart tatin. I’m hungry! Emily, by all means make the hash with zuchinni, or whatever veggies are in the frige, it’s that kind of recipe!

Don’t miss the new blog and recipe list, on the sidebar.

Comments

[Tricia Rose]

I used to have a lemon pasta sauce which was thickened at the last moment with egg yolk - I wonder if that is the missing link?

[cynthia at the daily basics]

I am on my perpetual diet and I am tempted to go off to explore this avenue of Lemon Pasta. Oh me oh my this looks good and now I want to visit Switzerland!

[Dona Drake Cucich]

The museum you mentioned. Is the artist's name Jean Tinguely-Niki de St. Phalle or is that just the name of the museum? When I worked in fragrances at Rich's we sold a fragrance line by Niki de St. Phalle and she was an artist who did these huge, rather comical sculptures. She is deceased now but the Atlanta Botanical Garden did a big installation of her works throughout the garden about a year or two ago. It was really neat. Anyway, I was just wondering if that is a relative. ?? I am enjoying your notes.

[Anne Daigle]

Sounds a bit like my belle-mere. She never told anyone the secret to her smothered okra. Her eldest son spied on her adding vinegar to it--a fact she had never shared with anyone.

[Suzanne Hurst]

Why don't you try this recipe with cheese tortellini or ravioli? In Louisville, there's a great gourmet shop called Lotsa Pasta, where one can buy homemade ravioli, stuffed with cheese or meat.

[Jacqueline Gill]

Your recipe sounds amazing, and, being a 100 % Italian who uses all the old family recipes, I will try it and also have my family try it! Once I found a Meyer-Lemon-infused oil. My family could not get enough of it on everything--salad, eggs, ...it was made by Tastefully Simple, and they stopped making it! I went through 4 bottles.... I'll bet that would be useful in this recipe.

[Patricia Glee Smith]

It's done here, too, but I've never tried it. Now I will. They make great fresh pastry in my village, so that's easy...

[dianne]

I've never made or eaten Lemon past sauce but it sounds delicious! I have a large lemon tree in my back-garden and usually have more lemons than I can use so will definitely try this lovely recipe.
I have never heard of~fond de volaille~ is it a spice?
~Dianne~

[Carol]

@ Dianne : Fond de volatile is a base, in the US it's usually available in beef, chicken and vegetable forms. Volaille is poultry, so fond de volatile is poultry base. There are many brands and they have different tastes, so that could be part of the challenge too.
I'm guessing the chef used clarified butter for the sautéing since it doesn't burn so easily as "regular" butter.
Love a good mystery!

[beth craig]

I would think that you use chicken bullion but in its liquid form, then reduce the whole thing to a nice sauce. I keep chicken bullion in ice cube trays in the freezer to
add to soups when they get a bit thick, like bean soups.

[beth craig]

I just found this in an old cookbook, but I have not tried it!

Angelhair pasta with lemon sauce

1 lb angelhair pasta
2 tbsp butter
2 tbsp freshly grated lemon rind
1/2 c. dry white wine
3 tbsp heavy cream
pinch of cayenne pepper
1 tbsp lemon juice to taste
freshly grated parmesan
salt & freshly ground pepper

Melt butter and gently cook lemon rind (and a minced shallot?) for 1 minute. Add wine. Allow to bubble, and alcohol to burn off. Add cream and pepper, and cook a minute or two. Drain pasta, add sauce, and add lemon juice to taste with salt, pepper & parmesan.

[Kathy Gregory]

Dear Lynn

Kathy Gregory here, in Colorado Springs! Love your blog and will have to try the Lemon Pasta as we are longing for our little Italian restaurant run by our Sicilian friend, Tony! We went there every time Monty and Ali visited. His Lemon Pasta with Veal or Pork was the best! Ali and I got it every time!
Thanks for all the very entertaining articles and tips! You are so clever! Miss everyone in Burgandy! Come and see us in Colorado...we are finally moved in...more or less. With love, Kathy