How to Make Flour + Water Asparagus Caramelles with Brown Butter and Lemon

Probably my girlfriends favorite meal that I have made. Even better that asparagus are in season right now and ultra fresh. We love Flour + Water and can’t wait to be doing more recipes in this book, but this was a classic as we made it a long time ago when we first started dating.

For this time around, we made an abbreviated caramelle so that it is much easier to roll and handle, but still have a candy like shape that looks amazing. Also, with the sauce, you almost fry the pasta so it will give them a nice chewy texture that goes along with it. Give this one a try, I promise you will not be disappointed.

Cookbook – Flour + Water

Recipe – Asparagus Caramelles and Brown Butter and Lemon

Ingredients –

Filling –

Olive oil – 1 tablespoon
Spring onions – 4 oz – trimmed and cut into 1/8 inch rings
Green garlic – 3/4 oz – trimmed into 1/8 inch rings
White wine – 1 cup
Asparagus – 9 oz (255 grams) – cut into one inch pieces – reserve the tips
Salt – 1 tsp
Finely grated Parmesan cheese –
Meyer lemon – zest and juice of one lemon

Caramelle –

Flour + Water ravioli dough

To finish –

Unsalted butter – 1/2 cup
Meyer lemon – 1
Red pepper flakes – 1 tsp
Reserved asparagus tips
Salt
Parmesan cheese to top

Tools

Pasta roller – Currently use a Imperia (A great beginner roller)
Food processor – I use a cheap one from Cuisinart – can’t wait to upgrade
Pasta Cutter Wheel
A few pans – Using All Clad

Step 1 – Make the filling

Heat a pan over medium low heat with the olive oil. Add the spring onions until translucent, about 8 minutes. Add the green garlic for another 2 minutes, add the white wine, increase to high heat and cook until the pan is almost dry. Add the asparagus, salt, and just enough water to barely cover the asparagus. Cook until the liquid is evaporated.

Transfer to a blender or immersion blender, add any cooking liquid if needed, but I did not need to do that. Transfer the puree to a bowl and fold in the parmesan and lemon zest. Refrigerate until completely cool.

Step 2 – Make the dough

Use my recipe here – Flour + Water ravioli dough

Step 3 – Roll out and start to making the Caramelles

So we definitely made an abbreviated caramelle here, basically a ravioli but smaller, and looks like the sides of bow tie pasta.

Roll 1/4 of the dough until the sheet is about translucent, for me this about on the second to last setting on the pasta roller.

I made a precut 3.5/2.5 inch square in order to help cut the squares we need. Using a straight wheel pasta cutter, cut 3.5/2.5 inch squares.

Place the filling in the center of the square. Working long ways with the square, fold over the filling, and aim for the dough to end up just on the other side of the filling. The start to flatten and crimp off the sides to seal the filling. Once sealed, use the fluted wheel cutter to cut up the sides and create the candy wrapper type effect. Continue for a long time!

I would start by place less filling than you would think, there is only so much space for the filling on the inside.

Step 4 – Finish

Heat a pan over medium high with the butter. Brown the butter you have a deep brown color, and a nutty aroma, do not burn the butter. Add the lemon juice, red pepper flakes, asparagus tips, and a pinch of salt.

Bring a salted pot of water to a boil. Add the caramelles, and cook for 2-3, about 80% through. I think I did 2 minutes.

Finish cooking in the sauce, stirring constantly. Finish with Parmesan and serve immediately!

And for the ratings –

Difficult of ingredients to find – 3/5 stars – A normal trip to the store should work
Perceived difficulty going into the recipe – 4/5 stars – stuffed pastas are always interesting
Difficulty after recipe – 4/5 stars – These take a little while to roll and fold
Time taken – 5/5 stars – a little more than 4 hours
Taste – 4.5/5 stars – one of my gfs favorite dishes
Make again? 5/5 stars – yes definitely