I start any dish by making it the easy way but then make it harder and harder for myself. I’m the same with production!
Welcome to flavour country. Population: You.
Your guide on today’s culinary exploration will be Chords. One of Ram Records’ most distinctive signees in recent years, he’s slapped floors into submission with distinctive bass tones, undulating rolls and the perfect balance of weight and melody. A perfect example is this week’s release of his 4AM remix on Pilot Records.
“The original is such a wicked tune,” he states. “I know the guys from Bristol. It’s a UK garage kind of vibe and they’ve let me turn it into a drum & bass roller.”
Rolling… Just how he makes his pasta, coincidentally.
“I make everything from scratch… Especially the pasta,” he grins. “I’m a massive foodie and I’m always interested in how things are made and how things work. So I start any dish by making it the easy way but then make it harder and harder for myself. I’m the same with production!”
Interestingly, last week’s recipe from Lenzman was also a pretty technical feat. It seems the same intricacies and fastidious attention to detail necessary to make D&B can be found in the producers’ kitchen techniques, too.
“The trick with pasta is making sure the mixture is just right,” tips Chords. “You need the right tools to press it properly and you need to invest a lot of time to make this. It’s not a quick fix recipe. But if you put the time in it will pay off!”
Chords’ Classic Lasagne
Ingredients:
400g flour
4 large eggs
500-700g beef or turkey mince
1 tin chopped tomatoes
2tbsp olive oil
2tbsp tomato purée
2 chopped peppers
1 birds eye chilli
1 chopped onion
3 cloves garlic finely chopped
5 small mushrooms, finely chopped
100ml beef stock
250ml red wine
1tbsp red wine vinegar
Mature cheddar cheese, grated
Oregano, black pepper, nutmeg, salt
Method for bolognese:
Fry and turn the chopped onions in a hot oiled pan until they’re a bit glazed. Add mushrooms and mince broken into small pieces. Mix the beef stock with the red wine, and a bit of red wine vinegar, and pour into the pan to simmer for 5 mins. Add the chopped tomatoes and purée, garlic, chillies and peppers and turn heat slightly down to slow simmer for 15-20 mins, stirring occasionally. Season with oregano, black pepper, nutmeg and salt to taste, usually roughly a teaspoon of each.
Method for pasta sheets:
Make sure you start this process when there’s about 5 minutes left on the bolognese as pasta dries quite quickly. Make a shallow volcano shape from the flour. Crack the eggs into the centre. Gently mix the eggs until they combine and incorporate the flour with your fingers until you have a lump of dough. Be generous with flour otherwise you’ll get a sticky mess.
Roll out the dough with a pin until it’s about half a centimetre thick. Create pieces that will give you two layers of pasta in your baking dish and trim edges for neatness.
Method for lasagne:
Line the baking dish with about a third of the bolognese, then add a layer of pasta sheets. Repeat this with another layer of both the bolognese and pasta, then a final layer of bolognese to finish it. Add grated cheese to lightly cover the top of the lasagne, cover the dish with aluminium foil and place in a 200c oven for 10 mins. After 10 mins remove foil and bake for a final 10 mins.
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