Blecs with Chicken and Rosemary
These days, a lot of Americans seem to have this mindset about modern Italian food in that more is better, just look at loaded pizza, spaghetti, meatballs, loaded calzones, and 10-cheese lasagna.
The sad part about that is that, in doing this, many of us seem to have forgotten about the simplistic beauty of classic Italian cuisine, a cuisine that is built around simple ingredients and flavors done in a simple way.
The dish that I’ll be sharing today highlights just that concept, buckwheat blecs with chicken and rosemary.
Blecs originate in the Friuli region, located in the Northeast area of Italy towards Austria, and is a form of pasta made with sifted wheat and buckwheat flours that are rolled thick and cut into triangles for a rustic look.
Blecs are one of those pasta shapes that cannot be found in any grocery store, so as is the way of a chef, ye who doesn’t have i, makes it. I’ll be pairing my blecs with some braised chicken, onion, and rosemary.
This recipe comes from a cookbook titled Friuli Food and Wine, a book full of rustic Italian dishes and wines from that same region, including this one, and can be found where cookbooks are sold.
With all of that said, let’s get onto the dish!
Buckwheat Blecs with Chicken and Rosemary
Servings: 6 to 8
For the pasta dough
1 cup of flour
1/3 cup of buckwheat flour
2 eggs plus one egg yolk
1 teaspoon of olive oil
Semolina flour, for dusting
Salt, for the cooking water
For the chicken
Salt and pepper
1 whole chicken cut into 8 parts. (Or one pack of individual chicken parts)
1/4 cup of olive oil
1 medium onion, cut into thin rounds
1/2 cup of dry white wine
2 cups of unsalted chicken stock See note
2 rosemary sprigs
Olive oil, for drizzling
Writer’s note: because the liquid that the chicken will be braising in will be reduced to make the finished sauce, I strongly recommend using homemade stock or unsalted stock, as even low-sodium broth can make the dish too salty
So, we will start by making the pasta dough. I have made pasta dough several times, but this one will have the addition of buckwheat flour for added flavor and texture.
Of course, you can skip most of this work and mix your dough in a food processor, but I find that making pasta dough by hand is quite fun.
Begin by sifting my regular and buckwheat flour onto a clean work surface then creating a well in the center. Then add the eggs, egg yolk, and olive oil into the well and begin whisking the eggs with a fork, slowly bringing the flour walls in, until a stiff dough forms.
Pretty quickly you’ll notice a difference in color that the buckwheat flour is providing. Those little dark specs are a sure sign that this really is blec dough.
Knead the dough, adding more flour if needed, until it became smooth and elastic. We can then shape the dough into a disc, wrap it in plastic wrap and leave it to relax for about 20 minutes.
Meanwhile, we can get the chicken going.
Heat a Dutch oven or other heavy pot over high heat with the olive oil, then Season all of the chicken parts generously with salt and pepper.
Lay the chicken into the pot, skin side down, and leave alone until the chicken is well-browned on all sides, it should take about 3 minutes per side.
(Since I’m just making this for myself, I’ll be using a whole chicken leg as I prefer dark meat for braising, but you do you)
Once browned, remove the chicken and transfer to a plate, then add the sliced onion and cook for about 2 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the onions turn golden.
You do want a bit of char on the onions as that will provide depth of flavor. That’s the key to working with simple ingredients like this, it’s building flavor at every step.
Deglaze the pot with the wine, using a wooden spoon to scrape up any brown bits at the bottom of the pot, then let it reduce by half for a few minutes.
Return the chicken and any accumulated juices to the pot, then pour in the chicken stock and add the rosemary sprigs. You want to make sure that the chicken is almost fully submerged in liquid so it can braise properly. You can always add more stock if you need to.
Bring to a simmer, cover, then cook for 25-30 minutes, or until the chicken is very tender.
While the chicken is braising, roll out the pasta for the blecs.
Set up a pasta machine or pasta roller that fits onto a stand mixer.
Press the dough out slightly, then roll through the thickest setting on the machine before folding it into thirds, turning, and rolling through again until the dough looks smoother, should take 3-4 rolls.
Then crank the machine down a few notches, but quit rolling when you reach the fourth-to-last setting (or a 16th/inch thickness) This will make the dough sheets a bit on the thick side, but blecs focus on a rustic, thicker dough than say a thin, delicate ravioli.
Dust a work surface with semolina flour, then use a fluted pastry wheel (or just use a knife) to cut the pasta sheets into 2-inch wide strips then cut each strip into two triangles.
Transfer the triangles to a baking sheet lined with semolina, then set aside while you finish the chicken.
Oh, but bring a pot of salted water to a boil while you’re at it.
Once the chicken is beautifully tender, remove it and the rosemary sprigs from the pot (don’t worry if any of the rosemary leaves happened to fall into the liquid), then turn the heat up slightly and reduce until the stock has thickened slightly about 10 minutes.
Shred and separate the chicken from the bones, then return the shredded chicken and skin to the sauce. Cover and keep warm.
When the water is boiling, add the pasta and cook for about 3 minutes, or until the pasta floats to the top of the water.
Drain the blecs, reserving about 1/2 cup of cooking water if you need to loosen the sauce, then toss with the chicken and sauce, adding some of the starchy water if you find the sauce to be too thick.
Divide everything into bowls, then top with a drizzle of olive oil.
I have to say, I’ve been making pasta for a few years now, but I have never tasted something quite like this! While the ingredients of this dish were quite simple, the depth of flavor that was developed is unreal.
The chicken is wonderfully tender, the sauce has tons of deep flavor from the browned onions, the wine, and the rosemary, and that flavor is only meant to be picked up by the rustic, tender blecs.
It’s a dish that will transport you to Friuli in seconds, and it is a dish that I highly recommend making this weekend!
