Recap: ‘Chopped’ event at South Beach Wine & Food Festival

Recap: ‘Chopped’ event at South Beach Wine & Food Festival

What’s better than tasting all the delicious dishes celebrity chefs whipped up at last weekend’s South Beach Wine and Food Festival?

How about learning to make it?

Several fest veterans said the best event they’ve attended in years was the Barilla Interactive Dinner with “Chopped” host Ted Allen, who made his debut as the food guru on Queer Eye for the Straight Guy years ago.

No doubt the $225 a person ticket is steep. But it was a once-in-a-lifetime experience for about 200 guests at the event.

There were about 25 tables with eight people at each, all of them actually cooking the meals, under the tutelage of several chefs: Allen, Chopped judge Aarón Sánchez, Alex Guarnaschelli (Butter Restaurant, New York), Marc Murphy (Landmarc, New York) and Lorenzo Boni (Executive Chef for Barilla America).

They worked on several dishes, including succulent veal medallions with orzo pasta and peppers, and crispy Florida shrimp with mixed chilies, orange and sunchokes.

Below, the good folks at Barilla shared one of the recipes that other participants cooked on Saturday.

Try it at home and post below to let us know how it turned out.

Barilla Campanelle with Shell Fish and Porcini Mushrooms

1 box Barilla Campanelle

6 tablespoons olive oil, divided

2 cloves garlic, chopped

10 clams, rinsed

10 mussels, rinsed

10 scallops (20 per pound size)

½ cup white wine

¾ cup dried porcini, soaked, drained and roughly chopped

To taste salt

To taste freshly ground black pepper

1 tablespoon fresh parsley, chopped

ADD white wine, cleaned mussels and clams to a large pan. Cover with a lid and steam over high heat for 4-5 minutes until shells are fully opened. Drain liquid and reserve. Remove meat from shells and reserve; discard shells.

BRING a large pot of water to a boil.

SAUTÉ garlic with 3 tablespoons olive oil in a large skillet.

ADD porcini mushrooms to the skillet and continue cooking for 2-3 minutes; season with salt and pepper.

ADD scallops and cook for 1 minute on each side over high heat.

ADD clams, mussels and reserved 1-½ cups juice. Bring to a simmer.

Meanwhile, COOK pasta in salted (optional) water for 2/3 of the package recommended cooking time.

DRAIN and toss with sauce in the skillet; continue cooking until liquid has been absorbed and pasta is cooked al dente.

STIR in parsley and drizzle with remaining oil before serving.

Notes for the Biltmore:

Pasta should be cooked in salted water and cooled on sheet pans with a little extra virgin olive oil.
Clams and mussels should be steamed with wine and placed on the prep tray, separated from their juice.
Porcini mushrooms should be soaked the day before, then drained and roughly chopped.