Recipes Courtesy Mark Bolchoz / Photograph Courtesy Indaco
Located on Charleston, South Carolina’s lively Upper King Street, Indaco is a rustic Italian restaurant from the award-winning team at the IndigoRoad Hospitality Group. Helmed by Executive Chef Mark Bolchoz, Indaco presents an unpretentious dining experience focused on refined Italian flavors and leisurely meals shared amongst friends and family.
Inspired by a Southern staple, these handmade pillows of pasta feature a “creamed corn” filling with smoked mozzarella and ricotta, garnished with a roasted chanterelle mushroom and heirloom tomato butter. Chef Bolchoz uses locally sourced ingredients from six different Charleston area farmers and producers (from the eggs in the pasta dough to the herbs.) This seasonal masterpiece is expertly crafted to let the ingredients shine.
Marrying two great comfort foods: Southern and Italian, Chef Bolchoz elevates the dish through careful attention through not only the ingredients, but the technique. The pasta dough, handmade by Pasta Sous Chef Elton Morris, is carefully kneaded and rolled by hand (the old-fashioned way.) The corn for the filling is slow cooked in its own milk, the way Bolchoz’ Great Grandmother Louise Hoover used to make. Heirloom tomatoes and locally foraged mushrooms are treated with care until the moment they hit the hot pan filled with butter and herbs. This flavor of summer is one you won’t soon forget.
CORN AGNOLOTTI WITH ROASTED CHANTERELLE AND TOMATO BUTTER
FOR THE PASTA
- 1/2 lb 00 flour
- 6 egg yolks
- 1 egg, whole
- 1/2 tblsp EVOO
- 1 tblsp whole milk
DIRECTIONS
- Mix per standard pasta technique, either mixing by hand on a counter with a well in the flour or in a stand mixer/Kitchen Aid.
- Let rest covered in plastic in the refrigerator till you are ready to roll, pull to room temperature approx. 30 minutes before you plan to roll pasta.
FOR THE FILLING
- 8 ears sweet corn
- 2 cups heavy cream
- 1/2 lb smoked mozzarella, diced
- 1/2 lb ricotta
- 3 cups breadcrumbs
- 1/4 lb butter
- 1/2 bunch thyme
- 8 cloves garlic
- 1 tblsp cayenne
- salt, to taste
DIRECTIONS
- 1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
- 2. Remove corn from cob. Combine corn, garlic, thyme, cayenne, salt and butter to a casserole dish and bake for 30 minutes, stirring every 15.
- 3. After 30 minutes add the heavy cream, stir once more, and bake for another 30 minutes.
- 4. Remove from oven and let cool at room temperature briefly to be able to handle it.
- 5. In batches, add small amounts of mixture with the liquid to a blender or food processor. Each time you blend corn, add a small handful of smoked mozzarella to blend with it.
- 6. Once blended, transfer to a large mixing bowl and repeat until all corn and cheese is blended.
FOR THE SAUCE
- 1 lb chanterelle mushrooms (sub any good mushroom)
- 1 pint cherry tomato, sliced
- 4 cloves garlic, sliced
- 3 sprigs basil, finely chopped
- 5 sprigs parsley, finely chopped
- 3 tbsp butter
- 2 tblsp EVOO
- 2 tblsp lemon juice
- Salt and pepper, to taste
- 1 chunk parmesan, for grating
DIRECTIONS
- 1. To prepare, trim your mushrooms, slice cherry tomatoes (in half) slice the garlic (paper thin) and finely chop the herbs.
- 2. Boil pot of salted water (Chef’s Note: It should be salted to the point of tasting like the sea.)
- 3. Heat a pan with olive oil almost to smoking. Add mushrooms and season with salt. Toss a few times to roast briefly before adding tomatoes and half of the herbs. Roast 1-2 minutes. Once some color and caramelization develop, add lemon juice, butter, and remaining herbs to the pan and cut the heat.
- 7. Once the corn and mozzarella mixture has cooled, fold in the ricotta and breadcrumbs and taste once more for seasoning.
- 8. Place the filling in the refrigerator to cool completely before moving it into a container for scooping or in a piping bag for the pro touch.
- 9. Roll a chunk of pasta dough into a long sheet. (Chef’s Note: For thickness, it should not be too thin, but thin enough to almost read a newspaper through it.)
- 10. Pipe a long tube of filling down the sheet of pasta and roll it over twice, then press it with a dowel and cut it into agnolotti. Place pasta pieces on a floured baking sheet. (Chef’s Note: If not cooking immediately, place in the refrigerator or in the freezer for later.)
- 4. Add your pasta pieces to the boiling pot and cook for 3-4 minutes from fresh or 5-6 minutes if frozen.
- 5. Once pasta is done, add to the sauce with a few table spoons of pasta water. Turn the pan back on to low medium heat and simmer briefly, gently shaking the pan to coat the agnolotti in the sauce.
- 6. To plate use a slotted spoon to take the pasta first to the plate or serving dish, then spoon all sauce, mushrooms, and tomatoes over the top.
- 7. Garnish with a few big sweeps of grated parmesan, savor each bite, wow neighbors, impress loved ones.
FOR THE FILLINGEXECUTIVE CHEF MARK BOLCHOZ, JR, a native Charlestonian, grew up surrounded by the cuisine and culture of the Lowcountry. After ventures across the East coast, Bolchoz returned to Charleston in 2016. As Sous Chef of the prestigious Peninsula Grill, he spent a year under one of Charleston’s most revered chefs, Graham Dailey, honing his craft. During this time, Bolchoz was named to the first Zagat’s ‘30 Under 30’ list for Charleston. After promotion to Chef de Cuisine under Executive Chef Ramon Taimanglo, Bolchoz helped Peninsula Grill regain the coveted title of “Best Fine Dining in Charleston” in 2018. In 2020, Bolchoz’s love of rustic Italian cuisine led him to join The Indigo Road Hospitality team as Executive Chef of Indaco. With a focus on sourcing ingredients from local and regional purveyors, Bolchoz relies on the seasons for his menu, which includes wood-fired pizzas, hand-crafted pasta, cured meats, and more. When not in the kitchen, you can find him at one of Charleston’s golf courses, breaking a sweat on a run, or hanging out with his wife, Ariana, and pup, Stanley.
