briciole

strozzapreti / handmade strozzapreti

[cliccare il link per andare alla versione in italiano]

the moment of truth

Our tour of the 20 regions of Italy organized by Trattoria MuVarA is coming to an end. It feels like yesterday that we started from Aosta Valley. Then, every two weeks, we have been hopping around the Italian peninsula discovering interesting places and tasty dishes along the way. I have created a page that gathers the links to all the recipes I prepared during the tour. Our last stop is Emilia-Romagna, a region rich in history, culture, and culinary traditions, a region that includes renowned cities like Bologna, Parma, Ferrara, Modena, Ravenna, etc. I know that people around the world followed closely the news of the earthquake that shook Emilia this past spring. I think it is fitting that we end our tour with a visit to that region.

To celebrate Emilia-Romagna, I chose to explore yet another pasta shape: strozzapreti (bear with me, I am on a pasta roll) . I will tell you that in Italian strozzare means to strangle, to choke, and that preti means priests, and I will stop here. There is much speculation about the origin of the name of this pasta shape and you can read about it around the web, if you wish. None of the theories put forward to explain the rather sinister name of strozzapreti has a bearing on the making and eating of this type of pasta.

The one thing I want to remark upon is that the same name indicates different types of pasta, depending on the region. So strozzapreti in my region of Umbria (also called stringozzi) is a different type of pasta from the strozzapreti you see in this post. Remember that the so-called Italian cuisine is not a coherent whole, but rather the result of the aggregation of culinary traditions deeply rooted in the local history, culture, agricultural and industrial production, art, etc.

I browsed around the web to gather information on how to make strozzapreti. I asked Vanessa of Italy in SF, who hails from Romagna, about the use of 00 flour (farina 00). She confirmed such use and also told me that her grandmother adds to the dough one egg for 500 g of flour (a bit more than a pound). In this post by Sean of Punk Domestic, you can see images of pasta making with nonna Fernanda during a trip to Emilia-Romagna.

ready to be cut

To make strozzapreti, I roll the dough to 1.5 mm / 1/16-inch thickness, hence thicker than when I make tagliatelle. I then cut the rolled dough into strips about 1/2-inch / 1.25 cm wide. With the palm of my hands, I roll each strip and with my fingers I break it, as the short video below shows. Note that each recipe I read contains different measures for the width of the strips and the length of the strozzapreti. The measures I give are based on my experience and preferences.

The video includes an alternative way of shaping I have seen that is not traditional and less fun, but that can be adopted initially, if you feel intimidated by the need to master two actions: instead of using the fingers to cut each strozzaprete, you cut the strip of dough into 2 1/2-inch long pieces beforehand and concentrate on the rolling action. I hope the video clarifies my words.

Print-friendly version of briciole's recipe for strozzapreti

Ingredients for the pasta:

• 3.5 oz. / 100 g Italian 00 flour, sifted (I use KAF Italian-style flour, but other brands are available)
• A scant tablespoon of blended egg (see Note below)
• Enough warm water to make a total liquid amount of 50 g / 1.75 oz.  (see Note below)
• A pinch of salt

Note. Adding one egg per 500 g of flour means that for 100 g of flour, which is what I usually recommend to start with, you need a fraction of an egg. You can get that by subtracting a scant tablespoon of mixed eggs when you make a frittata. Or you can use a tablespoon of leftover egg wash, which is what I did a couple of times. The amount needs not be precise, so don't worry if you have a little less: you'll simply use a bit more water.

Ingredients for the tomato sauce:

• Olive oil
• A shallot, minced
• Leaves of a sprig of thyme
• A small garlic clove, thinly sliced
• 2 cups strained roasted tomatoes (thawed, if frozen)
• Sea salt, to taste
• Freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano, to taste

Make a dough with the pasta ingredients and knead until nice and smooth. Let the dough rest, covered, for half an hour or so.

Roll the dough into a disk 1/16-inch / 1.5 mm thick. Fold the dough as shown in the photo above and cut it into strips about 1/5-inch / 1.25 cm wide. Take up a strip and shape it into several strozzapreti using the palm of your hands to roll the dough and your fingers to break the rolled portion of the strip, as shown in the video. Alternatively, cut the strip into 2 1/2-inch long pieces and shape each one into a strozzaprete. If your hands are dry, moisten them or the rolling motion will be difficult.

Lay out the strozzapreti to dry. You may want to dust lightly with flour the surface where you lay the shaped strozzapreti, to prevent them from sticking. As you can see in the photo below, my strozzapreti vary a bit in length and that's fine by me.

each one is unique

In a small saucepan, warm up a bit of olive oil, then add shallot and thyme. Cook gently for a few minutes, then add garlic. Cook for a couple of minutes, then add tomatoes. Bring to a simmer and cook for 7-8 minutes. Adjust salt, to taste. Note that this will make more sauce than you need to dress the strozzapreti, but once you have the sauce ready, I am sure you'll find ways of using it, like making more handmade pasta.

Bring a pot of salted water to a rolling boil, then toss the strozzapreti in it (what in Italian we call: buttare giù la pasta). The time needed is a bit variable, depending on the size of strozzapreti, how dry they are, etc. Taste and stop the cooking when the strozzapreti are ready. Pour a glass of cold water in the pot, stir and drain the strozzapreti. Place in a bowl, sprinkle a bit of the cheese on top and stir briefly, then distribute some tomato sauce and toss. Finally, sprinkle some cheese on top and serve immediately.

Alternatively, while the pasta is cooking, place a few tablespoons of the sauce in a small skillet and warm it up. Taste the pasta and stop the cooking slightly earlier than usual. Drain the pasta and drop it into the skillet with the sauce. Stir well over medium heat for a couple of minutes. Sprinkle some of the cheese and stir one last time. Plate and sprinkle a bit more cheese on the top. Serve immediately. The recipe makes two small portions.

Note: if tomato season is ongoing in your area, you can make tomato sauce using crushed tomatoes, adjusting the cooking time to get a sauce of the right consistency. And if you have fresh basil, you can add a bit of it to the sauce.

This is my contribution to edition #290 of Presto Pasta Nights. The event was created by Ruth of Once Upon a Feast and is hosted this week by the creator herself. It will be the last edition of PPN, so I invite all of you to say good-bye in style to this popular weekly rendezvous and to thank Ruth for her tireless effort in keeping the food blogging world well fed with pasta dishes. This post contains the roundup of the event.

This is also my submission for the final installment of the Abbecedario culinario d'Italia (Italian Culinary ABC), an event organized by Trattoria MuVarA that will bring us to visit all the 20 regions of Italy using the alphabet as guide. Z come Zocca (Emilia-Romagna) is hosted by Roxy of Curiosando in cucina. This page has the list of recipes submitted to the event and a slide show.

Click on the button to hear me pronounce the Italian words mentioned in the post:

strozzapreti

or launch the strozzapreti audio file [mp3].

[Depending on your set-up, the audio file will be played within the browser or by your mp3 player application. Please, contact me if you encounter any problems.]

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pasta, Italian recipe

Per i lettori italiani

pronti per l'assaggio

Nel nostro giro d'Italia organizzato dalla Trattoria MuVarA siamo arrivati all'ultima tappa, l'Emilia-Romagna. Mi sembra di aver pubblicato ieri la prima ricetta, in onore della Valle d'Aosta! E invece eccoci all'arrivo e mi sembra giusto che concludiamo nella regione che quest'anno è stata tanto nei nostri pensieri a causa del terremoto. La lista delle ricette che ho contribuito all'Abbecedario la trovate su questa pagina.

A proposito di questo, grazie a Francesca di Burro e zucchero, sono venuta a conoscenza dell'iniziativa La mia ricetta per l'Emilia organizzata dall'azienda Melinda Val di Non. Ho contribuito a tale evento una ricetta su briciole, la mia bella mela salata al cartoccio (per l'occasione tradotta in italiano) e anche una ricetta inedita che trovate sulla pagina dell'evento su Facebook: frittata di mele. Andate a vedere quante belle ricette fanno parte della raccolta.

Per celebrare l'Emilia-Romagna ho scelto di fare gli strozzapreti (abbiate pazienza, questo è il mio periodo pastaiolo). Le varie teorie sull'origine del nome sono appunto teorie. Quello che mi preme ricordare è che lo stesso nome viene usato altrove, per esempio in Umbria, per tipi di pasta diversi.

Ho guardato un po' in giro su internet e raccolto informazioni su come fare gli strozzapreti. Ho chiesto conferma a Vanessa di Italy in SF, che è romagnola, dell'uso di farina 00. Oltre a darmi tale conferma, Vanessa mi ha detto che sua nonna usa un uovo per 500 g di farina. In questo post di Sean di Punk Domestic, potete vedere foto di nonna Fernanda e della sessione dedicata alla pasta durante un viaggio in Emilia-Romagna.

pronta al taglio

Per fare gli strozzapreti, spiano la pasta fino ad uno spessore di 1,5 mm, quindi più spessa che per fare le tagliatelle. Poi la taglio a strisce larghe circa 1,25 cm. Col palmo delle mani, arrotolo la pasta e con le dita la rompo, come si vede nel video in basso. Ogni ricetta che ho letto dà misure diverse per larghezza delle strisce di pasta e lunghezza degli strozzapreti. Le misure che uso sono basate sulla mia esperienza e preferenze.

Il video comprende un'alternativa per formare gli strozzapreti che ho visto che non è tradizionale ed è meno divertente, ma che potete provare ad usare all'inizio per semplificare la procedura: invece di usare le dita per staccare ciascun strozzaprete, potete tagliare la striscia di pasta in pezzi lunghi 6 cm prima e poi arrotolarla. Spero che il video renda chiare le mie parole.

Ingredienti:

• 100 g farina 00 setacciata
  
• 10 ml di uovo e acqua calda per un totale di liquido di 50 g (vedi nota sotto)
  
• un pizzico di sale
• sugo di pomodoro a piacere
• Parmigiano-Reggiano grattugiato

Nota. Un uovo per mezzo chilo di farina corrisponde ad una frazione di uovo per 100 g di farina, la quantità che suggerisco di usare all'inizio. Potete sottrarre un pochino di uovo quando preparate una frittata o usare un avanzo di glassa d'uovo.

Lavorare i primi tre ingredienti fino ad avere un bell'impasto liscio. Farlo riposare, coperto, per una mezz'ora. Spianare la pasta fino a quando sia spessa 1,5 mm. Tagliarla a strisce larghe 1,25 cm. Prendere in mano una striscia e formare gli strozzapreti usando il palmo delle mani per arrotolare la pasta e le dita per staccare il pezzo arrotolato, come si vede nel video. In alternativa, tagliare una striscia a pezzi lunghi 6 cm e arrotolarli. Se avete le mani asciutte umettatele un po' o arrotolare la pasta è difficoltoso. Lasciar asciugare. Come si vede nella foto sotto, i miei strozzapreti variano un po' in lunghezza: che dire? Sono fatti a mano!

ogni strozzaprete è unico

Preparate un sugo di pomodoro come volete. Nel mio caso, avevo della passata di pomodori arrosto e ho usato quella.

Cuocete gli strozzapreti in abbondante acqua salata, conditeli con sugo e formaggio a piacere. Questa ricetta fa due porzioni piccole.

Questo è il mio contributo all'Abbecedario culinario d'Italia, un evento organizzato dalla Trattoria MuVarA che ci porterà a visitare tutte le regioni italiane utilizzando come guida l'alfabeto. Z come Zocca (Emilia Romagna) è ospitata da Roxy di Curiosando in cucina.

Questa pagina contiene la lista delle ricette inviate all'evento e uno slide show.

trofiette / handmade trofiette

trofiette with tomato sauce

Thomas Jefferson's Crème Brûlée is an appealing title for an interesting book (see giveaway rules ahead) in which the author, Thomas J. Craughwell, tells the story of Jefferson's sojourn in Paris, from 1784 to 1789. Jefferson was there as a commissioner and minister, and during those years, he had one of his slaves, James Hemings, apprentice as a cook so he could learn French cuisine.

As James apprenticed under master French chefs, Jefferson studied the cultivation of French crops (especially grapes for winemaking) so they might be replicated in American agriculture. The two men returned home with such marvels as pasta, French fries, champagne, macaroni and cheese, crème brûlée, and a host of other treats. (source)

Jefferson brought back "86 crates of European kitchen utensils and equipment and hundreds of bottled of wine, cheeses, and ingredients unavailable in America, such as olive oil and Maille mustard." James brought back all he had learned, and he then trained his brother Peter. Once he had accomplished the task, Jefferson freed him in 1796, honoring a contract the two had signed to that effect.

The book describes Jefferson's fascination with French cuisine and table customs, produce and wines. Unfortunately, we don't know James Hemings' perspective about his life in Paris: learning French, working as an apprentice chef, being a slave. On pages 43-47, Craughwell talks about this: "The moment James set foot in France, he would have been able to claim his freedom, and Jefferson could have done nothing to stop him." Hence, Jefferson's offer of freedom if he taught another slave. I think it is really sad that we don't have any historical documents telling Hemings' side of the story. What did he think of Paris? How did he fel about his legal condition, surrounded as he was by people not owned by anybody?

James was not the only Hemings to spend time in France. In 1785, Jefferson's youngest daughter, Polly, arrived in Paris accompanied by Sally Hemings. I knew a certain amount about Thomas Jefferson's life before reading the book, and certainly learned more by reading it. At the same time, I also read a very interesting article on the Smithsonian website, titled The Dark Side of Thomas Jefferson, which describes life at Monticello, Jefferson's plantation ("a small town in everything but name, not just because of its size, but in its complexity"), and discusses Jefferson's "transformation" on slavery and his perspective of it in the years that followed:

"One cannot question the genuineness of Jefferson’s liberal dreams," writes historian David Brion Davis. "He was one of the first statesmen in any part of the world to advocate concrete measures for restricting and eradicating Negro slavery."

But in the 1790s, Davis continues, "the most remarkable thing about Jefferson’s stand on slavery is his immense silence. And later, Davis finds, Jefferson’s emancipation efforts "virtually ceased."

The same site also mentions the book discussed here in the post Meet Edith and Fanny, Thomas Jefferson’s Enslaved Master Chefs. which talks about Edith Fossett and and Fanny Hern, the two young women Jefferson brought to Washington in 1802.

Thomas Jefferson's Crème Brûlée offers a view of Jefferson's life and also of the historical period, since he spent in Paris the years leading to the French Revolution (he and his family sailed back to the US in November of 1789, after it had started). In the years after his return home, Jefferson processed the information and knowledge he had acquired during his stay in Paris and his travels elsewhere in Europe. One thing that made me smile is the use Jefferson made of excellent dinners he provided at his house for political purposes, as in the case of bringing Alexander Hamilton to compromise on the location of the US capital in 1790.

The book suggests that Jefferson introduced macaroni (general term for pasta) and cheese to the US. In his documents, we see that he got interested in pasta and on pages 116 and 117, there are two interesting documents:

1. a note by Jefferson that includes the drawing of a pasta machine and starts with the words: "The best maccaroni in Italy is made with a particular sort of flour called Semola, in Naples..."
2. the transcription of a recipe for macaroni noodles (this page has a good reproduction), which uses eggs and milk and explicitly excludes water.

The transcription of both documents is available on this page of the Monticello website. As for the recipe, Craughwell's trascription has "a little salt" as the fourth ingredient and I agree; I disagree with both sources on the amount of flour, which I think is noted as 2 lb (it cannot be 2 tb, as you would not get a pasta dough with that amount, given 6 whole eggs and "2 wine glasses of milk"¹).

Jefferson's drawing of the pasta machine is quite intriguing, as is the fact that he obtained a pasta machine:

In February 1789, William Short wrote to Jefferson that he had procured a "mould for making macaroni" at Jefferson's request in Naples, and had it forwarded on to his mentor in Paris. The macaroni mold probably did not reach Paris until after Jefferson had departed. His belongings were shipped to Philadelphia in 1790, and the machine was probably included with those items. We know that Jefferson did have the machine in the United States eventually, as it is listed in a packing list with other household items shipped from Philadelphia to Monticello in 1793. (source)

In my recent pasta shape explorations, I have focused on using my hands to shape pasta. As I have showed in recent months, making pasta with semolina flour (semola di grano duro) is easy and a great introductory exercise to pasta making, a craft that obviously intrigued Jefferson. I wonder if James Hemings invented some shapes of his own. Trofiette is the sixth pasta shape I have explored recently and I did so while reading "Thomas Jefferson's Crème Brûlée," so I am presenting them in the same post.

Book giveaway: I will gladly send a copy of Thomas Jefferson's Crème Brûlée to one of the people who will either comment on the post OR re-tweet the announcement OR like briciole's page on Facebook by the end of Friday, November 15. Update (November 21): 15 people qualified for the random drawing and the random number generator gave me number 11. The 11th name in the list is Cynthia: congratulations to the winner!

Differently from other pasta shapes I have made recently, trofiette come from Liguria, a region in northern Italy. I saw a rendition of them in a video (starting at 3:15) and then went about making them my way. This is another pasta shape for which you don't need any special tool.

  

To make a trofietta, I roll the short piece of dough with the side of my thumb, at the same time pushing slightly towards the right. I hope the video gives an idea of the hand movement. Note that in making trofiette, you need the working surface to offer a slight resistance, i.e., you don't want the piece of dough to slide on it as the thumb applies pressure. Hence, I recommend that you clean the working surface you are using for shaping the trofiette and don't sprinkle any flour on it. (It is fine to sprinkle flour on the area where you lay out the trofiette to dry.)

looking a trofietta in the eye

The dough I used is the same as described in previous posts on handmade pasta, most recently fusilli al ferro.

Ingredients for the pasta:

• 100 g / 3.5 oz. semolina flour of good quality (see the post on orecchiette for details on products of ground durum wheat)
• 50 g / 1.75 oz. warm water (I recommend weighing the water)
• a pinch of salt

Trofiette are great with pesto, but I had a nice fresh batch of my tomato sauce when I made them for the photo-op, so that is what I used.

Ingredients for the tomato sauce:

• olive oil
• a shallot, minced
• leaves of a sprig of thyme
• a small garlic clove, thinly sliced
• 2 cups strained roasted tomatoes (thawed, if frozen)
• sea salt, to taste
• freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano, to taste

Make a dough with the three ingredients and knead until nice and smooth. Let the dough rest, covered, for at least half an hour.

Roll the dough into a thick salami and cut it into pieces. Keep them covered while you shape the trofiette. Roll each piece into a thin snake, 1/4 inch / 0.5 cm thick, then cut into pieces about 1 1/2 inch / 4 cm long (I use my three middle fingers to guide the blade).

Shape each piece into a trofietta (see video above and the paragraph underneath it) and lay out to dry. You may want to dust lightly with flour the surface where you lay the shaped trofiette, to prevent them from sticking.

each piece of handmade pasta is slightly different

In a small saucepan, warm up a bit of olive oil, then add shallot and thyme. Cook gently for a few minutes, then add garlic. Cook for a couple of minutes, then add tomatoes. Bring to a simmer and cook for 7-8 minutes. Adjust salt, to taste. Note that this will make more sauce than you need to dress the trofiette, but once you have the sauce ready, I am sure you'll find ways of using it, like making more handmade pasta.

Bring a pot of salted water to a rolling boil, then toss the trofiette in it (what in Italian we call: buttare giù la pasta). The time needed is a bit variable, depending on the size of trofiette, how dry they are, etc. Taste and stop the cooking when the trofiette are ready. Pour a glass of cold water in the pot, stir and drain the trofiette. Place in a bowl, sprinkle a bit of the cheese on top and stir briefly, then distribute some tomato sauce and toss. Finally, sprinkle some cheese on top and serve immediately.

Alternatively, while the pasta is cooking, place a few tablespoons of the sauce in a small skillet and warm it up. Taste the pasta and stop the cooking slightly earlier than usual. Drain the pasta and drop it into the skillet with the sauce. Stir well over medium heat for a couple of minutes. Sprinkle some of the cheese and stir one last time. Plate and sprinkle a bit more cheese on the top. Serve immediately.

The recipe makes two small portions.

Note: if tomato season is ongoing in your area, you can make tomato sauce using crushed tomatoes, adjusting the cooking time to get a sauce of the right consistency. And if you have fresh basil, you can add a bit of it to the sauce.

¹ I wrote a comment about this on the page referenced and it has been published: we'll see if I will also get some follow up.

This is my contribution to edition #288 of Presto Pasta Nights. The event was created by Ruth of Once Upon a Feast and is hosted this week by Simona of briciole (that would be me). 

This post contains the roundup of the event.

Click on the button to hear me pronounce the Italian words mentioned in the post:

trofiette

or launch the trofiette audio file [mp3].

[Depending on your set-up, the audio file will be played within the browser or by your mp3 player application. Please, contact me if you encounter any problems.]

FTC disclosure: I have requested a review copy of the book mentioned in this post from the publisher and received it free of charge. I have not and will not receive any monetary compensation for discussing the book on my blog. The opinions expressed are entirely my own.

pasta, tomato sauce, Italian recipe

fusilli al ferro / handmade fusilli

handmade fusilli with browned butter and Parmigiano-Reggiano

In learning to make maccheroni al ferro, I saw the possibility of using the same simple tool to create another type of pasta shape. Slightly different hand movements result in different shapes. (from this post)

This is what I meant:

  

Browsing around, I found a video where the hand movements are basically the same as mine: as I suspected, I had made fusilli.

In Italian fusillo means small fuso (spindle). As I have mentioned before, the names of pasta shapes may be a bit confusing. For example, in this video Rosetta Costantino shows how to make Calabrian fusilli, which look like very long maccheroni. I have also seen videos in which fusilli are shaped starting from a rectangle of pasta, rather then a thin rope. I like to do a bit of research to find out where things come from, but when I get entangled in the mesh of local traditions that differ from village to village, I give up. In the end, what counts is having fun with the task at hand.

What's the trick in making fusilli? As I hope you can see from the video above, the piece of dough to make a fusillo is thinner and longer than the one I use to make a maccherone. The dough gets wrapped around the skewer starting at an angle and the hands do not flatten the dough, but rather, roll it slightly to thin the pasta and make the pasta spiral a bit tighter.

handmade fusilli on the kneading board

The dough I used is the same as described before. What I did differently this time is that I dressed the pasta with a variation of the burro e parmigiano theme, using browned butter (burro nocciola).

Ingredients for the pasta:

• 100 g / 3.5 oz. semolina flour of good quality (see the post on orecchiette for details on products of ground durum wheat)
• 50 g / 1.75 oz. warm water (I recommend weighing the water)
• a pinch of salt

To dress the pasta:

• 1/2 tablespoon / 7 g browned butter, or to taste
• freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano, to taste

Make a dough with the three ingredients and knead until nice and smooth. Let the dough rest, covered, for at least half an hour.

Roll the dough into a thick salami and cut it into pieces. Keep them covered while you shape the fusilli. Roll each piece into a thin snake (1/4 inch / 0.5 cm thick), then cut into pieces about 2 1/2 inch / 6.5 cm long. Shape each piece into a fusillo with the skewer and lay out to dry. You may want to dust the surface lightly with flour to prevent sticking.

Bring a pot of salted water to a rolling boil, then toss the fusilli in it (what in Italian we call: buttare giù la pasta). The time needed is a bit variable, depending on the size of fusilli, how dry they are, etc.

When the fusilli are nearly done, melt the browned butter in a small frying pan.

Taste and stop the cooking when the fusilli are ready. Pour a glass of cold water in the pot, stir and drain the fusilli. Drop the pasta into the pan  with the butter. Stir well, then sprinkle some of the cheese and stir some more. Plate and sprinkle a bit more cheese on the top. Serve immediately.

The recipe makes two small portions. 

For the current edition of Cook the Books, we are reading Home Cooking by Laurie Colwin (1988). I didn't know this book before I saw it on our reading list and am grateful to Deb of Kahakai Kitchen for choosing such a delightful memoir. The style is sparkling, the voice fresh and engaging, and the book is a real pleasure to dive into. If you have not read Home Cooking, I warmly recommend it.

Ms. Colwin shares a number of recipes with her readers, from her take on traditional dishes like Boston Brown Bread, to the result of her experiments in the kitchen, like Polenta and Broccoli di Rape. I'll be totally honest and admit that while I enjoyed reading about the recipes, I had difficulty being inspired by them, as Colwin's style of cooking is quite different from mine.

I know though, that she enjoyed making pasta, because she says so on page 178:

I was once given a pasta machine and instantly set about making pasta. My pasta was not beautiful and it did not emerge from its final rolling in one long, beautiful sheet, but it certainly was delicious and not overly time-consuming.

Ms. Colwin was open to trying new things to decide for herself whether she liked them or not. I am sure she would have been open to learn to make the pasta shapes with which I have been experimenting recently (strascinati, orecchiette, maccheroni al ferro, gnocchetti sardi ), and she would have commented on her experience with the wit she shows throughout Home Cooking. So, to her I dedicate my last adventure in pasta making: fusilli al ferro. And based on the recipes in the book, I know she would have liked the burro e parmigiano dressing.

This is my contribution to the current edition of Cook the Books, hosted by Deb of Kahakai Kitchen. You can find the guidelines for participating in the event here, and here is the announcement. This post contains the roundup of the event.

This is also my contribution to edition #280 of Presto Pasta Nights. The event was created by Ruth of Once Upon a Feast and is hosted this week by Simona of briciole (that would be me). This post contains the roundup of the event.

Click on the button to hear me pronounce the Italian words mentioned in the post:

fusilli al ferro

or launch the fusilli al ferro audio file [mp3].

[Depending on your set-up, the audio file will be played within the browser or by your mp3 player application. Please, contact me if you encounter any problems.]

pasta, butter, Parmigiano-Reggiano

gnocchetti sardi al sugo / Sardinian gnocchi with tomato sauce

[cliccare il link per andare alla versione in italiano]

malloreddus (Sardinian gnocchi)

Another cool type of handmade pasta! You can tell I am having a lot of fun with my recent explorations of traditional Italian pasta shapes. As the Abbecedario culinario d'Italia (Italian Culinary ABC) crossed the sea to reach the shores of Sardegna (Sardinia), I knew this would be my chance to explore the traditional small gnocchi (gnocchetti) that are made on the island, called malloreddus.

Although I have been to Sardinia once, a trip from which I have a lot of fond memories, my connection with malloreddus comes from the fact that in my first job, I had a number of colleagues from Sardinia and a couple of times I saw the malloreddus one of them made. I wish I had been interested in cooking back then: I could have learned to make this pasta from an expert, but I wasn't and so I only remember the shape and the small size.

For my rendition, I was inspired by this video: the gnocchetti part starts at 2:52. The size of the pasta in the video is larger than what I made. Different recipes I read make different sizes, so I decided to make my an executive decision: my gnocchetti are on the small side, but not terribly small.

For the occasion, I purchased a gnocchi board, something I had on my wish list for a while. It is a small, inexpensive tool and is quite handy for making this pasta. In this video starting at 9:30, you can see malloreddus shaped inside a basket with a flat bottom (called ciuliri in dialect): based on what I read, this is the traditional way of making them. (If you don't have a gnocchi board, you can try using the tines of a fork or the back of a cheese grater as surface to shape the dough. Update, May 22, 2013: I have learned that an online store sells a malloreddus board, whose surface is a bit different from the gnocchi board.)

a pretty pasta shape

Here are my gnocchetti on the kneading board (spianatoia), which this time I remembered to flour lightly. And the short video shows my hands cutting the rope of pasta and shaping gnocchetti. As in the video that inspired me, I am showing two ways of shaping the pasta: you can use your thumb or your index finger, depending on how you feel more comfortable. You'll see in the video that the position of the gnocchi board depends on the finger you want to use.

 

The trick here is to apply the right amount of pressure on the piece of dough while dragging it along the board so that you get the sort of curl with the grooves on the surface and the nice nook on the other side (think: sauce cradle). If you press too hard, the dough gets sort of smushed and the dough sticks to the board. I found that I did not need to flour the gnocchi board: it remained dry throughout the process. However, as usual, I made a small batch every time, which is what I suggest you do too, the first time you try. (To learn well, though, I made the small batch six times in a matter of 10 days or so.)

The dough for malloreddus includes a small amount of zafferano (saffron), which is a product of the island, "the crimson spice that turns foods an inviting yellow while conferring an elusive something that makes the food taste all the better." (source)

The tomato sauce in the recipe for malloreddus alla campidanese (Campidano is an area of Sardinia) includes sausage, but I skipped that in favor of my usual, simpler, tomato sauce made with roasted tomatoes. However, based on those recipes, a suggestion I received in a recent comment, and the fact that this pasta shape is fairly sturdy, I decided to finish the dish in a small skillet, where I warmed up the sauce.

Ingredients for the pasta:

• 50 g / 1.75 oz. hot water (I recommend weighing the water)
• a few strand of saffron or a pinch of saffron powder
• 100 g / 3.5 oz. semolina flour of good quality (see my post on orecchiette for a brief discussion on the various types of ground durum wheat; for this pasta, I used all semolina flour)
• a pinch of salt

Ingredients for the tomato sauce:

• olive oil
• a shallot, minced
• leaves of a sprig of thyme
• a small garlic clove, thinly sliced
• 2 cups strained roasted tomatoes (thawed, if frozen)
• sea salt, to taste
• freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano or fiore sardo (Sardinian sheep cheese), or a mix of the two cheeses, to taste

Add the saffron strands or the powder to the water. Stir and let sit for 10 minutes or so. If using the strands, remove them before using the water to make the pasta dough.

Make a dough with the water, flour and salt and knead until nice and smooth. Let the dough rest, covered, for at least half an hour.

Roll the dough into a thick salami and cut it into pieces. Keep them covered while you shape the gnocchetti. Roll each piece into a pencil-size snake (3/8 inch / 1 cm thick), then cut into 1 cm / 3/8 inch long pieces. Shape each small piece into a gnocchetto using a gnocchi board or other method (see above), and lay out to dry.

In a small saucepan, warm up a bit of olive oil, then add shallot and thyme. Cook gently for a few minutes, then add garlic. Cook for a couple of minutes, then add tomatoes. Bring to a simmer and cook for 8-10 minutes. Adjust salt, to taste. Note that this will make more sauce than you need to dress the orecchiette, but once you have the sauce ready, I am sure you'll find ways of using it, like making more handmade pasta.

Bring a pot of salted water to a rolling boil, then toss the malloreddus in it (what in Italian we call: buttare giù la pasta). They will come to the surface as they cook. The time needed is a bit variable, depending on the size of the gnocchetti, how dry they are, etc. Of all the pasta shapes I made recently, this is the one that took longest to cook. Still don't wander far away from the pot, but, for example, grate the cheese while you wait.

While the pasta is cooking, place a few tablespoons of the sauce in a small skillet and warm it up. Taste the pasta and stop the cooking slightly earlier than usual. Drain the pasta and drop it into the skillet with the sauce. Stir well over medium heat for a couple of minutes. Sprinkle some of the cheese and stir one last time. Plate and sprinkle a bit more cheese on the top. Serve immediately. The recipe makes two small portions.

Note: if tomato season is ongoing in your area, you can make tomato sauce using crushed tomatoes, adjusting the cooking time to get a sauce of the right consistency. And if you have fresh basil, you can add a bit of it to the sauce.

Totally cute pasta, don't you think?

This is my submission for the 14th installment of the Abbecedario culinario d'Italia (Italian Culinary ABC), an event organized by Trattoria MuVarA that will bring us to visit all the 20 regions of Italy using the alphabet as guide. Q come Quartu Sant'Elena (Sardegna) is hosted by Bribantilla e Satori of The Cooking Sisters. This page contains the list of all the contributions to the event.

I am also sending this to the #279 edition of Presto Pasta Nights. The event was created by Ruth of Once Upon a Feast and is hosted this week by the creator herself. This post contains the roundup of the event.

Click on the button to hear me pronounce the Italian words mentioned in the post:

gnocchetti sardi al sugo

or launch the gnocchetti sardi al sugo audio file [mp3].

[Depending on your set-up, the audio file will be played within the browser or by your mp3 player application. Please, contact me if you encounter any problems.]

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pasta, tomato sauce, Italian recipe

Per i lettori italiani

malloreddus (gnocchetti sardi)

Un'altra tappa dell'Abbecedario culinario d'Italia e un'altra occasione per cimentarmi con una pasta tradizionale: arriviamo in Sardegna e io imparo a fare i malloreddus.

Della mia unica visita in Sardegna ho dei bei ricordi, ma i malloreddus della mia memoria vengono dalle colleghe sarde del mio primo lavoro. Avrei potuto imparare da loro, ma a quell'epoca la cucina non mi interessava (e tra lavoro a tempo pieno e università non avevo nemmeno tempo). Mi ricordo però che erano piccoli.

Per i miei esperimenti ho seguito questo video (la signora comincia a formare gli gnocchetti dopo 2' e 52"). Per l'occasione, mi sono dotata di riga gnocchi e mi ci sono trovata bene. Ho letto che tradizionalmente i malloreddus si preparano con l'aiuto di un cestino che si chiama ciuliri (in questo video lo si vede dopo 9' e 30".)

una pasta davvero carina

Questa breve sequenza mostra le mie mani al lavoro. Stavolta mi sono ricordata di infarinare un po' la spianatoia. Come nel video che mi ha ispirato, faccio vedere due modi per formare gli gnocchi: col pollice o con l'indice. La posizione del riga gnocchi rispetto alle mani dipende da quale dito usate. 

 

Occorre applicare abbastanza pressione al pezzetto di pasta mentre lo si trascina lungo le righe per farlo arricciare, ma non tanta da spiaccicarlo. Non ho mai avuto bisogno di infarinare il riga gnocchi, forse perché come al solito ongi volta ho fatto una quantità di pasta limitata in modo da imparare senza sentirmi sotterrata (in totale credo di averli fatti sei volte in una decina di giorni).

L'impasto per fare i malloreddus comprende una piccola quantità di zafferano, prodotto tipico dell'isola. Invece di fare un sugo sostanzioso, data anche la stagione, ho usato il mio solito sugo di pomodoro fatto con i pomodori arrosto. Però in base a delle ricette che ho visto, ad un commento recente, e al fatto che questo tipo di pasta è piuttosto resistente alla cottura, ho deciso di terminare la cottura in una padellina col sugo.

Ingredienti:

• 50 g acqua molto calda
• alcuni stimmi di zafferano o un pizzico di zafferano in polvere
• 100 g semola di grano duro
• un pizzico di sale
• sugo di pomodoro a piacere
• Parmigiano-Reggiano o fiore sardo grattugiato, o un misto, a piacere

Mettere i fili di zafferano o la polvere nell'acqua e mescolare. Far riposare per 10 minuti. Lavorare semola, acqua e sale fino ad avere un bell'impasto liscio. Farlo riposare, coperto, per almeno mezz'ora.

Formare un salsicciotto e tagliarlo a pezzi da lavorare uno alla volta, mentre gli altri rimangono al coperto. Rotolare fino ad ottenere un serpentello grosso come una matita (anche qui ho notato un po' di variabilità, ma questo è quello che ho fatto io) e tagliarlo a pezzetti di 1 cm. Fare ad ogni pezzetto di impasto la forma di uno gnocchetto usando il metodo che preferite. Lasciar asciugare.

Preparate un sugo di pomodoro come volete. Questa è la stagione dei pomodori, quindi usarli freschi è un'opzione. Nel mio caso, avevo della passata di pomodori arrosto e ho usato quella.

Cuocere gli gnocchetti in abbondante acqua salata. Nel frattempo, mettere qualche cucchiaio di sugo in una padellina e scaldarlo. Scolare gli gnocchetti un po' prima del solito e versarli nella padellina col sugo. Alzare il calore e mescolare bene per un paio di minuti. Condire con parte del formaggio e mescolare un'ultima volta. Impiattare e spargere dell'altro formaggio sulla pasta. Servire immediatamente. Questa ricetta fa due porzioni piccole.

Sono carinissimi, vero?

Con questo post contribuisco anche all'Abbecedario culinario d'Italia, un evento organizzato dalla Trattoria MuVarA che ci porterà a visitare tutte le regioni italiane utilizzando come guida l'alfabeto. La tappa Q come Quartu Sant'Elena (Sardegna) è ospitata da Bribantilla e Satori di The Cooking Sisters.

Questa pagina contiene la lista dei contributi all'evento.

imparare a fare un nuovo tipo di pasta / learning to make a new pasta shape

exploring various shapes

In learning to make maccheroni al ferro, I saw the possibility of using the same simple tool to create another type of pasta shape. Slightly different hand movements result in different shapes.

this is the one I liked best

Next steps: achieving consistency of result and showing you how to make it (plus how to call it).

The photos above are my contribution to edition #46 of Black and White Wednesday - A Culinary Photography Event created by Susan of The Well-Seasoned Cook and hosted this week by Susan herself.

The photos were shot in color and then converted to sepia.

On this page, you can find out who is hosting the current and future editions of the event.

maccheroni al ferro al sugo / handmade maccheroni with tomato sauce

handmade maccheroni with tomato sauce

I am on a roll with handmade pasta. Just in the past few weeks, I have made strascinati and orecchiette. Here, I continue my exploration of pasta shapes with maccheroni al ferro.

maccheroni making in progress

In my rendition of this pasta, I followed this video and made relatively short maccheroni. I suggest you do the same the first few times, until you become familiar with the process. Then, if you like, you can try making longer maccheroni, as shown in the video included in this post (in Italian).

my first try at making longer maccheroni

The dough is basically the same as the one for orecchiette. Instead of just your hands, for maccheroni you need the ferro, a metal spike (you can see it in this photo). However, a thin wooden skewer works as a substitute and it is what I have used.

My hands making maccheroni al ferro are shown in this short video:

 

The trick, so to speak, is to apply enough pressure on the piece of dough so that it flattens and spreads around the ferro as you roll it, but not so much as to make it stick to the ferro. At the end of the process, you want to be able to slide the maccherone from the ferro without misshaping it (if that happens, you can always re-roll the dough and try again).

It helps to flour the skewer often. I have two of them at hand: while I am using one, the other is inside the flour bag. When the first one becomes a bit sticky, I put it in the flour and take up the other. (In the photo above they are both on the kneading board for demo purposes.)

As I have said in the past, when you decide to try, start with a small amount of flour, so you don't get overwhelmed. Then, when you are comfortable with the process, you can double the amount, or more.

a nice plate of handmade pasta

Dress maccheroni with a simple tomato sauce, or try the combination with another sauce you like.

Ingredients for the pasta:

• 100 g / 3.5 oz. semolina flour of good quality (or semola di grano duro rimacinata or a blend of your choice: see the post on orecchiette for details; for this pasta, I used all semolina flour)
• 50 g / 1.75 oz. warm water (I recommend weighing the water)
• a pinch of salt

Ingredients for the tomato sauce:

• olive oil
• a shallot, minced
• leaves of a sprig of thyme
• a small garlic clove, thinly sliced
• 2 cups strained roasted tomatoes, thawed if frozen
• sea salt, to taste
• freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano, to taste

Make a dough with the first three ingredients and knead until nice and smooth. This is a bit of an exercise, since the dough is fairly stiff (you are making pasta, not bread). The dough is of a lovely pale yellow color. Let the dough rest, covered, for at least half an hour.

Roll the dough into a thick salami and cut it into pieces. Keep them covered while you shape the maccheroni. Roll each piece into a pencil-size snake (3/8 inch / 1 cm thick), then cut into 2 inch / 5 cm long pieces (if you are making longer maccheroni, cut the roll into 2 3/4 inch / 7 cm long pieces). Shape each piece into a maccherone with the skewer and lay out to dry. You may want to dust the surface lightly with flour (something I did not do).

ready to be cooked

In a small saucepan, warm up a bit of olive oil, then add shallot and thyme. Cook gently for a few minutes, then add garlic. Cook for a couple of minutes, then add tomatoes. Bring to a simmer and cook for 8-10 minutes. Adjust salt, to taste. Note that this will make more sauce than you need to dress the maccheroni, but once you have the sauce ready, I am sure you'll find ways of using it, like making more handmade pasta.

Bring a pot of salted water to a rolling boil, then toss the maccheroni in it (what in Italian we call: buttare giù la pasta). The maccheroni will come to the surface as they cook. The time needed is a bit variable, depending on the type of flour used, the size of maccheroni, how dry they are, etc., but it is short, so don't wander far away from the pot. Taste and stop the cooking when the maccheroni are ready. Pour a glass of cold water in the pot, stir and drain the maccheroni. Place in a bowl, sprinkle a bit of the cheese on top and stir briefly, then distribute some tomato sauce and toss. Finally, sprinkle some cheese and serve immediately.

The recipe makes two small portions. 

Note: if tomato season is ongoing in your area, you can make tomato sauce using crushed tomatoes, adjusting the cooking time to get a sauce of the right consistency. And if you have fresh basil, you can add a bit of it to the sauce.

Last year, I wrote a post about maccherone, where I talked about the word, expressions that use it, and a sequence from an Italian movie that has to do with maccheroni: check it out here.

This is my contribution to edition #277 of Presto Pasta Nights. The event was created by Ruth of Once Upon a Feast and is hosted this week by Simona of briciole (that would be me).

This post contains the roundup of the event.

Click on the button to hear me pronounce the Italian words mentioned in the post:

maccheroni al ferro al sugo

or launch the maccheroni al ferro al sugo audio file [mp3].

[Depending on your set-up, the audio file will be played within the browser or by your mp3 player application. Please, contact me if you encounter any problems.]

pasta, tomato sauce

minestra di fagioli, pollo e pasta all'uovo / bean, chicken and egg pasta soup

chicken soup meets beans and egg pasta

There is no wrong that a good homemade chicken soup can't right. And even without a wrong to make right, a steaming bowl of chicken soup brings a smile to the steamed face.

This soup has three elements:

• chicken stock/broth, the making of which gives you also some boiled chicken
• beans
  
• pasta all'uovo (egg pasta) cut into short tagliatelle

And the three elements can be made at different times and then brought together. Once they are available, putting together the soup requires a short amount of time.

How to make stock/broth
What I call stock/broth is made not only with the trimmings and carcass of a roasted chicken, but also a bag of trimmings I buy from the same provider of the chicken, Shakefork Community Farm. Besides selling whole chicken, they sell breasts and thighs sepately so they have trimmings that they bag and sell for stock. These trimmings have some meat attached, so I call what I make with them stock/broth to indicate that more meat than usual goes into its preparation. (In the past, I have asked our local grocery store for chicken trimmings and I got something similar.) The recipe I use is the same as for chicken stock. I also use a vegetable trimmings to make stock and stock/broth like dark green portion of leeks, corn cobs (what's left after you remove the kernels), roasted pumpkin or winter squash skin (what's left after you scoop out the pulp), etc.

Once the stock/broth is ready, I retrieve all the meat which at this point separates easily from the bone. This step, for which I use my hands, requires a bit of care to avoid leaving in the meat small pieces of bone. The meat has enough flavor to go well into a soup. Plus there is no way I'd discard it. I let the strained stock/broth rest in the refrigerator overnight, skim the fat at the top, then freeze some and use the rest in the following few days.

speckled bayo beans

The beans come from my usual provider, mentioned several times before, more recently in this photo post.

How to cook dry beans
The way I cook beans for further use comes from Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone by Deborah Madison (Beans with Aromatics). After soaking half a cup of dry beans for several hours or overnight in enough water to cover them by about an inch (I use two cups), empty the whole bowl into a saucepan and add

• Half of a small onion (or a quarter of a medium one), halved
• A bay leaf
• A small clove of garlic, sliced
• A couple of sprigs of fresh parsley

Bring the water to a lively boil quickly, and keep it there for five minutes, then turn down the heat and let the beans simmer, covered, until they are ready. How long this takes depends on the type of beans and their freshness. Let them cool in their broth, then remove the aromatics and discard them. Let the beans rest in their cooking broth until ready to use.

The third element is pasta all'uovo. I make a small batch of it  using one egg, as in this recipe, then cut it into a sort of short tagliatelle.

All together now
Ingredients:

• 2 cups homemade chicken stock/broth (prepared as explained above)
  
• 1 cup of chicken pieces retrieved once the stock/broth has cooled
• 1/2 cup speckled bayo beans, or other beans of choice (prepared as explained above), and their cooking liquid
  
• A small batch of pasta all'uovo made using one egg and cut into 1/2-inch wide and 2-3 inch-long strips
• 2 tablespoons fresh parsley, finely chopped
• sea salt and freshly milled pepper, to taste

Add the chicken and the beans and their liquid to the stock/broth and bring to a simmer, while you cook the pasta in salted boiling water. It will take just a few minutes to cook. Drain the pasta and add to the soup. Add some hot water or stock/broth to bring the soup to the desired consistency. Turn off the heat, sprinkle parsley on the soup, give it a good stir and serve immediately.

Of course, you can make this recipe with chicken broth and pieces of cooked chicken you have on hand. The basic idea is to create a nice soup with leftovers and items often discarded before fully used.

The beans make this soup perfect for My Legume Love Affair 49 the current edition of the popular, legume-centered event created by Susan, The Well-Seasoned Cook, and hosted this month by Simona of briciole (yes, that's me). This post contains the roundup of the event.

And I am sending this soup to Souper (Soup, Salad & Sammies) Sundays, a weekly event created by Deb of Kahakai Kitchen. This post contains the roundup of the event.

Click on the button to hear me pronounce the Italian words mentioned in the post:

minestra di fagioli, pollo e pasta all'uovo

or launch the minestra di fagioli, pollo e pasta all'uovo audio file [mp3].

[Depending on your set-up, the audio file will be played within the browser or by your mp3 player application. Please, contact me if you encounter any problems.]

beans, pasta, chicken, soup

orecchiette al sugo / handmade orecchiette with tomato sauce

[cliccare il link per andare alla versione in italiano]

a lovely pasta dish

Making pasta by hand is sensual. First you knead the dough, hugging it with your fingers to pull it toward you, then digging the heels of your hands into it and pushing it away, in soothing rhythm. Then, after a period of rest, you shape the pasta. Sometimes you roll it first. In the case of orecchiette, you cut it into pieces and make pencil-thin ropes, cut those into short segments and then shape each segment. It's a meditative task. After a while, your eyes lose themselves contemplating the wisdom of your hands. Each piece of pasta comes out a little different, unique. Making pasta by hand is joyful. (Originally written for this post.)

I was looking forward to reaching Puglia (Apulia) with the Abbecedario culinario d'Italia (Italian Culinary ABC) to try my hands at making orecchiette, one of the great classic pasta shapes of the Italian cuisine. Orecchiette (literally, small ears) are made with ground durum wheat. Things then get a bit complicated, because durum wheat (grano duro) is ground into (from coarser to finer) semola di grano duro, semola di grano duro rimacinata and farina di grano duro, and people use only semola or a blend with mostly semola, depending on their family tradition. The one common trait is the use of warm water to make the dough.

In the US, ground durum wheat is available as semolina flour and durum flour. I have some semola di grano duro rimacinata that I brought back from Italy, and that is what I used to make the orecchiette you see in the photos.

I have watched a number of videos showing how to shape orecchiette and decided to follow this one (the shaping part starts at 2:35), because it uses only the fingers. Most commonly, the dragging part of the shaping is done with the help of the tip of a knife. This very short segment shows my hands making one orecchietta:

As I have said in the past, if you want to try, start with a small amount of flour, so you don't get overwhelmed. Then, when you are comfortable with the process, you can run with it.

Ingredients for the pasta:

• 100 g / 3.5 oz. semolina flour of good quality or semola di grano duro rimacinata (or a blend of your choice: see above for details)
• 50 g / 1.75 oz. warm water (I recommend weighing the water)
• a pinch of salt

Ingredients for the tomato sauce:

• olive oil
• a shallot, minced
• leaves of a sprig of thyme
• a small garlic clove, thinly sliced
• 2 cups strained roasted tomatoes (thawed, if frozen)
• sea salt, to taste
• freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano, to taste

Make a dough with the first three ingredients and knead until nice and smooth. This is a bit of an exercise, since the dough is fairly stiff (you are making pasta, not bread). The dough is of a lovely pale yellow color. Let the dough rest, covered, for at least half an hour.

Roll the dough into a thick salami and cut it into pieces. Keep them covered while you shape the orecchiette. Roll each piece into a pencil-size snake (3/8 inch / 1 cm thick), then cut into 1 cm / 3/8 inch long pieces. Shape each small piece into an orecchietta using whatever method suits you. I drag the piece of pasta over the kneading board with my right thumb away from me, then, with my left hand, I turn it inside out over my right index finger and lay it out to dry.

In a small saucepan, warm up a bit of olive oil, then add shallot and thyme. Cook gently for a few minutes, then add garlic. Cook for a couple of minutes, then add tomatoes. Bring to a simmer and cook for 8-10 minutes. Adjust salt, to taste. Note that this will make more sauce than you need to dress the orecchiette, but once you have the sauce ready, I am sure you'll find ways of using it, like making more handmade pasta.

Bring a pot of salted water to a rolling boil, then toss the orecchiette in it (what in Italian we call: buttare giù la pasta). The orecchiette will come to the surface as they cook. The time needed is a bit variable, depending on the type of flour used, the size of orecchiette, how dry they are, etc., but it is short, so don't wander far away from the pot. Taste and stop the cooking when the orecchiette are ready. Pour a glass of cold water in the pot, stir and drain the orecchiette. Place them in a bowl, sprinkle a bit of the cheese on them and stir briefly, then distribute some tomato sauce and toss. Finally, sprinkle some cheese and serve immediately. The recipe makes two small portions.

Note: if tomato season is ongoing in your area, you can make tomato sauce using crushed tomatoes, adjusting the cooking time to get a sauce of the right consistency. And if you have fresh basil, you can add a bit of it to the sauce.

so pretty!

I have never been to Puglia, but through my blog, I have met some people in or from that region and I would very much like to visit their beautiful area. Finally, I want to mention that Gianrico Carofiglio, one of my favorite Italian writers, is pugliese. Some of his novels are available in English translation and Peter of Detective Beyond Borders has written about him. Carofiglio is one of the possible guests in my artist's book Dinner Party.

This is my submission for the 12th installment of the Abbecedario culinario d'Italia (Italian Culinary ABC), an event organized by Trattoria MuVarA that will bring us to visit all the 20 regions of Italy using the alphabet as guide. O come Otranto (Puglia) is hosted by Patrizia of La Melagranata. This page contains the list of all the recipes submitted to the event.

I am also sending this to the #275 edition of Presto Pasta Nights. The event was created by Ruth of Once Upon a Feast and is hosted this week by the creator herself. This post contains the roundup of the event.

Click on the button to hear me pronounce the Italian words mentioned in the post:

orecchiette al sugo

or launch the orecchiette al sugo audio file [mp3].

[Depending on your set-up, the audio file will be played within the browser or by your mp3 player application. Please, contact me if you encounter any problems.]

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pasta, tomato sauce, Italian recipe

Per i lettori italiani

un bel piatto di pasta

Fare la pasta a mano mi diverte e mi rilassa. È una sorta di meditazione, durante la quale gli occhi si perdono a seguire i movimenti delle mani.

Non vedevo l'ora di arrivare in Puglia con l'Abbecedario culinario d'Italia per provare a fare le orecchiette. Questa pasta si fa con il grano duro, e mi sembra di capire che ci sono diverse tradizioni, su base familiare: solo semola oppure un misto con un po' di macinato più fino. Comunque, l'acqua dell'impasto deve essere calda. 

In California non mi è facile trovare gli ingredienti. Ho della semola di grano duro rimacinata che mi sono portata dall'Italia ed ho usato quella per fare le orecchiette che vedete nelle foto.

Ho guardato diversi video che fanno vedere come vengono fatte le orecchiette e ho deciso di seguire questo qui (la signora comincia a formare le orecchiette dopo 2' e 35"), perché usa solo le dita. Gli altri video fanno vedere il metodo più comune con la punt di un coltello. Questa breve sequenza mostra le mie mani al lavoro:

 

Come ho scritto in passato, il mio suggerimento a chi vuole cimentarsi è quello di cominciare con una quantità modica, gestibile. Poi, quando ci si sente pronti, aumentare le dosi a piacere.

Ingredienti:

• 100 g semola di grano duro o semola di grano duro rimacinata o quello che prevede la ricetta di famiglia (vedere il testo in alto)
• 50 g acqua calda
• un pizzico di sale
• sugo di pomodoro a piacere
• Parmigiano-Reggiano grattugiato, o altro formaggio a piacere

Lavorare i primi tre ingredienti fino ad avere un bell'impasto liscio. Questo è un ottimo esercizio per le braccia. Il risultato è un impasto dal bel colore giallo pallido. Farlo riposare, coperto, per almeno mezz'ora.

Formare un salsicciotto e tagliarlo a pezzi da lavorare uno alla volta, mentre gli altri rimangono al coperto. Rotolare fino ad ottenere un serpentello grosso come una matita (anche qui ho notato un po' di variabilità, ma questo è quello che ho fatto io) e tagliarlo a pezzetti di 1 cm. Fare ad ogni pezzetto di impasto la forma di un'orecchietta usando il metodo che preferite. Io trascino il pezzetto di impast con il pollice destro allontanandolo da me e poi lo rivolto sopra l'indice destro aiutandomi con la mano sinistra. Lasciar asciugare per un paio d'ore.

Preparare un sugo di pomodoro come volete. Questa è la stagione dei pomodori, quindi usarli freschi è un'opzione. Nel mio caso, avevo della passata di pomodori arrosto e ho usato quella.

Cuocere le orecchiette in abbondante acqua salata, condirle con sugo e formaggio a piacere. Mi piacerebbe poter usare un formaggio pugliese per onorare la regione che ci ospita, ma ancora non ne so fare nessuno e quindi ho usato del Parmigiano-Reggiano. Questa ricetta fa due porzioni piccole. Adesso che l'ho ripetuta tre volte con successo mi sento pronta a raddoppiare le dosi.

le orecchiette sono proprio carine

Confesso di non essere mai stata in Puglia, ma attraverso briciole ho incontrato delle persone speciali originarie di questa bella regione e spero un giorno non lontano di visitarla. Per finire, uno dei miei scrittori italiani preferiti è pugliese: Gianrico Carofiglio. La sua fama è arrivata anche qui e alcuni dei suoi romanzi (quelli con l'avvocato Guerreri e anche "Il passato è una terra straniera") sono stati tradotti in inglese. Carofiglio è uno dei possibili invitati a cena nel mio libro Dinner Party.

Con questo post contribuisco anche all'Abbecedario culinario d'Italia, un evento organizzato dalla Trattoria MuVarA che ci porterà a visitare tutte le regioni italiane utilizzando come guida l'alfabeto. O come Otranto (Puglia) è ospitata da Patrizia de La Melagranata.

Su questa pagina trovate la lista delle ricette contribuite all'evento.

M come Matera (Basilicata): strascinati con la menta

M like Matera (Basilicata): strascinati with mint

[cliccare il link per andare alla versione in italiano]

ready to be served

"La città dei Sassi" (the city of the stones): this definition in crossword puzzles taught me what is the defining feature of Matera, a city in southern Italy. What are the Sassi?

The Sassi district is the ancient heart of the city of Matera.
The Sassi... constitute a city unto itself, completely carved out of the face of the calcareous rock - what is known as tufa stone. The Sassi district is a system made of dwellings carved out of the steep slopes of a deep valley with surprising and unusual features...
Elegant and multi-faceted buildings are interspersed with underground mazes and cave labyrinths, forming one single stunning landscape.
Over the course of the centuries, the city has changed its shape over and over again in an ongoing dialogue between rock and architecture, canyon and bell-tower, flowing into a cityscape of incomparable beauty and distinction.

In our tour of the 20 Italian regions created and organized by Trattoria MuVarA we have arrived in Basilicata, the instalment I am hosting, represented by Matera, the capital of one of the region's two provinces (the other being Potenza). Language note: the adjective related to Basilicata is lucano, which derives from Lucania, another name of the region.

Writing about a city and a region I have never visited is a challenge, because I need to rely on other people's accounts rather than my personal experience. Here is a list of some of the pages I have looked at. They include some beautiful photos particularly of the Sassi, which I recommend you peruse.

• Matera page on wikipedia: history and culture
• Basilicata page on wikipedia: history, economy and more
• a tourist-services website for Matera with many slide presentations (expand the main topics on the right panel under Matera), in particular of its famous Sassi, which provide an amazing historical view of the city
• in 1993, the Sassi and rupestrian churches (chiese rupestri) of Matera were added to the UNESCO World Heritage list: this is the page on the UNESCO site
• i Sassi di Matera (stones of Matera) page on wikipedia
• a slide presentation of the Sassi
• the Parco Nazionale del Pollino (Pollino National Park) website

If you are planning a visit to Italy, you may want to consider a visit to Matera. Once there, you will find not only food for your imagination, but also for your body.

Simona's strascinati

Among the traditional dishes from Basilicata listed in my usual source, the Accademia Italiana della Cucina site, I chose to make a kind of pasta, the strascinati. The recipe references a tool, called cavarola, a special wooden board over which the pasta pieces are dragged (trascinati) to shape them.

The recipe referenced above calls for durum wheat flour to make the pasta and that's what I did for my first try. The next time I used my usual pasta blend by King Arthur Flour and I liked the result better. (Update: I now often make strascinati using semolina flour.) The recipe calls for a large amount of flour: I ignored it and instead, started with a small amount to get comfortable with the process.

orange mint from my little garden

The pasta sauce is a variation on the popular theme of aglio, olio e peperoncino (hot chili pepper, called cerasella in the region we are visiting). In this case, fresh mint is added. The original recipe uses a combination of olive oil and lard. I contributed my personal touch by using browned butter (together with the olive oil), of which, since my interview with pastry chef Marisa Churchill, I keep a small supply in my refrigerator.

Ingredients:

• 1 cup (130 g) KAF pasta blend (or semolina flour, or durum wheat flour)
• A pinch of fine sea salt
• Lukewarm water
• 1/2 tablespoon (7.5 ml) olive oil
• 1/2 tablespoon (7 g) browned butter (or regular, unsalted butter)
• 1 small garlic clove
• A pinch of red pepper flakes
• Chiffonade of a few leaves of fresh mint (I used orange mint)

Serves 2

On your working surface, create a well with the flour to which you have added the salt. Pour 1/3 cup (80 ml) of water into the well. With a fork, draw flour from the sides of the well into the center, mixing well with the water. Trade the fork for your fingertips. Draw flour until a firm dough forms. Add more water as needed (I add a teaspoon), and knead until you have a smooth, firm dough.

Roll the dough into a thick roll, then cut it into 5-6 pieces and shape each one into a roll about 3/8 inch (1 cm) in diameter (see Note below regarding the shaping). Cut each roll into approximately 1 1/4-inch (3 cm) long pieces, then use the three middle fingers to drag each small piece of pasta dough towards you. This movement thins the pasta and gives it a shell-like shape that will also carry the imprint of your fingers.

Bring a pot of water to a boil. Add some coarse salt, stir and then add the pasta. Bring water back to boiling. Since the pasta takes only a short time to cook, prepare the sauce. Put oil and browned butter in a small frying pan and warm up over gentle heat. Add the garlic and cook until it turns light golden. Turn off the heat and add the pepper flakes. At this point, the pasta should be ready.

Cooking time is in the order of a few minutes. The pasta is ready when it comes to the surface. Taste it to make sure (if needed, keep the pasta where it is until cooked). When the pasta is ready, turn off the heat, pour a glass of cold water in the pot, stir and then drain the pasta. Add pasta to the pan with the sauce and sprinkle mint on it. Toss to coat, adjust salt if needed, then serve immediately.

Note: the original recipe calls for making strips of pasta, but I found it easier to make thin rolls. The original recipe also call for the use of three fingers (index, middle and ring finger) to shape the pasta. I sometimes used only two fingers. I then saw this video where strascinati are made with two fingers, so I thought it was acceptable. However, a comment states that the pasta in the video is cavatelli, rather than strascinati and that prompted me to search for a definition of the two types of pasta that would highlight the differences. I am sorry to report that at the end of the search I am no wiser. I suspect this is one of those cases where the name of a pasta depends on the location. As far as I can tell, the main concept behind strascinati, cavatelli and also orecchiette is a dragging motion that thins and shapes the pasta. As a sample of the many pages I browsed, here is a photo of hands making strascinati and here is a photo of cavatelli. Not only do they look very similar, the description for making them is basically the same. While the name strascinati emphasizes the dragging motion, the name cavatelli emphasizes the hollow space created by the motion (cavo means hollow).

Addendum: here is a short video showing my hands shaping toasted semolina flour strascinati, using three fingers.

If you want to join our visit to Basilicata, here are the simple rules to add your contribution:

• publish your post with a recipe from the region by end of the day, Sunday July 1
• include a link to this post and to the Abbecedario culinario d'Italia (Italian Culinary ABC) site
• leave a comment on this post with the link to your contribution
• you can contribute a recipe from your archive, but please, add the logo and links as above
• no blog? no problem: email the recipe and a photo to trattoriamuvara AT gmail DOT com and comment on this post to alert us of your contribution

The roundup of the recipes contributed will be posted on the Abbecedario culinario d'Italia (Italian Culinary ABC) site, on the page dedicated to the letter M.

This is my submission for the tenth installment of the Abbecedario culinario d'Italia (Italian Culinary ABC), an event organized by Trattoria MuVarA that will bring us to visit all the 20 regions of Italy using the alphabet as guide. M come Matera (Basilicata) is hosted by Simona of briciole (that is, by me).

This pretty pasta dish is also my contribution to edition #269 of Presto Pasta Nights. The event was created by Ruth of Once Upon a Feast and is hosted this week by Simona of briciole (indeed, me again).

Click on the button to hear me pronounce the Italian words mentioned in the post:

strascinati con la menta

or launch the strascinati con la menta audio file [mp3].

[Depending on your set-up, the audio file will be played within the browser or by your mp3 player application. Please, contact me if you encounter any problems.]

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pasta, mint, Italian recipe

Per i lettori italiani

piatto pronto per essere servito

"La città dei Sassi" è la definizione nelle parole crociate che mi ha insegnato, tanti anni fa, quale fosse la caratteristica saliente di Matera. Ma cosa sono i Sassi?

I Sassi... costituiscono una intera città scavata nella roccia calcarenitica, chiamata localmente “tufo”, un sistema abitativo articolato, abbarbicato lungo i pendii di un profondo vallone dalle caratteristiche naturali singolari e sorprendenti: la Gravina. Strutture edificate, eleganti ed articolate si alternano a labirinti sotterranei e a meandri cavernosi, creando un unicum paesaggistico di grande effetto.

Il sovrapporsi di diverse fasi di trasformazioni urbane sull’aspra morfologia murgica originaria, il raffinato dialogo tra rocce ed architettura, canyon e campanili, ha creato nel corso dei secoli uno scenario urbano di incomparabile bellezza e qualità.

Nel nostro tour delle 20 regioni italiane creato e organizzato dalla Trattoria MuVarA siamo arrivati in Basilicata, la tappa che ospito io, rappresentata da Matera, uno dei due capoluoghi di provincia della regione (l'altro è Potenza). Parlare di una città e di una regione che non ho mai visitato non è facile, dal momento che devo basarmi su narrative altrui. Questa è la lista di alcune delle pagine che ho guardato. Includono delle belle foto soprattutto dei Sassi che vi raccomando di ammirare.

• la pagina di Matera su wikipedia: storia e cultura
• la pagina della Basilicata su wikipedia: storia, economia, arte e altro
• un sito di servizi turistici per Matera che comprende molte foto (espandere il menu sul pannello a destra sotto Matera)
• la pagina dei Sassi su wikipedia
• nel 1993, i Sassi e le chiese rupestri di Matera sono stati aggiunti alla lista World Heritage dell'UNESCO: questa è the pagina sul sito UNESCO (in inglese)
• un set di slide sui Sassi
• il sito del Parco Nazionale del Pollino

Dopo aver letto e ammirato tanto su Matera, ammetto di voler visitare una città dall'aura davvero magica. Matera e la Basilicata offrono anche cibo per il corpo, non solo per l'immaginazione.

gli strascinati di Simona

Tra i piatti tradizionali lucani elencati sul sito dell'Accademia Italiana della Cucina ho scelto di fare della pasta: gli strascinati. La ricetta fa riferimento alla cavarola, una specie di tagliere di legno sul quale i pezzi di pasta vengono trascinati con le dita per dar loro la forma. Da notare che non ho trovato un sito italiano con una foto della cavarola: qualcuno di voi ce l'ha?

La ricetta originale usa la farina di grano duro ed io la prima volta ho usato tale ingrediente, mentre la volta successiva ho usato la miscela di farine per pasta di King Arthur Flour che uso per fare la pasta all'uovo e il risultato mi è piaciuto di più. La ricetta usa una quantità di farina notevole, indicazione che ho ignorato a favore di una quantità inferiore che mi permettesse di acquisire dimestichezza con la procedura per formare la pasta.

menta arancia dal mio orticello

Il condimento per la pasta è una variazione sul tema aglio, olio e peperoncino (chiamato cerasella nella regione ospitante). In questo caso, si aggiungono foglioline di menta fresca. La ricetta originale usa un misto di olio d'oliva e lardo. Io invece ho usato olio d'oliva e burro nocciola (del quale, da quando ho intervistato la maestra pasticciera Marisa Churchill, tengo sempre un vasetto nel frigorifero).

Ingredienti:

• 130 g misto di farine per pasta o farina di grano duro
• un pizzico di sale
• acqua tiepida
• 1/2 cucchiaio (7,5 ml) olio d'oliva
• 1/2 cucchiaio (7 g) burro nocciola (o burro normale)
• un piccolo spicchio d'aglio
• un pizzico di fiocchi di peperoncino
• chiffonade di alcune foglioline di menta fresca

2 porzioni

Preparate un impasto ben lavorato con la farina (alla quale avete aggiunto un pizzico di sale) e acqua (io uso 85 ml). Formate un rotolo con la pasta e poi tagliatelo in 5-6 pezzi. Con ogni pezzo fate un rotolino spesso un cm e tagliatelo a pezzi lunghi circa 3-3,5 cm, poi usate le tre dita di mezzo per trascinare ogni pezzetto verso di voi. Questo movimento spiana la pasta e le dà una forma cava che porta l'impronta delle vostre dita.

Cuocere la pasta. Dal momento che la pasta cuoce rapidamente, preparare il condimento non appena la si butta giù. Scaldare olio e burro in una padellina e poi farci imbiondire l'aglio. Togliere dal fuoco e aggiungere il peperoncino (più o meno, secondo i gusti). A questo punto la pasta dovrebbe essere pronta da scolare. La cottura dura pochi minuti: la pasta è pronta quando viene in superficie (assaggiare per accertarsi e, se necessario, prolungare la cottura). Scolare la pasta, versarla nella padella e spargere la menta. Mescolare bene, salare leggermente se necessario e servire subito.

Nota: la ricetta originale indica di fare dei listelli di pasta, ma per me è più facile fare rotolini. La ricetta indica anche l'uso delle tre dita di mezzo per formare la pasta. Io alle volte ho usato solo indice e medio. Poi ho visto questo video nel quale gli strascinati sono fatti con due dita e quindi ho pensato che andasse bene. Però poi ho letto un commento che sostiene che il video mostra i cavatelli piuttosto che gli strascinati. Questo mi ha fatto fare una ricerca sulle differenze tra i due tipi di pasta. Purtroppo alla fine non ho nulla di definitivo da scrivere: credo che questo sia un caso di variazioni locali che riguardano sia il nome che il tipo di pasta al quale ciascun nome di riferisce. In generale, cavatelli, strascinati e orecchiette appartengono ad una categoria di pasta che ha in comune il movimento di trascinamento che stende e dà forma alla pasta. Come esempi delle tante pagine che ho consultato, qui c'è una foto di mani che formano strascinati e qui c'è una foto di cavatelli. Non solo le due paste sono molto simili, la spiegazione di come farli è praticamente identica.

Addendum: Questo breve filmato mostra le mie mani che formano strascinati alla semola tostata utilizzando tre dita.

Se volete partecipare al nostro viaggio virtuale in Basilicata, queste sono le regole semplici da seguire:

• pubblicate una ricetta lucana entro la fine di domenica 1 Luglio
• includete nel post un link a questo post e al sito dell'Abbecedario culinario d'Italia
• lasciate un commento su questo post con il link al vostro contributo
• potete contribuire una ricetta dal vostro archivio, dopo aver aggiunto ad esso logo e link come descritto
• se non avete un blog, potete mandare la ricetta e una foto a trattoriamuvara AT gmail DOT com; lasciate un commento su questo post e allertateci dell'email

La raccolta dei contributi sarà pubblicata sul sito dell'Abbecedario culinario d'Italia sulla pagina dedicata alla lettera M.

Questo è il mio contributo all'Abbecedario culinario d'Italia, un evento organizzato dalla Trattoria MuVarA che ci porterà a visitare tutte le regioni italiane utilizzando come guida l'alfabeto. M come Matera (Basilicata) è ospitata da Simona di briciole (che poi sarei io).

tagliatelle con bietola e pecorino

tagliatelle with chard and pecorino

tagliatelle with chard and pecorino

Last Saturday, my laptop would not wake up after a period of sleep. (I just learned that the hard disk is broken and needs replacement.) Hence, the last several days have been challenging due to lack of access to files and applications I need for work, the blog and photography. The stressful computer situation did not prevent me from cooking and, in this case, experimenting a bit with available ingredients.

fava bean leaves

As I mentioned in my recent post on ribollita-inspired soup, at the farmers' market, I got some fresh fava bean leaves (foglie delle fave), called also fava greens. What I did not use in the soup, I turned into a kind of pesto, as follows:

• 3 oz. fresh fava bean leaves
• 2 cloves of garlic, previously roasted in the oven (skin on)
• a generous pinch of salt
• 2 tablespoons of olive oil

Put the first three ingredients in the food processor and turn it on, then pour the oil slowly through the feeding tube and process just a few seconds after you finish the oil.

I used a dollop of the sauce to top each bowl of ribollita-inspired soup, and stored the rest for further experiments. The first experiment was to use it as pasta dressing the way I use pesto. The result was acceptable, but not quite satisfying. Freshly harvested rainbow chard from my little vegetable patch almost screamed to be used and I paid attention.

My recipe for making fresh tagliatelle is in this post. The final element of the dish is fiore sardo (pecorino from Sardinia), the kind of cheese I use (together with Parmigiano-Reggiano) to make traditional basil pesto. It's one of my favorite Italian cheeses (and one of the few cheeses I still buy, since I cannot make it at home due to lack of access to sheep milk). It is also the cheese traditionally paired with fava beans, represented in my pasta dish by their leaves.

freshly grated pecorino cheese

This is another recipe where quantities are not fixed: I made a small batch of tagliatelle (using one egg, as in this recipe), harvested a small bunch of chard leaves and adjusted the amount of cheese to our palate. If you cook more chard than needed for the pasta, you can use it later as a side dish.

Ingredients:

• olive oil
• a clove of garlic, minced
• a small bunch of chard leaves cut into ribbons, thick ribs removed and set aside for another dish (like this or this)
• sea salt and freshly milled black pepper, to taste
• a tablespoon (or a bit more, to taste) of pesto made with fresh fava bean leaves (see above)
• a small batch of tagliatelle made using one egg
• freshly grated fiore sardo

Bring water for the pasta to a boil. In the meantime, warm up olive oil in a skillet and add garlic. Let fry lightly for a minute, then add the chard. Sauté over gentle heat until cooked (in my case, it took 6 minutes or so, since the chrd leaves were young and tender). The water hanging onto the leaves should be sufficient, but keep a close eye during the cooking to prevent them from sticking to the skillet. When ready, season with salt and pepper to taste, add the fava bean leaf pesto, stir well and turn off the heat. Keep warm while the pasta cooks.

Add salt to the boiling water, drop tagliatelle into it and stir. Bring back to a boil and cook pasta al dente (it will take just a few minutes). While you keep an eye on the pasta pot, grate the cheese. Pour some cold water into the pot, stir, then drain the tagliatelle. Empty the strainer into a bowl, then dress the pasta with the cooked chard and some of the cheese. Toss well, sprinkle more cheese on the surface and serve immediately.

This is my contribution to edition #261 of Presto Pasta Nights. The event was created by Ruth of Once Upon a Feast and is hosted this week by Simona of briciole (that would be me).

Click on the button to hear me pronounce the Italian words mentioned in the post:

tagliatelle con bietola e pecorino

or launch the tagliatelle con bietola e pecorino audio file [mp3].

[Depending on your set-up, the audio file will be played within the browser or by your mp3 player application. Please, contact me if you encounter any problems.]

chard, pasta, cheese