I am determined: One day, I will invent a new pasta shape. As an intermediate step, I have created an innovative variation of an existing pasta shape called fainelle. I decided to give my pasta a different name, because it is made quite differently from the inspiring one (see details below).1
According to my source, the "Encyclopedia of Pasta" by Oretta Zanini De Vita, fainelle are typical of Foggia (Puglia). The word fainella in dialect refers to the fruit of the carrob tree (in Italian, carruba), to which the pasta shape resembles. I was not able to find a reference to it outside of the page in Zanini De Vita's book, so the idea I have is based on the drawing and the text on that page.
Fainelle belong to the strascinati family of pasta shapes and are made with a sferre: "A typical knife of Puglia used to make many types of pasta. It has no handle, so it can also be used horizontally to make long strascinati." To approximate the shape, I decided to roll the dough with one of the pieces of dowel I had purchased during my experiments to make garganelli. I realized that using a mini rolling pin meant my pasta would not be a type of strascinato. (A sferre is now officially on my wish list.)
The result reminded me of a patch made of cloth, in Italian pezza. I made a couple of pezze and then the presence on my working surface of my gnocchi board gave me the idea of rolling the pieces of pasta dough on it to get a ridged surface and pezze rigate were born.
Then I thought about a variation: instead of placing the cylinder of dough parallel to the board grooves, I placed it a bit angled and as a result the ridges on the surface of the pezza came out oblique.
You can see my hands at work on both versions in this short video:
Based on Zanini De Vita's description of the flours used for this pasta
shape, I decided to make a blend of whole-wheat flour and semolina flour. I could
have used farina di grano arso, also mentioned in the book, but I wanted to vary.
first batch of pezze
I am reading a cookbook for
an upcoming review that is all about using flowers in the kitchen. I had
some calendulas (calendule) I had obtained to make one of the book's recipes and I added some of their petals (petali) to the pasta dough.
with calendula petals
Pezze rigate are probably
not the best choice to show off the use of flowers in the kitchen, but it was
an interesting experiment and I will certainly work more on the idea.
Ingredients for the pasta:
EITHER 25 g / 1 oz. stone-ground whole-wheat flour + 75 g / 2.5 oz. semolina flour of good quality
OR 100 g / 3.5 oz. semolina flour of good quality
50 g / 1.75 oz. warm water (I recommend weighing the water)
A pinch of salt
How to make the dough and shape pezze rigate Make
a
dough with the pasta ingredients and knead until nice and smooth.
Let the dough rest, well wrapped to avoid drying, for half an hour or so.
Shape 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. Cut each roll into approximately 1 1/2-inch (4 cm) long
pieces, then place each cylinder on the gnocchi board with the long sides either parallel to the board's grooves or slightly angled. Run the mini rolling pin — a piece of dowel of 3/8 inch (1 cm) or 1/2 inch (1.25 cm) in diameter — over the piece of dough 2-3 times to thin it and "stamp" it. The resulting pezza rigata will be about 2 inches long. Lay out to dry ridged side up on a surface lightly dusted with flour.
Repeat with the other pieces of dough. Lightly dust the gnocchi board as needed to prevent the dough from sticking too tightly when you roll it.
ready for the fork
Cook the pasta Bring a pot of salted water to a rolling boil, then toss the pezze rigate in it (what in Italian we call: buttare giù la pasta). The time needed to cook is a bit variable, depending on the size of pezze, how dry they are, etc. Taste and stop the cooking when the pasta is ready. Pour a glass of cold water in the pot, stir and drain the pezze.
Place in a
bowl,
distribute some sugo di pomodoro (tomato sauce), reheated if necessary, and toss. Finally, sprinkle some Parmigiano-Reggiano on top
and serve immediately.
Alternatively, while
the pasta is cooking, place a few tablespoons of the tomato sauce in a small skillet
and warm it up. Drain the pasta and drop it into the skillet with the sauce.
Stir well over medium-low heat for a minute. 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 (served as Italian first course).
I will add this recipe to my growing collection of pasta shapes. Please, do let me know if you try your hand at making any of them.
1 If you are aware of another pasta shape that is similar to (or the same as) what I made, please let me know.
This is my contribution to the current edition of Pasta Please, a new pasta-centric event created by Jacqueline of Tinned Tomatoes and hosted this month by Simona of briciole. The theme this month is: homemade pasta.
You have until May 28 to link to your contribution in this post.
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In the sweet month of May, let's make pasta at home.
This month, I have the honor of hosting Pasta Please, a pasta-centric event created by Jacqueline of Tinned Tomatoes.
Pasta
comes in a myriad shapes, some as simple as tagliatelle, other more complex, like cappellacci dei briganti, some plain and some stuffed, some made with egg dough and others without eggs, like orecchiette. It is not a stretch to say that there is a pasta shape for everybody. And the same holds for the sauces with which to dress the pasta.
Are you ready for a little challenge? For this edition of Pasta Please, I will give you free rein in terms of sauce, but I will ask you to try to make your own pasta. If you have never done it, I recommend you keep it simple and small, i.e., choose a simple pasta shape and make a small amount to begin with. Then, as you gain confidence, you can increase the quantities to feed more guests.
There are plenty of pasta shapes that require only your hands. If you have a pasta machine, use it for rolling and/or shaping (for example, to cut tagliatelle), but try kneading the dough by hand. Or you can do the reverse: let the machine do the kneading and try you hands at shaping. Don't be afraid: I hope you'll discover that it is a satisfying experience.
If you have a shape in mind that you've always wanted to try, go for it. And if you could use some inspiration, I have a list of pasta shapes that I have described in my blog on this page. Many of the posts come with a short video that will help you as you take the first steps.
To summarize, here are the simple rules:
Create a recipe that includes some kind of pasta you make at home (see details above).
Write a post and add it to the list using the linky at the bottom of this post (if you have problems with the linky, leave a comment or send me an email at simosite AT mac DOT com.
If you use Twitter, tweet your post with @tinnedtoms and #PastaPlease and Jac will re-tweet it to her followers; if you add @SimonaBriciole, I will do the same.
Inspiration often comes unexpectedly. When I followed the link to read this post by Aioulik of Trattoria MuVarA (in Italian), I expected to be reminded of some of the great dishes typical of the Sardinian cuisine. The photo of the lovely pasta shape resembling a miniature wreath or an earring made me search immediately online for information. Shortly afterwards, I was at the kneading board. Later, I posted this phost to my Instagram feed:
from my first batch of lorighittas
I think it was not bad for my first try.
According to online sources, lorighittas are typical of the Sardinian town of Morgongiori (province of Oristano). As explained on this page, the name comes from sa loriga, a Sardinian word that indicates the iron ring fixed to the wall of a house to which horses or donkeys were tethered.
In this video (in Italian), the woman interviewed talks about the tradition of making lorighittas. She adds the salt to the water rather than the semola (in this post, there is a brief discussion of the various products obtained by milling durum wheat) and calls that battezzare (to baptize). She says that the pasta is fully dried, a process that takes several days. I assume the drying is done for storage.
Other interesting things from the video are the beautiful basket on which the lorighittas are laid out to dry and the repurposed meatgrinder. Instead of a basket, I used a cookie sheet lined with a cotton kitchen towel (see top photo). I then covered the lorighittas with another towel.
To make lorighittas you roll the dough into a string that is thin enough, but not so thin as to break during the shaping. The meatgrinder made a lot of sense, so I decided to try using it. Unfortunately, the disk I have (only one, since my meatgrinder is basically an antique) does not produce smooth strings, so my experiment did not end satisfactorily. I went back to rolling with my hands.
Shaping the lorighittas requires a bit of attention. In this video, you can see my hands at work.
A quick comparison with the hands of the women in the previous video shows that I have a little way to go before I can contemplate making lorighittas for a large party. But I am determined to improve with practice.
Considering that I had chosen a complex pasta shape, I thought I would go easy in terms of sauce. Having missed last month's edition of Pasta Please, I wanted to comply with this month's theme, chili peppers, so I made simple tomato sauce using my strained roasted tomatoes and I spiked it with peperoncino.
See this bunch of peperoncini? I have had them for some time and I can assure you they've lost none of their potency.
bright red peperoncini next to big zucchini blossoms
I bought them during my only visit to the farmers' market in Milan, shortly after they opened it. I had a mixed experience there, but walked away with, among other things, a pretty bunch of peperoncini, fiery in both color and flavor, which I have been using ever since.
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)
Make lorighittas 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 lorighittas.
You don't want the dough to dry out. Roll each piece into a thin string, not thicker than 1/6 inch / 0.4 cm diameter (see Note below). Wrap the string around the four fingers twice then break the dough and
join the two ends by pressing lightly. Note: if the rings come out too long and you have trouble with the next step, try using only three fingers. Thread one loop into the other a few times until the
two strands are woven into a sort of two-strand braid.
Continue until all the dough is used. You may want to dust lightly with flour the surface
where you lay the shaped lorighittas, to prevent them from sticking. And you may need to wet your hands if they get too dry while shaping the pasta (it happened to me).
The first time I made the pasta, I cooked
it a few hours after I had shaped it. The second time, I dried it for a
couple of days to see how it looked. Note: someone whose mother is from Morgongiori kindly commented on FB that the string of dough must be thinner than it appears in my version of lorighittas. I am aware that in my first rendition the string of dough was a bit thick. Also, the perspective of the close-up photos is somewhat tricky. Finally, I learned by myself, just watching a video, so I make no claims about the authenticity of my lorighittas. As I mentioned above, the dough should be thin, but not so thin as to break when you roll it around your fingers. I am sure my technique would improve if I could spend some time in Morgongiori with the pros and if I am ever in Sardinia, you can be sure I'd visit the town and look for a mentor.
just shaped
Prepare the spicy tomato sauce In a
small saucepan, warm up a bit of olive oil, then add garlic and chili pepper. Choose the chili pepper's size and how you cut it based on how spicy you want your sauce. In my household, the preference goes to mild spicyness, so I chose a smallish peperoncino. I left it whole and snapped off the stem and the small cap to which it is attached.
Cook gently for a couple of minutes, then add the tomatoes. Bring to a simmer and cook for 7-8 minutes. Remove garlic and chili pepper.
Adjust salt, to taste. Note that this will make more sauce than you
need to dress the pasta, but once you have the sauce ready, I am
sure you'll find ways of using it, like making more handmade pasta.
If you find that the sauce is too hot for your taste, make another batch without peperoncino and then blend the two.
Cook the pasta Bring a pot of salted water to a rolling boil, then toss the lorighittas in it (what in Italian we call: buttare giù la pasta). The time needed is a bit variable, depending on the size of lorighittas, how dry they are, etc.
Dry lorighittas take quite some time to cook, so be patient. Taste and stop the cooking when the lorighittas are ready. Pour a glass of cold water in the pot, stir and drain the lorighittas. Place in a
bowl,
distribute some tomato sauce (reheated if necessary), 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. Drain the pasta and drop it into the skillet with the sauce.
Stir well over medium-low heat for a minute. 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.
pretty on the plate
Every time I make a new pasta shape, I think it is the prettiest I have made so far. Lorighittas stand well with the spicyness of the peperoncino in the sauce. I honestly liked the fresh version a bit better, but I am glad I dried one batch. I will do it again and complete the drying process, so I can store the pasta for later use.
This is my contribution to the current edition of Pasta Please, a new pasta-centric event created by Jacqueline of Tinned Tomatoes and hosted this month by Shaheen of Allotment2Kitchen. The theme this month is: chillies (a.k.a. chili peppers).
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You look at the image and you want some, right? That's what happened to me: I read about cappellacci dei briganti in the "Encyclopedia of Pasta" by Oretta Zanini De Vita and I immediately made a batch.
The word cappellaccio comes from cappello
(hat). The suffix has a negative connotation, which matches the idea
that they are worn by lawless characters. According to Zanini De Vita,
this pasta is typical of Molise, the Italian region sandwiched between Abruzzo and Puglia. (Note that there is another type of pasta whose name includes cappellacci, namely cappellacci di zucca, a type of stuffed pasta typical of Ferrara.)
the hatmaker's production
The name of
this pasta shape evokes tales of travellers being ambushed and robbed
by men wrapped in dark cloaks, their faces shadowed by tall hats. Despite the fearsome name, this pasta is quite cute and not particularly difficult to
make, but it requires close attention to the movements of your hands.
My first attempt was successful, but I was not totally satisfied with
the way my cappellacci looked after the required rest, so I searched the
web and found an image in this article
(in Italian, click on the magnifying glass icon to see the whole
image), which gave me the idea of pressing the front of the brim against
the conical portion of the hat. I tried it and liked the result, so that's how I have made my cappellacci dei briganti ever since.
You can see my hands at work in this short video — in which you can also hear my husband say "Action!"
As usual, my recommendation is to start by making un uovo di pasta, a small amount of dough, so you don't get overwhelmed by the task. When your hands become proficient at making cappellacci, you can increase the amount of dough and delight more people. To make the pasta dough, I used the KAF Pasta Blend previously mentioned and was happy with the result. For one extra-large egg, I weigh 80 g of
flour. I then add more flour, as needed, to get a dough of the
right consistency. It is better to have to add flour than to find
yourself with a hard dough (my mother's wisdom).
Ingredients:
80 g (a teaspoon less than 3 oz.) flour [see paragraph above] plus more as needed to obtain the dough by
my measuring, 80 g of King Arthur's Pasta Blend correspond to 1/2 cup,
but this is not what the packaging states and in any case, I recommend
you weigh the flour
1 extra-large egg
A pinch of sea salt
On your working surface, create a well
with the flour and crack the egg directly into it. Sprinkle the salt. Scramble the egg
with a fork. Draw flour from the sides of the well into the center,
mixing well with the egg.
Trade the fork for your fingertips. Draw flour
until a soft dough forms. Add more flour, as needed. Continue to knead
the dough, 8-10 minutes. Cover the dough and let it rest for an hour or so (at least half an hour).
circles and cutouts
Roll dough by hand or with a pasta machine. On my machine, I stop at the penultimate notch. Zanini De Vita mentions an inverted liqueur glass as implement to cut the circles from which to shape the cappellacci. A two-inch biscuit cutter is perfect for the task and actually, in my opinion, more comfortable to use than a glass.
Wrap one circle around the tip of your index finger (indice) to form a cone. Fold back the side of the brim opposite to the seam and press it against the cone, then slide the cappellaccio off the finger and place it upright on the lightly floured working surface, resting on the lateral sides of the brim.
Make sure the index finger you are using as support to shape the pasta
is floured, otherwise you won't be able to take the cappellaccio off at the end
without misshaping it.
Knead together the cutouts (ritagli di pasta) and cover them while you work, then roll them again. Continue until all the dough is used. Let the cappellacci dry for at least a couple of hours, so they will hold their shape better while cooking. I usually make cappellacci in the morning, if I plan to cook them for lunch.
Boil in plenty of salted water. Always handle the cappellacci with a delicate touch, when you transfer them into the pot, when you stir them while cooking and then when you dress them. You will be rewarded with a truly pretty plate of pasta that will delight the eyes and palates of your guests.
cappellacci dei briganti al sugo
I dress the cappellacci with my usual sugo di pomodoro. I have been carefully drawing from my stash of frozen strained roasted tomatoes, which is a joy to use and will last me until the new tomato crop comes around.
I will add this recipe to my growing collection of pasta shapes. Please, do let me know if you try your hand at making any of them.
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Imagine a pasta that smells like toasted hazelnuts (nocciole tostate). It's not a dream, but the result of my experiments following my experience with farina di grano arso.
I don't (yet) know how they obtain the gray color and smoky flavor of that flour, but reading again Debra's post about it gave me the idea of trying to toast some semolina flour. I knew I would not get a gray, smoky flour, but I thought that maybe the result would be interesting. It certainly was.
original and toasted semolina flour
I dry-roasted some semolina flour in a frying pan, then made a number of experiments using the golden result in combination with various other flours. I also toasted durum flour and used that in combination with various other flours. Toasted durum flour is easier to work with, but does not give the pasta made with it the same nutty flavor toasted semolina flour does, so I prefer the latter. I am giving you here what I think was the combination that gives the best result.
strascinati made with some toasted semolina flour
You may recall that strascinati
was the first type of eggless pasta I made, some months ago. More recently, I made a version using chestnut flour. I made that version of strascinati using two fingers, while I made the toasted semolina flour strascinati using three fingers.
I have dressed this lovely pasta in various ways. Here I am showing them with the purple sprouting broccoli dressing I described in the recent post about orecchiette di grano arso. Besides being flavorful, this vegetable is quite photogenic.
Ingredients for the pasta:
25 g / 1 oz. toasted semolina flour (see below instructions on how to toast semolina flour)
75 g / 2.5 oz. semolina flour of good quality
55 g / 2 oz. warm water (I recommend weighing the water)
A pinch of salt
Ingredients for the dressing:
150 g / 5.25 oz. purple sprouting broccoli, large ones cut in half lengthwise
1/2 tablespoon olive oil of good quality
A clove of garlic, peeled and lightly smashed
Freshly grated aged Dubliner (or other cheese that combined a note of nuttiness with a slight sharpness), to taste, but with a light hand (see Note below)
How to toast semolina flour (Do this ahead) Toasting semolina flour requires patience, because you don't want to burn it.
Warm up a cup of semolina flour in a dry frying pan over medium-low heat. First, stir often, then, once the semolina flour starts to get
darker, stir almost continuously. As it darkens in color, the semolina flour gives up a bit of smoke. Once the flour is all darker turn down the heat a bit.
To decide when to stop, follow your nose: when the semolina flour smells nicely toasted, remove from the
heat, then stir a little longer. Let the toasted semolina flour cool completely, then store it in a container until you need to use it.
How to make the dough and shape strascinati Make a
dough with the pasta ingredients and knead until nice and smooth.
If you are used to making a regular semolina dough, note that this dough requires a longer kneading and remains a tiny bit grainy. The effort is repaid by the lovely nutty smell that makes your nose dance. Let the dough rest, covered, for half an hour or so.
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. Cut each roll into approximately 1 1/4-inch (3 cm) long
pieces, then use the three middle fingers (or the index and middle finger) 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.
How to cook and dress the strascinati Bring a pot of salted water to a rolling boil, then toss the strascinati
in it. Bring back the water to a rolling boil, wait 10 seconds and toss the sprouting broccoli in it. Bring back to boiling and proceed with the cooking. The
time needed to cook pasta and broccoli is short, so don't wander far
away from the pot. Also, the time is dependent on size and dryness of
pasta, so my directions are indicative: you may find that the broccoli cook too long if added as I describe, so next time you want to
delay adding them.
While the pasta cooks, warm up the oil in a
frying pan and add the garlic. Taste the pasta and stop the cooking slightly before the strascinati are ready. Drain strascinati
and broccoli, leaving a bit of cooking water clinging to them, and add
them to the pan with the oil. Turn up the heat a bit and toss gently to
coat, a minute or so, then remove from the heat. Discard the garlic,
sprinkle some cheese and toss some more. Adjust salt if needed, plate
and sprinkle a bit more cheese on top. Serve immediately. The recipe
makes two portions.
Note: When I dressed this kind of strascinati with tomato sauce, I used Parmigiano-Reggiano. For the dressing described in this post, I wanted a cheese that had a note of nuttiness, but was also slightly sharp. I cast Kerrygold Vintage Dubliner in the role and the result was excellent.
isn't it lovely?
Just try it.
The warm note of toasted nuts you smell while kneading the dough and shaping the pasta is detectable once the pasta is cooked. The sprouting broccoli and cheese go along perfectly with the strascinati: the ensemble is a simple dish with complex flavor that is utterly satisfying.
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Immaginate una pasta che profuma di nocciole tostate. Non è un sogno, ma il risultato dei miei esperimenti dopo aver provato ad usare la farina di grano arso.
Ancora non so come i produttori riescano ad ottenere il colore grigio e il profumo leggermente affumicato di tale farina, ma nel leggere di nuovo il post di Debra mi è venuto in mente di provare a tostare la semola.
originale e tostata
Ho tostato della "semolina flour" in una padella a secco e poi ho fatto diversi esperimenti utilizzando il risultato in combinazione con altre farine. Ho anche provato a tostare della farina di grano duro e ad utilizzarla in combinazione con altre farine. La farina di grano duro tostata è più facile da lavorare, ma la pasta che si ottiene non ha lo stesso sapore noccioloso di quella fatta con la semola tostata e quindi preferisco quest'ultima. Qui sotto descrivo la combinazione che mi ha dato il risultato preferito.
Come ho raccontato in precedenza, dove abito non trovo semola e semola rimacinata come in Italia. La semolina flour è macinata più grossolanamente della semola rimacinata, ma mi sembra più fine della semola. Per i vostri esperimenti, provate a tostare entrambe e confrontate i risultati, poi scegliete la soluzione migliore.
strascinati fatti con della "semolina flour" tostata
Gli strascinati sono il primo tipo di pasta senza uova che ho imparato a fare, qualche mese fa. Più di recente, ne ho fatta una versione alla farina di castagne. Per fare tale versione ho utilizzato due dita per trascinare la pasta, mentre per questa versione ho usato tre dita.
Ho condito questa pasta deliziosa in modi diversi. Qui la vedete con i broccoli viola cha ho descritto di recente nel post sulle orecchiette di grano arso. Oltre ad essere gustosa, questa verdura è alquanto fotogenica.
Ingredienti per la pasta:
25 g semola o semola rimacinata tostata (vedi sotto le istruzioni per tostare la semola)
75 g semola di grano duro (rimacinata o meno, o un misto, a seconda di quello che prevede la vostra ricetta di
famiglia)
un pizzico di sale
55 g acqua tiepida
Ingredienti per il condimento:
150 g infiorescenze di broccolo viola (se grosse, tagliatele a metà per il lungo)
1/2 cucchiaio (7,5 ml) olio d'oliva
Uno spicchio d'aglio, pelato e leggermente schiacciato
Formaggio Dubliner invecchiato o un altro formaggio che abbia insieme una nota nocciolosa e una leggermente piccante, grattugiato fresco, a piacere, ma aggiunto con mano leggera
Tostare la semola o semola rimacinata richiede pazienza. Scaldare 150 g della semola scelta in una padella a secco su calore medio-basso. All'inizio, muovere la semola spesso, poi, quando comincia a imbiondire, muoverla quasi di continuo. Abbassare il calore quando è diventata tutta più scura.
Per decidere quando spegnere il calore, seguite il vostro naso: quando la semola o semola rimacinata emana un odore gradevolmente tostato rimuovere dal calore, scuotere la padella ancora un po' e poi far freddare. Conservare in un barattolo fino al momento dell'uso.
Preparate
un impasto ben lavorato con le semole (al quale avete aggiunto un
pizzico di sale) e l'acqua. Questo impasto richiede una lavorazione un po' piu lunga del solito (e al tatto si sente un pochino granelloso), ma premia con il suo profumo di nocciole tostate. Coprire e far riposare per una mezz'ora.
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 oppure indice e medio 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.
Portare a bollore una pentola
d'acqua salata e versarci gli strascinati. Riportare a bollore vivace, lasciar passare 10 secondi e poi versare i broccoli, riportare a bollore e continuare la cottura. Il
tempo necessario a cuocere la pasta e le infiorescenze di broccolo è
breve, quindi non lasciate il posto di comando vicino ai fornelli. Il
tempo dipende dalla grandezza degli strascinati e da quanto secchi sono,
quindi le mie istruzioni sono indicative: se vi rendete conto che i
broccoli cuociono troppo quando li aggiungete al momento da me indicato,
la volta successiva ritardate l'inizio della loro cottura.
Mentre la pasta cuoce, scaldare
l'olio in una padella e aggiungere l'aglio. Assaggiare la pasta e
fermare la cottura poco prima che gli strascinati siano pronti. Scolare
pasta e broccoli, lasciando un po' dell'acqua di cottura, e versare
nella padella con l'olio. Alzare un po' il fuoco e mescolare
delicatamente pasta e broccoli per un minuto per terminare la cottura,
poi togliere dal fuoco. Rimuovere l'aglio, distribuire un po' di
formaggio e mescolare delicatamente. Regolare il sale, impiattare (due
porzioni), distribuire un po' di formaggio e servire immediatamente.
Nota: Quando ho condito questi strascinati col mio sugo di pomodoro, ho usato del Parmigiano-Reggiano. Per il condimento descritto in questo post, volevo un formaggio che avesse una nota nocciolosa, ma fosse anche una puntina piccante. Ho assegnato il ruolo al Kerrygold Vintage Dubliner e il risultato mi ha soddisfatta.
è un bel piatto, vero?
La nota di nocciole tostate che sentite mentre preparate l'impasto e formate la pasta si assapora quando la pasta è cotta. I broccoli e il formaggio vanno d'accordo col sapore degli strascinati e il trio forma un piatto semplice dal sapore complesso molto soddisfacente. Provare per credere.
Farina di grano arso is gray and gray are the orecchiette made with it. I have talked about this special flour and how to use it to make pasta in a recent post.
I made orecchiette di grano arso three times so far and I have always cooked some purple sprouting broccoli in the same pot. I harvest them as individual florets (as part of my CSA u-pick share).
vividly colored
A strikingly colored pasta deserves a strikingly colored accompaniment. This broccoli variety loses its purple hue when cooked, but it turns into a brilliant green that offers a nice contrast to
the dark pasta. The final touch of color is given by the white cheese sprinkled on the pasta before serving.
pretty in monochrome
Ingredients and instructions to make the orecchiette are given in this post, which includes a short video of my hands shaping the pasta.
Ingredients for the dressing:
150 g / 5.25 oz. purple sprouting broccoli, large ones cut in half lengthwise
1/2 tablespoon olive oil of good quality
A clove of garlic, peeled and lightly smashed
Freshly grated fiore sardo, to taste, but with a light hand
Make the orecchiette and let them dry for a couple of hours (or a bit more: I usually make orecchiette early in the morning and then cook them for lunch).
Bring a pot of salted water to a rolling boil, then toss the orecchiette in it. Bring back the water to a rolling boil and toss the broccoli in it. Bring back to boiling and proceed with the cooking. The time needed to cook pasta and broccoli is short, so don't wander far away from the pot. Also, the time is dependent on size and dryness of pasta, so my directions are indicative: you may find that the sprouting broccoli cook too long if added as I describe, so next time you want to delay adding them.
While the pasta cooks, warm up the oil in a
frying pan and add the garlic. Taste the pasta and stop the cooking slightly before the orecchiette are ready. Drain orecchiette and broccoli, leaving a bit of cooking water clinging to them, and add them to the pan with the oil. Turn up the heat a bit and toss gently to coat, a minute or so, then remove from the heat. Discard the garlic, sprinkle some cheese and toss some more. Adjust salt if needed, plate and sprinkle a bit more cheese on top. Serve immediately. The recipe makes two portions.
a steaming plate
The orecchiette taste slightly nutty and smoky, and the broccoli provide a nice contrast with their earthier, but also bright, flavor. A garlicky nuance is there, counterbalanced by the lightly sharp cheese. In sum, a lovely ensemble of flavors.
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La farina di grano arso è grigia e sono grigie le orecchiette che con essa si fanno. Ho parlato di questa farina speciale e di come la uso per fare la pasta in un post recente.
Ho fatto le orecchiette di grano arso tre volte finora e ho sempre cotto insieme ad esse delle infiorescenze di broccolo viola.
che bel colore!
Una pasta dal colore particolare merita un accompagnamento dal colore particolare. Questa varietà di cavolo broccolo perde il colore viola quando viene cotta, ma diventa di un verde brillante che offre bel contrasto al grigio della pasta. Il tocco di colore finale è il formaggio bianco aggiunto subito prima di servire.
eleganza in bianco e nero
Ingredienti e instruzioni sulla manifattura delle orecchiette sono in questo post, che comprende un breve video con le mie mani che formano la pasta.
Ingredienti per il condimento:
150 g infiorescenze di broccolo viola (se grosse, tagliatele a metà per il lungo)
1/2 cucchiaio (7,5 ml) olio d'oliva
Uno spicchio d'aglio, pelato e leggermente schiacciato
Fiore sardo grattugiato fresco, a piacere, ma aggiunto con mano leggera
Fare le orecchiette e farle asciugare per un paio d'ore (o un po' di più: io di solito faccio le orecchiette al mattino e le cuocio per pranzo).
Portare a bollore una pentola d'acqua salata e versarci le orecchiette. Riportare a bollore vivace e versare i broccoli, riportare a bollore e continuare la cottura. Il tempo necessario a cuocere la pasta e le infiorescenze di broccolo è breve, quindi non lasciate il posto di comando vicino ai fornelli. Il tempo dipende dalla grandezza delle orecchiette e da quanto secche sono, quindi le mie istruzioni sono indicative: se vi rendete conto che i broccoli cuociono troppo quando li aggiungete al momento da me indicato, la volta successiva ritardate l'inizio della loro cottura.
Mentre la pasta cuoce, scaldare l'olio in una padella e aggiungere l'aglio. Assaggiare la pasta e fermare la cottura poco prima che le orecchiette siano pronte. Scolare pasta e broccoli, lasciando un po' dell'acqua di cottura, e versare nella padella con l'olio. Alzare un po' il fuoco e mescolare delicatamente pasta e broccoli per un minuto per terminare la cottura, poi togliere dal fuoco. Rimuovere l'aglio, distribuire un po' di formaggio e mescolare delicatamente. Regolare il sale, impiattare (due porzioni), distribuire un po' di formaggio e servire immediatamente.
a steaming plate
Le orecchiette hanno un sapore leggermente tostato e affumicato e i broccoli offrono un piacevole contrasto con il loro sapore "verduroso." Il sapore di aglio è leggero ed è bilanciato dal formaggio leggermento piccante. Insomma, un'ottima combinazione di sapori.
Le fate esistono. Fairies exist. Here is how I know. Last October, shortly before going to Italy to visit my family, I learned about a special flour from Puglia (Apulia) called farina di grano arso (literally, burnt wheat flour). This flour was traditionally obtained by milling durum wheat grains gleaned from the fields after the stubble had been burnt. I had of course known about the gleaning that happened after harvesting, but never about combing through the burnt fields, a back-breaking job yielding burnt berries. However, in a situation of need, they were better than nothing. The grano arso was then milled and mixed to regular durum flour to make pasta, bread and focaccia.
Nowadays, the product is obtained via toasting (I wish I knew more about how it is done), a safer process, since burning produces unhealthy compounds. The resulting gray flour smells slightly smoky and is appreciated for its unusual color and pleasant nutty flavor.
I had to get some.
Unfortunately, I could not find any in my home town (Perugia). I was disappointed
and determined to be better organized the next time I visited Italy (possibly ordering the flour online to have it delivered to my family's address). A
few weeks later, however, a good fairy made
my wish come true: she sent me a package with a
jar of farina di grano arso in it. What a wonderful gift! In this post you can read about her experience learning about grano arso during her visit to Puglia.
farina di grano arso
I have used the precious farina di grano arso to make orecchiette, using one part of
farina di grano arso and three parts of semolina flour. That was not
difficult. Taking photographs was arduous. The images I selected do
only partial justice to the beauty of the light gray color of the flour
and the darker gray color of the pasta made with it.
striking color
I made orecchiette di grano arso twice and both times I cooked some purple sprouting broccoli in the same pot. As I am still working out the details of the
preparation, I will talk more about this pairing in a future post. Update: You can read the details in this post.
As a reference, from my previous post about orecchiette, here is a very short segment shows my hands making one orecchietta using a dough made with semolina flour:
You may watch videos that show the use of a tool to shape
orecchiette: I am more comfortable using my hands. The dough made using
farina di grano arso is softer than the one made only with semolina
flour: I floured my fingers every now and then to prevent
sticking. And I let the orecchiette
dry a couple of hours before cooking them.
Ingredients for the pasta:
25 g / 1 oz. farina di grano arso
75 g / 2.5 oz. semolina flour of good quality
50 g / 1.75 oz. warm water (I recommend weighing the water)
A pinch of salt
Make a dough with the ingredients and knead until nice and smooth. Let it 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 index finger and lay it out to dry.
After letting them dry for a couple of hours, cook the orecchiette and dress them as you like, but make sure to avoid strong flavors that would overwhelm the delicate nutty note of the pasta.
I know what's in your mind: where can we get some of this flour? I have not yet found a source for it in the US. If and when I do, I will certainly let you know. In the meantime, if you visit Puglia, make sure to bring back some.
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Le fate esistono. Ecco come lo so. Lo scorso Ottobre, poco prima di venire in Italia a trovare la mia famiglia, ho letto un articolo sulla farina di grano arso, prodotto tipico pugliese. Per chi non lo sapesse (magari io ero l'unica ad essere all'oscuro), questa farina una volta si otteneva dalla macinatura del grano duro spigolato dopo la bruciatura delle stoppie e veniva aggiunta alla farina "buona" per fare pasta, pane e focaccia. Insomma, un prodotto della necessità che aguzza l'ingegno.
Oggigiorno la farina viene prodotta tramite tostatura (e mi piacerebbe conoscere maggiori dettagli del processo), dal momento che la bruciatura crea delle sostanze nocive. La farina grigia e dal profumo un po' affumicato viene apprezzata per il suo colore insolito e il sapore delicatamente torrefatto.
La volevo trovare, ma a Perugia non ci sono riuscita e sono tornata a casa in California delusa e decisa ad organizzarmi meglio la prossima volta, magari ordinandone un po' online e facendola recapitare alla mia famiglia. Qualche settimana dopo, una fata gentile ha soddisfatto il mio desiderio: mi ha mandato un pacchetto con un vasetto di farina di grano arso. Un regalo bellissimo! In questo post (in inglese) potete leggere come lei ha conosciuto il grano arso durante la sua visita in Puglia.
farina di grano arso
Con la farina di grano arso ho fatto delle orecchiette, usando una parte di farina di grano arso e tre della semolina flour che trovo nel negozio dove faccio spesa di solito e che io uso come se fosse semola rimacinata. Fare le orecchiette è stato facile. Il difficile è stato fotografarle. Le immagini che ho scelto danno solo in parte l'idea del colore della farina e della pasta fatta con essa.
un bel colore
Ho fatto le orecchiette di grano arso due volte e in entrambi i casi le ho cotte con delle infiorescenze di broccoli viola. Devo definire i dettagli della ricetta e quindi la riservo per un post futuro. Aggoirnamento: i dettagli della ricetta sono in questo post.
Come riferimento, dal mio post precedente sulle orecchiette, ecco un breve video che mostra le mie mani che formano un'orecchietta con l'impasto normale:
Ho visto video che mostrano l'uso di un attrezzo per formare le orecchiette, ma io mi trovo meglio ad usare le mie mani. L'impasto è piu morbido di quello che faccio solo con la semolina flour e ho dovuto infarinarmi le dita alcune volte per evitare che l'orecchietta rimanesse un po' attaccata. Ho fatto asciugare le orecchiette un paio d'ore prima di cuocerle.
Ingredienti:
25 g farina di grano arso
75 g semola di grano duro (rimacinata o meno, o un misto, a seconda di quello che prevede la vostra ricetta di
famiglia)
50 g acqua calda
un pizzico di sale
Lavorare gli ingredienti
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 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.
Cuocere le orecchiette in abbondante acqua salata e condirle a piacere ma non con ingredienti dal sapore forte altrimenti quello delicato delle orecchiette viene soffocato. E se siete pazienti saprete presto come faccio io.
Ai miei lettori non italiani non posso dare indicazioni precise su come trovare la farina di grano arso fuori dall'Italia, ma voi non avete limitazioni e potete trovarne in commercio diretto oppure online e fare questa pasta che rende omaggio ad una bellissima regione e rende onore ad un retaggio culturale che ci ricorda la vita per nulla facile di tante persone.
Besides exploring new pasta shapes, I like creating variations of known ones. Today's pasta is an example. I took the pasta dough made with 50% farina di castagne (chestnut flour) previously used in making a version of strascinati and I tried making gnocchetti sardi (Sardinian gnocchi) with it. That worked very nicely.
I then took some roasted red pepper and almond dip (made last summer and frozen), and repurposed it as pasta sauce. The result? Sparkling!
The word "peppers" (peperoni) immediately brings to mind the summer farmers' market and the many varieties of this vegetable that I can find there, from sweet to mildly spicy to fiery hot. Fortunately, during pepper season, I did a bit of preservation work.
Round of Hungary (or pimento cheese) peppers
Sweet, meaty Round of Hungary peppers are perfect to make roasted red pepper and almond dip . A batch yields quite a bit, so a few times I froze half for future use. Hence now, in the dead of winter, I have some of the bright red spread
to eat as usual or use in innovative ways.
soft in sepia (for Black and White Wednesday)
My original post on gnocchetti sardi includes a short video, which I am reposting here. The 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. If you press too hard, the dough gets sort of smushed and the dough sticks to the board. Make sure to flour lightly the gnocchi board as needed to prevent sticking. Also, if you have experience making gnocchetti with the original dough, be advised that in this version they are softer, so a light touch is called for when shaping and handling them.
Ingredients:
50 g / 1.75 oz. chestnut flour
50 g / 1.75 oz. all-purpose flour
A pinch of fine sea salt
55 g / 2 oz. lukewarm water (I recommend weighing the water)
Make a
dough with the first four ingredients and knead until nice and smooth.
Let the dough rest, covered, for half an hour or so.
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, and lay out to dry.
Bring a pot of salted water to a rolling boil, then toss the gnocchetti 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., but it is relatively short. Don't wander far away from the
pot, so you can carefully check the process.
While
the pasta is cooking, place the red pepper dip in a bowl and add 1/2 tablespoon or so of the pasta cooking water to soften it (adjusting the quantity based on the density of the dip). Drain the pasta and transfer it into the bowl with
the sauce. Stir well with a delicate touch. Plate and serve immediately. The recipe makes two
small portions.
This post goes to Pantry Party, an event created by Elizabeth of The Law Student's Cookbook whose February theme is pasta. (My handmade pasta does not come from the pantry, but the flour(s) I use to make the dough do.)
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You look at garganelli and you think: penne rigate. There are a few differences between the two pasta shapes. In particular, in garganelli the ridges are perpendicular, rather than parallel, to the length, and there is a visible seam. A link tweeted recently by Frank of Memorie
di Angelina sent me to an article on garganelli. As soon as I finished reading it, I started planning my rendition.
According to the Encyclopedia of Pasta by Oretta Zanini De Vita, this pasta shape is typical of Emilia-Romagna (like the strozzapreti I featured recently), but it can also be found in Marche and Umbria. The name comes from the dialectal word garganel, chicken's gullet "which the ridged garganello resembles." I am not familiar with the dialects of Emilia-Romagna, but in Italian there is the expression bere a garganella,
which means to drink without placing the rim of the vessel on your
lips, but letting the liquid drop straight into your mouth.
Zanini De Vita's entry for garganelli is interesting to read in its entirety, in particular because it shows an image of the pettine (comb), the tool traditionally used to make them. They are indeed also known as maccheroni al pettine. I don't have a pettine, but browsing around the web, I saw that the tool sold as garganelli board, to be used in lieu of a pettine, is basically
a gnocchi board with a mini rolling pin.
my first version of rolling pin for garganelli
I already had a gnocchi
board, so I asked for my husband's help in crafting the mini rolling
pin. "We need a dowel," he said. I am used to going to the hardware store to ask for things that are
made for one job, while I will be using them for a totally different
one. I did not do my homework with the necessary care (see later), so I asked for a 1/2-inch diameter dowel (photo above). The dowel he got me was too long, but a small saw took care of
that detail and voilà, I had my mini rolling pin.
I then turned my attention to the logistics of shaping garganelli. The recipes I read for the dough were
all over the place: the only common trait was the use of eggs. Most
importantly, the recipes did not address my main question: how do you prevent garganelli from flattening?
I decided to use my regular egg dough, which
has a certain amount of body due to the presence of semolina and durum
flour in the mix. It all went smoothly and I had a lot of fun shaping
the garganelli. But then, what I was dreading, happened: my beautiful tubular garganelli slowly flattened while drying. Of course, they were still edible.
in great shape
For my second attempt, I let the pasta dry somewhat
between the rolling and the shaping, so that it would be stiffer. It worked: My garganelli kept their pretty shape until I plopped them into boiling water, over an hour after they I had rolled them.
garganelli dressed with mashed avocado
Then, in a grocery store in Oakland, I happened upon dry garganelli and noticed that their diameter was smaller than that of my homemade garganelli. I went home and did a bit more research. The most influential source of information I found is a post that includes a .gif image showing the shaping of a garganello using the thicker end of a chopstick. After reading the post, I got two more dowels: one 3/8-inch and the other 1/4-inch (6 mm) in diameter and again cut a piece from each, about 8 inches (20 cm) long. I then made garganelli using both and in the end concurred with Yuko of Cuisinivity that using a small-diameter mini rolling pin is better. The garganelli made with the 1/4-inch diameter mini rolling pin are less tricky to handle and keep their lovely shape better.
Here are my hands making garganelli:
I follow Yuko's lead in somewhat marking the pasta square by lightly passing the rolling pin over it first. My addition is that when I do the actual roll, I use the side of the board closest to me to direct the rolling action (see where my thumbs are in the video).
As in other pasta shapes I make, the hands move with a balance between not enough pressure, which in this case would make a garganello without ridges and not properly sealed, and too much pressure, which would make the dough square stick to the board or to the rolling pin.
I have made several batches of garganelli by now, to test the variations described above, and dressed them alternatively with burro e parmigiano and with mashed avocado (I
am using avocado in many dishes these days). A Note about cheese: I am submitting the recipe below to a vegetarian event and therefore I am leaving the kind of cheese unspecified. Cheese may be made with calf rennet, for example Parmigiano-Reggiano, or non-animal rennet, so the vegetarian needs to choose accordingly.
The
following ingredients yield two small portions. Once you become conversant with the shaping action, double them or more,
depending on how many people there are around the table and the rest of
the menu.
All-purpose flour, as needed, for rolling and shaping
Half a ripe avocado
Freshly grated cheese of choice, to taste (see Note above)
Make a dough using the first three ingredients. Add more pasta flour as
needed to get a supple dough. Cover the dough and let rest
for at least half an hour.
Roll the dough by hand or with a machine (on my machine, I stop the rolling at the last one thickness level), flouring as needed (with all-purpose flour) to prevent sticking. Cut the pasta into squares of 4 cm / 1.5 inch side and let rest briefly, while you knead, roll and cut the odd-shaped cutouts.
Starting from the squares you cut first, shape each one into a garganello (see the video above for reference). Place a square diagonally on the board, then lightly roll the mini rolling pin over it in the direction away from you. Hook the corner closest to the board handle on the mini rolling pin and roll towards you, applying a light pressure to imprint the ridges on the outer surface and to seal the garganello. Flour the board and the mini rolling pin as needed to prevent sticking. Place the shaped garganelli on a lightly floured tray.
Bring a
small pot of water to a boil. Add some coarse salt, stir and then add the
pasta. Bring water back to boiling. Cooking time depends on flour used
and thickness of pasta, but it is in the order of a few minutes, so
don't wander away, but pay undivided attention.
Since the pasta takes only a short time to cook, prepare the dressing as the water comes to a boil. Put the avocado in a bowl and mash it with a fork to make a cream.
When the
pasta is ready, turn off the heat, pour a glass of cold water in the
pot, stir and then drain the pasta, leaving a bit of water clinging to
it. Toss pasta and mashed avocado, sprinkle grated cheese on it and toss some more. Serve immediately.
This is my contribution to the first edition of Pasta Please, a new pasta-centric event created by Jacqueline of Tinned Tomatoes and hosted this month by the creator herself. The theme this month is: cheese.
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Your eyes are not deceiving you, the handmade pasta in the photo is brown. It owes its unusual color to chestnut flour, which, however, when in its natural state, is off-white.
local chestnuts at the Arcata farmers' market
While I can purchase fresh chestnuts of local production, the chestnut flour I used to make the pasta comes from Italy.
The cookbook Pasta fatta in casa (homemade pasta) by Paola Loaldi contains a recipe for trofie di castagne, which uses a dough made with 50% chestnut flour, 50% 00 flour and water. I decided to make strascinati using the same proportion of chestnut flour, but adding to it all-purpose flour instead of 00. The dough has a different feel from others, given that chesnut flour is gluten free.
You may recall that strascinati was the first type of eggless pasta I made, a few months ago, which started me on a path of pasta discovery that is still ongoing (in the most recent chapter of the adventure I made strozzapreti). If you are considering trying your hand at making eggless pasta, strascinati is the shape I recommend for your first attempt. Please, refer to the earlier post for details about the provenance and naming of this pasta shape. For this post, I made a short movie that shows my hands cutting the dough and shaping the pieces. Note that this time I used two fingers to shape the strascinati, instead of three.
The pasta sauce is a variation on the popular theme of burro e parmigiano (butter and Parmigiano-Reggiano). The addition of poppy seeds (semi di papavero) harvested from my little garden is based on a recipe quite unrelated to the one at hand, which I won't reveal yet, because it may well be my nest pasta adventure.
Note: to make the dough, I measured my usual 100 g flour and 50 g of water. In kneading the dough, I felt that it needed more water, so I added a teaspoon (5 ml).
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 thick roll, then cut it into 5-6 pieces and shape each one
into a roll about 3/8 inch (1 cm) in diameter. Cut each roll into approximately 1 1/4-inch (3 cm) long
pieces, then use the three middle fingers, or the index and middle finger, 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.
two-finger strascinati
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 poppy seed in a mortar and crush them a bit with a pestle. A minute after the pasta started cooking, put butter in a small
frying pan and melt over gentle heat.
Cooking
time is in the order of a few minutes. Taste a strascinato to make sure it's cooked (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
pastato the pan with the butter and sprinkle poppy seed on it. Toss to coat, then add some Parmigiano-Reggiano. Toss again, then serve immediately. The recipe makes two small portions.
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Gli occhi non vi ingannano: la pasta nella foto è davvero marrone, colore dovuto alla farina di castagne, che comunque, allo stato naturale, è color bianco sporco.
castagne di produzione locale al mercato di Arcata
Trovo le castagne di produzione locale, ma la farina di castagne che ho usato per fare la pasta l'ho comprata in Italia e viene dalla Toscana.
Il libro Pasta fatta in casa di Paola Loaldi contiene la ricetta per le trofie di castagne, per la quale si usa un impasto composto di metà farina di castagne e metà farina 00 e acqua. Io ho deciso di fare gli strascinati usando la stessa proporzione di farina di castagne, ma aggiungendo farina "all-purpose" invece di 00. (La farina americana chiamata "all-purpose" ha un contenuto di proteine maggiore rispetto alla farina 00.) La farina di castagne è priva di glutine e quindi l'impasto ha una consistenza diversa da quella di altri impasti usati in precedenza per fare la pasta.
Gli strascinati sono il primo tipo di pasta senza uova che ho provato a fare, qualche mese fa, e che mi ha lanciato in un viaggio alla scoperta della pasta che è ancora in corso (il capitolo più recente è quello degli strozzapreti). Se pensate di provare a fare la pasta in casa, vi consiglio di cominciare con gli strascinati. Nel post precedente ho parlato del nome e della provenienza di questo tipo di pasta. Per questo post, ho girato un breve filmato dove si vedono le mie mani che tagliano e formano la pasta. Da notare che in questo caso ho usato due dita invece che tre per formare gli strascinati.
Il condimento per la pasta è una variazione sul tema burro e parmigiano. L'aggiunta di semi di papavero raccolti dal mio orticello è basata su una ricetta che ho letto per un tipo di pasta diverso e che spero di preparare nel prossimo futuro.
Ingredienti:
50 g farina di castagne
50 g farina 0
un pizzico di sale
55 g acqua tiepida (vedere Nota sotto)
7 g burro salato (o burro normale)
1/2 cucchiaio semi di papavero
Parmigiano-Reggiano grattugiato fresco
Nota: per fare l'impasto ho misurato, come al solito, 100 g di farina e 50 g d'acqua. Nell'impastare, ho sentito che mancava un po' d'acqua e ne ho aggiunta un cucchiaino (5 ml).
Preparate
un impasto ben lavorato con le farine (alla quale avete aggiunto un
pizzico di sale) e l'acqua. Coprire e far riposare per una mezz'ora. 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 oppure indice e medio 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.
strascinati formati con due dita
Cuocere
la pasta. Dal momento che la pasta cuoce rapidamente, preparare il
condimento non appena la si butta giù. Mettere i semi di papavero in un mortaio e pestarli un po'. Far fondere il burro in una
padellina.
La cottura dura pochi
minuti (assaggiare per
accertarsi e, se necessario, prolungare la cottura). Scolare la pasta,
versarla nella padellina del burro e spargere i semi di papavero. Mescolare bene, poi spargere del Parmigiano-Reggiano. Mescolare di nuovo e servire subito. Questa ricetta fa due porzioni piccole.
Sono un Esperto di Allrecipes su base volontaria e pertanto non percepisco alcun compenso per il lavoro svolto per Allrecipes.it.
Le recensioni, i contenuti e le opinioni espresse in questo blog sono da attribuire esclusivamente a Simona
