briciole

panda (pasta fatta a mano) / panda (handmade pasta shape)

la pastasciutta con quello che c'è The poem by George Bradley La past'asciutta con quello che c'è is included in the anthology Sustenance and Desire: A Food Lover's Anthology of Sensuality and Humor by Bascove, which is the current selection of our Cook the Books Club. (The book included a number of inspiring pieces and I may well go back to another one or two later.) In his poem Bradley captures perfectly my approach to pasta: I sometimes plan ahead, but often I simply create a dressing with what I have available. Dried pasta's how a cook accommodates the facts. No... Read more →

mezzi tubi rigati (pasta fatta a mano) / ridged half-pipes (handmade pasta)

sunbathing in the morning on linen (from La FABBRICA del LINO) A recent morning at the beginning of a pasta making session, the gnocchi board on my table gently tugged at my sleeve to remind me of its presence. I picked it up and put it in front of me on the kneading board, then started to play with other tools and the semolina dough I had prepared. As in the making of garganelli, I used a thin dowel as mini rolling pin to obtain the shape I called mezzi tubi rigati. This short video shows my hands at work: As... Read more →

strascinati rigati (pasta fatta a mano) / ridged strascinati (handmade pasta)

[cliccare il link per andare alla versione in italiano] variation on a theme of ridges I am not yet done playing with my bamboo sushi rolling mat and pasta dough. Here's my latest creation: a traditional shape (strascinati, which I have already presented in personal variations made with toasted semolina flour or chestnut flour) executed on the sushi rolling mat (stuoino di bambù per sushi), so that it acquires ridges across its surface. In this short video, you can see my hands at work: Note on the tool: There are various types of bamboo sushi rolling mats and not all of... Read more →

nodi (pasta fatta a mano) / knots (handmade pasta)

[cliccare il link per andare alla versione in italiano] tied knots In Italian, to get married is sposarsi. We don't use the metaphorical expression "to tie the knot" (literally, fare un nodo). The current selection of our Cook the Books, A Thousand Days in Venice in which author Marlena de Blasi talks about her marriage to a Venetian man, brought to mind the expression. My passion for turning pasta dough into interesting shapes did the rest: I tried to tie pasta dough into small simple knots and the result was pleasing. Venezia is versatile, like pasta dough. You can personalize your... Read more →

fusilli rigati fatti a mano / handmade ridged fusilli

[cliccare il link per andare alla versione in italiano] pretty pasta posing for the camera A fresh batch of pasta dough on the kneading board, a bamboo sushi rolling mat, a few thin bamboo skewers, dowels of various diameter and hands eager to work are the ingredients that went into the creation of this pasta shape. Last month I realized the potential of a bamboo sushi rolling mat as pasta-making tool and created spirali, so I wanted to explore it further. I use the bamboo skewers to make maccheroni al ferro and fusilli al ferro, and the thinnest dowel to make... Read more →

spirali (pasta fatta a mano) / spirals (handmade pasta)

[cliccare il link per andare alla versione in italiano] small ridged bites of pasta dough When I need some quiet time to relax and let my thoughts fly away quickly before weighing too heavily on my mind, I make a batch of pasta dough and allow my hands to take the helm. Sometimes follow a well-rehearsed set of steps to make a familiar pasta shape. Other times, they explore a new path. When they reach a place worth describing in detail, I tell the story here. If you have been following me for some time, you know that making pasta by... Read more →

pierogi con ripieno di verdure / vegetable pierogi

[cliccare il link per andare alla versione in italiano] a cheerful plate Pretty half-moon pillows sprinkled with a stardust of cheese, each a circle of light dough enveloping a heart of flavorful filling. A galaxy of colroful vegetables to accompany them. These are my pierogi. After a year and a half of travels, our tour of the European Community one country and one culinary tradition at a time has reached its final stop: Poland (Polonia). Even before we arrived there, I knew that I would make pierogi, the traditional pretty Polish dumplings. My rendition, pierogi with carrot zucchini and ricotta filling... Read more →

spaghetti alla farina di castagne fatti a mano / chestnut flour handmade spaghetti

[cliccare il link per andare alla versione in italiano] with creamy crescenza cheese How old was I when I learned to roll spaghetti around my fork and bringing it cleanly to my mouth? I don't remember, so it must have happened early in my life. Eating spaghetti is probably the first complex task an Italian child is expected to master at the table. the fork at work Spaghetti nowadays generally refers to a factory-made kind of pasta. Spaghetti alla chitarra is one exception: it is handmade and cut using a special tool, a wooden frame with metal wires, called chitarra, which... Read more →

scorze di mandorle con carote / almond shells (pasta) with carrots

[cliccare il link per andare alla versione in italiano] each one is unique Curls of pasta dough resembling almond shells ask me to focus on their essential elegance refined by generations of women shaping them in the quiet busyness of their kitchen. I saw this pasta shape in Encyclopedia of Pasta by Oretta Zanini De Vita. It is typical of the southern Italian regions of Puglia and Basilicata. Zanini De Vita writes: With the rounded tip of a knife, pea-sized pieces of dough are drawn downward on the wooden board in such a way that they form little curls that resemble... Read more →

orecchiette alla farina di ceci tostata / toasted chickpea flour orecchiette

[cliccare il link per andare alla versione in italiano] orecchiette: small beauties of pasta dough Rainstorm: the sky clouds over, knits its brows and then cries unconsolably for hours. rain — finally! A rainstorm has a violent bewitching beauty best admired from inside. When the weather forecast for the weekend is with 100% probability, I suggest you work on some project in the kitchen, like handmade pasta. After orecchiette with semolina flour (the basic version, so to speak) and orecchiette with farina di grano arso (burnt wheat flour), it was time to work on a new take on this classic pasta... Read more →