Pasta Modern (24 page)

Throughout southern Italy, olives are served fried, baked, and also stuffed. Here, the traditional olive filling with cheese, breadcrumbs, and herbs is instead a no-cook sauce for this pretty pasta.

FOR THE SAUCE:

30
Cerignola
or other large green olives

10 oil-cured small black olives

Olive oil

15 fresh mint leaves, minced

3 tablespoons homemade coarsely ground breadcrumbs, toasted

Grated aged pecorino cheese

2 tablespoons fresh oregano leaves

1 tablespoon white wine vinegar

1 garlic clove, minced

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Make the sauce:
Using a meat mallet or fork, press down on the olives to smash them open. Remove and discard the pits. Put the olives into a serving bowl and stir in ¼ cup (60 ml) oil, the mint, breadcrumbs, 3 tablespoons cheese, the oregano, vinegar, and garlic. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Cover with plastic wrap and let the mixture rest at room temperature while you make the pasta.

FOR THE PASTA:

2 cups (255 g) all-purpose or “0” flour

Make the pasta:
Put the flour onto a work surface. Make a well in the center and add ¼ cup (60 ml) warm water. Using a fork, slowly incorporate the flour into the water, starting from the center, until a dough forms. Add a few additional tablespoons of water at a time as needed, until you’ve incorporated it all into the flour. Knead the dough until smooth, about 8 minutes. Form it into a ball, cover with plastic wrap, and let it rest at room temperature for 30 minutes.

Roll out the dough into a large circle about ⅛ inch (6 mm) thick. Cut it into strips ¾ inch (2 cm) wide. Hold one end of a strip with one hand and twirl the other end with your other hand, like you are winding a watch, then gently pinch both ends to keep them from uncurling. Double the twist over loosely, forming a “u,” and set it out onto a cotton cloth or floured surface. Repeat using the rest of the dough.

To serve:
Boil the pasta in salted water until it is al dente, about 3 minutes. Drain and toss into the bowl with the olive mixture. Top with more grated cheese, if you like.

{
Blécs
}

SERVES
4
|
REGION:
Friuli

Blécs
are one of the easiest homemade pastas to tackle. The wholesome buckwheat-cornmeal dough is thickly rolled out and rough cut into irregular-shaped triangles. The name in fact is dialect for a bit of cloth for patching. The sauce is unique, too—a crunchy cornmeal mixture seasoned with sage and topped with smoky grated cheese. Be sure to use finely ground cornmeal for both the dough and the sauce.

FOR THE BLÉCS:

¾ cup (115 g) buckwheat flour

¾ cup (90 g) all-purpose or “0” flour

¾ cup (105 g) fine-grind yellow cornmeal

2 large eggs

Olive oil

¼ teaspoon salt

1 bay leaf

Make the blécs:
In a large bowl or on a work surface, mix the buckwheat, all-purpose, and corn flours. Make a well in the center and add the eggs, 3 tablespoons oil, and the salt. Combine the wet ingredients first, then slowly incorporate the flour into the liquid, adding a little water as needed, until a dough forms. Cover the dough with plastic wrap, and let rest it at room temperature for 30 minutes.

On a lightly floured surface, roll out the dough to about ⅙ inch (2 mm) thick and cut it into 2-inch (5-cm) triangles.

Put the bay leaf in a large pot of salted water and bring it to a boil. Add the blécs and boil until tender, about 3 minutes.

FOR FINISHING:

4 tablespoons (60 g) butter

Fresh sage leaves

2 tablespoons fine-grind yellow cornmeal

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

1 cup (100 g) grated smoked ricotta or Gouda cheese

To finish:
In a nonstick skillet large enough to later toss the
blécs
, melt the butter and a few sage leaves. Once the butter is bubbly and the sage aromatic, remove the sage to use as garnish and sprinkle in the cornmeal, stirring with a wooden spoon over medium heat until it is crunchy and golden colored. Season with salt and pepper.

Drain the
blécs
, discard the bay leaf, and toss the pasta into the cornmeal mixture. Serve it topped with the cheese and reserved buttery sage leaves.

APPLE RAVIOLI WITH FAVA-PISTACHIO PESTO

{
Ravioli di mele con pesto di fave-pistacchi
}

SERVES
4
|
REGION:
Northern and central Italy

If you try no other recipe in this chapter, try this one. The apple, honey, and cheese filling is simply astounding and the addition of fava beans to the pistachios makes for a smoky, sweet, richly satisfying pesto. Don’t be intimidated by the idea of making your own ravioli. For this recipe, because the filling is so dense, the dough doesn’t need to be thin. These ravioli are also oversized, so cut them into fairly large circles with a cookie cutter and they will be easy to fill.

My son liked this recipe so much that he arranged for me to come up to his college during his senior year to make it with a bunch of his favorite professors. He graduated summa cum laude—thanks to these ravioli, I’m sure!

FOR THE PESTO:

1 cup (120 g) shelled fresh fava beans or ¼ cup (50 g) dried fava beans

⅓ cup (40 g) shelled pistachios

2 tablespoons pine nuts

About 30 large fresh basil leaves

Olive oil

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Make the pesto:
Boil the fresh beans in salted water until tender, about 4 minutes (simmer about 45 minutes for dried). Drain, peel, and pat dry. In a small food processor or mortar and pestle, grind the beans, pistachios, and pine nuts until very smooth. Add the basil and then, while processing, slowly stream in ¼ cup (60 ml) oil, grinding until creamy, adding more oil if dry. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

FOR THE DOUGH:

3 ½ cups (445 g) all-purpose or “0” flour

4 large eggs

Olive oil

1 large egg white

Make the dough:
Put the flour in a large bowl or on a work surface and make a well in the center. Beat the whole eggs and 1 teaspoon oil into the well with a fork. Gradually incorporate the flour until a dough forms. Knead the dough until it is very smooth, at least 5 minutes. Form it into a ball, cover with plastic wrap, and let the dough rest at room temperature for 30 minutes.

FOR THE FILLING:

2 tablespoons butter

3 Granny Smith apples, peeled and diced

5 to 7 fresh sage leaves

1 pound (455 g)
robiola
or taleggio cheese, diced

Chestnut or buckwheat honey

Make the filling:
In a sauté pan, melt the butter over high heat. Add the apples and sage and cook until the apples are just tender, but still a bit firm. Let them cool to room temperature.

To assemble:
Using a quarter of the dough at a time so it doesn’t dry out and keeping the rest covered, roll the dough into ⅛-inch- (3-mm-) thick sheets either with a rolling pin or pasta machine. Using a cookie or ravioli cutter, cut to 4-inch (10-cm) circles. Beat the egg white in a bowl to use for sealing the ravioli.

Put 1 tablespoon of the apple mixture onto a dough circle, then top with 1 tablespoon of the cheese and a tiny drizzle of honey. Moisten the edges of the dough with the egg white, top with another dough circle, and press the edges firmly to seal. Repeat until all the dough and filling are used.

Bring one or two wide, flat pans of salted water to a gentle boil and cook the ravioli until they are tender. Remove them with a slotted spoon to serving plates. Serve topped with dollops of the pesto.

{
Tortelli Piacentini con la coda
}