Pasta Modern (23 page)

This is one of my all-time favorite recipes—very unusual and exceptionally flavorful. Savory-sweet ricotta ravioli seasoned with marjoram, lemon, rum, and sugar are a unique specialty from the Teramo area of Abruzzo.

The touch of sugar and rum in the filling brings out the marjoram’s lovely aroma, while lemon zest adds a bright pop, all nicely balanced with the acidity of the sauce. The taste hearkens back to the Renaissance, when sweet and savory flavors were more commonly mixed. These must-try ravioli are traditionally served in a fresh tomato sauce or pork ragù.

If you are new to ravioli making, make larger ravioli by rolling the dough a little thicker and putting more filling in the center. Italians call these huge ravioli
ravioloni
. This version is too good not to try.

FOR THE FILLING:

1 ¾ cups (435 g) ricotta

⅓ to ½ cup (65 to 100 g) sugar

2 to 3 tablespoons rum

Zest of ½ lemon

2 teaspoons fresh marjoram

Pinch ground cinnamon

1 large egg yolk

Make the filling:
In a large bowl, gently stir together the ricotta, sugar, rum, zest, marjoram, and cinnamon until just combined. Taste and adjust the seasonings, adding more sugar or rum to taste, then stir in the yolk. Do not overmix or the ricotta will become runny. Cover and refrigerate until ready to use.

FOR THE DOUGH:

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

4 large eggs

Olive oil

Make the dough:
Put the flour into a large bowl or on a work surface and make a well in the center. Beat the eggs with ½ teaspoon oil and add them to the well; slowly incorporate the egg mixture into the flour with your fingers until it forms a dough. You may need to add a little water if the dough seems too dry or a little flour if it is sticky. Knead for at least 5 minutes, until smooth. Form the dough into a ball, cover with plastic wrap, and let it rest at room temperature for 30 minutes.

Using a quarter of the dough at a time so it doesn’t dry out and keeping the rest covered, roll the dough into a sheet about 1/16 inch (2 mm) thick. Cut the sheet into two equal strips and put rounded tablespoons of filling along the center of one strip, leaving 1 ½ inches (4 cm) between dollops. Moisten around the filling with a little water, top with the other strip of dough, and press the two pieces of dough together around the filling, so the filling is sealed inside. Using a pasta-cutting wheel or ravioli cutter, cut out the ravioli in squares or rounds, leaving a ½-inch (12-mm) border around the filling. Repeat with the remaining dough and filling, setting them onto a clean cotton cloth in one layer.

FOR SERVING:

3 cups (720 ml) fresh tomato sauce or pork ragù (
this page
), warmed

Parmesan or pecorino cheese

To serve:
Bring one or two wide, flat pans of salted water to a gentle boil and cook the ravioli until they are tender, about 4 minutes. Remove them with a slotted spoon to serving plates, and top with a few tablespoons of warm sauce and grated cheese.

IL BOCCONE DELLA VERGOGNA

In Italy, it’s considered polite to leave one bite on your plate as a sign that you’re full. Otherwise, an Italian host is likely to just keep giving you more food! It’s also customary at a restaurant, when you are served from a communal platter, to leave one morsel. However, if the food is exceptionally delicious, too good to leave any behind, an Italian will take the last bit, and eat it with great flourish, calling it
il boccone della vergogna
, “the mouthful of shame.” It’s a very common expression, a sort of ironic apology for the breach of etiquette, and is intended as a compliment to the cook.

{
Gnocchetti di castagne
}

SERVES
4
|
REGION:
Northern Italy, especially the mountains of Liguria and Lombardy

Leave it to the Italians to transform fifteen chestnuts and half a potato into a gourmet feast for four!

Satisfyingly chewy and permeated with chestnutty sweetness, these adorable little
gnocchetti
are denser and more complex tasting than the all-potato versions. Plus, as with all gnocchi, you just need to roll the dough into a chunky rope. Making them is a great way to get in touch with your inner child—more like playing with playdough than cooking!

The simply made aromatic cream sauce adds nice acidity, complementing the chestnut’s sweetness. Special thanks to Sonia Piscicelli and her delightful daughter Emma for the recipe and photos.

FOR THE GNOCCHETTI:

5 large fresh chestnuts

½ large russet potato

1 large egg

1 large egg yolk

Salt

3 to 4 tablespoons all-purpose or “0” flour

Make the gnochetti:
Boil the chestnuts in their shells for about 30 minutes, until they feel soft, then remove the shells and skin from the chestnuts while they are still warm. (Quick tip: Since they don’t need to stay whole, you don’t have to be neat about peeling them. Cut them in half, and scoop out the meat with a spoon.) Mash the chestnuts with a fork or put them through a food mill and set aside.

Boil the potato until tender, then peel and mash it. Put the chestnut puree and half the mashed potato in a bowl and add the egg, yolk, and a pinch of salt and knead, adding in the flour a little at a time, until a soft dough forms. Divide the dough into four pieces and roll each into a ½-inch- (12-mm-) thick log. Cut the logs into hazelnut-sized pieces, then roll each into a tiny ball. Using your pinkie or the tip of a spoon, press a well into the center of each ball. You should get about eighty gnocchetti.

Boil the
gnochetti
in plenty of salted water until they float to the top and are tender, about 4 minutes. Drain.

FOR THE SAUCE:

8 ounces (225 g) taleggio or
robiola
cheese, diced

1 to 2 tablespoons milk or cream

Freshly ground black pepper

Fresh thyme leaves

Grated Parmesan cheese

Make the sauce:
In a small pan, combine the cheese and milk and heat over low heat, stirring often. Spoon some of the cheese sauce onto each serving plate and top with the gnocchetti. Serve sprinkled with pepper, thyme, and Parmesan.

{
Testaroli
}

SERVES
4
|
REGION:
Liguria and Tuscany

I had no clue what to make of the eighteen-inch giant spongy pancake I spotted in a gourmet shop in Liguria. It was shrink-wrapped, rolled like a diploma, and tied with pretty green ribbon. When the shopkeeper explained that it was a “pasta,” meant to be boiled, I was dubious. I mean, who would boil a pancake? Turns out, the Italians have been doing it since as early as the 1300s, and perhaps even back in ancient Roman times.

The name of this pasta,
testaroli
, derives from
testo
, the special terra-cotta pan these pancakes are cooked in. Of course, you can make them in a cast-iron skillet or other pans as well. The dough is simple to work with, more like crêpe pancake batter than pasta dough. In Italy, they combine all kinds of flours with white flour to make the batter: whole-wheat, fine cornmeal, buckwheat, farro, and chestnut flours. So here’s a good chance to try a new flour you’ve been wanting to experiment with.

This is a great make-ahead dish, as the pasta pancakes are best after they’ve rested overnight and will stay fresh for a week before boiling. Try them topped with any of the pesto recipes like delicious
Orange-Almond Pesto
or the aromatic
marjoram
version.

½ cup (55 g) all-purpose or “0” flour

½ cup (about 85 g) whole-wheat, fine cornmeal, or other flour

Olive oil

Salt

½ onion

¾ cup (180 ml) pesto or grated pecorino cheese

In a large bowl, combine the flours. Add 1 ½ tablespoons oil, 1 teaspoon salt, and slowly stir in 2 cups (480 ml) water to get a thin, smooth mixture, like crêpe batter. Let it rest at room temperature for 10 minutes.

Heat a large nonstick sauté pan, cast-iron skillet, or crêpe pan over medium heat. Dip the onion half into some oil and rub it onto the pan to grease the surface and flavor the oil a bit. Add just enough batter to the pan to create a thin layer, spreading it quickly by tilting the pan, just as you would when making crêpes. Cook until the edges come up a bit and you can easily turn over the pancake, about 7 to 10 minutes. Turn and cook it on the other side for about 5 minutes. Remove it to a clean surface
and allow to cool. Repeat, remoistening the pan with the oil-dipped onion, until all the batter is used. Then once the pancakes are cool and dry to the touch, stack them between waxed or parchment paper in an airtight container in a cool place for at least 12 hours before cooking or they will be gummy.

To cook the pancakes, cut them into 2-bite rectangles or triangles. Bring a pot of salted water to a boil, add the pancake pieces, and immediately turn off the heat. Leave them in the water for 2 to 3 minutes, until they are tender. Drain and serve them topped with pesto or a drizzle of oil and grated pecorino.

Come il cacio sui maccheroni

Like cheese on pasta
SAID OF SOMETHING THAT’S ESPECIALLY WONDERFUL

PUGLIA’S TWIRLED PASTA WITH OLIVES

{
Incannulate con olive
}

SERVES
4
|
REGION:
Puglia

An adorable shape that’s not at all hard to make—these long ribbons of wide noodle are twirled at one end, forming Shirley Temple–like curls. I learned to make this charming pasta in Puglia at the home of Lucia Contrada and Pasquali Galluccio, who orchestrated a memorable day when they also taught me to make other specialty shapes of that region like orecchiette.