Dag: 14. februar 2015

Gnoccchi: are they pasta or dumplings?

I say they are both, whitch allows me to include my favourite gnocchi recipes in this book. These beautiful potato (or not) cushions are another masterpiece of la cucina italiana. They should be soft and light enough that you can squash them against your palate with your tongue to get instant flavour.

Gnocchi are so nourishing and comforting that in Italy, when you are sad or something has gone wrong, we say : «Vai a casa che la mamma ha ta fa i gnocchi» (Go home so mammy can make you some gnocchi)

There are many types of gnocchi, with different sizes, shape and of cource, sauces, and we discuss many of them in this chapter – including some made without potatos, these potato-less gnocchi have different names in different in different parts of Italy but all are from poor and peasant origins. Have seen some being prepeared by my mother or my Aunty  Anna; others i have only been told by members of the family Some are the same size as regular gnocchi , while others are much bigger Most of the time they are cooked water and and then tossed in the sauce, but occationally they are cooked directly in the sauce. the one thing they all have in common is that they are deliziosi

In Italy baked pasta (pasta al forno) does not mean only lasagne or cannelloni. There are many dishes, made with dried or fresh pasta that can be finished in the oven, and every region has its specialities.

In fact, backed pasta seems to have been the first kind of pasta made in Italy. The Romans (rich once, at least) liked to roll out sheets of dough, cut them into wide strips, then  them with meat sauce and cheese, and bake them in the oven. they called these dishes lagana and we can see little the word – and the recepie – has changed over time.

Nowadays baked pastas are usally made on festive days or special occations such as weddings. They range from a very simple pasta gratinata where pasta is tossed, placed in a baking dish with or without bechamel, sprinkled with parmesan and placed under the grill. then there is the timballo, where pasta and sauces are layered in an oven dish, each layer being finished with cheese (parmesan or mozzarella), and then baked. But the ultimate baked pasta dish would have to be timpano, where a large baking dish is firstlayered with pastery or grilled eggplant, then filled with pasta and very substantial sauces containing meatballs, sausages, salami and cheeses, whitch are then covered with more layers of pastry or eggplants and baked. the result is a wonderfull cake-style layered dish, which is carefully sliced and eaten with as mutch passion as it takes to make it.

the shape of your pasta parcels realy comes down to your own personal preference: they can be square, round rectangulare, cresent, oval, triangular, diamond-shaped or even shaped like hats, rings or monybags. Their name vary according to the type of filling, their region of orgion and their size. such that it would be almost impossible to classify all the filled pastas avalible around Italy. Sometimes it seems to me that some of the shapes where invented by mothers-in-law purly to make life difficult for for the wives of their sons!

When making any filled pasta the dough must must be as thin and elastic as possible. Roll out the pasta dough into very thin sheets, then place the filling on the pasta in evenly spaced mounds. Brush the exposed edges of the pasta with a little water or beaten egg to help it stick together. Use your your fingers to gently push out any air around the filling (air bubbles will expand during cooking and can cause the pasta parcels to explode) then seal all the edges securely, lay the filled pasta on floured tea towels making sure they do not touch each other, and sprinkle lightly with more flour.

The most important thing in ravioli is the filling, which must not be too soft or too wet. below are some ideas of for ideas for a few basic fillings: I leave the shape of ravioli and the choise of sauce to your creativity, But if you run out of ideas or time one day, just remember that in my regionof Liguria, where simplicity is a virtue, we say «Ravioli are very good, but with olive oil and parmesan they are even better»

Ravioli orginated as a way to use chopped-up leftovers to feed workers quickly. The earliest form of raviolo was a kind of miniature pie that was boiled instead of baked, but it has since evolved into the jewel of Italian cooking. Over the centuries, it has grown more refined with the pasta being stretched so thinly that it becomes translutians, letting you glimpse the colours inside.

Regional variations on ravioli (the generic name i use for all parts of filled pasta parcels) have since multiplied all over Italy, but it is in the northwest , particulary Liguria and Pidemont, that they have reached their peak – made in dazzling variety for all sorts of spesial occations.

as a child i remember that whenever there was an birthday in our family, my mother would say «Ti faccio i ravioli» (i will make ravioli for you) She’d chop the ingredients for the filling, put on the ragu for the sauce sprinkle the board with flour and start rolling out the two layers of pasta dough. We always knew that these parcels would be much better than any presset, because she was making something with her own hands for us.

Fresh pasta (pasta fresca) hails mainly from the north and centre of Italy, where the sun does not shine as strongly as it does in the south, so pasta is made to be eaten straight away rather than being slowly dried.

There are many regional variations when it comes to making pasta dough. In Emilia Romagna, particulary in Bologna, they like to use a lot of eggs, which  results in a very yellow , rich pasta. Ligurians use fewer eggs – sometimes only one to each half a kilo of flour – to produce a lighter pasta in terms of both colour and density sometimes an almost white pasta is made without any eggs at all,

Once you have mastered the art of making fresh pasta – and this might take a few attempts – i hope you will enjoy making it and find it a very satisfying experience. but but of course if time is an issue and you can find some good-quality fresh pasta from the shop by all means buy it!

as for choise of sauce fettuccine, tagliatelle, pappardelle, lasagnette and maltagliati all go well with rich sauces – particuarly ragus , thick tomato sauces, and thick cream sauces, such as tomato sauces, light cream sauces and those based on butter and oil

pasta with salsa a crudo (uncooked sauce) is hot pasta tossed quickly with a cold, uncooked sauce and served immediately, while still warm.

Most dressings of this kind cannot be prepeared and used stright away, but rather need to rest for fifteen minutes to an hour, to allow all the ingredients to macerate and infuse their flavours. those that are used straight away will bennefit from a squeeze of lemon juice.

These preparation must not be confused with cold pasta salads. When you make a pasta salad, the pasta is cooked al dente, then drained and refreshed under cold water to stop the cooking process. the pasta is dressed when it is cold. Personally i am not a fan of pasta salads – I see no point in running a beatiful salad with cold pasta

But when you make pasta with salsa a crudo it is only the sauce that is cold the pasta must be hot and cooked al dente, for these sauces i surgest you to use Ligurain olive oil for its beatifully delicate, fruity flavour.

A crudo sauces are excellent for hot summer days and nights – for full enjoyment, i urge you to act quickly and eat the pasta immediately, while it is still warm.