L'Italo-Americano

L'Italo-Americano PAGE  20 A Pugliese Pasta Tradition ADRI BARR CROCETTI Puglia is the hot vacation destination for food lovers traveling to Italy, and it is no wonder. The land of Trulli houses and semolina is also home to some of Italy's most wonderful pasta traditions, among them stracenate, small rectangles of embossed egg dough. This artful stracenate is made by rolling pasta over a cavarola board, a small wooden plank into which a herringbone pattern has been cut. As the rolling pin moves over the pasta, the design in the wood is transferred to the dough. This unique Pugliese specialty gets the dinner conversation going every time. Pugliese Pasta with Ragù Dough 2 cups all-purpose flour 1 cup semolina generous pinch kosher salt 5 large eggs extra flour and semolina, about ¼ cup each, mixed together for rolling the dough Hand Method Heap flours on the counter and combine well. Hollow a fontana (well) in the center of the flour about the size of an orange. Place eggs and salt in the fontana, and whisk them together using a fork. With each stroke of the fork, bring a bit of flour into the mix, being careful to maintain the integrity of the fontana by moving your free hand around the outside THURS DAY,   JUNE  6,   2013 of it, preventing the egg mixture from running onto the counter. Continue until all the flour is mixed into the eggs, adding more flour if the dough is too wet or a bit of water if it is too dry. Once twice to combine. Place the eggs in a measuring cup and beat lightly. Remove the feed tube and with processor running, add the eggs in a steady stream until dough comes together, about 30 and 2 inches long. Place each piece of dough on the cavarola board and with gentle pressure use a rolling pin to emboss. If you prefer, you may place a large sheet of dough on the cavarola board, and emboss it, cutting it into rectangles after it is imprinted. Place the pasta on prepared trays to dry briefly before cooking. To cook, bring 6 quarts of water to a rolling boil. Add a generous handful of salt. Drop pasta in, and cook about 2 minutes, or the flour is incorporated and dough has come together in a large mass, set it aside. Use a bench scraper or stiff spatula to clean the counter. Scatter a bit of flour over the work surface and knead the dough for about 5 minutes, until it is smooth, elastic and just barely sticky. Wrap it in plastic and set it aside to rest for 30 minutes. Processor Method Place the flours and salt in workbowl of a food processor fitted with the metal blade. Pulse seconds. Check to see if the dough is too wet or too dry, adding flour or water if needed. Remove the dough from the processor and knead about 2 to 3 minutes. Form the dough into a disk, wrap in plastic and set it aside to rest for 30 minutes. Cover a tray with a lint free towel and dust lightly with some of the reserved flour. Lightly dust work surface with flour. Roll dough by hand or to setting #5 on a pasta machine. Cut dough into rectangles 1 inch wide until done. Drain well and serve lightly dressed with the ragù. Pass the Parmigiano at the table. Sausage Ragù 1 pound sweet Italian sausage, casings removed 1 yellow onion, diced 1 carrot, cut in ¼ inch dice 2 cloves of garlic, minced 1 each, red, yellow and orange bell pepper, cut in ¼ inch dice ½ cup chopped Italian parsley ½ cup basil leaves, cut in chiffonade (thin strips) 1 28 oz. can San Marzano tomatoes ½ cup dry red wine 1 teaspoon dried oregano ½-1 teaspoon red pepper flakes Kosher salt and black pepper Olive oil Parmigiano Reggiano Pour 3 tablespoons of olive oil into a low 4-quart Dutch oven. Heat over a medium flame, and add the sausage. Brown the sausage, breaking it up as it cooks, about 8 to 10 minutes. Add the onion, carrot, oregano, peperoncino flakes, and ¼ teaspoon kosher salt. Saute, stirring frequently, until softened, about 5 to 7 minutes over medium to medium-low heat. Add the garlic, and saute until fragrant, about 2 minutes. Add the peppers, and saute until softened, about 10 minutes. Break or cut up the tomatoes, and add to the pot. Add the wine, bring to a boil, and reduce to a gentle simmer. Cook uncovered, stirring occasionally, for 25 minutes. Add the parsley, basil, and ¼ teaspoon black pepper. Cook 5 minutes more. Check for seasoning, adding more salt, black pepper, or peperoncino flakes, if desired. This ragù will keep, well covered, in the refrigerator 2 days or frozen 3 months. Handmade cavarola boards are available from Artisanal Pasta Tools (www.artisanalpastatools.com) in Napa, California. Questions? Email me at adri@AdriBarrCrocetti.com or visit my site at AdriBarrCrocetti.com For a step by step photo essay on how to make this pasta, visit my website at http://adribarrcrocetti.com/main/2011/07/18/stracenate-stracnar-and-a-cavarolaboard/ The 10 ingredients that should not be missing in every Italian recipe. And in your pantry! SILVIA pE All people love Italian food, but what makes the Italian cuisine so famous and renown? Fresh products and simple cooking methods (most of the times). These are the reasons behind the popularity of Italian food! If you are aiming at trying authentic Italian cooking at home, you will need to know the common ingredients used in it. Obviously, the ingredients depend on the Italian recipe we are using and there are a wide variety of ingredients in the Italian cuisine, but some ingredients are used more than others. Here is the universal recipe for every kind of Italian food. These ingredients found here are very important, because they themselves are the main culinary secret of Italian meals. ◼ Pasta A special place in your pantry must be dedicated to the Pasta! An Italian can eat pasta almost every day and that means that there are thousands of pasta recipes! Spaghetti, lasagne, pennette. It's not important what kind of pasta, but it has to be of good quality (even better would be fresh). ◼ Extra-virgin Olive oil A good finishing oil is really essential in every Italian recipe. Extra virgin olive oil is obtained after the oil's first cold pressing and can be used for all methods and cooking techniques. It is a keystone of cooking in Italy, especially because of its unique flavour. ◼ Balsamic vinegar Balsamic vinegar goes amazingly well with a number of Italian recipes. Just a drizzle of balsamic vinegar puts it over the top and added to a simple dish (from strawberries to steak) will gain it a Michelin star! ◼ Parmesan cheese Do you know that Parmesan is a protected cheese? The original one - dry and crumbly - has to be made according to a top secret recipe, in a particular area of Italy. Whether served over the salad, grated over pasta or stirred into a risotto, Parmesan adds a touch of class to a variety of Italian dishes. ◼ Tomatoes and Tomato Paste Tomatoes are fundamental when making crostini and for all fresh salads. However, you also have to add a little tomato paste to several pasta sauces, soups and stews. Obviously, homemade tomato paste has a deeper, more intense and concentrated flavour than the canned type. ◼ Onions A chopped, fried onion is the basis of the best pasta sauce such as the "matriciana" or the "ragù". You even need an onion to prepare the most simple "spaghetti al pomodoro". In Italy you will find different types of onions, from the most common pearl onion, to the purple and brown onions, the Tropea and the little, but sweet, cipollini. ◼ Garlic Another ingredient to remember for your pantry is garlic. How could one not to think about "spaghetti aglio, olio e peperoncino"? At first glance, one of the easiest traditional Italian dishes, but actually, it is only the strong suit of the best cooks and moms! ◼ Prosciutto e pancetta Unarguably the best way to open your Italian meal: prosciutto and pancetta, are also used to give a special flavour to sauces, pastas and every kind of food in general! No matter if you are a San Daniele or a Parma fan, try both of them in the surprising combination with melon! ◼ Fresh basil A small pot of basil on the windowsill is not only an Italian stereotype! The aroma of its green leaves makes the difference in the caprese salad as well as in the tomato sauce and obviously, it is the main ingredient of the original pesto! Have you ever added basil to a dish with eggplant or peppers? Buonissime! ◼ Love and wine Eating is a serious matter in Italy (cit. The Silver Spoon), but it is also important to eat together with your family and friends, accompanied by a glass of the perfect wine. Now that you know the main ingredients for the best Italian recipes: go shopping, choose a traditional Italian recipe and you will be ready to surprise! Buon appetito! Silvia Pe is an Italian travel enthusiast and compulsive reader. She works in the tourism field and runs the blog CharmingItaly.com

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