pasta fatta in casa .. handmade pasta

3 eggs of pasta

serves 6 or makes 1 pan of lasagna

3 eggs

3/4 cup (125 g) hard wheat flour (finely ground semolina)

generous 3/4 cup (125 g) all purpose or soft wheat flour

pinch of salt

You can make an egg dough with all soft wheat flour, it may take more flour to keep it from being sticky. You can make a dough with no eggs using 350 g semolina (hard wheat), 170g ca water, salt.

Pour the flours and salt onto a clean work surface and make a well. Break the eggs into the well and beat with a fork, slowly incorporating flour until you can work the dough with your hands. Work in all the flour and knead, sprinkling the surface as you go with semolina. The dough should be smooth and elastic, if it’s wet or sticky add some semolina; if it’s dry add a few drops of water or another egg yolk. Wrap in plastic wrap and let it rest for about 15 minutes.

Use a hand-crank pasta machine or a rolling pin to roll and stretch the dough to form sfoglia, sheets.

From this point you can make any filled pasta (ravioli, tortellini [see below], tortelli etc.) or cut into any shape you wish (spaghetti, tagliatelle, pappardelle, farfalle, stracci etc.). Or make le lasagne layering the sfoglia with whatever fillings you choose.

chestnut flour pasta

serves 6

160 g chestnut flour

240 g white flour

pinch of salt

4 eggs

1 Tbs extra virgin olive oil

1-2 Tbs milk

Pour the flours and salt onto a clean work surface and make a well. Break the eggs into the well, add the oil and milk and beat with a fork, slowly incorporating flour until you can work the dough with your hands. Work in all the flour and knead, sprinkling the surface with flour if necessary. The dough should be smooth and elastic, if it’s wet or sticky add some flour; if it’s dry add another egg yolk.

Wrap in plastic wrap and let it rest for about 15 minutes.

Use a rolling pin to roll and stretch the dough to form sfoglia, sheets of dough, or use a hand-crank pasta machine to make the sfoglia.

These are great with fall flavors like leeks and pumpkin or pancetta, walnuts and caramelized onions.

cicatelli / cicatille / chickadades from Foggia

serves 4

1 cup (125 g) all purpose flour

1 cup + 2 Tablespoons (125 g) rimacinata (fine semolina, see below)

3/4 cups (130 g) water

1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil

pinch of salt

Make a well with the flours and salt. Pour the liquid into the middle and slowly incorporate the flour using a fork and a pastry scraper. When you can work it with your hands continue mixing and knead until you have a soft pliable dough. Let it rest from 30 minutes to overnight and then form into cicatille / chickadades. Roll a bit of dough out into a long, thin cylinder, thinner than a pencil. Cut bits of dough that are about 1 inch long. Using three fingers press the dough down onto a wooden work surface or cutting board, use some pressure to smash the dough and drag it toward you making a curl (see above). Flick the formed chickadades onto a floured portion of the work surface. Sprinkle with flour and let them rest separated, not touching (they'll stick), so they can set.

This is an all purpose pasta, serve with any sauce you like. In the province of Foggia where cicatelle originate they are served with wild fennel fronds that have been boiled and chopped: cook chopped onions in olive oil until translucent and golden, add a few anchovies and a bit of hot red pepper, when the anchovies begin to melt add the boiled and chopped fennel fronds and more olive oil, toss the pasta with some of the pasta cooking water in the pan with the greens and serve hot.

trofie genovese .. trofie from Genoa

1 cup 3 Tablespoons (200 g) fine semolina

1/2 cup (100 g) hot water

pinch of salt

Mix the flour, water and salt to make a

smooth dough, knead until it springs back

from the touch and wrap it in plastic wrap to rest for 20-30 minutes. For trofie roll into long cylinders the size of your little finger; cut pieces about 3/4 inch long and form them like Tiziana does. For tiny trofiette break off a piece of dough the size of a pea and roll it under the side of your palm, holding your hand at an oblique angle, from the base of your wrist to the base of your little finger. Too much pressure they break in two, too little and they remain globs, with the correct amount of pressure you get twirly trofiette and it goes quickly, you can make dozens in minutes.

In Liguria trofie are often served dressed with sweet basil pesto: multiples of 1 oz sweet basil, 1 clove garlic, a pinch of big salt, 1 heaping Tablespoon of pine nuts reduced to a paste in a mortar and pestle, add 1/4 cup grated parmigiano cheese and 2 heaping Tablespoons grated pecorino romano cheese and smash until creamy, stir in 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil ; let it rest at least a few hours before serving on trofie that have been boiled in salted water with a few pieces of potato and a few string beans; each person gets a scoop of pasta with a bit of potato and a string bean or two.

tortellini in brodo

3 eggs of pasta [see above]

filling

220 g / 8 oz pork loin, cut in large pieces, cooked in olive oil with a bay leaf

200 g / 7 oz prosciutto di parma

200 g / 7 oz mortadella

70-100 g / 2.5-3.5 oz grated parmigiano

nutmeg

2 eggs

Finely chop the pork cook loin, prosciutto and mortadella in food processor until it is all reduced to small bits but is still a bit chunky, do not let it turn into a paste. Use a spatula to stir in enough cheese to add flavor without covering up meat flavors, some nutmeg and mix in two beaten eggs.

fill

Cut the fresh sheets of pasta ideally into 1 in squares but if that's hard to work with increase the size to 1 1/2 inch squares. Put a little ball of filling in the middle of the square, bring the bottom point up toward the top point, press to seal, bring the two side points around and press to seal them together. Let them rest on a dish cloth before serving.

To freeze them, put them in the freezer spaced out on a cookie sheet until they are frozen, then transfer to a freezer container. The prepare frozen tortellini put them directly into the boiling broth.

serve (serving size about 15-20 per person)

Cook in boiling broth for 3-4 minutes just to warm the filling and cook the pasta, serve in bowls with abundant grated parmigiano.

Pork-filled tortellini are made in Emilia, from Bologna west. Cappelletti are made in Romagna and around Ferrara in the eastern parts of the region and they often have a filling of ricotta & parmigiano with nutmeg or ricotta & capon and are eaten in a capon broth.