Biba's Northern Italian Cooking - Biba Caggiano [26]
Basic Egg Pasta Dough, page 40, made with 3 cups all-purpose flour
¼ cup butter, at room temperature
½ cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese plus additional for serving
Prepare Meat Filling: Prepare Chicken Broth. Squeeze spinach to remove as much moisture as possible. Melt butter in a medium skillet.When butter foams, add onions and pork. Sauté 3 to 4 minutes over medium heat until light golden. Stir in wine. Cook until wine has evaporated. Add broth. Cook uncovered 15 minutes or until all moisture has evaporated. Stir occasionally. Add spinach, parsley and basil or extra parsley. Cook 1 to 2 minutes longer. Put pork mixture in a blender or food processor. Add eggs and chervil and blend to a paste. Season with salt and pepper. Place mixture in a bowl. Add Parmesan cheese and mix thoroughly. Refrigerate.
Prepare Basic Egg Pasta Dough. Cut small pieces of dough and work through the pasta machine until you have thin sheets of pasta. Cut pasta sheets into strips 4 inches wide. Place 1 teaspoon filling every 2 inches down the center of each strip of pasta. Fold sheets in half over filling. Press edges together to seal. With a pastry cutter, cut pasta strips into squares, cutting between filling to make agnolotti. Dust 2 or 3 large plates or trays with flour. Place agnolotti on plates or trays. Turn agnolotti over every 2 to 3 hours until completely dry. Refrigerate uncovered until ready to use.
Fill a very large saucepan two-thirds full with salted water. Bring water to a boil. Add agnolotti. Bring water back to a boil and cook agnolotti uncovered until tender but firm to the bite. Drain agnolotti and place in a warm deep dish or bowl. Add butter and ½ cup Parmesan cheese.Toss gently until mixed. Serve immediately with additional Parmesan cheese.
TRENETTE WITH PESTO SAUCE
Trenette col Pesto
If you lived in the Liguria region of Italy you would call noodles trenette.
MAKES 6 SERVINGS
Basic Egg Pasta Dough, page 40 made with 3 cups all-purpose flour ½ to ¾ cup Pesto Sauce, page 205
Prepare noodles from Basic Egg Pasta Dough. Prepare Pesto Sauce and let stand at room temperature.
Fill a very large saucepan two-thirds full with salted water. Bring water to a boil.Add noodles. Bring water back to a boil and cook noodles uncovered until tender but firm to the bite.
Drain noodles and place in a warm deep dish or bowl. Add Pesto Sauce and toss gently until mixed. Serve immediately.
Gnocchi, Polenta and Risotto
Gnocchi is the general name for Italian dumplings. There are many kinds including potato, spinach and spinach with cheese.This light Italian version of dumplings is a melt-in-your mouth delicacy. Gnocchi are served as a first course with an incredible array of sauces. In a way, gnocchi and pasta are very much alike. They could be eaten with a different sauce every day for weeks without a dish being repeated. When you serve gnocchi, follow the same guidelines as for serving pasta. Gnocchi are only the first course so serve moderate portions with a small amount of sauce.
With practice, you will find gnocchi are really simple to make. Have fun experimenting with the recipes in this chapter.Then go on to dazzle family and friends with superb dishes.
Polenta
Polenta is made from cornmeal and probably dates back further than any dish in Italian cuisine. It was a staple of life in Roman times when it was called pulmentum or puls.At that time, polenta was probably made of barley and later of wheat. When corn was brought to Europe from North America, polenta became the dish it is today.
In most Northern Italian kitchens, polenta is more than a food, it is a rite. It was made originally in a large copper kettle called a paiolo. The kettle was suspended from a thick chain directly over a burning fire. No country kitchen, no matter how poor, was without a fireplace. In the cities, polenta was made on a charcoal- or wood-burning stove.While the woman of the house stirred the cornmeal mixture, the family gathered around, talking and sipping wine.
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