Pasta Dishes
ANOLINI IN BRODO (kind of ravioli)
(4 servings)
Ingredients for dough:
- 0.9 pound all-purpose flour
- 3 eggs
- water
Ingredients for filling:
- 0.5 pound lean beef meat
- 2 cloves
- 2 ounces butter
- 0.3 pound grated bread
- 0.7 pound Parmesan cheese
- 2 eggs
- salt
- carrot
- celery
- onion
- nutmeg
- ½ glass red wine
- broth
Directions:
Put the cloves in the beef meat. Fry lightly butter, chopped onion, carrot and celery. In the same skillet over medium heat, cook the meat. Pour in wine and, eventually, some broth. Simmer for 5 hours or more. Mince the stew meat. Stir the sauce in the skillet together with grated bread, minced stew meat, eggs, grated Parmesan cheese and nutmeg. Mix until well blended.
Pour the flour in a large bowl. Make a well in the centre and pour the eggs into the flour. Start mixing until the dough makes a smooth and elastic ball. Knead lightly on a floured surface, adding flour if dough is sticky. Roll the dough into a thin rectangle and place about 1 teaspoon of the meat mixture onto half of the rectangle (distance from one teaspoon of filling to another one: at about 2 inches). Fold the other half of the dough up over the meat mixture, pressing the dough around the filling. Cut between the rows of filling to make anolini; press the edges together with a fork or cut with a pastry wheel. Seal edges well. Repeat with the remaining dough and filling. Bring the broth to a boil and cook anolini until tender. Serve anolini together with broth and sprinkle with Parmesan cheese.
PISAREI E FASÔ (dumplings in bean sauce)
(6 servings)
Ingredients for dough:
- 1 pound + 2 inches all-purpose flour
- 0.5 pound grated stale bread
- salt
- water
Ingredients for sauce:
- butter
- oil
- bacon-fat
- stewed beans
- ground pepper
- 1 tablespoon tomato sauce
- Parmesan cheese
Directions:
Pour the flour on a surface and make a well in the centre. Pour into water and grated stale bread (already soaked in hot water). Start mixing until the dough makes a smooth and elastic ball. Take a piece of dough . Roll out at about 1/5 inch thickness and cut the strip into small squares. Take one small square dumpling, let it roll around your thumb. Pisarei must be hollow inside and as big as a bean. Repeat with the remaining dough. Sauce: in a skillet fry lightly butter, oil, chopped onion and bacon-fat. Pour in stewed bean, pepper and salt. Add the tomato sauce. Simmer and add water or broth if necessary. Sauce must be thick and smooth. Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil and cook the pisarei until they float on the surface. Gently stir with wooden spoon so dumplings don't stick together. Drain. Serve pisarei topped with bean sauce and sprinkle with Parmesan.
TORTELLI ALLA PIACENTINA
(4 servings)
Ingredients for dough:
- 0.9 pound all-purpose flour
- 2 eggs
- water
- salt
Ingredients for filling:
- 0.7 pound spinach or beet
- 0.5 pound ricotta cheese
- 0.5 grated Parmesan cheese
- 2 eggs
- nutmeg
- salt
Ingredients for sauce:
- melted butter
- sage
Directions:
Boil spinach or beet, drain and chop them thinly. In a large bowl mix together ricotta cheese and spinach. Stir together with 2 eggs, 0.5 pound grated Parmesan, a little bit of ground nutmeg and salt. Mix until well blended. Pour the flour on a surface and make a well in the centre. Pour in 2 eggs and start mixing until the dough makes a smooth and elastic ball. Roll the dough thinly and divide it into many rectangles about 3 x 2 inches. Drop about one teaspoon filling onto the centre of the rectangle. Put the rectangle in one hand and with thumb and forefinger of the other one, starting from one edge, twist the dough. Repeat with the remaining dough and filling. Place tortelli on towel. Let stand until dry. Cook tortelli in boiling salted water until tender. Drain carefully. Serve tortelli with melted butter, sage and grated Parmesan.