Category: Primi

Fusilli with Ricotta Salata

Ingredients 

500 g of home-made fusilli

500 g of ripe tomatoes

300 g of lamb

1 hot red pepper

150 g of grated ricotta salata

175 ml of extra virgin olive oil

Salt

Preparation 

Wash, peel, seed and dice the tomatoes, Cut the meat into cubes, In a skillet, pour a little olive oil and brown the meat, Add the tomatoes, Season with salt and continue cooking, Meanwhile, cook the fusilli in a large pot of salted boiling water until al dente. Drain thoroughly, Serve with the meat sauce,

Sprinkle with abundant grated ricotta salata and finish with chopped hot red pepper (previously fried in olive oil for a few minutes).

Fusilli with Sausages

Ingredients 

400 g of flour

4 eggs

400 g of sausages

400 g of ripe tomatoes

2 hot red peppers

150 g of ricotta salata, grated

Extra virgin olive oil

Salt

Preparation 

Sauce: In a saucepan, sauté the chopped onion with olive oil for a few minutes. Add the sausages and brown them. Then add the peeled, seeded and pureed tomatoes. Cook over low heat.

Fusilli: Put the flour on a pasta board. Arrange in a mound and make a well. Add the beaten eggs, a pinch of salt and one tablespoon of olive oil. Start kneading the dough and continue until you get a ball of elastic and smooth dough. Let it rest 30 minutes wrapped in a moist kitchen towel. Roll a piece of dough into a thin cylinder and cut it 10 cm. long. Make the fusilli. Roll the knitting needle pressing on the dough so it can wrap itself around the needle. Slide the fusilli from the needle and place them on

a cotton kitchen towel with some flour. Set aside to dry. Cook the fusilli in a large pot of salted boiling,

water until al dente. Drain thoroughly. Serve immediately with the sauce and the sausages. Sprinkle with grated ricotta salata and chopped hot red pepper.

Minuich

(Homemade Pasta)

Ingredients 

600 g of flour

Preparation 

Put the flour on a pasta board. Arrange in a mound and make a well. Add lukewarm water. Start kneading the dough and continue until you get a ball of smooth and elastic dough. Roll a piece of dough into a rope 1 cm thick and cut into 2 cm long sticks. Make the minuich: place one piece of dough under

a thin knitting needle and with both hands give the needle a quick twirl so the dough flattens and wraps itself around the needle. Slide the minuich from the needle and place them on a cotton kitchen towel with some flour. Cook the minuich in a large pot of salted boiling water until al dente. Drain

thoroughly. Transfer to a big serving dish and serve with a lamb ragu, a pork ragu, or a tomato sauce. Sprinkle with grated pecorino.

Strascinati

Ingredients 

600 g of flour

500 g of ripe tomatoes

2 garlic cloves

3-4 basil leaves

1 hot red pepper

250 ml of extra virgin olive oil

150 g of grated Pecorino

Salt

Preparation 

Put the flour on a pasta board. Arrange in a mound and make a well. Add a pinch of salt, the lard and lukewarm water. Start kneading the dough and continue until you get a ball of elastic and smooth dough. Roll out the dough and place it on the cauarola (an antique little ridged pasta board similar to the

one used for the maccheroni alla chitarra from the Marches Region). Roll back and forth with a rolling pin to cut out the strascinati, pasta rectangles which are patterned in herringbone. Place the strascinati on a cotton kitchen towel with some flour and let the pasta rest until needed. In the meantime, in a saucepan, sauté the chopped garlic in 2-3 tablespoons of olive oil for a few minutes. Add the peeled,

diced tomatoes. Season with salt and add the hot pepper. Cook over low heat, 25 minutes approximately. Before removing the saucepan from the stove, add some basil .leaves. Cook the strascinati in a large pot of salted boiling water until al dente. Drain thoroughly. Transfer to a

big serving dish and add the sauce. Sprinkle with grated pecorino.

Casoncello with Ricotta

(Stuffing and a tomato and basil sauce)

ROASTED WHEAT FLOUR DOUGH

Ingredients 

40 g of unbleached all purpose flour

80 g of fine semolina flour

80 g of fine roasted wheat semolina flour

2 g of salt

1 egg

1 egg yolk

Preparation 

Mix the three types of flour. Arrange in a mound and make a well. Add the eggs and salt. Knead until you obtain a smooth and elastic dough. Roll it into a ball and wrap it in plastic food wrap. Set aside in a cool place, 30 minutes.

PUMPKIN DOUGH

Ingredients 

90 of unbleached all purpose flour

80 g of fine semolina flour

80 of pumpkin

1 egg

1 egg yolk

7 g of extra virgin olive oil

1 g of natural food coloring, yellow

Preparation 

Bake the pumpkin and pass the pulp through a sieve to obtain a puree. Combine the two types of flour and arrange in a mound. Make a well and add the pumpkin puree, olive oil, salt, natural food colouring and the eggs. Knead to obtain an elastic and smooth dough. Wrap the dough in plastic food film and set aside in a cool place, 30 minutes.

FILLING

Ingredients 

500 g of ewe’s milk ricotta

1 egg

1 lemon

Clove and cinnamon to taste

Preparation 

Pass the ricotta through a sieve. Add the egg and the grated lemon zest. Season with ground clove and cinnamon. Mix well all ingredients. Roll out the two types of dough to 1 mm. thick. Cut into rounds

of 10 cm. in diameter. Spoon some ricotta filling over half of the rounds. Cover with the second type of pasta rounds. Pay attention to alternate the two types of pastas. Press to seal the borders. Keep on the side in a cool place.

SAUCE

Ingredients 

600 g of cherry tomatoes

100 g of extra virgin olive oil

40 g of celery

40 g of carrots

80 g of onion

10 g basil leaves

Salt and pepper to taste

Preparation 

In a saucepan, heat the oil and brown the celery, the carrots and the finely chopped onion. Add the peeled and seeded cherry tomatoes. Cook over low heat, 10 minutes approximately. Season with salt and pepper. Put it through a food processor and add basil leaves.

Cook the casoncelli in a large pot of salted boiling water. Remove them with a slotted spoon or a skimmer. Quickly pat them dry on a kitchen towel and transfer them on a hot dish. Serve with tomato sauce and garnish with basil leaves.