Ingredients

·      ¾ litre warm water with 1 tablespoon salt dissolved in it

·      About 600g Durum wheat flour (or semolina flour)

1.      Follow the same method as for the egg pasta simply replacing the eggs with the water and using a little more flour this time when kneading. 

2.      You are aiming for the same consistency of dough, so cut it in halves to test it in the same way.  The only difference in consistency here is that the dough will need to be slightly less sticky and somewhat harder.  This is to make sure that the pieces of pasta don’t stick together.

3.       the pasta can be rolled out into sheets and cut into flat forms or rolled into long or short spaghetti strips.  Remember when rolling to keep the diameter of the sausage shapes to 3-4 mm and to try to keep the size as regular as possible so that they all cook in the same time.

4.    Cook in salty boiling water with a spoon of oil.  Once the water comes back to the boil fish out the pasta with a sieve as it comes to the surface.

5.    Add your sauce and serve immediately with extra oil, Parmesan or basil leaves if you choose.

NB. This pasta can be frozen once cut into it’s final shape but not just as a dough ball as with egg pasta.  This is because the salty water in the dough makes the dough too wet to roll and changes the consistency of the dough when it is thawed.  

  RAGU’ SAUCE

Ingredients

·      2 garlic chopped

·      1 celery stick and leaves roughly chopped

·      ½ white onion chopped

·      ½ carrot

·      1 sprig fresh basil

·      2 quality spicy pork sausages (skins removed)

·      1 teaspoon chilli flakes (optional)

·      3 fresh plum tomatoes roughly chopped

·      700ml passata (or skinned peeled and sieved tomato juice)

·      1 tin of plum tomatoes (approximately 400g)

1.    Stir garlic, celery, onion, basil, sausage and chilli in a pan over a hot flame for 3 minutes until the sausage is cooked

2.    Add tomatoes, passata and tinned tomatoes

3.    Cover until it begins to boil. 

4.      Reduce the heat to a simmer and leave for about an hour until 1/3 of the sauce has evaporated.  

Ovosperso Cipollata

Ingredients:

1 cup olive oil (preferably from Fontana del Papa)

3 large onions, sliced

3 cloves garlic, minced

4 large links Italian sausage, cut in large chunks

4 potatoes, cut in large chunks

4 eggs for poaching

4 large ripe tomatoes, skinless, diced

4 stalks celery, chopped

1 cup fresh parsley, chopped

1/2 cup fresh marjoram, chopped

2 pounds porcini mushrooms, cut in large chunks

1 chili pepper, chopped fine

1 1/2 cups freshly grated pecorino cheese

salt and black pepper

fresh Italian bread, sliced thin

In large pot, saute onions and garlic in olive oil.  When onions nearly transparent, add sausage and brown. Add celery, tomatoe and parsley. Continue to saute until slightly reduced.

Add potatoes with enough water (not too much) to cover.

Simmer until potatoes nearly tender. Add chili pepper, mushrooms, marjoram, salt and pepper to taste.

Simmer until potatoes cooked through.

Line shallow bowls with bread slices, cover with Ovosperso Cipollata, top with poaced egg. Serve with cheese for sprinkling.

 100 grams [4 ounces] of pork fat or pancetta

·      1 large onion

·      1 dried chili pepper

·      Seasonal vegetables (Swiss chard, cabbage, bietola, peas, broad beans, , potatoes, courgettes [zucchini flowers] )

·      2-3 cloves of garlic

·      Slices of bread

Chop the pork fat very finely, dice all the vegetables, crush the garlic.

Put the pork fat, onion, garlic and chili in a large pot and cook over a medium flame till the onions are cooked. Then add all the vegetables and about a litre of water. Bring to boil and then simmer till vegetables are cooked (approx 30 minutes).

Variation: Once the soup is nearly cooked, crack an egg over it and allow the egg to cook.

To serve, place 2-3 day old bread in bottom of your soup bowls and ladle the soup over them. You can also add a splash of olive oil and more chili to taste.

Ingredients

·  12 medium waxy yellow potatoes

· Strong flour (the exacted quantity depends on the water in the potatoes, whether they are new or mature and on the type of potatoes)

1.    Boil, peel and finely mash the potatoes whilst they are still fairly hot.

2.    Allow the potatoes to cool before adding the flour because warm potatoes absorb more flour and so make the gnocchi too hard.

3.    Add the flour to the potatoes little by little, folding and gently kneading to mix them together to form a very soft mixture. Not too much flour is the trick.  You only want enough flour to bind the potatoes into a very soft, puffy ball.  It may well feel just a little sticky.  (You can test whether the gnocchi dough is ready by putting a ball into boiling water and if the ball doesn’t break up the dough is ready)

4.    Roll the dough into 2-3 cm sausages using just a little flour. Then cut into 2cm lumps.  You can roll these lumps of gnocchi over a grater or a fork to make a prettier shape.

5.    Dust in flour and transfer to a tray ready for cooking.

6.    Put a drop of oil into a large pan of boiling salted water.  It is important to use ample water to cook pasta.  With gnocchi it is also very important to cook them immediately.

7.    Add the gnocchi to the boiling water.  Fish them out with a sieve once they come to the surface.

8.    Serve straight away with ragu or pesto sauce and grated Parmesan and pecorino cheese.  

Salt durum or plein (farina di grano duro) pasta flour (it depends of the size of the egg as much flower it takes but not too much) eggs (one per person)
Place a heap of flour on a large clean surface and make a well in the centre
Add a pinch of salt and break the egg into the well Using a fork stir the egg until it absorbs enough flour to form a dough Knead the dough well until it becomes smooth and elastic, and smooth to the touch
Cover and allow to rest for 1/2 hour Flour the surface and roll out with as long a rolling pin
as possible
Keep the pasta floured to avoid it sticking to the pin or surface
When the dough is about 1cm thick start to use the pin to roll the pasta back over it and turn it 90 degrees and unroll it to roll out again
Repeat the process until the dough is 1/2 cm thick
Flour again and fold the edges of the pasta towards the centre to form a double flattened roll
Cut with a sharp knife to width
When you have a blades length of cut pasta slide the knife blade beneath the cut pasta and lift to unroll the cut pasta
If you turn the knife so the blade is flat you can then slide your hand beneath the pasta and lift from the knife, then place on a board until all the pasta is cut
Boil a large pan of water and add a large spoonful of salt. When the water is boiling place the pasta in the water and wait until the pasta rises to the surface (about 3 minutes) and the pasta is ready
Do not wash or add oil to the water

Alan Snow's recipe & photo

Ricotta: (WHITE UNSALTED SHEEP'S CHEESE).

To serve four people.

INGREDIENTS: 400 g of fresh ricotta, 200 g of boiled (and chopped) spinach, 100 g of grated parmesan cheese, 2 eggs, salt, pepper, nutmeg.

Ingredients for the pasta: 5 eggs, 1 kilo of flour.

PREPARATION: put the flour on the table/ working surface, and make a hollow in the middle

in which to beat the eggs with a pinch of salt. Knead the mixture until it becomes a smooth and soft dough. Roll out the dough with the rolling pin into a thin layer, then with a tablespoon spread out the filling in a thin line on one half of the area. Use the other half of the dough to cover the filling, and then cut into little squares for cooking. 

Ricotta Romana is fatty and strongly flavored ricotta made of sheep’s milk 

500g Arborio rice

300g pumpkin flesh

1 small onion finely chopped

50g of parmesan

dried chilly and salt to taste

Vegetable stock (approx 1 pint)

Method

1.Cut the pumpkin flesh finely

2. In a saucepan soften the butter over a low heat and add the chopped onion, pinch of dried chilly, pumpkin flesh and rice

3.Gradually add the stock and let it absorb into the rice until the rice is cooked

4.To serve sprinkle over freshly grated parmesan

Note: to serve place the risotto into the scooped out pumpkin shell

Ingredients

Plain flour 10g of fresh yeast tepid water

Method

Make a mound of flour and scoop a well in the centre. Put the fresh yeast, a pinch of salt and 2 cups of tepid water in the mound, using a fork, stir in a circular motion to incorporate the flour into the liquid, mixing until a dough forms, add more tepid water as required.

Sprinkle a work surface with flour. Put the dough in the centre and knead vigorously for about

10 minutes. Form a ball and cover with tea towel, leave to rise till approx double the volume.

Resprinkle the work surface with flour and knead again the dough.

Cut into smaller balls and roll each out as required for pizza bases.  

VE R D U R E

Ingredients batter

2 eggs

½ glass water

2 glasses plain flour

1½ glasses wine vinegar  

1. Mix all the ingredients together (in a food processor) to form a sloppy batter ( similar in consistency to pancake batter), which will then stick to the vegetables. 

Various vegetables

Cut potatoes, courgettes, aubergines into 2-3 mm slices

·If you use aubergines prepare them in salt as with grilled aubergines before frying

Cut celery, carrots into fingers 7mm thick 

Courgette flowers

·Wash in salty water, dry, remove stamens

·Stuff each flower with ½ an anchovy and a little piece of mozzarella

1.Simply dip the vegetables in the batter and deep-fry them until they turn golden in very hot vegetable oil.  It is important to cook the hard/ slow cooking vegetables in the same batch and the softer (or more thinly cut) quick cooking vegetables in another batch.

2.Remove them with a slotted spoon or a sieve and transfer then to kitchen paper before serving. 

3.The fried vegetables are best served immediately or hot. They can be served with or without a sprinkle of salt.

 

This is also an antipasto from the region and makes an impressive dish. A mixture of anchovy fillets,  mozzarella is mixed together and used to stuff the flowers. The stuffed flowers are placed in a shallow bowl with flour (plain) and then dipped in tempura, before being fried in a hot pan (containing sunflower oil)   

FUNGHETTI TRIFOLATI (SAUTED MUSHROOMS)

Ingredients

· ½ kg mushrooms

· glass olive oil

· cloves garlic, peeled and chopped

· Handful of freshly chopped parsley and tablespoon fennel seeds

· Salt to taste  

 

·   garlic

·   Teaspoon dried marjoram

·   Optional: mushrooms  

1. In a medium sized frying pan place approx 2 tablespoons of oilve oil and cook the pancetta gently, with marjoram, onion and peas.

2.  Add a cup of water (if the peas are frozen, no water is necessary). Simmer over a low heat for approx 15 minutes.  

MELANZANE ALLA PARMIGIANA

Photo by Angela Potter

Ingredients

·   Ragu sauce

·   3 large Aubergines  

·   extra virgin olive oil

·   2 handfuls grated Parmesan

·   2 packets of  Mozzarella sliced to ¾ or a cm thickness  

1. Slice the aubergines to 1cm thickness and cover them in salt for 30 minutes

2. Rinse then and dry them well before grilling until they take on the black grilling lines of the grill pan and are soft

3. In a deep lasagne dish layer up the aubergines, the ragù sauce, a layer of Parmesan and a layer of mozzarella and then repeat to form a second layer.

4. Bake in a 200°C oven for about 30 minutes until golden

SECONDI    PIATTI  -  MEAT   AND    POULTRY

Pollo alla Cacciatora

8 skinless drumsticks
5 sprigs of fresh sage
3 sprigs of fresh rosemary
2 garlic cloves
1/2 cup olive oil
1/4 cup white wine vinegar
1 cup red or white wine

With a meat cleaver, chop off the nubby ends of the drumsticks and then chop in half.

Add the drumsticks to about 1/2 cup water to a non-stick pan and cook on medium heat for about five minutes.

Meanwhile, in a wooden morter and pestle, pound the garlic, rosemary, and 1/4 cup of olive oil until it's chunky and pulpy. (Wooden morter and pestles allow you to pound and crush herbs better than marble ones).

Drain the water in the pan with the chicken and add 1/4 cup of the olive oil and the fresh sage. Stir the chicken around for the first few minutes so it doesn’t stick. Matilde really shakes up the chicken -- almost like a stir fry -- with two wooden spoons.

Continue cooking for about five minutes.

Add the rosemary mixture to the pan and let it simmer with the chicken for about five minutes. Add the wine (Matilde and Claudio like red wine in this recipe but I like white wine because it doesn't color the chicken and has a clean, crisp flavor). Let the wine and rosemary mixture simmer together until liquid is silky and chicken is cooked through.

Serve as a main course after pasta.
 

·      12 thin 2mm filets of beef or veal

·      12 slices of Mortadella (alternative, Parma ham, bacon, pancetta

·      Little pieces or chunks of white onion, carrot, celery, garlic and basil leaves  

1.    Thin beef filets (fat free and fairly good quality meat)

2.    Layer beef, mortadella, seasoning salt and black pepper and place on of each little piece of vegetable in the middle.

3.    Roll up the meat wrap trying to fold in the ends to form a little parcel which you then secure with a cocktail stick.

4.    Place in the pan of ragu sauce at the beginning of stage 4. Test the meat after 30 minutes.  It should be cooked.

 RABBIT  (CHICKEN, PORK, VEAL OR BEEF) AND HERBS Coniglio Arrosto (Roast Rabbit)

Ingredients

• 1 rabbit or other meat diced into 4cm chunks

• 6 small chilies

• 1 small handful dry rosemary or 1 handful of fresh chopped rosemary, basil or parsley – depending on what’s in season)

• 6 leaves fresh sage

• 6 cloves garlic

• ½ cup glass red wine vinegar

• 1 glass extra virgin olive oil

• 1 glass white wine  

1.  Crush the herbs and garlic in a pestle and mortar and add the vinegar

2.  Wash the rabbit pieces in salty water Remove from the water and cover the meat with a generous amount of coarse salt before putting in a frying pan and cooking with a lid on over a high heat.  4-5 minutes later pour off the liquid that comes out of the meat and heat again.  Continuing the process until no more liquid is produced.  This process removes the strong flavours from game and very fresh meat.

3.  Add olive oil and wine and stir until the alcohol has evaporated.

4.  After 10 minutes or so add the herbs mixture and reduce the heat to a low simmer.  Put a lid on and cook stirring occasionally for about 45 minutes until the meat is cooked through.

DOLCI

300g plain flour, 300 g butter (soft), 300 g sugar, 3

egg,  Fruit Jam (apricot, plum, strawberry

Grease cake tin (12 inches)

Grate the zest of a lemon into sugar, then mix the above ingredients together to form pastry. Place in cake tin and press down firmly by hand until the base of the tin is covered. Keep a small amount of pastry aside and roll this out into strips and make lattice design to decorate the top of the cake. Pour a layer of jam over the pastry and then cover with the lattice design

Bake for 20-30 minutes at 160°C

TIRAMISU'

Ingredients-
4 eggs; 250 grams Mascarpone; 250 grams caster sugar
1 packet of plain rich tea type biscuits "Oro Saiwa" (this is the closest I can find to the biscuits we used) dark chocolate; chocolate powder; Sambuca; 250 grams of cream; strong black coffee.

Separate the eggs and beat the yolks with the sugar until the sugar is dissolved
Add the mascarpone and mix until smooth
Beat the egg whites until stiff then gentle fold into the mixture
Add the sambuca to the strong coffee in a small bowl
Tip 1/4 of the mascarpone mixture into a serving dish and spread evenly
Dip biscuits in the coffee mixture and place on top of the first layer of the mixture in the serving dish until covered
Add another layer of the mascarpone mix then cover with coffee dipped biscuits
Repeat the last step and add a final cover of the mascarpone mixture
Shake a fine layer of the chocolate powder over the surface, then sprinkle grated chocolate over the surface. Chill for 2 hours before serving
Alan Snow's recipe

FRITTELLE  (SWEET RICE NIBBLES)

Ingredients

· 200g Arborio rice cooked

· 300g ricotta cheese

· 3 eggs whisked

· 3tablespoons sugar

· 300g raisins soaked for at least 1 hour in sambuca liqueur (alternatively use Amaretto Strega or Vermouth)

· 1 lemon, grated

· 100 g plain flour

· 1 pinch vanilla flavored baking powder  

1.Mix all the ingredients together, setting aside a small amount of sugar and cinnamon to sprinkle over once cooked.

2.Take a spoonful of the mixture and fry in oil (sunflower) till browned

3.Dry in kitchen paper before rolling in sugar and cinnamon.

4.Serve hot or cold

CIAMBELLONE (CINNAMON SPONGE)

LIMONCELLO

Ingredients

Ingredients

500 g cream
3 eggs
4 table spoon grams sugar
alcohol? what? how much?
150 grams chopped bar of dark chocolate
vanilla amaretti

1). Separate the yoalk from white Mix the the white to become snow in a bowl.
The red of egg with sugar
This should be done by hand to avoid making it too liquid
Same processing for cream (like snow
3). Stir in the chopped chocolate
4). Crush the amaretti, then smear the inside of a serving dish with the ricotta mix and coat with some of the crushed amaretti
5). Fill the dish with the ricotta mix then cover with the rest of amaretti
6). Place in freezer for 8 hours and then transfer to fridge for 30 minutes before serving
Alan Snow's recipe & photo

Torta di mele (apple cake)

2 eggs
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1/2 cup sugar + three tablespoons
1 cup flour
1 ounce Sambuca
1 heaping teaspoon baking powder
3 tart Granny Smith apples

Preheat a convection oven to 325 degrees. Peel and core the apples and cut them into thin slices. Set the apple slices aside. Combine all other ingredients in a large bowl and stir with a fork until smooth.

Butter and flour a 9-inch spring form baking pan. (Matilde used a slightly larger pan with four apples instead of three. I found the 9-inch pan with three apples works great. Go with what you have.)

Pour the batter into the pan. Layer the apple slices so they overlap, as shown in the photos, below. Make sure to push the apples down into the batter so that the apple slices are firmly nestled. You want to pack them in tightly.

Bake for 60 minutes. Cool to room temperature. Sprinkle powdered sugar on top and serve