Today’s is the second article on “cooking with what is there”. It is the first of a long series.
This is the first one:
The recipe is a longer … but fun one, and then we’re still relatively home due to the pandemic.
Yesterday my best friend Lauren calls me and says:
- Marcella really want to learn how to make ravioli, but not as someone who makes ravioli every now and then, I want it to become an activity that doesn’t weigh on me, which I do with ease. I want to become a ravioli expert –
– ok – I tell her – do you have flour, eggs …? tell me what you have in the fridge and pantry.
– … cheese … Parmesan …. some old mushrooms …
– do you have two potatoes? do you have parsley? butter?
– yes..yes … I have these things.
– ok! let’s start.
Lauren positions her computer so that she can see her from the screen (how beautiful the technology! I still am amazed. When I started working as a clerk I had an old Olivetti letter 88 on which I broke my nails and the most technological thing was the answering machine phone. Now we look at people from overseas lands)
On a pastry board about 300 grams of flour, a handful of semolina, 3 eggs, a pinch of salt. Beat the eggs and gradually incorporate the flour. Then knead until the dough is elastic. Wrap it in a cloth or cover it with a bowl (I try to avoid the film. I use the wax paper) and let it rest.
Meanwhile, let’s boil two potatoes with their peel. Not big, we get by in about twenty minutes. The time necessary to clean the mushrooms and chop them finely. We also mince a few leaves of washed and dried parsley. Can we put a clove of garlic in it? but yes! then squeeze garlic, a drizzle, but just a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil in a pan, we just heat it with the squeezed garlic, add the mushrooms, salt, parsley, a lid, medium heat. Let’s say 5-7 minutes. Then we evaporate the water they produce.
Meanwhile, grate some parmesan. Essential.
We put in a bowl an egg, the grated parmesan (two or three spoonfuls). Are the mushrooms ready? a few minutes to cool them. Check the potatoes by piercing them with a fork. A few more minutes? ok.
We take a large pot for water and put it on the fire. We don’t have sauces, but butter and sage always works. A large pan to accommodate the tortelli, a piece of butter, a pinch of salt, a few sage leaves (if it is dry we can chop it finely). The pan over the pot so the butter melts gently without frying.
The potatoes are also ready. Drain, peel, mash with potatoes (or mash them with a fork as much as possible), wait for them to cool down a bit. We put them in the bowl with the egg, mushrooms, season with salt and pepper. Ready stuffing.
Let’s go back to the dough, which should have lost its elasticity. I cut a piece of it and we begin patiently to pass it under the machine, squeezing it each time until we obtain a thin sheet. It MUST be thin: if it were not, the double layer of pasta would take too long to cook and meanwhile the layer covering the filling could break during cooking. We cut it with a large round pasta cutter, or with a large glass, or a thin cup so that it can engrave the pasta. A teaspoon of filling in the middle, we close and seal it in a crescent, we wrap it around a finger to get a ring and then, we turn it upside down like we do with socks. These procedures are also visible on our YouTube channel. This video was made at the House of Excellence in Florence, the event linked to ESPO, in 2015.
At first it’s a slow operation, but then it gets carried away.
Now a time of methodical work passes, the same and during which we can talk about more and less. As our grandmothers did around the work table in the days before the holidays.
These Tortelloni will be large, pot-bellied, palatable.
Cook for 5 minutes in boiling salted water, gently pushing them under water with a slotted spoon when they come to the surface. They are always raised with a slotted spoon, leaving them still dripping with water and placed in the pan with melted butter. Turn gently over medium heat, perhaps adding a handful of Grana.
Ale, here they are, served! A sprinkle of freshly ground pepper ….?
Marcella Ansaldo