10. Spread the meat sauce over the cannelloni, coating them uniformly. Spread the remaining béchamel over the sauce, sprinkle with the grated Parmesan, and dot with butter.
11. Bake on the topmost rack of the preheated oven until a light, golden crust forms on top. It should take between 10 and 15 minutes, but do not bake longer than 15 minutes. After removing from the oven, allow the cannelloni to settle for at least 10 minutes, then serve at table directly from the baking dish.
Ahead-of-time note The cannelloni may be completed up to two days in advance up to this point. Refrigerate under tightly sealing plastic wrap.
Sliced Pasta Roll with Spinach and Ham Filling
IN ITALY we call it a rotolo; it starts out as a large jelly roll of pasta wrapped around a delicious spinach and ham filling, wrapped in cheesecloth and boiled, then when cold, sliced, sauced, and briefly browned in a hot oven. It’s a marvelous dish for a buffet table, quite as captivating in flavor as it is in appearance.
For 6 servings
Tomato Sauce with Onion and Butter, ½ the recipe's quantity
FOR THE FILLING
2 pounds fresh spinach OR 2 ten-ounce packages frozen leaf spinach, thawed
Salt
2 tablespoons onion chopped very fine
3 tablespoons butter
3 tablespoons prosciutto chopped fine
1 heaping cup fresh ricotta
1 cup freshly grated parmigiano-reggiano cheese
Whole nutmeg
1 egg yolk
FOR THE PASTA
Homemade yellow pasta dough, made by the machine method, OR by the hand-rolled method, using 3 large eggs and approximately 1⅔ cups unbleached flour
Cheesecloth
Salt
Béchamel Sauce, using 1 cup milk, 2 tablespoons butter, 1½ tablespoons flour, and ⅛ teaspoon salt
⅓ cup freshly grated parmigiano-reggiano cheese
About 2 tablespoons butter for dotting the baking dish
1. Prepare the tomato sauce, using only half the recipe.
2. If using fresh spinach: Soak it in several changes of water, and cook it with salt until tender. Drain it, and as soon as it is cool enough to handle, squeeze it gently in your hands to drive out as much moisture as possible. Chop it rather coarse, and set aside.
If using thawed frozen leaf spinach: Cook in a covered pan with salt for about 5 minutes. Drain it, when cool squeeze all the moisture out of it that you can, and chop it coarse.
3. Put the chopped onion and butter for the filling in a skillet or small sauté pan, turn on the heat to medium, and sauté the onion until it becomes colored a pale gold. Add the chopped prosciutto. Cook it for about half a minute, stirring to coat it well, then add the chopped spinach. Stir thoroughly once or twice and cook for 2 minutes or more until the spinach absorbs all the butter.
4. Turn out all the contents of the pan into a bowl, add the ricotta, the 1 cup grated Parmesan, a tiny grating—about ⅛ teaspoon—of nutmeg, and the egg yolk. Mix well with a fork until all the ingredients of the filling are evenly combined. Taste and correct for salt.
5. Prepare the yellow pasta dough by machine, or by hand, rolling it out as thin as it will come by either method.
6. If making pasta by machine: You must join all the pasta strips to make a single large sheet. Lightly moisten the edge of one strip with water, then place the edge of another strip over it, overlapping it by very little, about ⅛ inch. Run your thumb along the whole length of the edge, pressing down hard on the two edges to bond them together. Smooth the bumps out with a pass or two of a rolling pin. Repeat the operation with another pasta strip, continuing until all the dough has been joined to form a single sheet. Even off the irregular fringes with a pastry wheel or knife.
If making pasta by hand: When you have rolled out a single thin sheet of pasta proceed to the next step.
7. Spread the spinach filling over the pasta, starting about 3 inches in from the edge close to you. Spread it thinly to cover all the sheet of dough except for the 3-inch border near you and a ¼-inch border along the other sides. Lift the edge of the 3-inch border and fold the whole width of the border over the filling. Fold again and again until the whole sheet of pasta has been loosely rolled up.
8. Wrap the pasta tightly in cheesecloth, tying both ends securely with kitchen string. If you do not have a fish poacher, choose a pot that can subsequently accommodate the pasta in 3 to 4 quarts of water. Bring the water to a boil, add 1 tablespoon salt and when the water resumes boiling, slip in the pasta roll. Adjust heat to cook at a steady but moderate boil for 20 minutes. Lift the pasta out supporting it with two spoons or spatulas to make sure it does not split in the middle. Remove the cheesecloth while the pasta is still hot, and set the roll aside to cool.
9. Preheat oven to 400°.
10. While the pasta is cooling, make the béchamel sauce, bringing it to a medium thickness. When done, mix it with the tomato sauce prepared earlier.
11. When the pasta is cool and firm, slice it like a roast into ¾-inch slices.
12. Choose a bake-and-serve dish that can accommodate the pasta slices in a single layer. Lightly smear the bottom of the dish with sauce. Place the pasta slices in the dish, arranging them so that they overlap slightly, roof shingle fashion. Pour the rest of the sauce and béchamel mixture over the pasta, sprinkle with the ⅓ cup grated Parmesan, and dot lightly with butter.
13. Bake on the uppermost rack of the oven for 10 to 15 minutes, until a light golden crust forms on top. Remove from the oven and allow to settle for 10 minutes before bringing to the table. Serve directly from the baking dish.
Ahead-of-time note The dish can be assembled completely up to this point several hours in advance, but not overnight. Do not refrigerate because cooked spinach acquires a sour, metallic taste in the refrigerator.
Pasta Wrappers Filled with Spinach Fettuccine, Porcini Mushrooms, and Ham
BEFORE the student riots of the late 1970s demolished it, Al Cantunzein, in Bologna, was probably the greatest pasta restaurant that has ever existed. Among the thirty or forty pastas it served, the most sublime was called scrigno di venere, Venus’s jewel case. The “case” was formed by a small handkerchief-sized wrapper of yellow pasta pulled around a collection of edible “jewels”: green fettuccine, ham, wild mushrooms, truffles.
The recipe, while not particularly troublesome from the point of view of technique, requires a substantial amount of organization to assemble. Reading it through carefully first will help you put it together smoothly later.
For 6 servings
FOR THE FETTUCCINE
Homemade green pasta dough, made by the machine method, OR by the hand-rolled method, using 2 large eggs, ⅓ package frozen leaf spinach OR 6 ounces fresh spinach, salt, and approximately 1½ cups unbleached flour
TO SAUCE THE FETTUCCINE
3 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons chopped shallots OR onion
Two small packets OR 2 ounces dried porcini mushrooms, reconstituted
Filtered water from the mushroom soak
⅔ cup unsmoked boiled ham, cut into ¼-inch strips
1 cup heavy whipping cream
⅓ cup freshly grated parmigiano-reggiano cheese
OPTIONAL: ½ ounce (or more if affordable) fresh OR canned white truffle
THE PASTA WRAPPERS
Homemade yellow pasta dough made by the machine method, OR by the hand-rolled method, using 3 large eggs and approximately 1⅔ cups unbleached flour
THE BÉCHAMEL SAUCE
Béchamel Sauce, using 3 cups milk, 6 tablespoons butter, 4½ tablespoons flour, and ¼ teaspoon salt
Salt
6 gratin pans, preferably earthenware, about 4½ inches in diameter
Butter for greasing the pans Wooden toothpicks
1. Make green pasta dough either by machine, or by hand. Cut it into fettuccine, either using the wide-grooved cutters of the pasta machine, or cutting it by hand. See the notes "Cutting flat pasta" and "Cutti
ng handmade pasta" for complete details. Spread the fettuccine loosely on a counter lined with clean, dry, cloth towels.
2. To make the sauce: Put 3 tablespoons of butter in a saucepan or small sauté pan together with the chopped onion or shallot, turn on the heat to medium, and cook the onion or shallot, stirring, until it becomes colored a pale gold. Add the reconstituted dried mushrooms and the filtered water from their soak. Cook at a simmer until all the mushroom liquid has evaporated.
3. Add the ham, cook half a minute or so, stirring once or twice to coat it well, then add the heavy cream. Cook until the cream has thickened somewhat, then turn off the heat and set aside.
4. Make the pasta wrappers: Prepare the yellow pasta dough by machine, or by hand, rolling it out as thin as it will come by either method.
5. If making pasta by machine: You must join all the pasta strips to make a single large sheet. Lightly moisten the edge of one strip with water, then place the edge of another strip over it, overlapping it by very little, about ⅛ inch. Run your thumb along the whole length of the edge, pressing down hard on the two edges to bond them together. Smooth the bumps out with a pass or two of a rolling pin. Repeat the operation with another pasta strip, continuing until all the dough has been joined to form a single sheet.
If making pasta by hand: When you have rolled out a single thin sheet of pasta proceed to the next step.
6. Lay the sheet of dough flat on a counter lined with dry, cloth towels, and let it dry for about 10 minutes.
7. To make the wrappers, you must cut the pasta into disks 8 inches in diameter. Look for a pot cover of that size, or a plate, or use a compass to trace 6 eight-inch disks on the pasta dough. Detach the disks from the pasta sheet, spreading them on the cloth towels. (The leftover pasta can be cut and dried to cook in soup on another occasion.)
8. Prepare the béchamel sauce, making it rather thin, the consistency of sour cream. When done, keep it warm in the upper half of a double boiler, with the heat turned to very low. Stir it just before using.
9. Place a bowl of cold water near the range and bring 4 quarts of water to a boil in a soup pot. Add 1 tablespoon salt, and as the water resumes boiling, drop in 2 of the pasta disks. When they have cooked for no more than half a minute, retrieve them with a colander spoon, or other spoon, dip them in the bowl of cold water, then rinse them under cold running water, wringing them gently, and spread them out flat on the cloth towel. Repeat the operation until you have done all 6 pasta disks.
10. Turn the heat on to low under the mushroom and ham sauce, stirring it once or twice while you are reheating it. If using canned truffles, add the juice from the can to the sauce.
11. Add more water to the soup pot to replenish what has boiled away, and when the water comes to a lively boil, drop in the green fettuccine. Drain the pasta when slightly underdone, a little firmer than al dente. Toss it immediately with the ham and mushroom sauce. Add the grated Parmesan, and toss again. If using truffle, slice it very thin over the pasta; if you don’t have a truffle slicer, use a swiveling-blade peeler or a mandoline. Divide the fettuccine into 6 equal portions, keeping to one side 6 individual strands.
12. Preheat oven to 450°.
13. Thickly smear the bottom of the gratin pans with butter. Spread some béchamel sauce on a large platter. Place one of the pasta disks over the béchamel, rotating it to coat all its underside. Thinly spread a little more béchamel on its top side. Place the disk in a gratin pan, centering it and letting its edges hang over the sides.
Put one of the 6 portions of fettuccine in the center of the disk, making sure it has its share of sauce. Keep the fettuccine loose, don’t tamp them down. Mix in a little béchamel.
Pick up the edges of the disk and fold them toward the center with a spiral movement, thus sealing the pasta wrapper. Fasten the folds at the top with a toothpick, then wrap one of the fettuccine strands you had set aside around the toothpick.
Repeat the entire procedure until you have filled and sealed all 6 wrappers.
14. Place the gratin pans on the uppermost rack of the preheated oven. Bake until a light brown crust forms on the edge of the wrapper folds, about 8 minutes. Do not bake longer than 10 minutes.
15. Transfer each wrapper from the gratin pan to a soup plate, lifting carefully with 2 metal spatulas. Remove the toothpick without dislodging the single strand of fettuccine. Allow to rest for at least 5 minutes before serving.
Ahead-of-time note You can prepare the wrappers several hours in advance up to this point. They can be done in the morning for the evening, but not overnight, and they are not to be refrigerated.
Pizzoccheri
Pizzoccheri are short, broad, taupe-colored noodles made principally of soft buckwheat flour. They are a specialty of Valtellina, on the Swiss border, where in cool, Alpine valleys buckwheat grows well. Because buckwheat is so soft, it must be stiffened with some wheat flour, in the proportions given below.
As you will see when you follow the recipe, the preparation of pizzoccheri has three parts: The pasta is cooked along with potatoes and vegetables, it is then tossed with sage- and garlic-scented butter and topped with sliced, soft cheese, and finally briefly gratinéed in the oven.
The vegetable may be either Savoy cabbage or Swiss chard stalks. My preference is for the Swiss chard. Only the stalks go into this recipe, but the detached leafy tops can be boiled, tossed with olive oil and lemon juice, and served as salad, or else sautéed with garlic and served as a vegetable. Valtellina’s own tender and savory cheese is not available elsewhere, but an excellent replacement is fontina.
For 6 servings
FOR THE PIZZOCCHERI
Homemade pasta dough, made by the machine method, OR by the hand-rolled method, using 3 large eggs and approximately 1¼ cups fine-grained buckwheat flour, ½ cup plus 1 tablespoon unbleached flour, 1 tablespoon milk, 1 tablespoon water, and ½ teaspoon salt
THE OTHER INGREDIENTS
3 to 3½ cups Swiss chard stalks (leafy tops completely removed), cut into pieces 2 to 3 inches long and about ½ inch wide
Salt
1 cup potatoes, preferably new, peeled and sliced ¼ inch thick
4 tablespoons (½ stick) butter
4 large garlic cloves, lightly mashed with a knife handle and peeled
2 dried or 3 fresh sage leaves
A 12- to 14-inch oven-to-table baking dish and butter to smear it
¼ pound imported Italian fontina cheese, sliced into thin slivers
⅔ cup freshly grated parmigiano-reggiano cheese
1. Making the pizzoccheri noodles: Pour the buckwheat flour and the unbleached flour onto a work surface, and mix them well. Shape the flour into a mound with a hollow in the center, put the eggs, milk, water, and salt into the hollow and combine with the flour, then knead as described.
2. Roll out the dough, either by the machine method, or by the hand method, keeping it somewhat thicker than you would for fettuccine. Let it dry for 2 or more minutes until it is no longer so moist that it will stick to itself when folded and cut, but without letting it get so brittle that it will crack.
3. Loosely fold the machine-made strips or hand-rolled sheet of dough into a loose flat roll as you would for cutting tagliatelle. Cut the rolled-up dough into 1-inch wide ribbons, and cut each ribbon diagonally in the middle to obtain diamond-shaped noodles that are 1 inch wide and about 3 to 3½ inches long. Unfold the noodles and spread them out on top of a counter lined with clean, dry cloth towels.
Ahead-of-time note The pasta can be prepared up to this point days or even weeks ahead of time. See instructions on drying pasta for storage. Bear in mind when cooking it later that dried pasta takes longer than the freshly made.
Cooking the Pasta
1. Preheat oven to 400°.
2. Wash the cut-up Swiss chard stalks in cold water.
3. Bring 4 quarts of water to a boil, add 2 tablespoons salt, and as soon as the water resumes boiling put in the chard. When the chard has cooked for 10 minutes, p
ut in the potatoes, setting the pot’s cover on slightly askew.
4. While the chard and potatoes are cooking, put 4 tablespoons of butter and the mashed garlic in a small skillet and turn on the heat to medium. Cook the garlic, stirring, until it becomes colored a light nut brown, discard it, and put in the sage leaves. Turn the leaves over in the hot butter once or twice, then remove the pan from heat.
5. Thinly smear the baking dish with butter.
6. When both the chard and the potatoes are tender—test each by prodding it with a fork—drop the pasta into the same pot. Cook the pasta until it is slightly underdone, very firm to the bite, molto al dente. If freshly made, it will take just a few seconds. Drain it immediately together with the chard and potatoes, and transfer all ingredients to the buttered baking dish.
7. Over the pasta pour the garlic and sage butter, tossing thoroughly to coat the noodles well.
8. Add the sliced fontina and grated Parmesan, mixing them into the pasta and vegetables. Level off the contents of the dish, and place on the uppermost rack of the preheated oven. Remove after 5 minutes, allow to settle for another 2 or 3, then serve at table directly from the dish.
Orecchiette
APULIA, the region that extends over the entire heel and half the instep of the boot-shaped Italian peninsula, has a strong tradition of homemade pasta. Unlike the tortellini, tagliatelle, and lasagne of Emilia-Romagna, Apulian pasta is made with water instead of eggs, and the flour is mostly from their native hard-wheat variety, rather than from the soft wheat of the Emilian plain. Apulian dough is chewier, firmer, more rustic in texture. It is perfectly suited to the strongly accented sauces of the region.
Essentials of Classic Italian Cooking Page 26
