2021 Giro d’Italia - Stage 4: Piacenza to Sestola
Today the riders traverse a new region, from NW to SW Emilia-Romagna, home of a myriad of pastas. It was a completely rainy slog through the region. So much so that the video footage cut out this morning. What else could be better than a meal that sticks to your bones? While it’s pasta and beans, and very comforting, it’s not a heavy dish, whatsoever.
This is a lovely little dish for which I found a helpful video and recipe on Pasta Grannies! If you’ve not heard of it, it’s a website that has footage of all these Italian nonnas making old pasta dishes by hand. I thought a fitting tie-in would be to make this along with my girls on Mother’s Day for their nonna. Kids love pasta and getting their hands dirty and helping out in the kitchen. It’s even better that the pisarei are pea-sized pasta pieces. So, having little hands for the job is beneficial as well. I’m happy to have had some other adults around too, because making these pea-sized shaped pastas take a bit of time. This would actually be a really fun recipe to pre-make to a certain point and then have your friends/guests get in on the pasta thumb-rolling action.
Pisarei e fasö
adapted from Pasta Grannies, Cessarina [last name unknown]
Pasta
400g 00 white flour (by weight)
100g fine fresh breadcrumbs (by weight - ~2 slices of bread)
200ml warm water approximately
Sauce
75g fat from salt pork (rind removed)
2 sprigs of rosemary, leaves stripped
1 onion chopped
Pinch each of nutmeg, clove, and black pepper
Bay leaf
Handful of chopped parsley (tarragon is a good substitute)
500g roman beans, ready cooked
1.5 cups (or more) tomato passata
Parmigiano Reggiano, freshly grated
Mix the flour and breadcrumbs together on a work surface, push the mixture out to create a bowl and, mixing in a little water at a time, knead until the dough comes together, and starts feeling silky to the touch. Cover it with cling film and let it rest for at least 30 minutes.
Meanwhile, mince the salt pork fat with the rosemary to form a paste. Cook over medium-low heat in a sauté pan, until nearly fully melted away, then sauté the onion until soft, increasing the heat to medium. Add all the other ingredients, except for the cheese, and simmer for about 10 minutes or so, cover and turn off the heat.
Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil.
While the water heats, return to the dough and pull chunks off, rolling them into very thin ropes. Using a sharp knife or bench scraper, slice pea or bean size pieces off, and roll them along a countertop or wooden cutting board with your thumb to create a curved shape. Keep the rolled pasta under a towel to stop them from drying out. Try to keep the pieces separated so they don’t adhere to each other.
When the water is boiling, add the pisarei and turn the heat back on under the beans.
When the pisarei float to the top, which takes about 5 minutes, scoop them out with a slotted spoon and add to the bean mixture. Add more passata or pasta water to the mixture, as needed.
Stir everything together along with the parmigiano, and serve; topping off each plate with more cheese, a drizzle of extra-virgin olive oil and some freshly cracked black pepper. ____________________________ Copyright 2021, Brendan McCann, All Rights Reserved.
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