food The big badass pasta thread

[Tinnie]

Oh, nice recipe! I usually don't use oven to cook pasta (more for something like pasticcio, pasta pasticciata, some kind of lasagna... And not me but my parents...), this seems very tasty, i like a lot lamb!

 
Grazie Essegi... lol there is quite a bit of lamb there haha....i dont usually use the oven for pasta either, this ones an exception, it still suprises me how well it works....

When I was a kid we made are own pasta. The one I always liked the most was the one we rolled by hand and cut in tiny "bullets". Us kids always called it "bullets", But later when we got older we would go to the Italian deli we would ask for fresh "Goo-a-til". Not sure how that's written in Italian. But I see in Tinnie's bowl those little white egg shaped pastas look similar (I think that is the 500 gr rice shaped pasta?), but we made pasta that looked like that just about a 1/4 inch longer. It was tender fresh and really complemented the sauce. Much more richer and filling than most the other pastas we made. Either way Essigi when you write I can smell grandmas kitchen! Please don't stop, your bringing the Italiano back out of me!

 
Hello SL3, i usually use a pasta called risoni which is rice shaped....
 

 
....it was out of stock when i made the one in the photo. I did a quick search and the type i used was called casarecce...
 

 
... hope this help you find the type you are looking for. Cheers.

 

[SL3]

Thanks Tinnie, but now that I see the grain scoop I see yours is much smaller, and the close up one is folded. This was a solid piece of pasta that was about 1 1/4 x 1/2 inch. Grandma had the machine and dies for all the other pastas, but this one she just threw the flower on the table and we rolled it all by hand in these long strips and then cut it with a knife and hand smoothed the ends. It took forever, but it was a Christmas and Easter tradition.  I will have to call my sister now and see if she knows the correct spelling. But I know as an adult we call it Goo-a-til. We are Calabrese, so I'm sure it's a regional thing. 

 

 

[The Hot Pepper]

Tinnie... like a risotto with ossobuco kinda... unique pasta and lamb instead of veal shank.
 
Lookin' guud.

 

[Essegi]

Like the new name too, very eye catching now,

Thanks Tinnie, but now that I see the grain scoop I see yours is much smaller, and the close up one is folded. This was a solid piece of pasta that was about 1 1/4 x 1/2 inch.

That's pretty big for a solid piece.
Risoni sometimes is like rice or a bit bigger, but made with pasta.

Is there something similar?
http://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tipi_di_pasta

 

[SL3]

I appears it's a type of Gnocchi. Very similar.
 

 

 

[Essegi]

I appears it's a type of Gnocchi. Very similar.
 
 

I dind't thought about gnocchi (maybe about gnocchetti) because they are often made from potatoes (more rarely from spinachs or pumpkins and are very characteristic, surely other too), but normally not with flour or wheat.... 
I asked a colleague from Campania (a place way better than Veneto, where i live, for pasta) and said that something similar is "cavatelli" but often are folded...

 

[Penny]

Oh wow, that gnocchi dish looks amazing!!

 

[SL3]

No potatoes in ours. It was just Egg, Flour, Ricotta and Salt. The mix was easy. The rolling and cutting and placing each individual piece on the cookie sheets before you had enough to put carefully, (not throw) into the boiling water, so the pasta did not get smashed, that took forever. That's why we only made it twice a year. But a little went a long way and you could freeze what you did not use. It will always be Goo-a-til or Bullets to me.

 

[Essegi]

No potatoes in ours. It was just Egg, Flour, Ricotta and Salt. The mix was easy. The rolling and cutting and placing each individual piece on the cookie sheets before you had enough to put carefully, (not throw) into the boiling water, so the pasta did not get smashed, that took forever. That's why we only made it twice a year. But a little went a long way and you could freeze what you did not use. It will always be Goo-a-til or Bullets to me.

Oh, with ricotta it's definetly not a standard pasta, if it wasn't a topping. Probably it's some kind of gnocchi.
My fav pizza maker is from Calabria, if i remember next time i could ask...
 
I've found also strangugliapreviti (or rascatieddri or the hell knows wich other names):

Only flour, salt and water...
Strangugliapreviti is derived from strozzapreti or strangolapreti (lol, rough translation could be priestchoker) wich is pretty different along all Italy from place to place (and effectively i knew a different kind that one shown here). Wikipedia sais it is also done with ricotta but i find no traces...
 
About Calabria: 'nduja is excellent on its own or with pasta or pizza:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/%27Nduja

Calabria is probably the best place for hot peppers in Italy, or at least afaik...

 

[SL3]

"Nduja" I loved that stuff! I was just telling my wife about the sausage we use to eat. It tasted so much better than regular salami. Grandma would roll it up in a dough with cheese and bake it. Man all my childhood taste buds are on overload right now!

 

[Essegi]

Speaking about salami...I must show something form my province, if we speak of salami things: the almighty Sopressa Vicentina!!!
http://www.sopressavicentina.it
 

 
Imho it's the ultimate salami form... It's bigger than salame... And it's not so easy to find a good one.
Sometimes you find awful sopressa at market, but if it's good... Imho a regular salami won't stand against.
Once my family purchased from a friend an house made sopressa. I've tasted other house made sopresse but that was better. Best salumi i ever ate. Maybe even better than an excellent raw ham. Even a dead would awake to eat it!
 
Sometimes i used a regular salami or sopressa instead bacon to make carbonara pasta (a roman would insult me for calling that carbonara): result is good!

 

[SL3]

Your killing me Essegi! I can taste it as I see it!
 
Someday I want to find out how to make  the real hot capicolla, like we ate on every hunt at lunch time. That stuff was hot and spicy. Nothing like the spiced hams here in our markets. 

 

[Essegi]

I don't know hot capicolla (surely is something from south). Here we have non hot called "coppa" ("capicolla" should be "capocollo" wich is "coppa").
Another very good thing! All salami and likes are good. Maybe except mortadella. Lol i can't understand why people loves it!
http://www.agraria.org/prodottitipici/coppapiacentina.jpg
 
All things usable with pasta....
 
Time for a new recipe!
 
Pasta with olives, onions and tuna!
ingredients:

• pasta (i used rotelline, maybe farfalle are better but i hadn't)
• canned tuna (i use sliced tuna as standalone dish)
• onion
• green olives
• black pepper powder
• evo oil
• salt
• water
• garlic (optional, in general i didn't use it for that)
• hot pepper (i used a small red habanero... In general i didn't do this in the hot way)

 
Preparing:
 
cut all that needs to be cut:
 

 
Then saute:
 

 

• In general before sauting i shortly boil onion with little water, salt and black pepper. It's lighter.
• Then put oil, garlic, pepper and olives. Saute for some minutes stirring often. You can put olives in the next step if you prefer.
• Then put tuna and continue sauting for some other minutes.
• add some evo oil after cooking
• mix with pasta
• if you want you can pan fry (i didn't)

 

 
Imho tuna+onions+green olives is a killer combo.
 
I bet that the roasted breadcrumbs tip is good here. And some dill too.

 

[Deathtosnails]

With the flavours you have going on in the pasta it would be nice with a hint of lemon zest and a squeeze of the juice as well.  Parsley would pair nicely.
 
Looks like that pasta would be a good choice for holding sauce.  I've seen it at the shop but never got around to buying it.

 

[The Hot Pepper]

I would have gone with a flat noodle. Those wheels can be doughy if there is no sauce.

Pappardelle.

Can't believe I'm critiquing Essigi. But I side with DTS. Those are sauce holders!

 

[Essegi]

With the flavours you have going on in the pasta it would be nice with a hint of lemon zest and a squeeze of the juice as well.  Parsley would pair nicely.
 
Looks like that pasta would be a good choice for holding sauce.  I've seen it at the shop but never got around to buying it.

Mmhh... Zest could be an idea. I've grown without using it cause my mom should have an intolerance so i don't think about it but it should be good. Probably even better with fresh or frozen tuna (probabily i'd put some juice too). Similar for parsley: with pasta fish you aren't wrong to use it. Mabe not a lot with canned tuna, surely with fresh or frozen.
 

I would have gone with a flat noodle. Those wheels can be doughy if there is no sauce.

Pappardelle.

Can't believe I'm critiquing Essigi. But I side with DTS. Those are sauce holders!

Sometimens i eat these weels with tomato puree or in pieces.
I find them to be pretty good with canned tuna. Farfalle too.
Pappardelle, lasagne or spaghetti... They could have done the job. Or used with a sauce (seriously many people use only spaghetti with tomato puree and they're very good).
 
Btw this is what i call sauce holder:
 

 

 

 

 
 

 

 

 

[PIC 1]

All this talk about sauce holders................has me filling my empty one....with Rum.
 
Any starchy pasta (low egg) will suck up the sauce..........but you have to have one first.
 I like the basic Garlic Aioli, very thin but yields alot of flavor....with any noodle

 

[Essegi]

Egg pasta or not depends... For tomato sauce no egg imho.
For meat sauce, hell yes!
Another local dish: 
Bigoli co l'arna (= bigoli con l'anatra, anatra = duck), bigoli is an egg and flour based pasta, similar to spaghetti but thicker:

Believe me, this is not your ordinary ragù, though it could seem... Maybe one of the few things i wouldn't put hot pepper with...

 

[Tinnie]

Damn that looks good!!   
 
Gonna have to give that a whirl one of these days....

 

[JayT]

I want to hire Essegi to make me pasta every day.