4 ounces / 113 g sourdough starter (see Note below on starter feeding)
2 ounces / 56 g whole-wheat flour (I use 1 ounce / 28 g Chiddam Blanc de Mars from Capay Mills and 1 ounce / 28 g hard red wheat from Beck’s Bakery both stone-ground)
1 tablespoon / 1/2 ounce unsalted butter at room temperature
1 tablespoon / 15 ml extra-virgin olive oil
1/4 teaspoon fine sea salt
1/2-1 tablespoon finely chopped fresh herbs of your choice, optional but nice (I use rosemary)
1 ounce / 28 g sharp cheese of your choice, freshly grated
olive oil for brushing
coarse sea salt for sprinkling on the surface
Instructions
Note: For regular feeding, I stir well 2 tablespoons of sourdough starter + 1/4 cup of water + 1/3 cup of King Arthur Flour all-purpose flour, cover the (recycled yogurt) container and place it on top of the refrigerator. I repeat this morning and evening during the days in which the starter is not in the refrigerator. When I make the crackers, I take the amount of starter needed and use the rest in the preceding formula.
In a bowl, weigh the sourdough starter, whole-wheat flours, butter and olive oil, and stir to make a dough. Sprinkle sea salt and herbs (if using) and let stand for 5-10 minutes. Stir salt and herbs into the mix, transfer on your working surface and knead until you have a smooth, slightly tacky dough. (To make this step easier, I lightly oil my kneading board and wet my hands.)
Shape the dough into a thick rectangle, wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 30 minutes to a couple of hours.
When ready to shape and bake the crackers, preheat the oven to 350 F / 177 C.
Lightly flour the surface of the dough and roll it into a long rectangle. Distribute the grated cheese over one half of the rectangle then fold the other half over the cheese.
Lightly flour a piece of parchment paper and transfer the folded dough onto it. Roll the dough to a thickness of about 1/16 inch / 1.5 mm. Transfer the dough and parchment paper together onto a baking sheet. Lightly brush the surface of the dough with olive oil and sprinkle a bit of salt on top. Cut the dough into squares (a pizza cutter wheel works well for this task). Don’t worry if the cut doesn’t go all the way through: a deep score is good enough. Prick the surface with the tines of a fork.
Place the baking sheet in the oven and bake the crackers for 20 to 25 minutes, until they brown around the edges, or a bit more (the thinner pieces will brown almost fully). After 12 minutes, turn the baking sheet front to back to help the crackers bake more evenly.
Take the baking sheet out the oven and transfer the crackers to a cooling rack. Store in an airtight container at room temperature for up to a week.
No husband was hurt in the making of this pasta. Blinding here is used in the sense of dazzling. Cecare is a dialectal form of the verb accecare. Mariti is the plural of marito, husband.
In Comfort Me with Apples by Ruth Reichl, the current selection of our Cook the Books Club, there is a good amount of one person trying to dazzle another (not necessarily a husband). While reading the book, I remembered seeing an entry for cecamariti1 in the Encyclopedia of Pasta by Oretta Zanini De Vita: it was time to learn more.
There are at least two types of pasta called cecamariti. The special characteristic of the one discussed here is that it is made with bread dough. When one thinks about it, it makes sense that, in an environment in which women made bread at home, a piece of dough would be used to make pasta.
Finding a recipe was a bit of a challenge, as those in Italian instruct you to get "500 g of bread dough", while the one in English2 uses active dry yeast. I decided to try using some of my sourdough starter (pasta madre). Later, I made the dough using instant yeast. Below I give both recipes.
The procedure I use to shape cecamariti is personal, based on Zanini De Vita's description and the drawing in her book. You can see my hands at work in the video below:
As usual, I recommend to start with a small amount of dough (impasto), so you can give yourself time to learn the hand movements without being overly worried about how much more dough is waiting to be processed.
ready for the fork
The pasta cooks quickly and profits, in my opinion, from a light sauce. In the photo above you see it dressed with my usual tomato sauce, but I have also made it with chèvre melted with a small amount of butter and also used it in my recipe for poulet yassa3 (Senegalese chicken).
Ingredients for refreshing the starter (see below for timing):
1 ounce / 28 g sourdough starter
2 ounces / 56 ml water at room temperature
2 ounces / 56 g King Arthur Flour all-purpose flour (this is the flour I use to make bread)
Ingredients for the pasta dough
1.5 ounces / 42 g prepared starter
1.5 ounce / 42 ml water at room temperature
1/2 ounce / 14 g stone-ground whole-wheat flour
2.5 ounces / 70 g King Arthur Flour all-purpose flour
1/2 g sea salt
Version 2: cecamariti using instant yeast
Ingredients for the pasta dough
1.5 g / 1/2 teaspoon instant yeast
2 ounces / 56 g water at room temperature
1/2 ounce / 14 g stone-ground whole-wheat flour
3 ounces / 85 g King Arthur Flour all-purpose flour
1/2 g sea salt
Ingredients for the dressing:
1/3 cup / 80 ml tomato sauce made with strained roasted tomatoes (detailed in this post)
Freshly grated 1/2 ounce / 15 g Parmigiano-Reggiano
Note: I recommend weighing all ingredients.
Version 1: cecamariti using sourdough starter
Preparing the starter The evening before you plan to make the pasta, when you refresh your sourdough starter, put in a small container the starter ingredients.
Cover the container and let the starter ferment in a draft-free place (in my case, the top of the refrigerator) until the following day, when you'll make the pasta dough.
How to make the dough for version 1 of cecamariti Weigh the starter and water in a small bowl and stir to loosen the starter. Add the rest of the ingredients and stir to make a shaggy dough. Cover the bowl and let it rest for 5-10 minutes.
Empty the bowl onto a kneading board lightly floured and knead the dough until nice and smooth. Lightly dust a bit of flour on the board to prevent sticking. The final dough should be supple, not sticky.
Clean and oil the bowl. Letter fold the dough and place it in the bowl. Cover tightly and place in a draft-free place. How long it takes the dough to rise depends a lot on the room temperature. (As our house is quite cool, I usually place the bowl in the oven turn it on to proofing for a few minutes, then turn it off. If it is a sunny day, our living room becomes warm as the sun turns the corner, so I put the bowl there.) It takes several hours for the dough to be ready for the next step (in my case, usually 6). Keep this in mind and run your test so you can estimate when to mix the dough so the pasta is ready for the meal of choice. See also the timing for Version 2 below.
Version 2: cecamariti using instant yeast
How to make the dough for version 2 of cecamariti Weigh the yeast and water in a small bowl and whisk lightly. Add the rest of the ingredients and stir to make a shaggy dough. Cover the bowl and let it rest for 5-10 minutes.
Empty the bowl onto a kneading board lightly floured and knead the dough until nice and smooth. Lightly dust a bit of flour on the board to prevent sticking. The final dough should be supple, not sticky.
Clean and oil the bowl. Letter fold the dough and place it in the bowl. Cover tightly and place in a draft-free place. How long it takes the dough to rise depends on the room temperature also in this case, but it is a shorter time, in my case usually 1 1/2 hours.
the leavened dough (made with starter) turned upside-down: it is ready to be shaped
How to shape cecamariti using either version 1 or 2 of the dough The dough is ready when a dimple made on the dough with your fingertip persists. Lightly flour your working surface and a wooden board where you will place the cecamariti.
The dough and the resulting pasta are delicate so use a light hand in handling them and minimize the need to move them around. I line up the cecamariti on a wooden board that I can then bring close to the cooking pot.
Working on the kneading board, roll the dough into a thick salami and cut it into 2 pieces. Keep one covered while you shape the first. Roll each piece into a snake 1/2 inch / 1.2 cm thick in diameter, then cut into 1/2 inch / 1.2 cm long pieces. As this is bread dough, hence elastic, it will tend to shorten after you stop rolling. Hence, I roll one section of the snake at a time, cut a few squares and shape them, then roll the next section and so on.
While you want the surface where the dough and the shaped cecamariti rest to be lightly floured to prevent sticking, you want the area where you are rolling the dough and shaping the cecamariti free of flour otherwise the dough will slide on it.
Place a small piece of dough under your index and middle finger. Start rolling gently and once you have a cylinder, separate the fingers so the ends start being tapered. Move to using the index and middle fingers of both hands to obtain a spindle-shaped cecamarito 2 1/2-3 inches / 6.5-7.5 cm long. Gently transfer to the floured board, making sure the cecamariti don't touch each other, or they will stick. Shape the next piece.
Repeat until you have used up the prepared dough.
When you are half-way done shaping the dough, you may want to start heating the water.
How to cook the cecamariti Bring a small pot of water to a rolling boil. Since the pasta cooks quickly, prepare the sauce before you start cooking the pasta. In my case, I place the tomato sauce into a small skillet and warm it up over low heat. I also grate the cheese.
Add some coarse salt to the pot of boiling water, stir and then with the help of a bench scraper slide the cecamariti in it gently but quickly. The time needed to cook them is quite short. The pasta puffs up and floats as it cooks. Taste it for doneness after one minute.
Drain the pasta using a slotted spoon and drop in the skillet with the tomato sauce. Turn up the heat to medium-low and stir delicately for about half a minute. Sprinkle half the grated cheese and stir to distribute. Remove from the heat, sprinkle the rest of the cheese and stir. Plate and serve immediately.
The recipe makes two small portions (served as Italian first course).
cecamariti ready for the plate
This pasta is a pleasant surprise: tender and light, it has become an immediate household favorite. I have a preference for the one with starter, which is airier and tastier.
This is also my contribution to the 23rd edition of Novel Food, the literary/culinary event that Lisa of Champaign Taste and I started some time ago and that I continue to host.
[Depending on your set-up, the audio file will be played within the browser or by your mp3 player application. Please, contact me if you encounter any problems.]
2 ounces / 56 g King Arthur Flour all-purpose flour (this is the flour I use to make bread)
For the pasta dough
1.5 ounces / 42 g prepared starter
1.5 ounce / 42 ml water at room temperature
1/2 ounce / 14 g stone-ground whole-wheat flour
2.5 ounces / 70 g King Arthur Flour all-purpose flour
1/2 g sea salt
Version 2: cecamariti using instant yeast
For the pasta dough
1.5 g / 1/2 teaspoon instant yeast
2 ounces / 56 g water at room temperature
1/2 ounce / 14 g stone-ground whole-wheat flour
3 ounces / 85 g King Arthur Flour all-purpose flour
1/2 g sea salt
For the dressing
1/3 cup / 80 ml tomato sauce made with strained roasted tomatoes (detailed in this post)
Freshly grated 1/2 ounce / 15 g Parmigiano-Reggiano
Instructions
Note: I recommend weighing all ingredients.
Version 1: cecamariti using sourdough starter
Preparing the starter
The evening before you plan to make the pasta, when you refresh your sourdough starter, put in a small container the starter ingredients.
Cover the container and let the starter ferment in a draft-free place (in my case, the top of the refrigerator) until the following day, when you’ll make the pasta dough.
How to make the dough for version 1 of cecamariti
Weigh the starter and water in a small bowl and stir to loosen the starter. Add the rest of the ingredients and stir to make a shaggy dough. Cover the bowl and let it rest for 5-10 minutes.
Empty the bowl onto a kneading board lightly floured and knead the dough until nice and smooth. Lightly dust a bit of flour on the board to prevent sticking. The final dough should be supple, not sticky.
Clean and oil the bowl. Letter fold the dough and place it in the bowl. Cover tightly and place in a draft-free place. How long it takes the dough to rise depends a lot on the room temperature. (As our house is quite cool, I usually place the bowl in the oven turn it on to proofing for a few minutes, then turn it off. If it is a sunny day, our living room becomes warm as the sun turns the corner, so I put the bowl there.) It takes several hours for the dough to be ready for the next step (in my case, usually 6). Keep this in mind and run your test so you can estimate when to mix the dough so the pasta is ready for the meal of choice. See also the timing for Version 2 below.
Version 2: cecamariti using instant yeast
How to make the dough for version 2 of cecamariti
Weigh the yeast and water in a small bowl and whisk lightly. Add the rest of the ingredients and stir to make a shaggy dough. Cover the bowl and let it rest for 5-10 minutes.
Empty the bowl onto a kneading board lightly floured and knead the dough until nice and smooth. Lightly dust a bit of flour on the board to prevent sticking. The final dough should be supple, not sticky.
Clean and oil the bowl. Letter fold the dough and place it in the bowl. Cover tightly and place in a draft-free place. How long it takes the dough to rise depends on the room temperature also in this case, but it is a shorter time, in my case usually 1 1/2 hours.
How to shape cecamariti using either version 1 or 2 of the dough
The dough is ready when a dimple made on the dough with your fingertip persists. Lightly flour your working surface and a wooden board where you will place the cecamariti.
The dough and the resulting pasta are delicate so use a light hand in handling them and minimize the need to move them around. I line up the cecamariti on a wooden board that I can then bring close to the cooking pot.
Working on the kneading board, roll the dough into a thick salami and cut it into 2 pieces. Keep one covered while you shape the first. Roll each piece into a snake 1/2 inch / 1.2 cm thick in diameter, then cut into 1/2 inch / 1.2 cm long pieces. As this is bread dough, hence elastic, it will tend to shorten after you stop rolling. Hence, I roll one section of the snake at a time, cut a few squares and shape them, then roll the next section and so on.
While you want the surface where the dough and the shaped cecamariti rest to be lightly floured to prevent sticking, you want the area where you are rolling the dough and shaping the cecamariti free of flour otherwise the dough will slide on it.
Place a small piece of dough under your index and middle finger. Start rolling gently and once you have a cylinder, separate the fingers so the ends start being tapered. Move to using the index and middle fingers of both hands to obtain a spindle-shaped cecamarito 2 1/2-3 inches / 6.5-7.5 cm long. Gently transfer to the floured board, making sure the cecamariti don’t touch each other, or they will stick. Shape the next piece. [You can watch my hands at work in this short video.]
Repeat until you have used up the prepared dough.
When you are half-way done shaping the dough, you may want to start heating the water.
How to cook the cecamariti
Bring a small pot of water to a rolling boil. Since the pasta cooks quickly, prepare the sauce before you start cooking the pasta. In my case, I place the tomato sauce into a small skillet and warm it up over low heat. I also grate the cheese.
Add some coarse salt to the pot of boiling water, stir and then with the help of a bench scraper slide the cecamariti in it gently but quickly. The time needed to cook them is quite short. The pasta puffs up and floats as it cooks. Taste it for doneness after one minute.
Drain the pasta using a slotted spoon and drop in the skillet with the tomato sauce. Turn up the heat to medium-low and stir delicately for about half a minute. Sprinkle half the grated cheese and stir to distribute. Remove from the heat, sprinkle the rest of the cheese and stir. Plate and serve immediately.
4 oz. / 113 g sourdough starter refreshed in the morning (see below for details)
4 oz. / 120 ml water at room temperature
1 g instant yeast
120 g King Arthur Flour all-purpose flour (this is the flour I always use to make bread)
10 g whole-wheat flour
Ingredients for the final dough
All of the preferment
7.5 oz. / 212 g water + up to .5 oz. / 14 g more if needed (see below for details)
1 oz. / 28 g high gluten flour
2 oz. whole-wheat flour
Enough King Arthur Flour all-purpose flour to reach a total of 260 g flour
1.5 g instant yeast
2 teaspoons / 10 g fine sea salt
1 tablespoon / 15 ml olive oil
Optional topping
sesame or poppy seeds
Instructions
Preparing the starter
The morning before you plan to bake the bread, when you refresh your sourdough starter, put in a small container:
2 tablespoons / 30 ml sourdough starter from the day before
2 oz. / 60 ml water
2 oz. / 56 g all-purpose flour
Cover the container and let the starter ferment in a draft-free place (in my case, the top of the refrigerator) until the evening, when you’ll make the preferment.
Preparing the preferment
Weigh 4 oz. / 113 g sourdough starter prepared in the morning and put it in a mixing bowl. (The leftover can be used to start a new batch of starter.)
Add the rest of the preferment ingredients and mix until well combined. Cover the mixing bowl and place it in a draft-free place (in my case, the top of the refrigerator) until the morning after, when you’ll make the bread.
Preparing the bread dough
The morning after, you will see that the preferment is quite bubbly.
Mix all the ingredients of the final dough, using 7.5 oz. / 212 g of water. This is a wet dough and mixing it by hand, like I do, requires some care. Adding flour without having a sense of how much is a risky proposition, so I hold some water (the original recipe had 1 cup / 8 oz.) and mix all the ingredients.
Let the dough rest for 10 minutes and in the meantime, oil a food-grade plastic tub with lid. This will allow you to manipulate the dough later. You need a rectangular container that will allow you to stretch, fold and flip the dough: not too high and large enough (see example).
After the 10 minute rest, mix the dough again for a couple of minutes and decide whether it needs some more water. Keep in mind, again, this is a sticky dough.
Pour the dough into the oiled tub. Wet your hands. If you have never done this, it feels counterintuitive, but indeed the way to handle wet dough is to have wet hands and a wet scraping tool. Stretch and fold the dough:
Slide your hands under the side of the dough farthest from you, raise the hands and stretch the dough, then fold it over onto the side closer to you.
Slide your hands under the side of the dough closer to you, raise the hands and stretch the dough, then fold it over onto the side farthest from you.
Turn the tub 90 degrees and repeat step 1 and 2.
Slide your hands under the dough, flip it and at the same time turn it 90 degrees. (For this step, you may use a wet scraping tool as helper.)
(In this video, Peter Reinhart shows the stretch and fold technique. He does not use a tub, but the concept is the same.)
Cover the tub and let the dough rest for one hour.
(A) Fold the dough again as described above. Cover the tub and let the dough rest for 30-45 minutes.
Repeat the steps described in the previous paragraph (labeled A) 2 more times.
Lightly flour a silicone baking mat. Uncover the tub and flip it over the baking mat: the dough will slowly drop onto the mat.
With wet hands and delicately, shape the dough into a flat disc and make a hole in the center, as shown in the photo above. Cover it either with the tub upside-down (which is what I do) or with some oiled plastic film. Let proof for half an hour, while you warm up the oven.
Place an oven rack on the lowest level of the oven. Place a small round pan on the oven bottom. Place baking tile on the rack. Preheat the oven to 450 F / 232 C and keep it at that temperature while the dough rests.
Prepare a glass of water. With a mister, spray some water on the surface of the dough. Optionally sprinkle some sesame or poppy seeds on the dough. Transfer the baking mat with the dough onto the hot baking tile. Pour the glass of water into the hot pan on the bottom of the oven: this will create some steam in the oven and give more time to the bread to rise before the crust sets.
Bake for about 20 minutes. The final internal temperature should be about 210 F / 99 C.
Transfer the ftira to a rack and let cool completely before cutting. (I don’t allow the knife to touch it for at least two hours.)
