roasted eggplant with tomato sauce and yogurt — eggplant and tomatoes: summer on a plate
(placemat by La FABBRICA del LINO)

The combination of eggplant and tomatoes is a favorite of mine. A summer dish I particularly enjoy is my version of parmigiana di melanzane, where I roast the two main ingredients and use two types of cheese¹. A few years ago, I made a Persian dish that brings together eggplant and tomatoes with yellow split pea¹. Eggplant is a popular vegetable in the Middle East, as baba ganoush lovers may know. Recently I discovered a couple of eggplant recipes from Afghanistan, including Borani Banjan, a dish made with slices of fried eggplant (melanzane fritte) simmered in tomato sauce and served topped with yogurt.

eggplant, tomatoes, onion — farm fresh ingredients and my homemade yogurt
(placemat by La FABBRICA del LINO)

I found versions in which the eggplant is roasted² (the garlic too) or grilled³ (the onion too). My version takes inspiration from those and adds some personal touches. I made it a few times to try different options and below is my current favorite.

Print-friendly version of briciole’s recipe for Roasted eggplant with tomato sauce and yogurt

Ingredients:

1 1/4 pounds / 20 ounces / 560 grams eggplant (globe eggplant or similar)
6 ounces / 170 grams fresh red or Walla Walla onion
2 tablespoons / 30 ml extra-virgin olive oil
4-6 garlic cloves, unpeeled
1 tablespoon / 15 ml extra-virgin olive oil
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 pound / 450 grams fresh, ripe, juicy tomatoes
1/2 teaspoon sweet paprika
1/4 teaspoon ground turmeric
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt
4 ounces / 1/2 cup / 112 grams low-fat or whole milk plain yogurt
water to dilute the yogurt, as needed
2 tablespoons chopped fresh mint or thyme leaves

Heat the oven to 400 F / 200 C.

Line two baking sheets (or one baking sheet and one cookie sheet) with a silicone baking mat or parchment paper.

Trim the eggplant and cut them crosswise into slices 1/2 inch / 1.25 cm thick. Drizzle 1 1/2 tablespoons olive oil over the slices and toss them with you hands. Distribute the slices on the prepared baking sheets, leaving a bit of space around each slice.

Cut the onion lengthwise into slices 1/4 inch / 0.6 cm thick. If the slices are long, cut them in half crosswise. Drizzle 1/2 tablespoons olive oil over the slices and toss them with you hands, separating the layers. Distribute the onion on the other prepared baking sheet or the cookie sheet.

Wrap the garlic cloves into aluminum foil, 2-3 cloves per small packet. Place the packets on the same sheet as the onion.

Place the sheets in the oven next to each other or the one with the onion on a rack above the other. Roast the vegetables for 15 minutes.

Take the sheets out of the oven. With a fork, flip the eggplant slices and with a spoon, toss the onion (make sure it does not burn). Put the sheets back in the oven, switching their position. Bake for 10 minutes. Take the sheets out of the oven. Let the vegetables cool for a few minutes, then transfer the eggplant onto a plate and the onion into a bowl. Unwrap the garlic cloves.

In the meantime, chop the tomatoes and place them in a bowl with their juices.

In a large, deep skillet, heat 1 tablespoon of olive oil on medium-low heat. Add the minced garlic and cook, stirring, until it turns pale golden, about 1 minute. Add the tomatoes, paprika, turmeric, sea salt and pepper and bring to a lively simmer. Cover and cook, stirring frequently, until the tomatoes have broken down and become saucy, 6 minutes or so.

Squeeze the roasted garlic from the skin and place it into a small bowl. Mash with a small fork, then add the yogurt, stir and mash some more to make sure the garlic blends into the yogurt. If needed, add water, 1 tablespoon at a time, until the yogurt is the consistency of thin pancake batter and can be drizzled. Cover and refrigerate until needed.

Add the onion to the tomatoes and stir well. Nestle the eggplant slices into the sauce and spoon some of the sauce over them. Reduce the heat to low, cover, and simmer until the eggplant slices are very tender and have absorbed some of the sauce, but still retain their shape, 5 minutes or so. Remove from the heat and let cool.

To serve, divide the eggplant and their sauce among individual plates, drizzle the yogurt on top and sprinkle the mint or thyme. Serve warm or at room temperature.

Serves 4

¹From briciole’s archive: Roasted eggplant with tomatoes and cheese and Eggplant and yellow split pea stew
² Recipe for Afghan Roasted Eggplant (Borani Banjan) on the blog All that’s Jas
³ Recipe for Afghan-Style Grilled Eggplant With Tomato Sauce, Yogurt and Herbs in the Washington Post

Click on the button to hear me pronounce the Italian words mentioned in the post

FTC disclosure: I have received the table linen free of charge from the manufacturer (la FABBRICA del LINO). I have not and will not receive any monetary compensation for presenting it on my blog. The experience shared and the opinions expressed in this post are entirely my own.

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melanzane arrosto con sugo di pomodoro e yogurt

Arrivati alla lettera M del nostro viaggio nel mondo degli ingredienti ho scelto di preparare un piatto con le melanzane, una delle mie verdure preferite, particolarmente abbinate ai pomodori. Cercando un piatto tradizionale di uno dei paesi dove non siamo ancora state, ne ho trovati un paio dall’Afghanistan, tra i quali Borani Banjan: fette di melanzana fritte, ripassate in sugo di pomodoro e servite con sopra dello yogurt.

Ho trovato versioni nelle quali le melanzane sono cotte al forno¹ (e anche l’aglio) o sulla griglia² (e anche la cipolla). La mia versione si ispira a queste ricette e aggiunge qualche tocco personale. L’ho fatta diverse volte per provare dettagli diversi e qui sotto è la mia preferita. Vi ricordo che 1 cucchiaio = 15 ml e 1 cucchiaino = 5 ml.

Ingredienti:

560 grammi di melanzane globose
170 grammi di cipolla rossa
2 cucchiai / 30 ml olio extra-vergine di oliva
4-6 spicchi d’aglio non pelati
1 cucchiaio / 15 ml olio extra-vergine di oliva
3 spicchi d’aglio, pelati e tritati
450 grammi di pomodori freschi, maturi e sugosi
1/2 cucchiaino di paprika dolce
1/4 cucchiaino di curcuma in polvere
1/4 cucchiaino di pepe nero macinato fresco
1/2 teaspoon di sale fino
112 grammi di yogurt bianco intero o parzialmente scremato non dolcificato
acqua per diluire lo yogurt, q.b.
2 cucchiai di foglie di menta or timo tritate

Scaldate il forno a 200 C.

Foderate due placche da forno con tappetino da forno di silicone o carta da forno.

Tagliate le melanzane per largo a fettine spesse 1,25 cm. Spruzzate 1 cucchiaio e mezzo di olio d’oliva sulle fettine e mescolatele con le mani per oliarle. Distribuite le fettine sulla placca più grande lasciando un pochino di spazio intorno a ciascuna fettina.

Tagliate la cipolla per lungo a fettine spesse 0,6 cm. Se le fettine sono lunghe, taliatele a metà per largo. Spruzzate 1/2 cucchiaio di olio d’oliva sulle fettine e mescolatele con le mani per oliarle, allo stesso tempo separando gli strati. Spargete la cipolla sull’altra placca.

Avvolgete l’aglio nella carta stagnola, 2-3 spicchi per pacchetto e mettete i pacchetti sulla placca con la cipolla.

Infornate le placche una accanto all’altra o mettendo quella con le cipolle un livello sopra a quella con la cipolla. Cuocete le verdure in forno per 15 minuti.

Sfornate le placche. Con una forchetta, girate le fettine di melanzana e con un cucchiaio mescolate la cipolla. Rimettete le placche in forno scambinado la loro posizione. Cuocete per 10 minuti. Sfornate e fate intiepidire le verdure per qualche minuto, poi trasferite le melanzane su un piatto e la cipolla in una ciotola. Scartate gli spicchi d’aglio.

Nel frattempo, tagliate a pezzi i pomodori e metteteli in una ciotola con il sugo che rilasciano.

In una padella larga e profonda, scaldate 1 cucchiaio di olio d’oliva a calore medio-basso. Aggiungete l’aglio tritato e cuocetelo, mescolando, fino a quando sia biondo, 1 minuto circa. Aggiungete i pomodori, la paprika, la curcuma, sale e pepe e portare a leggero bollore. Coprite e cuocete, mescolando frequentemente, fino a quando i pomodori siano ridotti ad un sugo, circa 6 minuti.

Sbucciate l’aglio arrosto e mettetelo in una ciotolina. Schiacciatelo con una piccola forchetta poi aggiungete lo yogurt e mescolate in modo da incorporare la crema d’aglio. Aggiungete acqua, 1 cucchiaio alla volta, fino a quando lo yogurt abbia la consistenza della pastella e potete spruzzarlo. Coprite e tenete in frigorifero fino a quando state per utilizzarlo.

Aggiungete le cipolle ai pomodori e mescolate bene. Mettete le fettine di melanzana nella padella e con un cucchiaio copritele con del sugo. Coprite e cuocete a fuoco basso fino a quando le melanzane siano molto tenere e abbiano assorbito parte del sugo, ma mantengano la loro forma, circa 5 minuti. Togliete le verdure dal fuoco e fatele intiepidire.

Dividete le melanzane e il loro sugo su piatti individuali, cospargetele di yogurt e distribuite la menta o timo. Servite le melanzane calde o a temperatura ambiente.

Porzioni: 4.

¹ Ricetta per Afghan Roasted Eggplant (Borani Banjan) sul blog All that’s Jas (in inglese)
² Ricetta per Afghan-Style Grilled Eggplant With Tomato Sauce, Yogurt and Herbs sul Washington Post (in inglese)

Un mondo d'ingredienti logo Contribuisco le mie melanzane dall’Afghanistan alla lettera M di Un mondo d’ingredienti evento creato dall’instancabile Aiu’ di Trattoria Muvara

FTC disclosure: Ho ricevuto gli articoli di lino gratuitamente dall’azienda produttrice (la FABBRICA del LINO). Non ho ricevuto e non riceverò alcun compenso per presentarli sul mio blog. Le opinioni espresse nel post sono interamente personali.

eggplant and yellow split pea stew / stufato di melanzane e piselli gialli decorticati

November 30, 2019 | Simona

eggplant and yellow split pea stew / IMG_2791

eggplant meets split peas
(placemat by La FABBRICA del LINO)

Our Cook the Books Club selection this time brings us to Iran, thanks to Jennifer Klinec, author of the memoir The Temporary Bride.¹ The book starts with the story of Klinec's upbringing in Canada, her move to London to follow her corporate career and her decision to leave such career in favor of opening a cooking school out of her apartment. That is the background to her trip to Iran: Persian food called out to her and dissatisfaction with her life added its weight. In Iran, she meets a young man and the story of their relationship and attendant tribulations takes up the rest of the book. I found the first part of the story more interesting. Once Klinec arrives in Iran, the book could not hold my attention and my progress in reading was slow.

While traditional Persian dishes feature in the book, there are no recipes. I did some reading, focusing on eggplant, a favorite vegetable that I can still find at the farmers' market here. I also wanted a vegetarian dish, so ended up on a vegetarian version of Khoresht gheymeh bademjan, stew of split peas (gheymeh) and eggplant (bademjan). I had never cooked with split peas before so this gave me a great chance to change that.

some eggplant varieties: I like them all (any could be used in the stew)

I read a number of recipes² then went off on my own to create a dish with an infusion of personal preferences. In particular, I did not fry the eggplant and cut them into bite-sized pieces rather than large ones. I also made my own tomato sauce (salsa di pomodoro), taking advantage of farm-fresh tomatoes from the market. I forwent saffron (zafferano): I tried to get some, but the price was above my budget. I tested different quantities of the other spices and the recipe below reflects my favorite rendition.

Print-friendly version of briciole's recipe for Eggplant and yellow split pea stew

Ingredients:

1/2 cup / 100 g yellow split peas
2 cups / 475 ml water
3 tablespoons / 45 ml extra-virgin olive oil
4 ounces red or yellow onion, finely diced
3 garlic cloves, minced
Peel of 1/2 lemon, grated with a microplane
10 ounces tomatoes for sauce
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon ground coriander
1/4 teaspoon ground cardamom
1/2 teaspoon ground turmeric
1/8 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/8 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 cup / 60 ml water
10 ounces eggplant
1/4 cup / 60 ml water
1/2 tablespoon / 7.5 ml fresh lemon juice
1 teaspoon sea salt, or to taste

Put the split peas in a small saucepan and add the water. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Reduce the heat to low, cover the pan and simmer until the peas are tender (i.e., you can mash them easily when pressed between your fingers). The cooking time depends on the peas: check them after 30 minutes and regularly after that time. When ready, take the saucepan off the heat, uncover and set aside.

Rinse the tomatoes and cut a cross through their skin at the bottom. Blanch the tomatoes in a small saucepan holding enough boiling water to almost submerge the tomatoes. After 30 seconds, take the saucepan off the heat, pour out the boiling water and cover the tomatoes in cold water. Drain, peel and chop the tomatoes into a bowl. Set aside.

In a Dutch oven or sauté pan, warm up the olive oil on medium heat, turn down the heat to medium-low and cook the onion for 8 minutes, stirring often. Add the garlic and grated lemon peel, stir and cook for 2 minutes, then add the chopped tomatoes and all the spices (cumin, coriander, cardamom, turmeric, pepper, and cinnamon), stir well, add 1/4 cup / 60 ml of water, stir, cover and continue cooking for 5 minutes, regulating the heat so as to maintain a gentle boil.

In the meantime, cut the eggplant crosswise into 1/2-inch / 1.25 cm thick slices, then cube them.

Add the eggplant and the other 1/4 cup / 60 ml of water to the pan, stir well, bring to a boil then regulate the heat to maintain a gentle boil, cover and cook until the eggplant is tender, about 30 minutes (taste a piece after 25 minutes and gauge the time remaining).

Add the split peas and their cooking liquid to the pan. Add the lemon juice and sea salt and stir well. Cook for another 5 minutes, then taste to adjust salt. Take the pan off the heat and serve the stew warm. Enjoy!

Serves 3-4

eggplant and yellow split pea stew / IMG_2790

time to eat!
(placemat by La FABBRICA del LINO)

The stew is excellent! The original dish is served with basmati rice (the preparation of which features prominently in Persian cuisine). I don't like white rice (long story), so I ate it accompanied by other dishes, like sautéed radicchio di Castelfranco (the variety on the bottom of the photo below). Containing both vegetables and proteins, this stew is a complete and versatile dish.

¹ The book introduction on the publisher's website and a review in The Guardian, which also explains the temporary marriage custom.
² Like this one and also this (if you search for: recipe persian eggplant split peas, you will get a long list of hits)

Click on the button to hear me pronounce the Italian words mentioned in the post:

stufato di melanzane e piselli gialli decorticati

or launch the stufato di melanzane e piselli gialli decorticati audio file [mp3].

[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.]

This is my contribution to the current selection of our Cook the Books hosted by Claudia of Honey from Rock . (You can find the guidelines for participating in the event on this page.)

The roundup of the event.

And I am contributing my stew also to Souper (Soup, Salad & Sammies) Sundays, a weekly event created by Cook the Books club co-host Deb of Kahakai Kitchen.

The roundup of the event.

eggplant, yellow split peas, tomatoes, stew

cecamariti (handmade pasta shape)

March 8, 2015 | Simona

spindle-shaped, delicate cecamariti (literally, husband blinders)

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 cecamariti ¹ 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).

Print-friendly version of briciole's recipe for cecamariti (handmade pasta shape)

Version 1: cecamariti using sourdough starter

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.

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.

A reminder that there is a page on the blog where you can browse the complete collection of handmade pasta shapes, some of them of my own creation.

¹ cecamariti in the Encyclopedia of Pasta by Oretta Zanini De Vita
² recipe for cecamariti by Jenn Louis
³ recipe for poulet yassa (Senegalese chicken)

This is my contribution to the current selection of our Cook the Books hosted by Deb of Kahakai Kitchen. (You can find the guidelines for participating in the event on this page.)

The roundup of the event.

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.

The roundup of the event.

Click on the button to hear me pronounce the Italian words mentioned in the post:

cecamariti

or launch the cecamariti audio file [mp3].

[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.]

pasta, Italian cuisine

mezzi tubi rigati (pasta fatta a mano) / ridged half-pipes (handmade pasta)

December 16, 2014 | Simona

sunbathing in the morning on linen (from La FABBRICA del LINO)

A recent morning at the beginning of a pasta making session, the gnocchi board on my table gently tugged at my sleeve to remind me of its presence. I picked it up and put it in front of me on the kneading board, then started to play with other tools and the semolina dough I had prepared.

As in the making of garganelli, I used a thin dowel as mini rolling pin to obtain the shape I called mezzi tubi rigati. This short video shows my hands at work:

As you can see from the video, to make a ridged half-pipe (mezzo tubo rigato) the piece of dough gets partially wrapped around the mini rolling pin. The video also shows how to troubleshoot the case when the mezzo tubo adheres to the board at the end of the rolling: use the pin, not your hands, to pick it up.

The dough I used for this pasta is the semolina dough I have described before. The version in the two photos below includes with a minor variation that is completely optional: a teaspoon of grape seed flour (Cabernet Sauvignon), which gives the pasta a beige color.

IMG_2259 / mezzi tubi rigati (pasta fatta a mano) / ridged half-pipes (handmade pasta)

beige pasta stands out on white linen (from La FABBRICA del LINO)

In the photos, the pasta rests on linens by la FABBRICA del LINO, which I like because of their natural look, soft feel and simple elegance. I think they go quite well with my handmade pasta. (Plus, they need no ironing.)

FTC disclosure: I have received the linens free of charge from the manufacturer. I have not and will not receive any monetary compensation for presenting them on my blog. The experience shared and the opinions expressed in this post are entirely my own.

As usual, I recommend to start with a small amount of dough, 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. Once the pasta is ready, you can dress it as you prefer, for example with a simple tomato sauce (sugo di pomodoro).

IMG_2254 / mezzi tubi rigati (pasta fatta a mano) / ridged half-pipes (handmade pasta)

vintage Homer Laughlin "Chanticleer" plate on Italian linen
(from La FABBRICA del LINO)

Print-friendly version of briciole's recipe for mezzi tubi rigati (handmade pasta)

Ingredients for the pasta dough:

100 g / 3.5 ounces semolina flour of good quality OR 1 teaspoon grape seed flour + enough semolina flour to make 100 g / 3.5 ounces total
50 g / 1.75 ounces warm water
A pinch of salt

Ingredients for the tomato sauce:

1/2 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
A shallot, minced
Leaves of a sprig or two of thyme
A small garlic clove, thinly sliced
2 cups / 475 ml strained roasted tomatoes (thawed, if frozen)
Fine sea salt, to taste
Freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano, to taste

Note #1: I recommend weighing both flour and water because the quantities involved are small.

Note #2: to make the mini rolling pin, purchase a 1/4-inch / 6 mm diameter dowel at the hardware store and cut a piece about 7 inches / 18 cm long. Better yet, cut two or three (the dowel is long enough) so if/when one gets a bit sticky, you have a dry one available.

How to make the dough and shape mezzi tubi rigati
Make a dough with the ingredients and knead until nice and smooth. [This post (with video) talks about how to make semolina pasta dough] Let it rest, well covered (e.g., wrapped in plastic film), for half an hour or so.

Working on the kneading board, roll the dough into a thick salami and cut it into 5-6 pieces. Keep them covered while you shape the mezzi tubi. Roll each piece into a thin snake (3/8 inch / 1 cm thick), then cut into 3/4 inch / 2 cm long pieces.

Place the gnocchi board parallel to you, with the handle pointing left if you are right handed, right otherwise. Working on the gnocchi board, shape each piece into a mezzo tubo rigato with the mini rolling pin (see Note #2 above).

Place a piece of dough on the gnocchi board fairly close to the end (on the opposite side of the handle) with its long sides parallel to the board's ridges. Place the rolling pin lengthwise on the piece of dough so that it touches the side furthest from you. Roll the rolling pin on the piece of dough towards you pressing so that the dough wraps about 3/4 of the way around it.

Do not press hard or the dough will stick to the dowel or to the board, or it will wrap completely around the rolling pin. Gently detach the mezzo tubo from the rolling pin without misshaping it and lay it out to dry on a lightly floured section of the kneading board (or a baking sheet lined with a cotton kitchen towel or, in my case, a linen placemat).

Have two mini rolling pins ready to work with and exchange them every few pieces of pasta. Insert one into some flour in between uses, so it dries out.

Repeat until you have used up the prepared dough.

I suggest making this pasta at least a few hours ahead of cooking so it firms up a bit. In my experience, it keepts its shape quite well during cooking (see photo of the plated mezzi tubi rigati below).

Cook the mezzi tubi rigati and dress as you like. The following tomato sauce is just a suggestion.

How to prepare the tomato sauce
In a small saucepan, warm up the olive oil, then add shallot and thyme. Cook gently for a few minutes, then add garlic. Cook for a couple of minutes, then add tomatoes. Bring to a simmer and cook for 8-10 minutes. Adjust salt, to taste.

Note that this will make more sauce than you need to dress the orecchiette, but once you have the sauce ready, I am sure you'll find ways of using it, like making more handmade pasta.

How to cook the mezzi tubi rigati
Bring a small pot of water to a rolling boil, add some coarse salt, stir and then toss the mezzi tubi in it. The time needed to cook them is a bit variable, depending on the size and dryness of the pasta, but it is not long.

In the case of the photo above, I warmed up the slow-roasted tomatoes so by the time the pasta was cooked, the sauce was ready to go with it.

Taste and stop the cooking when the mezzi tubi are ready. Pour a glass of cold water in the pot, stir and drain the mezzi tubi. Place them in a bowl, sprinkle a bit of the cheese on them and stir briefly, then distribute some tomato sauce and toss. (When dressing pasta, remember that the sauce is an accompaniment and as such it should play its part discreetly, not overwhelm the protagonist.) Finally, sprinkle some cheese on top and serve immediately.

Alternatively, while the pasta is cooking, place a few tablespoons of the tomato sauce in a small skillet and warm it up. Pour a glass of cold water in the pot and stir. Drain the mezzi tubi leaving a little bit of the cooking water clinging to the pasta and drop into the skillet with the sauce. Stir well over medium-low heat for about half a minute. Sprinkle some of the cheese and stir one last time. Plate and sprinkle a bit more cheese on the top. Serve immediately.

The recipe makes two small portions (served as Italian first course).

IMG_2261 / mezzi tubi rigati / ridged half-pipes (handmade pasta) on linen placemat from La FABBRICA del LINO

pretty in sepia on white linen from La FABBRICA del LINO

A reminder that there is a page on the blog where you can browse the complete collection of handmade pasta shapes, some of them, like the mezzi tubi rigati above, of my own creation.

The photo is my contribution to edition #153 of Black and White Wednesday – A Culinary Photography Event created by Susan of The Well-Seasoned Cook, now organized by Cinzia of Cindystar, and hosted this week by Lynne of Cafe Lynnylu.

The photo was shot in color with my iPhone and then converted to sepia (Lightroom preset Sepia Tone).

The gallery of images contributed to the event.

Click on the button to hear me pronounce the Italian words mentioned in the post:

mezzi tubi rigati

or launch the mezzi tubi rigati fatti a mano audio file [mp3].

[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.]

pasta, grape seed flour, semolina flour, Italian cuisine

recipe: mezzi tubi rigati / ridged half-pipes (handmade pasta)

December 15, 2014 | Simona

Ridged half-pipes (handmade pasta)

by Simona Carini

Prep Time: 30 minutes + resting time

Cook Time: 20 minutes total

Keywords: boil pasta nut-free soy-free sugar-free vegetarian tomatoes semolina flour grape seed flour Italian

Ingredients (serves 2)

For the pasta dough

100 g / 3.5 ounces semolina flour of good quality OR 1 teaspoon grape seed flour + enough semolina flour to make 100 g / 3.5 ounces total
50 g / 1.75 ounces warm water
A pinch of salt

For the tomato sauce

1/2 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
A shallot, minced
Leaves of a sprig or two of thyme
A small garlic clove, thinly sliced
2 cups / 475 ml strained roasted tomatoes (thawed, if frozen)
Fine sea salt, to taste
Freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano, to taste

Instructions

Note #1: I recommend weighing both flour and water because the quantities involved are small.

How to make the dough and shape mezzi tubi rigati

Make a dough with the ingredients and knead until nice and smooth. [You can watch my hands at work in this short video.] Let it rest, well covered (e.g., wrapped in plastic film), for half an hour or so.

Place a piece of dough on the gnocchi board fairly close to the end (on the opposite side of the handle) with its long sides parallel to the board’s ridges. Place the rolling pin lengthwise on the piece of dough so that it touches the side furthest from you. Roll the rolling pin on the piece of dough towards you pressing so that the dough wraps about 3/4 of the way around it.

Have two mini rolling pins ready to work with and exchange them every few pieces of pasta. Insert one into some flour in between uses, so it dries out. Repeat until you have used up the prepared dough.

I suggest making this pasta at least a few hours ahead of cooking so it firms up a bit. In my experience, it keeps its shape quite well during cooking. Cook the mezzi tubi rigati and dress them as you like. The following tomato sauce is a suggestion.

How to prepare the tomato sauce

In a small saucepan, warm up the olive oil, then add shallot and thyme. Cook gently for a few minutes, then add garlic. Cook for a couple of minutes, then add tomatoes. Bring to a simmer and cook for 8-10 minutes. Adjust salt, to taste.

Note that this will make more sauce than you need to dress the orecchiette, but once you have the sauce ready, I am sure you’ll find ways of using it, like making more handmade pasta.

How to cook and dress the mezzi tubi rigati

Bring a small pot of water to a rolling boil, add some coarse salt, stir and then toss the mezzi tubi rigati in it. The time needed is a bit variable, depending on the size and dryness of the pasta, but it is not long.

Taste and stop the cooking when the pasta is ready. Pour a glass of cold water in the pot, stir and drain the mezzi tubi rigati well. Place them in a bowl, sprinkle a bit of the cheese on them and stir briefly, then distribute some tomato sauce and toss. (When dressing pasta, remember that the sauce is an accompaniment and as such it should play its part discreetly, not overwhelm the protagonist.) Finally, sprinkle some cheese and serve immediately.

Alternatively, while the pasta is cooking, place a few tablespoons of the tomato sauce in a small skillet and warm it up. Pour a glass of cold water in the pot and stir. Drain the mezzi tubi rigati leaving a little bit of the cooking water clinging to the pasta and drop into the skillet with the sauce. Stir well over medium-low heat for about half a minute. Sprinkle some of the cheese and stir one last time. Plate and sprinkle a bit more cheese on the top. Serve immediately.

Go to the full post on mezzi tubi rigati (pasta fatta a mano) / ridged half-pipes (handmade pasta)

nodi (pasta fatta a mano) / knots (handmade pasta)

September 12, 2014 | Simona

[cliccare il link per andare alla versione in italiano]

IMG_1893 / nodi (pasta fatta a mano) / knots (handmade pasta)

tied knots

In Italian, to get married is sposarsi. We don't use the metaphorical expression "to tie the knot" (literally, fare un nodo). The current selection of our Cook the Books, A Thousand Days in Venice in which author Marlena de Blasi talks about her marriage to a Venetian man, brought to mind the expression. My passion for turning pasta dough into interesting shapes did the rest: I tried to tie pasta dough into small simple knots and the result was pleasing.

Venezia is versatile, like pasta dough. You can personalize your relationship with the city on the lagoon (laguna) to please your heart's desires. My Venezia is quite different from de Blasi's and it strengthens a bit different every time I spend some time walking around it.

During my most recent visit, three years ago, my attention was captivated by the gondola's oarlock, called forcola.

Like the gondola itself, the forcola is a work of art, tailor-made by hand by the remèr, the carpenter specialized in the construction of remi (oars) and forcole.

I am not alone in my fascination for the forcola:

The stern of the boat is decked over and the gondolier stands there. He uses a single oar–a long blade, of course, for he stands nearly erect. A wooden peg, a foot and a half high, with two slight crooks or curves in one side of it and one in the other, projects above the starboard gunwale. Against that peg the gondolier takes a purchase with his oar, changing it at intervals to the other side of the peg or dropping it into another of the crooks, as the steering of the craft may demand–and how in the world he can back and fill, shoot straight ahead, or flirt suddenly around a corner, and make the oar stay in those insignificant notches, is a problem to me and a never diminishing matter of interest. (Mark Twain, The Innocents Abroad, Chapter XXIII)

Catching gondole on their time off, parked along a side canal or getting a touch-up, offer glimpses of their life outside the limelight.

On to the pasta business of the day.

It takes a bit more patience than usual to shape pasta dough into knots, as you need to roll the dough into a string before you tie it and your fingers need to move lightly and decisively at the same time. But you'll be surprised how resilient the dough is, provided you treat it gently. You can see my hands at work in this short video:

As usual, feel free to dress the nodi as you prefer. Having fallen in love with slow-roasted heirloom tomatoes, I have been dressing with them all the pasta I have made recently.

dressed in bright red

Print-friendly version of briciole's recipe for nodi (knots)

Ingredients for the pasta dough:

100 g / 3.5 oz. semolina flour of good quality
50 g / 1.75 oz. warm water (I recommend weighing the water)
A pinch of salt

Ingredients for the tomato dressing:

1/2 cup / 120 ml slow-roasted heirloom tomatoes
2 tablespoons freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano

How to make the dough and shape nodi
Make a dough with the ingredients and knead until nice and smooth. [This post (with video) talks about how to make semolina pasta dough] Let it rest, well covered (e.g., wrapped in plastic film), for half an hour or so.

Working on the kneading board, roll the dough into a thick salami and cut it into 6-7 pieces. Keep them covered while you shape the nodi. Starting on one side, roll a piece of dough into a string 1/8 inch / 6 mm thick. It helps if you let the side of the dough you are not rolling hang from your working surface. Also, it may help rolling a portion of the piece of dough to the desired thickness, shape a couple of knots, then roll some more. (However, feel free to adjust the process flow to your skill and needs.)

Make a small simple knot with the dough and pull lightly to tighten it, then cut the dough leaving a short tail (about 3/8 inch / 1 cm). You can break the dough with your fingers, but I prefer the clean cut of a blade. Make another knot, if the next section of dough is thin enough, or roll it to thin it as needed.

Lay the nodi out to dry on a lightly floured section of the kneading board (or a baking sheet lined with a cotton kitchen towel).

Repeat until you have used up the prepared dough.

Cook the nodi and dress them as you like. The following dressing is just a suggestion.

How to prepare the tomato dressing
My recent post on slow-roasted heirloom tomatoes, includes the simple recipe which makes a dense tomato sauce perfect for dressing pasta.

How to cook and dress the nodi
Bring a small pot of water to a rolling boil, add some coarse salt, stir and then toss the nodi in it. The time needed to cook them is a bit variable, depending on their size, how dry they are, but it is not long.

In the meantime, warm up the slow-roasted tomatoes in a small skillet.

Taste and stop the cooking when the nodi are ready. Pour a glass of cold water in the pot, stir and drain. Depending on how thick the tomato sauce is, you may leave a little bit of the cooking water clinging to the pasta to thin it. Drop the pasta into the skillet with the tomatoes. Stir well quickly. Plate, sprinkle half the cheese on each portion and serve immediately.

The recipe makes two small portions (served as Italian first course), but it can be easily doubled.

IMG_1893-2 / handmade pasta: knots / nodi

soft in sepia

I am tied to Venice with a knot of affection, a knot that is all aflutter these days as I am planning a visit to the city in the not too distant future.

A reminder that there is a page on the blog where you can browse the complete collection of handmade pasta shapes, some of them of my own creation.

This is my contribution to the current edition of Cook the Books hosted by Debra of Eliot's Eats. (You can find the guidelines for participating in the event on this page.).

The roundup of the event.

This is also my contribution to the 22nd 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.

The roundup of the event.

The monochromatic photo is my contribution to edition #143 of Black and White Wednesday – A Culinary Photography Event created by Susan of The Well-Seasoned Cook, now organized by Cinzia of Cindystar, and hosted this week by Lynne of Cafe Lynnylu.

The photo was shot in color and then converted to sepia (Lightroom preset Sepia Tone).

The gallery of images contributed to the event.

Click on the button to hear me pronounce the Italian words mentioned in the post:

nodi (pasta fatta a mano)

or launch the nodi audio file [mp3].

[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.]

[jump to Comments]

pasta, semolina flour, tomato sauce, Italian cuisine

nodi (pasta fatta a mano)

nodi di pasta

Nella selezione dell'edizione corrente di Cook the Books, A Thousand Days in Venice l'autrice Marlena de Blasi parla del suo matrimonio con un veneziano. In italiano non si usa l'espressione "fare il nodo" per dire "sposarsi," ma è proprio tale espressione che ha ispirato i nodi di pasta della foto.

Venezia è versatile, come l'impasto che uso per dare forma alle mie fantasie di pasta. Il mio rapporto con la città sulla laguna è molto diverso da quello che ha la de Blasi e si fa più stretto ogni volta che cammino tra le sue calli e lungo i suoi canali o attraverso i suoi campielli silenziosi.

Durante la mia visita più recente, tre anni fa, la mia attenzione fu rapida dalla forcola, lo scalmo della gondola.

Come la gondola stessa, la forcola è un pezzo d'arte, fatta a mano e su misura dal remèr, l'artigiano specializzato nella costruzione di remi e forcole.

Non sono l'unica ad essere rimasta affascinata dalla gondola: Mark Twain in Gli innocenti all'estero, (capitolo XXIII) descrive con parole ammirate come il gondoliere poggi il remo su diversi punti della forcola, a seconda del moto che vuole impartire alla gondola.

Camminando lungo un canale secondario si possono cogliere le gondole in momenti di relax, mentre si aggiustano un poco per poter poi apparire in tutta la loro gloriosa eleganza all'appuntamento con il prossimo gruppo di turisti.

E ora passiamo alla pasta di oggi.

Fare i nodi richiede un po' più di pazienza del solito, poiché si deve far rotolare l'impasto fino a farlo diventare piuttosto sottile prima di legarlo e le dita devono muoversi leggere e decise allo stesso tempo. Il video qui sotto mostra le mie mani al lavoro:

Potete condire i nodi come preferite. Io sono innamorata dei miei pomodori semisecchi al forno e li ho utilizzati per condire tutta la pasta che ho fatto in questo periodo.

nodi vestiti di rosso intenso

Potete certamente condire la pasta con il vostro sugo preferito o in altro modo.

Ingredienti per l'impasto:

100 g semola di grano duro
50 g acqua calda
Un pizzico di sale

Ingredienti per il sugo:

120 ml pomodori semisecchi al forno
2 cucchiai Parmigiano-Reggiano macinato fresco

Come preparare l'impasto e formare i nodi
Lavorare gli ingredienti fino ad avere un bell'impasto liscio. [Questo post (con video) descrive come faccio l'impasto per pasta con la semola] Farlo riposare, ben coperto (per esempio, avvolto in pellicola), per almeno mezz'ora.

Sul piano di lavoro, formare un salsicciotto e tagliarlo in 6-7 pezzi da lavorare uno alla volta, mentre gli altri rimangono al coperto. Rotolare fino ad ottenere un serpentello sottile del diametro di 5-6 mm. Aiuta lasciar pendere dal piano di lavoro il lato dell'impasto che non state rotolando. Aiuta anche assottigliare una decina di centimetri di impasto, formare due nodi, poi assottigliare altri dieci centimetri, ma organizzatevi pure come vi riesce più comodo.

Fare un nodo semplice con l'impasto e tirare delicatamente per stringerlo, poi tagliare l'impasto lasciando una breve coda (circa 1 cm). Potete rompere l'impasto con le dita, ma io preferisco il taglio netto della lama. Fare un altro nodo, se la porzione successiva di impasto è sottile, oppure rotolare l'impasto per assottigliarlo quando necessario.

Lasciar asciugare la pasta sul piano di lavoro leggermente infarinato o una placca da forno coperta con un canovaccio di cotone.

Continuare fino all'esaurimento dell'impasto.

Cuocere i nodi e condirli come preferite. Il sugo qui di seguito è una opzione.

Come preparare il sugo
Il mio recente post comprende la semplice ricetta per i pomodori semisecchi al forno che produce una densa salsa di pomodoro perfetta per condire la pasta.

Come cuocere e condire i nodi
Cuocere i nodi in abbondante acqua salata. Il tempo necessario varia a seconda delle dimensioni e quanto sono asciutti, ma non è lunghissimo.

Nel frattempo, scaldare i pomodori semisecchi in una padellina.

Quando i nodi sono cotti, versare un bicchiere d'acqua fredda nella pentola, mescolare e scolare. A seconda di quanto densi siano i pomodori, lasciare un pochino di acqua di cottura in modo da diluirli. Versare la pasta bella padellina con i pomodori. Mescolare bene e rapidamente. Impiattare, distribuire metà del formaggio su ogni porzione e servire immediatamente.

Questa ricetta fa due porzioni come primo piatto e si può facilmente raddoppiare.

delicati toni sepia

Sono legata a Venezia con un nodo di affetto, un nodo che in questi giorni mi tira spesso quando penso a quello che desidero fare durante la mia prossima visita, in un futuro non molto distante.

Se volete leggere un libro delicato e profondo ambientato a Venezia, vi consiglio Venezia, il filo dell'acqua di Claudio Piersanti.

Contribuisco questo post all'edizione corrente di Cook the Books e la 22ima edizione di Novel Food. La foto in sepia dei miei nodi di pasta va a Black and White Wednesday – A Culinary Photography Event.

recipe: Halloumi with tomato sauce (Halloumi col sugo)

May 15, 2014 | Simona

Halloumi with tomato sauce

by Simona Carini

Prep Time: 5 minutes

Cook Time: 15 minutes

Keywords: saute appetizer entree cheese tomatoes Greek

Ingredients (As needed)

For the tomato sauce

Olive oil
A shallot, minced
Leaves of a sprig of thyme
A small garlic clove, thinly sliced
2 cups strained roasted tomatoes, (thawed, if frozen)
Sea salt, to taste

And the cheese

Halloumi cheese (I use my homemade Halloumi which I make with half goat milk and half cow milk; all the details, including a link to the recipe, are in the post referenced; if I could find some sheep milk, I would use it)

Instructions

How to prepare the tomato sauce

In a small saucepan, warm up a bit of olive oil, then add the shallot and thyme. Cook gently for a few minutes, then add the garlic. Cook for a couple of minutes, then add the tomatoes. Bring to a simmer and cook for 7-8 minutes. Adjust salt, to taste.

Note that this recipe makes more sauce than you need to accompany Halloumi (unless you have a large party), but once you have the sauce ready, you’ll find ways of using it (including as dressing for some homemade pasta).

How to put it all together

Distribute some tomato sauce on the bottom of a skillet. The amount of tomato sauce and the size of the skillet depend on how many slices of Halloumi you are preparing. Warm up tomato sauce slightly over low heat.

Cut Halloumi into 1/4-inch slices and place them in the skillet. After a few minutes, when the Halloumi has softened and the sauce is simmering, flip the slices and, with a spoon, place some of the tomato sauce over them. Make sure the sauce is hot but does not dry out due to evaporation. After a few minutes, take the skillet off the heat.

Place Halloumi slices on plates and distribute tomato sauce over them. Serve immediately with some bread that is good for scooping up the sauce at the end.

Go to the full post on Halloumi col sugo / Halloumi with tomato sauce

orecchiette alla farina di ceci tostata / toasted chickpea flour orecchiette

April 6, 2014 | Simona

[cliccare il link per andare alla versione in italiano]

orecchiette: small beauties of pasta dough

Rainstorm: the sky clouds over, knits its brows and then cries unconsolably for hours.

rain — finally!

A rainstorm has a violent bewitching beauty best admired from inside.

When the weather forecast for the weekend is with 100% probability, I suggest you work on some project in the kitchen, like handmade pasta.

After orecchiette with semolina flour (the basic version, so to speak) and orecchiette with farina di grano arso (burnt wheat flour), it was time to work on a new take on this classic pasta shape from the southern Italian region of Puglia.

The success I had with gnocchetti alla farina di ceci made me try to toast chickpea flour and use it to make pasta. You have already seen the monochromatic version of the result in an earlier post.

chickpea flour: toasted (left) and regular

The dough made with toasted chickpea flour is a bit fussier to handle than the one made only with semolina flour. Hence, I would recommend you learn making orecchiette with the standard all-semolina flour dough (see recipe below), get comfortable with making the pasta shape and then explore the other options. Above all: start with a small amount of dough, so you don't get overwhelmed by the task.

You see my hands at work in the short video below. People in Puglia use a tool to shape the pasta, while I use only my hands.

Print-friendly recipe for briciole's toasted chickpea flour orecchiette

Ingredients for the pasta dough with toasted chickpea flour:

25 g / 1 oz. toasted chickpea flour
75 g / 2.5 oz. semolina flour of good quality
55 g / 2 oz. warm water
A pinch of salt

Ingredients for the basic pasta dough (with semolina flour only):

100 g / 3.5 oz. semolina flour of good quality
50 g / 1.75 oz. warm water (I recommend weighing the water)
A pinch of salt

Ingredients for the tomato sauce:

Olive oil
A shallot, minced
Leaves of a sprig or two of thyme
A small garlic clove, thinly sliced
2 cups strained roasted tomatoes (thawed, if frozen)
Fine sea salt, to taste
Freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano, to taste

Note: I recommend weighing flours and water because the quantities involved are small.

How to toast chickpea flour
(Do this ahead) Toasting chickpea flour requires full and undivided attention: it is ground finely, so it is more delicate than the semolina flour I have toasted in the past and it burns easily.

Warm up a cup of chickpea flour in a dry frying pan over medium heat. Stir often and when the flour starts to darken, turn down the heat to medium-low.

From then on, the flour will darken quickly, so stir continuously and when it is all a shade darker, remove from the heat. Give another stir and the transfer the flour onto a plate.

Let the toasted chickpea flour cool completely, then store it in a container until you need to use it.

How to make the dough and shape orecchiette
Since it is gluten-free (senza glutine), chickpea flour makes pasta dough a bit fussier to handle than the one made only with semolina flour. Flour your fingers every now and then with semolina flour to prevent sticking. And I let the orecchiette dry at least couple of hours before cooking them. I do not recommend you learn making orecchiette with this dough. Rather, make the basic all-semolina flour dough (see ingredients above) and then, when you are comfortable, try the version with toasted chickpea flour. [This post (with video) talks about how to make semolina pasta dough]

Note: from here on, the instructions are the same for either version of orecchiette.

Make a dough with the ingredients and knead until nice and smooth. Let it rest, well covered (e.g., wrapped in plastic film), for half an hour or so. The dough is darker than when made all of semolina flour and it darkens further as the orecchiette dry after they are shaped.

Working on the kneading board, roll the dough into a thick salami and cut it into 5-6 pieces. Keep them covered while you shape the orecchiette. Roll each piece into a pencil-size snake (3/8 inch / 1 cm thick), then cut into 1 cm / 3/8 inch long pieces. Important: you may need to increase the dimensions of the pieces of pasta, depending on the size of your hands, but keep the pieces square.

Shape each small piece into an orecchietta using whatever method suits you. I place my right thumb on the piece of pasta and drag it away from me, then, with my left hand, I turn it inside out over my index finger and lay it out to dry on a lightly floured section of the kneading board (or a baking sheet lined with a cotton kitchen towel).

Cook the orecchiette and dress them as you like. The following tomato sauce is just a suggestion.

How to prepare the tomato sauce
In a small saucepan, warm up a bit of olive oil, then add shallot and thyme. Cook gently for a few minutes, then add garlic. Cook for a couple of minutes, then add tomatoes. Bring to a simmer and cook for 8-10 minutes. Adjust salt, to taste.

Note that this will make more sauce than you need to dress the orecchiette, but once you have the sauce ready, I am sure you'll find ways of using it, like making more handmade pasta.

How to cook and dress the orecchiette
Bring a small pot of water to a rolling boil, add some coarse salt, stir and then toss the orecchiette in it. They will come to the surface as they cook. The time needed is a bit variable, depending on the size of orecchiette, how dry they are, the type of flour used, but it is not long, so don't wander far away from the pot.

Taste and stop the cooking when the orecchiette are ready. Pour a glass of cold water in the pot, stir and drain the orecchiette well. Place them in a bowl, sprinkle a bit of the cheese on them and stir briefly, then distribute some tomato sauce and toss. Finally, sprinkle some cheese and serve immediately.

Alternatively, while the pasta is cooking, place a few tablespoons of the tomato sauce in a small skillet and warm it up. Pour a glass of cold water in the pot and stir. Drain the orecchiette leaving a little bit of the cooking water clinging to the pasta and drop into the skillet with the sauce. Stir well over medium-low heat for about half a minute. Sprinkle some of the cheese and stir one last time. Plate and sprinkle a bit more cheese on the top. Serve immediately.

The recipe makes two small portions (served as Italian first course).

almost ready to be plated

Toasted chickpea flour has a distinct toasty flavor, which loses its edge once the pasta is cooked and dressed and remains as a suggestion of earthiness that I like.

This is my contribution to edition #427 of Weekend Herb Blogging, an event started by Kalyn of Kalyn's Kitchen, now organized by Haalo of Cook (almost) Anything at Least Once and Brii of briggishome and hosted this week by Lynne of Cafe Lynnylu.

This post contains the roundup of the event.

Click on the button to hear me pronounce the Italian words mentioned in the post:

orecchiette alla farina di ceci tostata

or launch the orecchiette alla farina di ceci tostata audio file [mp3].

[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.]

[jump to Comments]

pasta, semolina flour, chickpea flour, tomato sauce

orecchiette alla farina di ceci tostata

orecchiette: piccole bellezze di pasta

Temporale: il cielo si rannuvola, corruga la fronte e poi piange per ore in modo inconsolabile.

finalmente piove

Un temporale forte è di una bellezza violenta e affascinante da ammirare preferibilmente da dentro casa.

Quando le previsioni del tempo per il weekend sono con 100% di probabilità, consiglio di dedicarsi ad un progetto culinario, come la pasta fatta in casa.

Dopo le orecchiette semplici (la versione base) e le orecchiette di grano arso, era venuto il momento di provare una nuova versione della classica pasta pugliese famosa.

Il successo ottenuto con gli gnocchetti alla farina di ceci mi ha suggerito l'idea di provare a tostare quella farina e a farci la pasta. Il risultato lo avete visto in un post precedente, in versione bianco e nero.

farina di ceci: tostata (a sinistra) e normale

L'impasto fatto on la farina di ceci tostata richiede un po' più di attenzione di quello fatto tutto con la semola di grano duro. Suggerisco quindi di imparare a fare le orecchiette usando l'impasto normale (vedi ricetta in basso). Poi, quando avete preso la mano, esplorate pure altre versioni. Ma ricordate di cominciare facendo poco impasto in modo da non sentirvi sotterrati.

Potete vedere le mie mani al lavoro nel breve video qui sotto.

Ingredienti per l'impasto con farina di ceci tostata:

25 g farina di ceci tostata (seguono istruzioni)
75 g semola di grano duro
55 g acqua calda
Un pizzico di sale

Ingredienti per l'impasto normale (solo con semola):

100 g semola di grano duro
50 g acqua calda
Un pizzico di sale

Ingredienti per il sugo:

Olio EVO
Uno scalogno tritato
Le foglioline di un rametto o due di timo
Un piccolo spicchio d'aglio tagliato a fettine sottili
475 ml pomodori arrosto passati (scongelati, se necessario)
Sale fino, q.b.
Parmigiano-Reggiano grattugiato fresco

Come tostare la farina di ceci
(Da fare in anticipo) Tostare la farina di ceci richiede pazienza e attenzione: essendo macinata fine, è più delicata della semola che ho tostato in precendenza e si brucia facilmente.

Scaldare 150 g di farina di ceci in una padella a secco su calore medio. Mescolare spesso e quando comincia a imbiondire, abbassare il calore a medio-basso.

Da questo momento in poi, la farina scurisce rapidamente, quindi mescolare continuamente e quando è tutta di un tono più scuro, togliere la padella dal fuoco e versare la farina su un piatto.

Fare freddare completamente e conservare in un barattolo fino al momento dell'uso.

Come preparare l'impasto e formare le orecchiette
Dal momento che è senza glutine, la farina di ceci rende l'impasto un po' lunatico. Ad intervalli, tuffare le dita nella farina per evitare che le orecchiette vi si appiccichino. E far asciugare le orecchiette almeno un paio d'ore prima di cuocerle. Suggerisco di imparare a fare le orecchiette usando l'impasto normale. Poi, quando avete preso la mano, provate a fare la versione con la farina di ceci tostata. [Questo post (con video) descrive come faccio l'impasto per pasta con la semola]

Nota: da qui in poi, le istruzioni sono identiche per entrambe le versioni di orecchiette.

Lavorare gli ingredienti fino ad avere un bell'impasto liscio. Farlo riposare, ben coperto (per esempio, avvolto in pellicola), per almeno mezz'ora. L'impasto con la farina di ceci tostata è più scuro di quello fatto solo con la semola e imbrunisce ulteriormente durante il riposo delle orecchiette.

Sul piano di lavoro, formare un salsicciotto e tagliarlo in 5-6 pezzi da lavorare uno alla volta, mentre gli altri rimangono al coperto. Rotolare fino ad ottenere un serpentello grosso come una matita e tagliarlo a pezzetti di 1 cm. Importante: se necessario, aumentate le dimensioni dei pezzetti di pasta, a seconda della grandezza delle vostre mani, ma manteneteli quadrati.

Fare ad ogni pezzetto di impasto la forma di un'orecchietta usando il metodo che preferite. Io trascino il pezzetto di impasto con il pollice destro allontanandolo da me e poi lo rivolto sopra l'indice destro aiutandomi con la mano sinistra. Lasciar asciugare le orecchiette sul piano di lavoro leggermente infarinato o una lastra da forno coperta con un canovaccio di cotone.

Cuocere le orecchiette e condirle come preferite. Il sugo di pomodoro qui di seguito è una opzione.

Come preparare il sugo
In una pentola (di capienza un litro), scaldare un po' di olio d'oliva e aggiungere scalogno e timo. Cuocere a fuoco dolce per pochi minuti, poi aggiungre l'aglio. Continuare a cuocere per un paio di minuti, poi versare i pomodori passati. Portare a leggero bollore e cuocere per 7-8 minuti. Correggere il sale.

Questa ricetta prepara più sugo di quanto ne abbiate bisogno per le orecchiette, ma una volta che ce l'avete pronto, potete usarlo per altri piatti.

Come cuocere e condire le orecchiette
Cuocere le orecchiette in abbondante acqua salata. Il tempo necessario varia a seconda delle dimensioni, quanto sono asciutte, tipo di farina usata, ma non è lunghissimo quindi non lasciate la pentola incustodita.

Quando le orecchiette sono cotte, versare un bicchiere d'acqua fredda nella pentola, mescolare e scolarle bene. Versare le orecchiette in una ciotola, distribuirci sopra un po' di formaggio e mescolare, poi distribuire del sugo ben caldo e mescolare. Infine, distribuire sopra un pochino di formaggio e servire immediatamente.

Alternativamente, mentre la pasta cuoce, mettere alcuni cucchiai di sugo in una padellina e scaldare. Scolare la pasta lasciando un pochino di acqua di cottura e versarla nella padellina col sugo. Mescolare a fuoco medio-basso per mezzo minuto circa. Distribuire del formaggio sulla pasta e mescolare un'ultima volta. Impiattare, distribuire sopra ancora un pochino di formaggio e servire immediatamente.

Questa ricetta fa due porzioni piccole.

quasi pronte per essere impiattate

La farina di ceci tostata ha un chiaro sapore di tostato che diventa più delicato quando la pasta è cotta e condita, ma rimane come un'eco di rusticità che a me piace.

Questo post è il mio contributo all'edizione numero 427 di Weekend Herb Blogging, un evento creato da Kalyn di Kalyn's Kitchen, organizzato ora da Haalo di Cook (almost) Anything at Least Once e Brii di briggishome, e ospitata questa settimana da Kris di Tutto a occhio.

Questo post contiene il raccolto dell'evento.

passata di pomodori arrosto / strained roasted tomatoes

August 16, 2013November 27, 2025 | Simona

[cliccare il link per andare alla versione in italiano]
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food mill with 3 discs — my food mill (with three disks)

Accustomed to kitchen tools operated by the touch of our fingertips, handling one that makes our limbs to move in a different pattern may require a period of adjustment. Then, you’ll discover how gentle repetitive movements can soothe you into a meditative mood that leaves the mind free to daydream while the hands dance.

I did not always have warm feelings for the food mill (in Italian: passaverdura or passatutto). I didn’t think it was my friend, when I had to use it to strain tomatoes to contribute to my mother’s yearly tomato-processing marathon. As a child, I had a long list of things I would have liked to do better than turning the food mill’s crank (manovella) for hours.

I took a long break from those days and when I decided I wanted to preserve tomatoes for off-season use, I developed my own way. I process a relatively small amount of tomatoes at a time, so the task never feels like a crushing burden. And I first roast the tomatoes, which come to my kitchen thanks to my summer CSA share. Plump, meaty and bursting with flavor, they are of a variety called Trinity.

This is a recipe I have described before, as part of a beloved dish. Considering the time of year, I wanted to invite those of you who shy away from preserving tomatoes to reconsider their position and try with a small amount of them. Later in the year, under a gray sky and in cold weather, you’ll be glad you did it. This is what I do.

Print-friendly version of briciole’s recipe for strained roasted tomatoes

Ingredients:

ripe but firm, meaty, and tasty globe tomatoes (not heirlooms), halved crosswise
olive oil
fresh thyme

Preheat the oven to 350 F.

Line a baking sheet with a silicone baking mat. Distribute over it the tomatoes, cut side up. In the interest of energy efficiency, cut enough tomatoes to fill the tray. Using a mister, spray olive oil on the tomatoes, then sprinkle thyme leaves on them.

Oven-roast the tomatoes for 70 minutes.

Take the baking sheet out of the oven and inhale the aroma that wafts from the tomatoes. Let them cool a bit, then process them using a food mill placed on top of a deep bowl made of rigid material. With a large spoon, transfer 4-5 tomato halves from the baking sheet to the food mill. As you turn the crank, the softened tomatoes turn into a rich purée. Add more tomatoes as space becomes available in the food mill until all are processed.

straining roasted tomatoes — food mill at work

Tomato juice and pulp pass into the bowl, while skins and seeds remain behind. Every now and then, turning the crank counterclockwise to scrape the surface of the disk is advisable.

Do not yield to the temptation of stopping early: there is still some pulp attached to the skins and you don’t want to leave it behind. To verify that your movements are still productive, use a flexible spatula to scrape the pulp from the bottom side of the disk, then process for a minute and peek under the food mill: if nothing came through the holes, you are done. Only dry skins and seeds are left behind…
[Alternatively, put the roasted tomatoes in a food processor fitted with a steel blade, process briefly, then push through a mesh strainer.]

Refrigerate the strained roasted tomatoes and use within a few days, or freeze in containers or bags. I recycle yogurt tubs as freezer containers, or make packs containing two cups of strained tomatoes.

Then, in the middle of winter, you can conjure up summer by making some sugo di pomodoro (tomato sauce) for pasta or anything else you like.

This is my contribution to edition #397 of Weekend Herb Blogging, an event started by Kalyn of Kalyn’s Kitchen, now organized by Haalo of Cook (almost) Anything at Least Once and hosted this week by Lynne of Cafe Lynnylu.

This post contains the roundup of the event.

Click on the button to hear me pronounce the Italian words mentioned in the post

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tomato, preserve

passata di pomodori arrosto

Abituati a piccoli elettrodomestici che si accendono e spengono al tocco di un dito, un attrezzo che fa muovere le nostre mani in modo diverso richiede un periodo di adattamento. Poi scopriamo che dolci movimenti ripetitivi possono condurci ad uno stato meditativo che lascia la mente libera di sognare ad occhi aperti mentre le mani danzano.

Non ho sempre avuto un buon rapporto col passaverdura. Non lo consideravo un amico quando dovedo usarlo per passare i pomodori come contributo alla maratona conserviera annuale di mia madre. Da ragazzina avevo una lunga lista di cose che avrei preferito fare piuttosto che girare per ore la manovella del passatutto.

Dopo un lungo intervallo da quei giorni, quando ho deciso di conservare i pomodori per usarli quando non sono di stagione, ho creato una mia routine. Preparo una quantità relativamente modesta di pomodori per volta in modo che non mi sento oberata. E li arrostisco in forno prima di passarli. I pomodori mi arrivano con la mia cassettina estiva: sono rotondi, carnosi e saporiti, di una qualità che si chiama Trinity.

Ho descritto questa ricetta in precedenza in un post in inglese. Considerando il periodo dell’anno, invito coloro che prendono le distanze dal compito di conservare i pomodori a rivedere la loro posizione e provare con una modica quantità. Quest’inverno, quando fa freddo e il cielo è bello grigio, saranno contenti di averlo fatto. Questo è il procedimento che uso io.

Ingredienti:

pomodori carnosi maturi ma sodi, tagliati a metà (vedi Nota in basso)
olio extra-vergine di oliva
timo fresco

Riscaldare il forno a 177 C.

Foderare una placca con un tappetino di silicone da forno. Distribuire su di esso i pomodori con la parte tagliata in alto. Per amor di efficienza, preparate abbastanza pomodori da riempire la placca. Spruzzare dell’olio sui pomodori e poi distribuire su di essi delle foglioline di timo.

Cuocere i pomodori in forno per 70 minuti.

Tirare fuori dal forno la placca e inalate l’aroma che sale dai pomodori. Farli intiepidire e poi passateli col passatutto posizionato su un’insalatiera di materiale rigido. Con un grosso cucchiaio, trasferite 4-5 mezzi pomodori dalla placca al passatutto. Girando la manovella del passatutto i pomodori si trasformano in passata. Man mano aggiungete gli altri pomodori al passatutto fino a svuotare la placca.

Succo e polpa di pomodoro passano nell’insalatiera, mentre buccia e semi rimangono nel passatutto. Ogni tanto, girate la manovella in senso antiorario in modo da pulire la superficie del disco.

Non cedete alla tentazione di fermarvi presto: sembra che siano rimaste solo le bucce ma attaccata ad esse c’è ancora della polpa. Per verificare, con una spatola flessibile pulite la faccia inferiore del disco del passatutto, poi girate la manovella per un minuto e poi sbirciate di nuovo sotto il passatutto: se attraverso i bughi non è passato nulla, allora avete finito. Solo bucce secche e semi rimangono nel passatutto…

[In alternativa, mettere i pomodori arrosto nel robot con la lama d’acciaio, farlo andare per un po’ e poi passare il purè attraverso un colino a rete.]

Conservare la passata nel frigorifero e utilizzarla entro pochi giorni, oppure surgelatela in contenitori o buste per alimenti. Io riciclo contenitori di yogurt oppure faccio dei pacchetti con mezzo litro circa di passata.

Nel cuore dell’inverno potrete poi ricreare l’estate preparando un bel sugo di pomodoro per la pasta o quant’altro vi detta l’ispirazione.

Questo post è il mio contributo all’edizione numero 397 di Weekend Herb Blogging, un evento creato da Kalyn di Kalyn’s Kitchen, organizzato ora da Haalo di Cook (almost) Anything at Least Once, la cui versione italiana è organizzata da Brii di briggishome, e ospitata questa settimana da Brii stessa.

Questo post contiene il raccolto dell’evento.

Halloumi col sugo / Halloumi with tomato sauce

June 2, 2013 | Simona

[cliccare il link per andare alla versione in italiano]

Halloumi and Anari

Fresh goat milk season in my kitchen means homemade Halloumi. I love this cheese: It is relatively easy to make and once I have it in the refrigerator, I can turn it into a lovely meal in no time.

ready to be sliced

What's so special about Halloumi? "Halloumi is also unique in having a high melting point and so can easily be fried or grilled… it softens significantly but it does not melt." [source]

Last year, I served my homemade Halloumi with roasted cherry tomatoes, a variation on my recipe for caprese salad, but this year, I started making Halloumi before the beginning of tomato season (la stagione dei pomodori), so to put the same well-matched couple on the table, I reached into the freezer, took out some strained roasted tomatoes and made my all-purpose tomato sauce. My light yet deeply flavored tomato sauce is a perfect match for the delicate, softened Halloumi.

Print-friendly version of briciole's recipe for Halloumi with tomato sauce

Ingredients for the tomato sauce:

Olive oil
A shallot, minced
Leaves of a sprig of thyme
A small garlic clove, thinly sliced
2 cups strained roasted tomatoes (thawed, if frozen)
Sea salt, to taste

And the cheese:

Halloumi cheese (I use my homemade Halloumi which I make with half goat milk and half cow milk; all the details, including a link to the recipe, are in the post referenced; if I could find some sheep milk, I would use it)

How to prepare the tomato sauce
In a small saucepan, warm up a bit of olive oil, then add the shallot and thyme. Cook gently for a few minutes, then add the garlic. Cook for a couple of minutes, then add the tomatoes. Bring to a simmer and cook for 7-8 minutes. Adjust salt, to taste.

Note that this recipe makes more sauce than you need to accompany Halloumi (unless you have a large party), but once you have the sauce ready, you'll find ways of using it (including as dressing for some homemade pasta).

How to put it all together
Distribute some tomato sauce on the bottom of a skillet. The amount of tomato sauce and the size of the skillet depend on how many slices of Halloumi you are preparing. Warm up tomato sauce slightly over low heat.

Place Halloumi slices on plates and distribute tomato sauce over them. Serve immediately with some bread that is good for scooping up the sauce (fare la scarpetta) at the end.

Halloumi with tomato sauce

This is the lovely dinner plate I put in front of my tomato-loving husband. Featured on the plate is also one of my four-leaf clover rolls (panini quadrifoglio).

This is my contribution to edition #386 of Weekend Herb Blogging, an event started by Kalyn of Kalyn's Kitchen, now organized by Haalo of Cook (almost) Anything at Least Once and hosted this week by Lucia of Torta di rose.

This post contains the roundup of the event.

Click on the button to hear me pronounce the Italian words mentioned in the post:

Halloumi col sugo

or launch the halloumi col sugo audio file [mp3].

[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.]

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halloumi, cheese, tomato sauce

Halloumi col sugo

Halloumi e Anari (ricotta)

La stagione del latte di capra fresco nella mia cucina significa Halloumi fatto in casa. Mi piace questo formaggio originario dell'isola di Cipro: è relativamente facile da fare e quando ce l'ho nel frigorifero posso prepararci un pasto con un impegno di tempo minimo.

pronto ad essere affettato

Cos'ha di speciale l'Halloumi? "L'Halloumi è unico anche perché ha un elevato punto di fusione e può essere fritto o grigliato… si ammorbidisce molto ma non fonde." [fonte; traduzione mia]

L'anno scorso ho servito il mio Halloumi fatto in casa con pomodori ciliegia arrosto, una variazione della mia ricetta per l'insalata caprese, ma quest'anno ho cominciato a fare l'Halloumi prima dell'inizio della stagione dei pomodori, quindi per servire la coppia be assortita ho tirato fuori dal congelatore dei pomodori arrosto passati e ho preparato il mio sugo passe-partout. Il mio sugo leggero e saporito si sposa perfettamente con l'Halloumi ammorbidito dal calore.

Ingredienti per il sugo:

Olio EVO
Uno scalogno tritato
Le foglioline di un bel rametto di timo
Un piccolo spicchio d'aglio tagliato a fettine sottili
475 ml pomodori arrosto passati (scongelati, se necessario)
Sale fino, q.b.

E il formaggio:

Halloumi (io uso il mio Halloumi fatto in casa che faccio con metà latte di capra e metà latte di mucca; se potessi trovare del latte di pecora lo utilizzerei volentieri)

Preparare il sugo
In una pentola (di capienza un litro), scaldare un po' di olio d'oliva e aggiungere scalogno e timo. Cuocere a fuoco dolce per pochi minuti, poi aggiungre l'aglio. Continuare a cuocere per un paio di minuti, poi versare i pomodori passati. Portare a leggerissimo bollore e cuocere per 7-8 minuti. Correggere il sale.

Questa ricetta prepara più sugo di quanto ne abbiate bisogno per l'Halloumi (a meno che non abbiate molti ospiti), ma una volta che ce l'avete pronto, potete usarlo per altri piatti, compresa della pasta fatta in casa.

Preparare il piatto
Distribuire del sugo sul fondo di una padella. La quantità di sugo e le dimensioni della padella dipendono da quante fette di Halloumi volete preparare. Scaldare leggermente il sugo a fuoco dolce.

Tagliare l'Halloumi a fettine spesse 6 mm e adagiarle nella padella. Dopo pochi minuti, quando l'Halloumi si è ammorbidito e il sugo sobbolle, girare le fettine e con un cucchiaio distribuire su di esse un po' del sugo. Assicurarsi che il sugo sia bollente ma che non si secchi a causa dell'evaporazione. Dopo un paio di minuti, togliere la padella dal fuoco.

Disporre le fettine di Halloumi sui piatti e distribuire del sugo su di esse. Servire immediatamente accompagnando il piatto con del pane che sia adatto a fare la scarpetta.

Halloumi col sugo

Questo è il piatto che ho servito a mio marito (che adora i pomodori). In secondo piano c'è uno dei miei panini quadrifoglio.

Questo post è il mio contributo all'edizione numero 386 di Weekend Herb Blogging, un evento creato da Kalyn di Kalyn's Kitchen, organizzato ora da Haalo di Cook (almost) Anything at Least Once, la cui versione italiana è organizzata da Brii di briggishome, e ospitata questa settimana da Lucia di Torta di rose.

Questo post contiene il raccolto dell'evento.

briciole

Simona Carini serves recipes and Italian words related to food

tomato sauce

roasted eggplant with tomato sauce and yogurt / melanzane arrosto con sugo di pomodoro e yogurt

melanzane arrosto con sugo di pomodoro e yogurt

eggplant and yellow split pea stew / stufato di melanzane e piselli gialli decorticati

cecamariti (handmade pasta shape)

mezzi tubi rigati (pasta fatta a mano) / ridged half-pipes (handmade pasta)

recipe: mezzi tubi rigati / ridged half-pipes (handmade pasta)

nodi (pasta fatta a mano) / knots (handmade pasta)

nodi (pasta fatta a mano)

recipe: Halloumi with tomato sauce (Halloumi col sugo)

orecchiette alla farina di ceci tostata / toasted chickpea flour orecchiette

orecchiette alla farina di ceci tostata

passata di pomodori arrosto / strained roasted tomatoes

passata di pomodori arrosto

Halloumi col sugo / Halloumi with tomato sauce

Halloumi col sugo