Tag Archives: pasta

Ricotta and parsley ravioli – cooking with friends

Posted on April 15, 2013 | 6 Comments

I have known Lily since we went to high school together. She was the tall, glamorous dark haired Italian who I felt a strong connection to, even though we didn’t spend much time together when we were teenagers. We reconnected a few years ago via social media and we have explored our Italian heritage in the many fun things we have done since – from Italian film festival movies to book launches about italians migrating from Italy. Her mother came from Santa Barbara, near Trieste, and her father from Istria, like my father. Incredible that they travelled here on ships at different times, in search of new lives and that their youngest daughters, born only a few weeks apart, connected in distant Australia.

paola e Lily

We had talked about cooking together for ages and last weekend she finally came over to make pasta. Lily had never made pasta from scratch and I looked forward to teaching her. To make food with a friend is such a joy – creating tasty beautiful food with love, sharing stories and laughing. Lily has been to Italy twice, in 1972 and in 1980. Whilst chatting we realised that coincidentally it was exactly at the same time that I was there! The other coincidence was that both our mothers had the same model of Imperia pasta making machine, in a funky 1970s box (mine is the tattered one on the left)!

imperia pasta machine x2

Rather than making fettuccine, we decided on some simple ricotta and parsley ravioli. Lily watched me making the filling, not really measuring anything – which is the way my mother cooks – but the way hers did as well. We tasted the filling as we went along, adding lemon zest and nutmeg to give the filling a delightful lift. Rather than using a ravioli cutter, we cut the pasta sheets in half and then into rectangles to make square ravioli.

making ravioli

By now it was late afternoon – we’d been having such fun in the kitchen – about 3 hours worth. I put on some Italian tunes from the 1970s (Lucio Battisti) and we listened to him whilst we packed up and cooked a few ravioli to taste with a glass of wine. I made a simple burnt butter sauce with crispy sage leaves to go with the ravioli. It was delicate, light and perfect. A lovely way to end a cooking afternoon with my lovely paesana.

ricotta ravioli

Ricotta and parsley ravioli
Serves 6
To make the pasta:
4 large eggs
400g 00 flour
pinch salt
1/2 tablespoon of olive oil
For the filling:
350g fresh ricotta
1 large egg
75 – 100g parmigiano, grated
1/4 tsp nutmeg powder
grated rind of one lemon
1/2 bunch fresh parsely, leaves picked and finely chopped
salt and pepper to taste
For the sauce:
100g unsalted butter
24 fresh sage leaves
grated parmigiano to serve

For instructions on making pasta, click here or here. Make the filling whilst the pasta dough is resting and before rolling it out. To make the filling, simply mix together all the ingredients using a fork until the mixture is homogeneous. Adjust for salt and add pepper if you like. As there is a lot of pasta in this recipe, you should roll out a quarter of the pasta at a time, keeping the remainder wrapped in cling wrap. Make one batch of ravioli as per the instructions and then repeat.

To make the ravioli, place a teaspoon of filling on one half of a rectangle of pasta (our rectangles were about 5cm by 10 cm). Dip a finger in water, wetting the pasta around the filling. Now close the rectangle of pasta like a book so that the filling is enclosed, pressing well around the edges so the raviolo is sealed and there is no air trapped in the filling. Dust the pasta lightly with flour and place on the bench under a tea towel so the pasta does not dry out. Repeat with remaining pasta and filling.

To cook, heat a large pot of salted water until boiling and cook the ravioli for 5 to 7 minutes, until cooked. Whilst they are cooking, make the burnt butter by heating up the butter in a medium sized frypan, until the butter melts and add the sage leaves. Cook for a few minutes until it starts to turn brown. Drain the ravioli and spoon on the burnt butter sauce, decorating with a few crispy sage leaves. Some grated parmigiano is lovely on top of this as well.

making ravioli wearing pink gloves

Here is a link to a fantastic Lucio Battisti song…what a legend he was.

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Posted in Cheese, Pasta, rice and gnocchi, Vegetarian

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Spaghetti with sardines, fennel and pinenuts – a visit to beautiful Treviso

Posted on January 26, 2013 | 14 Comments

On my last trip to Italy I enjoyed several days in the beautiful town of Treviso, not far from Venezia. Treviso has its own tiny canal system, a multitude of arches lining its narrow streets and a surprising array of markets. It is also the capital town of the province where my mother Livia was born.

canale trevisocanale bw

I travelled there with my daughter and we stayed in a delightful medieval Bed and Breakfast called Palazzo Raspanti, which is within the old city walls. The palazzo is totally renovated with a huge heavy wooden door leading to a high ceiling moody foyer that would make a perfect art gallery.

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the perfect terrace treviso

Our chatty host Simone was charming and invited us to go salsa dancing with him and his wife. He gave us some tips on what to visit in Treviso and knowing my interest in food, highly recommended a number of street markets, which are held on most days of the week.

mercato di fruttasignore eleganti bw

The markets are quite diverse, some with only fruit and vegetables and others selling a huge array of clothing and plants. The locals get around on bicycles rather than cars and the older ladies were immaculately dressed as only italians can be, practising the art of fare la bella figura (making sure you make a good impression).

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Local hard cheeses such as asiago and Piave filled the stalls. I found one cheese that was imbriago de vin (drunk with wine) which was written on a sign in the local dialect – it sounded intriguing! Being summer when we visited, the colourful fruit and flowers made strolling through the streets a visual feast.

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Simone highly recommended we visit La Pescheria, which is a fish market found on a tiny island on the Canale Cagnan in the center of town. Unfortunately we visited on a day that it was closed – well there was only one fishmonger there. So there wasn’t a lot of fish, but what was there was exquisitely fresh – squid, cuttlefish, clams and my favorite sardines.

canale cagnan

It can make me sad to visit fish markets when I am traveling – there is so much fish I want to buy and cook! But I have to be happy with taking photos and imagining what delicious meals I could be making.

la pescheria

At home in Melbourne I am always in the lookout for sardines at the Victoria Market. I buy them wherever I can. A few years back when I was practicing to get into Masterchef, I asked my father to show me how he cleaned different types of fish. I remember him when I was growing up cleaning fish in the large laundry tub and presenting mamma with a plate of cleaned cuttle fish, snapper or sardines. These are the fish he taught me how to clean or fillet, which I still do occasionally though I love finding sardines already filleted as it cuts down the preparation time.

sardines BW_1

As a tribute to the wonderful Pescheria in Treviso, I am sharing a delicious way of making sardines with pasta. The recipe is Sicilian, though I have seen a version in Venezia a few years ago.

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It contains balancing elements, making it salty, sweet, acidic and crunchy at the same time – sardines, sultanas soaked in wine, fennel, grated lemon rind and fresh breadcrumbs. I love to use bucatini, which is a hollow spaghetti, which seems to pick up more of the sauce. It is a summery dish, delicious with a refreshing glass of chilled rose’.

sardine pasta two plates

Bucatini with sardines, fennel and pine nuts*
Serves 4
1/3 cup sultanas, soaked in 1/2 cup dry white wine
1/2 teaspoon saffron stamens
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
1 clove garlic, peeled and bruised
1/4 cup fresh breadcrumbs
1/2 cup pine nuts
1 head baby fennel
1 onion, finely diced
1 cup fennel fronds
1 fresh chilli, chopped
12 sardines, filleted
1 lemon zest
375g bucatini or spaghetti

Soak the sultanas in white wine (you can use water instead) and set aside. Soak the saffron in a little bit of water and set aside. Heat the garlic with a splash of olive oil in a large frypan. When it starts to become fragrant, add the breadcrumbs and cook on medium heat, stirring frequently until they become golden. Place them in a bowl and discard the garlic.

In the same pan, place the rest of the olive oil, half the fennel fronds and the onion and cook until softened, about 8 to 10 minutes on low heat. Whilst you are doing this, heat a large pot of salted water in which you will cook the pasta. Add the grossly chopped head of fennel to the water. When it is boiling, add the pasta and cook for the required time according to the instructions on the packet. When you have about 5 minutes to go before the pasta is ready, add the sultanas with wine, saffron, chilli, pine nuts and the sardine fillets and then turn the heat up to medium-high. Stir the sauce with a wooden spoon fairly regularly and after about 3 minutes, remove from the heat.

round plate pasta sardines_edited-2

Drain the pasta and discard the fennel pieces. Add the drained spaghetti to the frypan with the sauce. Stir in the breadcrumbs. Place on heated individual plates. Scattering the remaining fennel fronds and lemon zest and drizzle on some extra virgin oilve oil to serve. Buon appetito!

*Adapted from Stephanie Alexander’s Kitchen Garden Companion

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Tomato heaven – how to make a perfect pasta puttanesca

Posted on January 12, 2013 | 6 Comments

Italy has the freshest tomatoes in summer. Whatever corner store or market you buy tomatoes from during summer, they are all incredible. I think this is because they are picked much later than the average tomato you find in Australia. The distances between grower and buyer are much less and so they are fresher, plumper, redder and taste a whole lot better.

pomodori al mercato

There are also so many beautiful varieties: Ox heart (cuore di bue) in particular are amazingly fleshy and rich; San Marzano are delightfully juicy and perfect for making a fresh pasta sauce; and cherry tomatoes (ciliegini) are bursting with life when you pop one in your mouth. It’s no wonder lots of tinned tomatoes are imported from Italy – particularly from the South, where the climate is hot and they grow incredibly well and have a longer season than in the North.

cuore di bue

In summer I eat tomatoes every day. My father had dozens of tomato plants in his garden. All the grandchildren no doubt remember having a meal with their nonno and hearing him say “You know the tomatoes you are eating? Well remember that they were growing one hour ago”. We would have them in salad with his home grown small leaf green radicchio or in a pasta puttanesca with his home-grown basil.

san marzano rialto_edited-1

I posted a recipe for pasta puttanesca about a year ago in a post about basil (click here to see it or scroll down for the recipe in this post…). It is a perfect summer pasta and dead easy to make. So how do you make a perfect puttanesca? The first secret is the type and quality of the tomatoes. Recipes which have tinned tomatoes or tomato passata are never good enough – you need luscious sweet fresh tomatoes to get the most of this dish. I like using larger varieties such as Ox-heart or Beefsteak – their flesh is almost meaty and adds a texture which you don’t find with smaller tomatoes. My mother uses Grosse Lisse when she can for puttanesca.

boxes of tomatoes

The second secret is to make this dish in summer when tomatoes are in season – tomatoes that you buy in winter will not be as tasty as they are grown indoors or else they are not local (therefore compromising the freshness and with lots of food miles). The third secret is to not over cook the sauce. It takes very little time to cook, in fact less time than it does to cook the dried pasta. It should take no more than 8 minutes of cooking time. Fast food at its tastiest and healthiest!

pasta and rose

In Melbourne I try to use home grown tomatoes. However if you don’t have any, or don’t have a generous neighbor who grows them, then visit a local farmer’s market. Alternatively you could go to the Tomato City stall at the Victoria Market, which is run by the Pontelandolfo family and has been there for over 65 years. There are many varieties of tomato, both from Victoria or from other parts of Australia as well lots of other vegetables that are used in Italian cooking. The owner John will tell you about where he sourced the many varieties of tomatoes he sells and he might even give you some cooking advice!

Pasta Puttanesca
Serves 2
2 cloves garlic, minced
4 anchovy fillets, roughly chopped
12 kalamata olives, pitted and halved
2 tablespoons olive oil
1/2 teaspoon dried chilli flakes (less or more to taste)
500g ripe tasty tomatoes, roughly chopped into large pieces
30 basil leaves (approximately)
175g dried pasta
grated parmigiano to serve

Boil the water for the pasta and salt well (so it tastes like the sea). Prepare all your chopped ingredients and put to one side. The puttanesca sauce takes about six or seven minutes to complete so time it to coincide with your pasta being cooked al dente. Start cooking the pasta and when there are eight minutes left, heat the oil in a large fry pan on medium heat. Add the garlic, anchovies and chilli and cook until fragrant. This should take one to two minutes. Add the tomatoes and simmer for a few minutes. Add the olives and heat through. The tomatoes pieces should just be starting to fall apart but still have some shape. Add the drained and cooked pasta to the frypan with the sauce. Remove from the heat. Toss. Add washed basil leaves. Toss. Serve with plenty of grated italian parmigiano and a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil if needed.

plate of pasta puttanesca2_square

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Posted in Pasta, rice and gnocchi, Summer food

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Wild rocket pesto – picked today, gone tomorrow

Posted on October 14, 2012 | 4 Comments

This morning I was at my mother’s place and she told me that the gardener was coming tomorrow to clear some of the garden beds so we could plant tomatoes and basil. “Not where the wild rocket is?” I asked anxiously. “Yes”, she replied, “it will all be gone tomorrow”. Now by wild rocket (rucola selvadiga in my Italian dialect), I mean it grew there of its own accord. It had been planted there some time ago but was all pulled up at the end of the season. However it emerged again in early spring amongst the weeds. They don’t call the variety “wild” for no reason!

After we had lunch, armed with a basket, I collected as much of it as I could, hoping that I would have enough to make rocket pesto. I weighed it when I arrived home and I had just over 100g – which was just what I needed. My mother was horrified that I might make pesto using rucola. But I told her that Jamie Oliver makes it, so it must be okay. She grudgingly agreed (she just loves the way Jamie cooks – even though he is not Italian, he learnt to cook from an Italian, the inimitable Gennaro Contaldo!). It makes a nice change from the basil pesto I usually make.

My rocket pesto is a bit different from Jamie’s version – I add a few almonds as well as walnuts, plus some freshly grated lemon zest just before serving it on spaghetti. It adds a citrus zing to the peppery green taste of the rocket in the pesto. It made a perfect light spring dinner tonight. I loved the fact that 5 hours ago the rocket was growing, wildly, and now it has become a beautiful pesto, which will last a couple of weeks in the fridge (if my husband does not eat it all!). I might even take some to my mother’s and see what she thinks of it. I think she will like it.

You could also serve it on bread, topped with some tomatoes and bocconcini cheese – though you will need to reduce the amount of olive oil you use. My favorite way to have rocket pesto is with spaghetti. I am so happy I got to the rocket before the gardener did!

Wild rocket pesto with spaghetti
serves 4
100g wild rocket, washed
50 g walnuts, roughly chopped
15g blanched almonds, roughly chopped
1 clove garlic, roughly chopped
50 g parmigiano (italian parmesan – I use Grana Padano) cheese, grated
1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
salt and pepper to taste
lemon zest to serve
a few rocket leaves for garnish for each plate
400g spaghetti
Place the rocket in a blender, add a dash of olive oil and then whizz it a bit. Next add the garlic, then pulse for 10-20 seconds; next, add the nuts and pulse a few times depending on how coarse (or fine) you like the pesto. Keep the blender running and add the rest of the olive oil in a stream. You will need 1/2 cup if you are using the pesto on pasta – a bit less (maybe 1/3 cup) if you plan to use the pesto on bread. Add the parmigiano last, folding it through. Add salt and pepper to taste.

Cook the spaghetti according to the directions on the packet. When cooked, drain, keeping a bit of the cooking water (a few tablespoons) with the pasta. Stir through the pesto. Add a good serve of lemon zest to each plate of spaghetti and garnish with a few rocket leaves.

If you don’t use all of the rocket pesto, store it in a glass jar in the fridge, covering it with a layer of extra virgin olive oil.

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Posted in Main course, Pasta, rice and gnocchi, Vegetarian

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