On the origins of the pasta, there is an old dispute: whether the Chinese have invented it or whether Italians created this extraordinary food first. In my opinion the problem does not exist! And do you know why? But it is clear: the Chinese pasta, which Marco Polo described so well, came (and is still) prepared with rice flour and not wheat! There is also a lesser known story on this topic, which concerns the real origins of pasta in my region, Calabria. Reading the various encyclopedias and newspapers, I discovered that the first pasta was prepared in Calabria . In a treatise of year 1041, the term maccherone was used to indicate a fool and goofy person. Evidently the maccherone in the food sense was in use long before Marco Polo returned to Venice from China. Then, in Calabria (but also in other southern regions), noodles are called làganes , a word derived from Greek which means ” puff pastry of flour “.
It is also evident that in Magna Grecia (Calabria) the noodles were called làganes and from here they also spread to ancient Rome (the rest of Italy). So, we can argue that the pasta was invented by the calabrians!
Today, in Calabria, many pasta sizes are used: tagliolini, scilatelli, schiaffettoni, calandretti, priestly hats, women’s curls, ravioli, Crotone’s cavatelli, cavatelli, cannelloni, cannarozzoli, gnocchi or roscatelli, but those that are more prepared are the macaroni in the iron, called in the dialect of maccarruni ‘e casa , or maccheroni cu bucu,’ mockets, fusilli, fileja, scialatelli.
For example, an iron stick is used to make the maccarruni , but it seems that a weeping willow branch may also be used, or a rush, sparto or genista. Someone even uses one of the rays of a bike wheel or umbrella.
Below I present you the most used Calabrian pasta recipes.
Ingredients:
• 800-100 grams per person of hard wheat flour
• Warm water
• salt
Process:
This traditional recipe supplements the lack of eggs with the use of hard wheat flour and the long handling of the dough. To the quantity of flour required, placed as a fountain on a wooden axis, slowly warms the water well and, while continuing to knead energetically, add other water until the flour absorbs it. The dough must be homogeneous, elastic and velvety. Covered with a cloth, let it rest for an hour, before stretching it to the left, to give it the desired shape. Not everyone knows this dough; whoever does it, pour salt on the flour from the beginning, putting three pinches, as the ancient use, probably born of the concept of perfection and sacredness that always accompanied the number three. The most common forms of damage to the dough are: sagna, for which the leaf is divided into large squares or rectangles, which are used to litter the cake and cover the cuttings, as we indicate in the typical Sagna chjna; kyariella or laganelle, long strips of pasta, about a centimeter wide, usually accompanied with legumes or used alone; vermicelli, thin spaghetti, which are mainly used to be seasoned with tripe sauce or with cuttlefish sauce; filigree, thinner still and great with broth; maccarruni, also called fusilli, our strong plate for excellence, if seasoned with castrated sauce and ricotta. For the latter, special processing is required.
Ingredients:
• 500 grams of hard wheat flour
• 2 eggs
• 1 cup of lukewarm water
• A pinch of salt
Process:
Arrange the flour as a fountain on pastry board. Shake the eggs in a plate with salt and pour into the flour. Amalgam and energetically knead the ingredients so you will get a homogeneous, velvety, and a little polish paste. Leave the dough for an hour, covering it with a cloth; then you’ll get long sticks, big little more than a pencil and cut into 10-12 centimeters long, using a knife or spatula to scrape. Place in each piece of pasta the squared, squat-like iron, and, pressing slightly with your hands, roll around the pasta stick, sliding it back and forth over the pastry board to lengthen it and thinner it. Then, with delicacy, avoiding crushing the dough and aligning the macaroni on a slightly floured cloth. Dip them in plenty of salty boiling water, to which you have added a bit of olive oil, to avoid sticking macaroni to each other. Cook them al dente, cook them well and dress them with a good sauce, preferably chestnut, sprinkled with salt and hard cheese (cottage cheese) or grated pecorino cheese. Served aside the holy oil: it will pour a teaspoon on the macaroni, who wants them spicy. sprinkling them to taste of salty and hard cheese (ricotta toosta) or grated pecorino cheese. Served aside the holy oil: it will pour a teaspoon on the macaroni, who wants them spicy.
Ingredients:
• 500 grams of hard wheat flour
• Warm water
• A pinch of salt
Process:
Put the flour on a fountain on the pastry board, pour into the lukewarm water with the salt. Knead while continuing to add more water until it gets smooth, hard and dry enough to not stick to the hands. After having rested it a bit, form a long roll, remove long pasta packages from 5 to 10 cm. Put flour on the iron and slip it into the pack, rolling it with your palms. Then gently pull the iron stick, which should slip easily as the dough is dry. Place the macaroni on top over a flaky canvas, aligning them next to each other at a certain distance.
Ingredients:
• 500 grams of white pasta potatoes
• 200 grams of flour about
• 3 eggs
• Nutmeg
Process:
Wash and bake the potatoes in plenty of salted water, drain them, peel them, pour them into the hot pan crushers and pick the puree in a bowl. Add the flour, the eggs and knead gently. Remove pieces of pasta, make chopsticks and cut them about 3 cm in length. Pass them into the appropriate cutter dumplings or a grater and put them on a floured floor to dry.
Ingredients:
• 500 grams of hard wheat semolina
• Water
• Salt to taste
Process:
Put the flour on a fountain on the pastry board, pour into a glass of lukewarm water and egg; knead, adding the water necessary to obtain a smooth and compact paste. Wrap it in a wet, wrinkled cloth, allow it to rest for at least half an hour and then wrap it in a thin sheet with the roller pin. Sprinkle the surface of the thin sheet. Sprinkle the surface of the leaf with abundant flour and fold it on itself. Place the folded pasta over a cutting board and cut it into narrow strings with a large sharp knife. Dip the pasta skeins and put the cavatelli obtained over a floured canvas to dry.
Ingredients:
• 500 grams of flour
• Water
• A pinch of salt
Process:
Knead well and put to rest for about 1 hour. Pour the dough with the roller pin and make a sheet of 0,5 mm thickness and cut it into so many discs of about 8 cm in diameter. Spread a portion of the internal seasoning and fold over the three flaps inwards, giving each tricorn paste circle. There are also those who just close the edges without stuff them.
Ingredients:
• 500 grams of hard wheat flour
• 1 egg
• Water
• Salt to taste
Process:
Sift the flour on a deck, make a hole in the center and pour oil, a pinch of salt and a glass of lukewarm water; incorporate the flour and work it until it forms a soft and compact paste. Cover it with a damp towel and let it rest for about half an hour. Take back the dough, remove the pieces and make chopsticks. Cut them to a length of about 3 centimeters, then pass them over a griddle over the form of dumplings and let them dry over a can.
Ingredients:
• 500 grams of hard wheat semolina
• 1 egg
• Water
• Salt to taste
Process:
Put the flour on a fountain on the pastry board, pour into a glass of lukewarm water; knead, adding the water necessary to obtain a smooth and compact paste. Divide it into two or more parts, as I get easier to pull the sheet. Work each of this piece of pasta with the rolling pin and make a thin sheet. Spread abundant flour on the surface of the leaf and wrap it around the rolling pin, u laganaturi, then gently slice it down, dropping the dough on the pastry board folded on itself. Place the folded dough over a cutting board and cut it into large strips with a large sharp knife, winding up the lagane and putting them on a floured canvas.
Ingredients:
• 500 grams of hard wheat semolina
• Salt to taste
• Water
Process:
Put the flour on a fountain on the table, pour into a glass of water necessary to get a smooth, compact dough. Wrap it in a moistened white napkin and let it rest. Take the dough back, remove the small pieces and form long and large sticks like a finger. Turn them around spiral around a string of wool or a stocking iron and lay them with the palms of your hands without pressing too much over the pasta. Spray it very gently out of the iron and put it on a floured canvas, lining it up beside the other well spaced.
Ingredients:
• 500 grams of hard wheat semolina
• Salt to taste
• Water
Process:
Put the flour on a fountain on the pastry board, pour into a glass of lukewarm water; knead, adding the water necessary to obtain a smooth and compact paste. Wrap it in a moistened white napkin and let it rest. Take the dough and remove the small pieces and form long and large sticks. Finish the stocking iron, put it into the pasta sticks, put them with the palms of the hands, then gently pull the iron stick and let it dry over a floured canvas, lining them beside the other well spaced.
Ingredients:
• 500 grams of hard wheat semolina
• 1 egg
• Salt to taste
• Water
Process:
Put the flour on a fountain on the pastry board and pour a glass of lukewarm water and egg; knead, adding the water necessary to obtain a smooth and compact paste. With the rolling pin roll into a thin sheet, let it dry; Then, with the thumb and the index, rip out the pieces of puff pastry and put them over a floured sheet. Use the Struncatura for sauces and soups.
Ingredients:
• 300 grams of hard wheat flour
• 1 egg
• Water
• Salt to taste
Process:
Put the flour on a fountain on the pastry board, pour into a glass of lukewarm water and egg; knead, adding the water necessary to obtain a smooth and compact paste. Roll it with the rolling pin in a thin sheet. Sprinkle the surface of the leaf with abundant flour and fold it on itself. Place the dough back over a cutting board and cut it into strips with a large sharp knife. Dip the pasta skeins and put the Taglierini on a floured canvas to dry.
What is your favorite italian pasta among these? Write down in the comments!
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