Nonna’s Sugo Finto
Sugo Finto was the tomato-based sauce that my nonna prepared during the week, back in the days. My nonna, my dad's mom, was born in 1918, a rough time for Italy. Her father passed away during the war before she was born. As you can imagine, resources in the kitchen were tight during and after both World Wars, but giving up traditions was never even taken into consideration. This is why my Nonna's family, and every family in Italy had to re-invent their recipes without the expensive and hard to find ingredients like meat. They couldn't butcher animals themselves, and so meat became a once in a while ingredient. Sugo Finto, which means "Fake Sauce," was their answer. It was the delicious sauce to satisfy the picky Italian palates, without any meat. Sugo Finto is extremely versatile. It goes very well with any pasta and can be used for baked lasagne or sauce for filled pasta like Ravioli or Agnolotti.
Nonno’s Pasta Fresca
My Mamma's dad is the person my brothers and I spent the most time with growing up. My parents were working all day during the week and we were fortunate enough to have my Nonno. He cooked every lunch during the week, but the most exciting was Sunday lunch: Nonno made Pasta Fresca.
Every Sunday, Nonno's ritual was to wake up early and pick fresh eggs from his chickens to make Pasta Fresca. He would walk to our house and ask if we wanted to help him make Pasta Fresca for lunch or go to church instead. Guess what we always chose? Good job, you nailed it.
Our job was to place bamboo sticks around the house for drying the pasta. We always took too long to choose the funniest spots, and my Mamma would always call and ask why the heck we were so late. Everything was ready - the table, the sauce, the boiling water, and the rest of the family - except us. So we would run down the hill (Nonno had the best view of the valley on top of a hill) to begin the traditional Sunday family lunch.
Sometimes sauce was Sugo Finto, depending on Nonna's mood, or a delicious fresh pesto, or simply butter and sage. Back then, my brothers and I would wolf down the food so we could go outside and play. Now, we strap ourselves to the chair and enjoy each moment together. We never even used to last until Caffè! Kids are kids everywhere.
La Pasta Fresca. Le Tagliatelle.
This is the recipe for any kind of fresh pasta, from Tagliatelle to Lasagne, Tagliolini and Maltagliati.
Making it is a fast and easy process, with simple ingredients.
Flour tips: my Nonno always mixed 50% flour ‘00’ (very fine milled Italian style flour, high in protein, often found as Manitoba flour), and 50% semolina flour. ‘00’ flour gives a perfect silky texture, while semolina gives a heartiness and a rougher texture that helps the sauce to cling better to the pasta. With that being said, I know for a fact that ‘00’ flour is not easy to find in the U.S. and so is the kind of semolina we use in Italy, so I’ve adapted the recipe to what is available in the U.S.. At home, the rule is 100g of flour mix for 1 egg. In the U.S., I’ve found the best ratio to be 1/2 cup of flour mix with 1 medium egg and 1 tbsp water (if Semolina is not available, use 100% all purpose flour).
Workplace: preferably a big wood cutting board. Counter top or table work as well, wood is ideal for texture.
Eggs: ideally at room temperature
A note about kneading: To knead properly, simply press the heel of your palm into the ball of dough, pushing forward and down against the wood. Rotate the ball by 45° and do it again. The dough starts to get ready when it’s no longer powdery and neither are your hands: at the end of the process, both your hands and the cutting board have to be perfectly clean.
Servings: 6
Ingredients:
2 cups of All Purpose flour
1 cup Semolina
6 medium eggs
4 tbsp water
Semolina for the rolling process
Directions:
Place the flour (all purpose and semolina, mixed) onto your surface in a pile, then, with your fingers, make a hole in the center. This is called the ‘Vulcano’, the volcano shape or well, in order to accommodate the eggs
Add your eggs in the center (whites and yolks, no separation for Pasta Fresca). Add the water
Stir the eggs with 2 fingers till they blend and start to collect some flour
Impastare (kneading). Start folding the eggs and flour mixture together a little at a time. When it all comes together start kneading firm and persistently for at least 10 minutes. Less than 10 minutes will not give you the right elasticity that you want to have in the next step, the rolling part
After 10 minutes, create a ball, wrap it in plastic foil and let it rest, room temperature, for 30 minutes
For rolling you have 2 options: The real wood roller or the pasta machine. A pasta machine allows you to have perfectly cut and rolled pasta, is faster and more technological. The original method just requires a roller (the longer, the better) and a good knife.
Roller technique:
Divide the dough in 4 parts, and start rolling one at the time. Before rolling, sprinkle lots of Semolina on the surface you are using for rolling. Nonno rolled the whole dough in one piece, if you feel inspired, do so! Be sure your board is big and the roller is long
Start rolling, in every direction, remember to move and flip the pasta sheet every 4-5 rolls, flip it over, sprinkle Semolina at every flipping. Keep rolling until you get a uniform 1 mm thick sheet (ideally little less than that, but it gets trickier)
Cut almost geometrical rectangular shapes, the length of how long you want to have the pasta (about 10 inches) and about 6-7 inches wide
Sprinkle semolina on top of the cut sheet, then gently and loosely roll it the dough.
Cut the ‘roll’ into thin slices (1/2 inch) with a sharp knife, slicing through the folded ‘rolled’ dough
Immediately unravel the slices; if you wait, the roll will stick together
Place the cut pasta on a parchment paper sheet, and dust it with semolina flour
My Nonno used to dry the pasta on bamboo sticks, but that is not necessary: the best option is to arrange the Tagliatelle in little nests on the parchment paper.
Boiling instruction - VERY important:
In a big pasta pot, bring to boil at least one gallon of water. After it has started boiling, add 1/3 cup Sea Salt, ideally grains. Remember, sea salt (coarse grain sea salt!). Always sea salt for pasta.
Boil the pasta for no longer than 6 minutes!!! 6 minutes is the ideal time for 1 mm thick rolled Tagliatelle
Il Sugo Finto
Servings: 6
Ingredients:
1 large carrot
1 large yellow onion
1 stick celery
2 cloves garlic
1/2 tbsp rosemary leaves
4 sage leaves
1/2 cup EVOO
1/2 cup red wine
500 grams ripe Heirloom Tomatoes OR large can (14 oz) peeled tomatoes
Il Battuto - the foundation:
Finely chop the onion, the carrot, the celery, the garlic and the herbs all together. There are no shortcuts here: forget any sort of blender, use a big sharp knife (or a mezzaluna, even better), and yes, you might cry. Battuto dimensions: about 1 mm little cubes.
In a large saucepan, pour the Battuto and the olive oil 1/2 cup) and sautee for about 10 minutes: veggies have to tender, but onions don’t have to turn brown
Add the wine and let it evaporate, about 6-7 minutes
Add the tomatoes and simmer for at least one hour if using canned peeled tomatoes, 1 and a half if fresh tomatoes
Serving Pasta Fresca with Sugo Finto:
Serve about 1/2 cup of sauce for each serving.
Pour the pasta in the warmed up saucepan, stir for about 2 minutes and serve
Optional: sprinkle pasta with some Parmigiano Reggiano, but remember that the sauce is rich and hearty already
Buon appetito!
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