Category: Pasta e riso – pasta and rice

Crostata di riso di Jeanne Caròla Francesconi (Jeanne Caròla Francesconi’s baked tomato rice with mozzarella – a Neapolitan speciality)

~ stefano arturi ~ 17 Comments

Jeanne Caròla Francesconi (1903-1995) is the doyenne of Neapolitan cookery and the author of the seminal La Cucina Napoletana(1965). Here, an informative article about signora Francesconi. 
From that book, I cooked this excellent rice dish. Plain boiled rice is dressed with a basil tomato sauce, butter and parmesan, then poured in a cake tin, with a mozzarella and extra tomato sauce layer in the middle and baked. The contrast between the deliciously crisp outside and the cheesy soft inside is just wonderful.
Straightforward cooking, delicious eating.

Continue reading “Crostata di riso di Jeanne Caròla Francesconi (Jeanne Caròla Francesconi’s baked tomato rice with mozzarella – a Neapolitan speciality)” →

Sugo di pomodoro con alloro e cannella (tomato sauce with bay leaves and cinnamon)

~ stefano arturi ~ 17 Comments

A few days ago, I helped a friend to clear his garden after the previous day’s severe pollarding that followed a storm which had toppled one of the trees. At first, I did not pay much attention to those thick branches that carpeted the grounds; then I picked up one of them, scrunched a couple of leaves and my nostrils were hit by the unmistakable, wonderful perfume of bay: lemony and with hints of nutmeg and pine.

Continue reading “Sugo di pomodoro con alloro e cannella (tomato sauce with bay leaves and cinnamon)” →

Hazelnut ragù (ragù di nocciole)

~ stefano arturi ~ 9 Comments
ragu' di nocciole

An unusual recipe where toasted hazelnuts replace minced meat. I discovered this idea online, but there is not much information about it – I suspect this is a relatively modern recipe.
The chopped hazelnuts lose their crunchiness, and, with the support of tomatoes, dried ceps, spices and red wine, become a deeply flavoured sauce, as satisfying as a conventional meat ragu’. 
This really is a sumptuous condiment for pasta and polenta, which happens to be vegan.  

Continue reading “Hazelnut ragù (ragù di nocciole)” →

Pasta china – baked pasta with mini meatballs and lots of other lovely things, from Calabria

~ stefano arturi ~ 19 Comments

“Pasta china” is the name of a sumptuous, festive, baked pasta dish from Calabria, the heel of Italy, in the deep south. In the local dialect, “china” stands for the Italian adjective “piena”, full, and that’s exactly what this dish is about: a riotous affair of short tubular pasta dressed with a spicy tomato sauce, layered with marble-size meatballs, gooey cheese, crumbled boiled eggs, spicy Calabrese sausage, grated parmigiano and pecorino. Definitely, one of those Southern Italian dishes where restraint is out of the question.

Continue reading “Pasta china – baked pasta with mini meatballs and lots of other lovely things, from Calabria” →

Ragù alla bolognese in pentola a pressione (pressure cooker Ragù Bolognese, even better than the conventional one)

~ stefano arturi ~ 14 Comments

Ragù

UPDATE September 2022: please check the end of this post

In her last book, even the arch-traditionalist Marcella Hazan said that making  egg pasta dough in the  food processor is fine. She was  finally acknowledging what home cooks and restaurant chefs had probably been doing for a long time, but it was also testament to her intelligence: food and cooking must evolve to stay alive. It would be foolish to ignore that cooking is an ever changing reality that resists being imprisoned in dogmas: we do not eat, cook or think about food one year for the other.

As much as I love traditions and traditional food, I am also very open to “new ways” in the kitchen, as long as they make my life easier and/or my food better. The pressure cooker is a good example. Continue reading “Ragù alla bolognese in pentola a pressione (pressure cooker Ragù Bolognese, even better than the conventional one)” →