Strozzapreti

Strozzapreti are simple pasta noodles that are easy and very quick to make.  The word, in Italian, means “"priest strangler.”  Don’t know why, but several reasons come to mind why someone might want to strangle a priest.  :)

It took three tries to get this simple noodle right.  The first time I used two eggs and a cup of flour.  The resulting noodles were tough.  Too tough.  I watched a couple of videos on You Tube and decided to experiment be substituting one egg with water, adding salt and a bit of olive oil.  The dough was dry.  I made one noodle and boiled it as a test.  Tough.

Third try:  I cranked up the liquids and the pasta turned out very nicely.  The recipe follows.  Search this blog for the “Roasted Tomato Sauce” recipe to serve with the noodles. 

1 large egg
1 cup all purpose unbleached flour
1 T extra virgin olive oil
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 T tepid water

Start heating a deep pot of water.  Place plates into a warming drawer.

On a suitable work surface (I use the kitchen counter), place the flour in a pile and sprinkle with the salt.  Using the back of a tablespoon measure, form a deep well in the center. Pour the water, olive oil and one egg into the well.  Using an ordinary fork, break the yolk and slowly mix the egg/water/oil with the flour.  Work carefully so the liquid stays within the confines of the flour.  Eventually, as all the flour is incorporated, the dough will attain a dry consistency.  Flour your hand and begin to knead the dough into a round shape.  Knead until the dough is smooth.  Flour the surface and the dough and begin rolling it with a rolling pin.  Turn over frequently and sprinkle with flour to keep it from sticking to the work surface and rolling pin.  Roll it out until it is very thin; perhaps 1/8" thick.

Using a knife or pastry cutter, cut the dough into 1" wide strips.  Wet your left palm with a bit of water, pick up a strip and roll it between the palms of both hands. The strip should stick to itself.  Pull it apart and drop it on the counter.  Continue until all the noodles are formed.  Sprinkle with flour to keep them from sticking.

Once the water is boiling furiously, drop all the noodles into the water.  Be careful that they do not stick together.  They will fall to the bottom of the pot of water and soon rise.  They are finished cooking as soon as they rise.  Remove them to warm plates and serve with Roasted Tomato Sauce and red wine.

The egg, with the water and olive oil, in a well made in a cup of flour.

A video in which I demonstrate the technique for rolling the dough into the correct Stazzopreti shape.

Roasted Tomato Sauce

Carolyn and I attempted to make Strozzapreti (a type of pasta noodle) this evening, but failed.  Strozzapreti is a noodle that is made by placing the dough around a bamboo skewer.  I simply could not do it. In the spirit of making lemonade out of lemons, we decided to make tallerines, which are simply flat, wide noodles.  But the noodles turned out too tough.  Not inedible, but a bit more chewy that we wanted.  But there is a silver lining.  The tomato sauce recipe is a keeper!  It’s easy to make and it has a wonderful flavor.  It would go well with fusilli, although we will try making the Strozzapreti another time.

Update:  We made Strozzapreti (see the separate recipe post) the following evening.  Actually, we made it twice.  On the final try I increased the water and oil, and achieved good results. 

12 ounces (about 22) cherry tomatoes or 6 medium tomatoes, halved
3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
5 garlic cloves, minced
2/3 cup finely grated pecorino cheese
1/4 cup, firmly packed, fresh basil leaves
salt & black pepper
hot pepper flakes, optional

Preheat oven to 300 degrees. In a mixing bowl, combine tomatoes, 1 tablespoon oil and 4 minced garlic cloves. Toss well, then arrange tomatoes on a baking sheet, cut sides up.  Salt and pepper lightly. Roast until soft and collapsing, about 45 minutes; do not allow to dry or brown.

Combine remaining minced garlic, cheese, and basil in a food processor.  Process until very finely chopped.

When tomatoes are roasted, remove them from the oven, place on serving dishes and immediately sprinkle cheese-herb mixture on top and lightly mash with a spoon so cheese melts. Serve over pasta. Drizzle each serving with a tablespoon of olive oil.  

2 servings.

Before

After . . . right out of the oven.

Albondigas

Carolyn and I first enjoyed albondigas (Mexican meatballs) at a restaurant on Lincoln Avenue.  We went back again and were stunned to find that they removed them from the menu.  Big mistake.  Soon they went out of business.  This recipe is the result of gathering information from a half dozen different recipes, with the hope of recreating the albondigas we enjoyed on Lincoln Avenue.  I first prepared this recipe for a Cinco de Mayo office lunch in 2006. This batch made 39 meatballs and required three baking dishes; enough for 19 servings!  It's a lot of work, but the albondigas freeze nicely and are great to have on hand.  Of course, you can always make 1/3 or 1/2 of the recipe.

Meatballs:

3 lbs. ground beef
3 lbs. ground pork
3-4 medium onion, finely diced
3 medium zucchini, peeled and finely diced
3 tablespoon dried oregano
5 tablespoons minced garlic
3 cups plain, dried bread crumbs (I use a coarse variety)
1-1/2 cups coarsely chopped fresh mint leaves
6 large eggs
2 teaspoon ground cumin
3 teaspoons salt
2 teaspoon ground black pepper

Sauce:

1 can (28 oz) crushed tomatoes
2 to 8 canned chipotle chiles in adobo (7 oz can), stemmed and seeded (I used 10 the first time: too hot!  I used 5 the second time plus 1 T. of the adobo sauce; too mild.)  note: Add the adobo sauce.
2 tablespoon minced garlic
2 tablespoon oregano
2 tsp ground cumin
1 can (28 oz.) tomato sauce
3 cups white rice (prepared makes about 6 cups)
1-1/4 cup chicken broth

Preheat oven to 450 deg. F. and begin preparation of rice.

In large bowl, mix the first eight ingredients until well blended.   In a separate bowl, beat the eggs with the cumin, salt and black pepper.  Add to the meat and mix well. 

With wet hands, shape meat into 2-1/2 inch balls and place into a 9” x 13” baking dish, spaced apart.  Bake until lightly browned; about 20-25 minutes.

Meanwhile, remove seeds from the chipotle peppers and add to a blender or processor.  Add the crushed tomatoes, garlic, oregano and cumin.  Puree until smooth.  In a separate bowl, combine the puree, tomato sauce and rice.  Stir well.

When the meatballs are ready, spoon on the tomato-rice mixture, spreading it to fill the spaces between the meatballs.  Bake another 10 minutes.  Remove from oven and place meatballs, without the tomato-rice mixture, on warmed plates.  Add one cup of chicken broth to a baking dish and mix well.  Serve with the meatballs.

Dice the zucchini fine

Work in process . . . ready to combine with the sauce.

Forgot to defrost the butter? @&%$!

Okay, so you are a dupa (boludo, in Spanish, in Argentina), like I was, and forgot to remove the butter from the refrigerator (or freezer) to bring it to room temperature.  If you going to mix the butter for cake, there is a simple solution that will immediately bring your butter to room temperature:  Simply grate it.  Instant gratification!

Note: if you don’t have a grater, I imagine that a vegetable peeler would work too.