Our cookbook of the week is Old World Italian: Recipes and Secrets from our Travels in Italy by Mimi Thorisson. Over the next two days, we’ll feature another recipe from the book and an interview with the author.
To try another recipe from the book, check out: Tortino della Valle Grana (poached pears with radicchio and Castelmagno cheese).
Mimi Thorisson immersed herself in pasta making soon after she and her family moved to Turin. Mixing, kneading, rolling and shaping alongside her “pasta coach” Claudia — a fourth-generation pastaia (pasta maker) — she felt a new sense of belonging in the northern Italian city.
“She showed me so many important things, and she is also very much a historian herself,” says Thorisson. “So it was about learning the history of pasta.”
In Old World Italian , she shares many pasta recipes, including basic egg pasta, pumpkin ravioli with brown butter, chestnut and sage, anolini with ricotta and hazelnuts, and this Sardinian ragù with saffron tagliatelle.
Made with fennel sausage and tomatoes, the cinnamon sets it apart from the Bolognese and Neapolitan ragùs in her repertoire.
“Sardinian ragù is something that I love doing for family birthdays. It’s very beautiful and it’s a delicious ragù,” says Thorisson. “Since it’s getting colder now, the Sardinian ragù is heartwarming and very satisfying for the cooler weather to come.”
When making saffron tagliatelle, Thorisson likes to use a pasta cutter that produces wavy edges on both sides (similar to mafaldine). Success with pasta making is also about the tools, she adds, advising people source interesting and well-made tools on the internet.
“When you have beautiful pasta tools, you can really cut the beautiful shapes. It makes everything so special. So ceremonial,” says Thorisson. “At the end of the day, I think Italian food is all about the family. And also, even though there’s a simplicity side, there’s also a ceremonial side. No matter what food, it’s so ceremonial, especially when you make it from scratch like the pasta.”
SARDINIAN RAGÙ WITH SAFFRON TAGLIATELLE
2 tbsp (30 g) unsalted butter
2 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
4 shallots, finely chopped
1 garlic clove, minced
1 cinnamon stick
1 lb (450 g) fennel sausage, casings removed
8 oz (230 g) canned cherry tomatoes, drained
1 tsp saffron threads, soaked in 1 tbsp warm water
Fine sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
Saffron tagliatelle (recipe follows), or 1 lb (450 g) fresh pasta of your choice
Step 1
In a large saucepan, heat the butter and olive oil over medium heat. Add the shallots and cook, stirring, until translucent, about 4 minutes. Add the garlic, cinnamon, and sausage meat and cook, breaking up the sausage with a wooden spoon, until the meat is browned, about 10 minutes. Add the cherry tomatoes and gently mash them up to make a sauce. Stir in the saffron threads and water, and season with salt and pepper. When the mixture comes to a simmer, reduce the heat to low. Cook, uncovered and stirring occasionally, until thickened, about 30 minutes. Set the ragù aside.
Step 2
Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil over medium-high heat. Shake off any excess flour from the tagliatelle and add to the boiling water. Cook until al dente, 2 to 3 minutes. Reserving a ladle of the pasta water, drain the pasta.
Step 3
Heat the pan with the ragù over medium-high heat. Add the reserved ladle of pasta water and the tagliatelle and gently stir.
Step 4
To serve, twirl one serving of pasta inside of a soup ladle to get the perfect swirl, then gently place it onto a plate. Repeat with the remaining pasta.
Serves: 4 to 6
SAFFRON TAGLIATELLE
3 1/3 cups (400 g) tipo “00” flour
4 large eggs
2 tsp saffron threads, soaked in 1 tbsp warm water
1/2 tsp ground saffron powder (see note)
Rice flour, for dusting (see note)
Step 1
Mound the “00” flour on a work surface. Make a well in the centre of the flour and add the eggs. Using a fork, beat the eggs gently together. Slowly incorporate the flour, starting with the inner sides of the well.
Step 2
When the dough begins to come together, add the saffron water and powder and start kneading using the palms of your hands with a back and forth motion. Use a dough scraper to scrape off any stray bits around the pasta dough to tidy your work surface, as dried-out dough will interfere with your pasta making. The dough is ready when it is elastic and the surface gently “comes back to you” when pressed, 15 to 30 minutes.
Step 3
Place the dough in a large bowl and cover with a lid, a cotton cloth, or a plate. Set aside in the coolest part of your kitchen for 1 hour. (You can also prepare the dough the day before, wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate. Before rolling, bring it back to room temperature.)
Step 4
When ready to roll out the dough, dust a work surface and rolling pin lightly with rice flour. Cut off a piece of dough (the equivalent of a handful), press with the palm of your hand onto the work surface and roll out with the rolling pin, about 1/2 inch / 1.25 cm thick. Set a pasta machine to its thickest setting and roll the pasta dough through it. Switch the pasta machine to the next thinnest setting and roll the pasta dough through again. Continue switching the settings lower and lower, until you get a thin and perfectly smooth sheet of pasta. Repeat with the remaining dough.
Step 5
Dust a baking sheet with rice flour. Place one of the pasta sheets on the work surface. Cut the sheet to your preferred length (16 to 20 inches/40 to 50 cm is about right), then dust lightly with flour and pass through the pasta machine using the tagliatelle attachment. Place loosely gathered bundles of tagliatelle on the prepared baking sheet. Repeat the process for the remaining pasta dough. At this stage, the pasta can be covered with plastic wrap and stored in the fridge for up to 24 hours. You can also freeze individual portions for up to 3 months, making sure they are well wrapped.
Serves: 4 to 6
Notes: We call for both saffron threads and powder because the powder helps provide that extra pop of vibrant yellow colour to the dough. If you can’t find powder, use a few extra threads.
Why rice flour? It’s a light, gluten-free flour that’s silky smooth; it won’t thicken the water when you cook the pasta and will prevent sticking.
Excerpted from Old World Italian: Recipes and Secrets from our Travels in Italy by Mimi Thorisson. Copyright © 2020 Marie-France Thorisson. Photography Copyright © 2020 Oddur Thorisson. Published by Appetite by Random House ®, a division of Penguin Random House Canada Limited. Reproduced by arrangement with the Publisher. All rights reserved.
Copyright Postmedia Network Inc., 2020
