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Being born in the Emilia-Romagna region, homemade pasta means egg pasta and when the Rieti-Viterbo Chamber of Commerce and theSpecial Agency of Central Italy involved me for Facebook Live to cook typical local dishes, I expected to prepare the ‘usual pasta’ and instead Sagne are something entirely different.

In fact, this homemade dough is prepared like a bread or pizza dough, but without using yeast. All you need is flour and water and a few tricks to prepare these delicious, plump pappardelle pasta that ‘doesn’t overcook’ because the first pasta thrown into the water ‘waits for the last one to be ready’, as the local experts connected from the Le tre porte restaurant in Rieti tell us.

The name ‘a la molenara’ indicates the way they were eaten by the ‘miller’, i.e. the person who prepared the flour and then cooked this type of pasta. Even today, the municipality of Cittaducale in August hosts a festival dedicated to this delicious dish.

The sauce is as in true Italian tradition, i.e. very simple, but prepared with extraordinary ingredients: a fragrant, flaming red tomato, the Pomodoro Ovalone Reatino P.A.T. (i.e. traditional Italian agri-food product) of the Tenuta San Giovanni Farm of Gianfranco Gianni and Petrucci Sabino PDO extra virgin olive oil.

Garlic and chilli peppers are the lively touch to a dish that is quick to prepare and suitable for all seasons: try it!

Homemade pasta Sagne a la molenara

carbohydrates 33.4g per 100g

Ingredients for the dough for 4-5 servings

  • 400g flour mix for bread, brand Nutrifree**
  • water
  • a pinch of salt
  • rice flour* for dusting

Ingredients for sauce

  • 500g Ovalone tomato sauce
  • 1 clove garlic
  • marjoram
  • Sabina PDO extra virgin olive oil
  • chilli pepper
  • grated Pecorino cheese for serving (not present in the original recipe)

**Ingredients specific for celiacs

*Ingredients whose labels must read “gluten-free” (or, in Italy, present on  Prontuario AIC)

Preparation

  1. Put the flour in a planetary mixer, add a pinch of salt and start mixing with the flat beater, adding lukewarm water until the dough is soft and similar to a pizza or bread dough.
  2. Place the mixture on a pastry board floured with rice flour, form it into a loaf and leave it to rest covered with a tea towel. From time to time, knead the dough again.
  3. Meanwhile, prepare the sauce. Brown a clove of garlic in extra virgin olive oil, then pour in the Ovalone tomato sauce. Let the sauce cook for about 20 minutes, adding a drop of water if necessary and season with marjoram, salt and chilli pepper to taste.
  4. Roll out the loaf to form a rectangle about 3-4mm thick. Cut 1-2cm wide strips by stretching them with your hands while laying them on the pastry board.

impasto delle sagne

  1. Put a large pot of water on the stove, bring it to the boil, salt it, and then throw in the Sagne: this dough does not overcook, so you don’t have to worry too much about the cooking time! Drain them anyway when you like the texture and throw them into a large non-stick frying pan with the tomato sauce to flavour them well.
  2. Serve them possibly with grated Pecorino cheese, which, however, was not in the original recipe.

sagne a la molenara

Version with gluten of homemade pasta Sagne alla molinara

Replace the Molino Dallagiovanna fresh pasta flour mix with an equal amount of wheat flour, adjusting the amount of water needed for kneading.

This morning the garden had prepared a wonderful surprise: bright green spinach and plump peapods. Thinking of the best way to enjoy these gifts of spring, and wanting to cook our beloved pasta, here is the idea: Risoni pasta with garden vegetables, prepared with Massimo Zero pasta sautéed a few minutes in the vegetable sauce and perfectly al dente. A treat!

One of the convictions that has always guided me in the kitchen is that it is up to us as parents to get kids used to eating vegetables, but we certainly have to work hard to find a variety of ways to make them irresistible. Well this simple pasta is one of the many ways my children can’t say no to!

Risoni pasta with garden vegetables

35g carbohydrates per 100g

Ingredients for 4 servings

  • 400g Risoni Massimo Zero**
  • 100g fresh spinach
  • 70g fresh peas
  • 70g brie
  • 30g shallot
  • 1 clove garlic
  • extra virgin olive oil and salt as needed

**Ingredients specific for celiacs

Preparation of Risoni pasta with garden vegetables

  1. Put the sliced shallot in a frying pan with a little extra virgin olive oil and the garlic clove, fry for a few minutes. Add fresh peas and spinach that has been thoroughly washed and chopped, add salt to taste and cook over a medium heat for about 15 minutes so that the spinach loses its water. Add the Brie without its white rind only when the vegetables are cooked; then let it melt.
  2. In the meantime, bring a pot with water and salt to the boil, cook the Risoni in it, leaving them slightly al dente. Drain, keeping a few ladles of the cooking water, and pour the Risoni into the pan with the vegetable and Brie sauce; season for a few minutes, adding the necessary cooking water to keep them creamy.
  3. Now serve and enjoy!
Risoni con verdure dell'orto

Risoni pasta with garden vegetables

Version with gluten of Risoni pasta with garden vegetables

Only substitute gluten free Risoni pasta with a standard one, no other adaptation is needed.

How can you give up a good plate of Tagliolini? Then, you cannot but try Tagliolini with rocket and almond pesto.

In our opinion, it is practically impossible! Whether simply with tomatoes or with other more complex ingredients for seasoning, pasta is the first course par excellence and one of the symbols of our Mediterranean identity.

Our Tagliolini with rocket and almond pesto is, needless to say, a gluten free recipe that can be considered a complete dish: it contains vegetables, carbohydrates and the health-promoting oils of dried fruit. Any other ideas for pasta? Definitely Amatriciana!!!

Tagliolini with rocket and almond pesto

carbohydrates 40.98g per 100g without the sautéed vegetables

Ingredients for 4 servings

  • 400 g corn gluten-free Tagliolini Verrigni**
  • 70g rocket
  • 35g almonds, peeled
  • diced mixed vegetables to taste
  • extra virgin olive oil, salt and pepper as needed

**Ingredients specific for celiacs

*Ingredients whose labels must read “gluten-free” (or, in Italy, present on  Prontuario AIC)

Preparation

  1. Prepare the rocket pesto. Put water on the stove and bring it to the boil, add a pinch of coarse salt and blanch the rocket for 1 minute. Drain the rocket and throw it into a bowl with cold water, or water and ice.
  2. In a blender, blend the almonds to a flour.
  3. Remove the rocket from the water and place it in a tall glass to be used with an immersion blender. Add about 30g of extra virgin olive oil and blend well, if necessary add 1-2 tablespoons of water; finally add chopped almonds and season with salt and pepper.
  4. Chop up some vegetables (we made a brunoise with leek, courgette, carrot, red pepper, yellow pepper and green beans) and sauté them for a few minutes in a non-stick pan with a little oil, a pinch of salt and pepper.
  5. Cook the Tagliolini in plenty of salted water, drain them al dente, keeping some of the cooking water. Season with rocket pesto and serve with the sautéed vegetables.
  6. This recipe does not use cheese so it is suitable for lactose and dairy protein intolerant people as well as vegetarians and vegans.

tagliolini-verrigni-senza-glutine-pesto-rucolo-mandorle-uno-chef-per-gaia

Tagliolini with rocket and almond pesto

Version with gluten of Tagliolini with rocket and almond pesto

Replace gluten free Tagliolini with standard ones.

For us, cold weather means hearty, complete and richly flavoured dishes, recipes capable of warming up the moments at the table while letting us savour the days with family and friends: this is what our Paccheri filled with artichoke cream feature.

Time constraints every day certainly don’t help, but this time we have come up with a proposal that can be made and stored in the freezer ready-made… all you have to do is warm it up when needed.

Ready to cook Paccheri filled with artichoke cream? And if you love artichokes, try also Gnocchetti with lentil flour.

Paccheri filled with artichoke cream

14.02g carbohydrates per 100g

Ingredients for the filling

  • 400g mixed ricotta
  • 200g cream of artichoke*
  • 150g gluten free Paccheri**
  • 30g Parmigiano Reggiano cheese, grated
  • salt and pepper

Ingredients for the béchamel sauce

  • 250g milk
  • 20g wholemeal rice flour*
  • 10g Parmigiano Reggiano cheese, grated
  • 10g butter
  • salt and pepper

**Ingredients specific for celiacs

*Ingredients whose labels must read “gluten-free” (or, in Italy, present on  Prontuario AIC)

Preparation

  1. Prepare the filling by mixing ricotta cheese, artichoke cream (you can choose your favourite, we used Prontofresco Greci artichoke cream ) and the Parmesan cheese; season with salt and pepper and set aside.
  2. Meanwhile, cook Paccheri in boiling salted water and drain them when slightly al dente. Put them in cold water to stop the cooking process. Let them barely dry, fill them with the ricotta cream and place them horizontally in an oven dish.
  3. Prepare a béchamel sauce by melting the butter in a pan, add the flour and stir well with a whisk so that no lumps form. Next, heat the milk on the stove and, when it is close to boiling, remove it from the heat and pour it into the pan with the butter and flour while continuing to stir with a whisk.
  4. Put the pan back on the heat, season with salt and pepper and, when it comes to the boil, remove from the heat and let it cool down.
  5. Cover Paccheri with the béchamel sauce and put in a convection oven preheated to 200°C for about 15 minutes.

paccheri-ripieni-ai-carciofi-senza-glutine-ph-chiara-marando

Filled Paccheri ready to be enjoyed

Version with gluten of Paccheri filled with artichoke cream

Replace gluten-free Paccheri with standard Paccheri, all other ingredients remain unchanged.