SEASON’S EATINGS

By Francesca Arniotes

Italian Food. We are evolving in our understanding of what Italian food is and is not. More restaurants in the Denver area are embracing true Italian cuisines instead of the Italian- American dishes of the 20th century. The cooking of Italian immigrants in America is a story of newfound abundance by hungry people, almost needing to eat to make up for lost time: 

 “so much food! so little time!”. Combined with the fast pace of life found in this new world, what resulted were new combinations like spaghetti and meatballs, something that doesn’t exist anywhere  in Italy. 

True Italian cuisines are regional and the typical dishes of one region may well be completely unknown in the rest of the country. Chefs in big cities like Rome or Florence are, of course, under the same pressure to innovate and make a name for themselves as restaurants anywhere. So sometimes they will appropriate  a new dish from another region. This year in Chianti, we noticed that Cacio e Pepe, one of Rome’s most iconic pastas, had been “discovered” and had made its way onto menus and everyone was all abuzz about it. The dangers of offering another region’s dishes stem from the reason they’re regional in the first place: the food culture of Italy has not embraced the advantages of trucking produce all over the continent. It remains local and seasonal. It remains rooted in tradition. The fact that a restaurant in Tuscany is making a typical dish from Rome, without understanding its origin story and without access to the local produce, means that they have as much chance of getting it right as a restaurant in Nebraska. 

Nevertheless, the excitement of a new dish or a new cuisine is tasty fun for those of us in the kitchen and at the table. There are, however, cities and regions who are so serious about the integrity of their local recipes and ingredients that they have codified and registered a “disciplinario” with the government. Two examples are the pizza of Naples and the tortellini of Bologna. Every detail about ingredients and process are strictly controlled in order to ensure that someone who offers these dishes as authentic is following the rules and what people will experience is correct. It’s worth noting here that Italians have certain priorities. Stop signs, speed limits, forming an orderly line — all merely concepts and nobody will bother anyone else about not complying. But if someone puts onions in an Amatriciana sauce, a fist fight is likely. If a winery adds sugar to the wine, those folks are going to prison. I’m just saying. Different priorities.

The region of Emiglia-Romagna, which contains the city of Bologna, is the source of ravioli, tortellini and a wide variety of other filled pasta. Each one has its shape and size, a “correct” filling and an accompanying sauce. Here is a great winter or holiday course to enjoy while pumpkins and butternut squash are in the market. Try to find ricotta cheese without added gums or colorings: just milk, cream, salt, vinegar.

PUMPKIN RAVIOLI WITH CREAM-TOMATO SAUCE

RAVIOLI

pie pumpkin or butternut squash

fresh pasta dough (400 g 00 flour & 4 eggs)

 8 oz whole milk ricotta

1 egg yolk

nutmeg

salt & pepper

SAUCE

4 T good butter

1 clove garlic, smashed and peeled

4-5 sage leaves, shredded

3 cups Mutti tomato passata

salt to taste

2 oz heavy cream

DOP Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese, freshly grated

Halve pumpkin, remove the seeds. Wrap each half in foil and put into a 375 degree oven for an hour or more, until the flesh is soft.  Use a spoon to scrape the flesh from the skin, put it into a mesh strainer over a bowl and allow to drain overnight.

Put the ricotta into another mesh strainer and allow to drain overnight.

Make the dough and while it is resting, puree the pumpkin in a food processor and combine it with the ricotta, salt and pepper, egg yolk, and a pinch of nutmeg. Roll out the dough one number at a time to the next to the thinnest setting. (Work with one piece at a time, keeping the rest covered so it doesn’t dry out).  Cut your rolled out sheet in half, one for the bottom and one for the top. Work quickly.  Lightly flour the table and lay the bottom sheet down. Place a teaspoonful or so of the filling every 2 inches and cover it with the other half sheet of dough. Press with the sides of your hands between each ravioli and then on each side, squeezing out air the best you can while you seal the dough together. Cut the ravioli in squares with a fluted pastry wheel or use a biscuit cutter.

Lay the ravioli on a clean, floured kitchen towel as you make them. They can rest a short while on the towel, but eventually the moisture will make the bottoms soggy. Cook them soon after making, or flip them over after a half-hour or so, or freeze.

(You can freeze them on a cookie sheet, not touching. When frozen, transfer to a ziplock bag, Cook from frozen.)

Bring water to boil.

Melt 3T butter in a skillet large enough to hold the cooked ravioli. Add the garlic and sage leaves. and infuse the butter over low heat. Before the garlic gets brown, remove it. Add the tomato puree and some salt and cook on low for about 5 minutes. Whisk in the remaining 1 T butter and the cream, stirring for a minute or two and set aside until ravioli are ready to add to the sauce. You can also make the sauce a few hours ahead of time. Add water as needed if sauce gets too thick.

Add salt to the boiling water. Drop in the ravioli and cook, boiling gently for 3-5 minutes. Remove with a slotted spoon to the skillet with the sauce and gently dress them.

Serve sprinkled generously with grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese.