Category: Pasta

Homemade Pappardelle with Pork Tenderloin Ragù

Homemade Pappardelle with pork tenderloin Ragù

It isn’t Sunday unless we make sauce.  Some of my cousins call it Sunday gravy, but whatever you want to call it, I’m all for the smell of slowly cooking meat blended with they think tomatoes and a touch of herbs.  Homemade Pappardelle with Pork Tenderloin Ragù will grace your table with a hearty meal.

Italians always start a good Ragù with a sofritto; it consists of onions, carrots and celery.

soffritto ingredients

 The comfort of pork

I reminisced about the way my grandparents raised the family pig and it provided meat for the whole year. However, the pig’s cousin the boar is adored by many in Italy; you can find one that brings good luck: “Il Porcellino” at the famous bronze fountain at the Mercato del Porcellino, in Florence Today. In Italy the favourite pork comes from wild boar also known as Cinghiale, and Pappardelle Cinghiale is Tuscany’s national dish. What is the difference between a pig and a boar?  The pig lives in a barnyard and a boar lives out in the wild. Boar meat is tastier and sweeter. 

For more information visit https://www.visittuscany.com/en/ideas/wild-boar-in-tuscany/

The Pappardelle

Mom says not to be afraid of pasta making; she makes it look very easy.  After all, pasta is simply flour and eggs.  Some add oil, salt or water, but mom says make it simple.  She prepares it on  the counter with the eggs in the middle and does it by hand.  I use my kitchen blender and it is good.  Today I will serve the Ragù with pappardelle, which are a very broad flat noodle pasta. The pasta machine will help me stretch the pasta; however, mom does it all by hand. I use semolina for dusting.

The Pasta is smooth and silk like in texture.

Homemade pappardelle

The Sauce

The sauce is simple, hearty and tasty.  I use pork tenderloin because it is tender and lean and it helps me control the fat in my cooking.  To build on flavour, I use good olive oil.  It cooks slowly to thicken and caramelize ; there is no other taste like this.

The sauce is thick and delicious.

Pappardelle with Pork Tenderloin Ragu
5 from 1 vote
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Pappardelle with Pork Tenderloin Ragu

A hearty dish that warms the heart. 

Course Main Course
Cuisine Italian
Prep Time 1 hour
Cook Time 1 hour 30 minutes
Total Time 2 hours 30 minutes
Servings 4
Author Renata Solski

Ingredients

The Pasta Dough

  • 2 cups all-purpose flour
  • 3 eggs
  • 1-2 tbsp water if needed
  • semolina flour for dusting as much as needed

The Soffritto

  • 1 large celery stalk diced
  • 2 small carrots diced
  • 1 large onion diced

The Pork Tenderloin Ragu

  • medium size pork tenderloin
  • 1 tsp each dried oregano, fennel and salt
  • 2 cloves of garlic
  • 1 tsp salt
  • freshly ground pepper
  • 1/2 cup white wine
  • 3 cups canned whole tomatoes smash with the back of a fork
  • 1 cup tomato puree
  • chopped parsley to sprinkle on the finished dish
  • olive oil as much as needed

Instructions

The Pasta Dough

  1. Mix together all the ingredients for the dough.  You can do it by hand, but I like using a blender.  It's fast.

    When the dough comes together into a ball, cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate. 


The Sauce

  1. Dice all the ingredients for the soffritto and try to make the pieces all the same size.  

    Prepare your pork tenderloin by mixing the dried spices.  

    Put the spices on a piece of wax paper or parchment. Drizzle the tenderloin with some olive oil and rub in the minced garlic.  Now roll the tenderloin in the spices.

    Cut the tenderloin into small cubes about 1 inch in size.  Place in a hot pan that has 2 tbsp of olive oil.  

    Salt and pepper the meat again and let brown.

    After a few minutes add the soffritto mixture and let cook for 2 minutes.

    Deglaze pan with wine.

    Add tomatoes and tomato puree. Mash whole tomatoes with the back of a fork, but leave chunks. 

    Bring everything to a boil.  

    Cover and cook over medium/low heat for 1 1/2 hours.  

    Sauce should be thick.


Marrying the Pasta and the Sauce

  1. Bring a large pot to boil.

    When it boils add enough salt so that it tastes like the sea. 🙂

    Add the pasta.  Fresh pasta only needs to cook for a few minutes.

    Drain well.

    Put the pasta into the sauce pan and toss.

    Serve with fresh parmesan and chopped parsley.  Drizzle with some olive oil.  

 

4 Comments
recipes at my table

Easy Homemade Ricotta Tortellini

Easy Homemade Ricotta Tortellini

When I moved to Iqaluit, Nunavut from Ontario in 2001 I had to do without many Italian products.  I worked and made many homemade meals, but looked for shortcuts.  I didn’t make homemade ravioli, gnocchi or tortellini in Ontario because there were enough places that sold these or I usually picked them up on may way home from work at mom’s. In Nunavut, I was one of a few Italians looking for these products.  My easy homemade ricotta tortellini are actually made with wonton wrappers which were cheaper than buying flour in Nunavut.  Our local stores carried them and I often bought all the packages and froze them.

The short-cut to making homemade pasta dough

There are many products available today.  Now that I live in southern Ontario, I can buy fresh pasta but on a cold day like today, I just want some tortellini and don’t want to leave the house.  I know there are wonton wrappers in the fridge and, suddenly, that reminds me of living in Nunavut.  My easy homemade ricotta tortellini are an easy substitution, and sorry Mom, I know I should be making the pasta dough from scratch.  Of course, we will be doing that on this blog, for my mom’s sake.  Actually, my son Alex is one of the best pasta makers I know.  I will have to get him to show us some techniques.

Today, we will opt for the easy way.

I mix the ricotta with an egg, some Parmesan, parsley, salt and pepper.

The following short video demonstrates how to put them together.

Use one half of the package of wrappers and make 30 tortellini.

 I made a simple sauce.  I use butter, olive oil, garlic, black pepper and parsley.

They go into the pot and as soon as they rise, I pull them out with a slotted spoon and toss them into the frying pan.

They soak up the buttery sauce.

Little pillows of goodness!!

 

5 from 1 vote
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Easy Homemade Ricotta Tortellini

Cheat a little!!

Course Main Course
Cuisine Italian
Prep Time 30 minutes
Cook Time 5 minutes
Total Time 35 minutes
Servings 4
Author Renata Solski

Ingredients

  • 200 gr wonton wrappers
  • 200 gr ricotta
  • 1 egg
  • 1 tbsp chopped parsley
  • 1/4 tsp black pepper
  • 1/4 tsp salt
  • 1/2 cup parmesan
  • 2 tbsp butter
  • 2 tbsp olive oil
  • 1 clove garlic
  • chopped parsley
  • salt for pasta water
  • freshly ground black pepper to garnish
  • Parmesan for top of tortellini

Instructions

  1. Mix the ricotta, egg, parsley, parmesan, salt and pepper.  

    Spread out the wonton wrappers.

    Put a teaspoon of filling on each wrapper.

    Wet the edges of the full sqauare.

    Fold into a triangle and crimp the edges.  ( see video demonstration)

    Put on a tray and place in the refrigerator.  You can also freeze and use at a later date.

    Put a 6 quart pot on to boil.

    Meanwhile, put butter, olive oil, garlic, pepper and parsley to warm in a sauce pan.

    When water boils, add tortellini and salt.

    As soon as they come to the top, remove with a slotted spoon and place in pan with sauce.

    Be gentle with them. 

    Place on a nice platter.

    Sprinkle with more parmesan cheese and freshly ground black pepper.  

Recipe Notes

You also need a small brush, a water bowl and a fork to help seal the wonton wrappers.  

 

2 Comments

Sunday Peasant Gnocchi

 Sunday Peasant Gnocchi

This recipe, Sunday Peasant gnocchi gets its name from the idea that you can eat whatever during the week, but on Sunday you have meat.  There was a lack of money during the depression and the war years for my nonni in Calabria.  On Sunday, my nonna would take cured sausage, remove the casings, soak the meat, finely chop it and make meatballs.  For my version, I take fresh sausage meat and turn it into little balls of goodness.

Some mornings are for remembering and reflecting.  After visiting my hometown of Figline Vegliaturo again this summer, I am humbled by my roots.  It was a hard life for my nonna. Today, there is an abandoned local shop that belonged to my aunt Lina.  She sold meat and cheese, but my nonna could not afford to shop there.

Our family raised a pig each year. They slaughtered it and processed it into sausages, salami, prosciutto, etc.  The cured meat had to last all year.  My nonno Salvatore was an easy-going man.  All week he would eat vegetables, pasta, bread and all he could produce on his land. On Sundays, he wanted a meal with meat; and so, one day a week, they would use the preserved pig meat.

I have not experienced such hard times, but these stories live through some of the recipes I create today. I make Peasant Gnocchi on Sunday. Use a variety of sausages to make this gnocchi.  I have never tried soaking cured sausage, because I am lucky enough to be able to go to the store and buy fresh sausage.  In this recipe I used a spiced turkey sausage; a spiced sausage complements the blandness of the gnocchi.

Remove the sausage from the casing and roll into tiny balls.  I am using a spiced turkey sausage today.

Put the sausage balls into a non- stick pan.  The shallot is already in the pan.

When sausage is nice and brown, deglaze the pan with the white wine.
The last item to hit the pan before the gnocchi are the green peas.
 WHEN THE GNOCCHI ARE READY, PUT THEM directly into the pan.  Use a large slotted spoon to take out of the water.  A little pot water is good and help to make a sauce.

Finish with some ground black pepper, parmesan cheese and some grated lemon zest.

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Sunday Peasant Gnocchi

This recipe is a keeper.  

Course Main Course
Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 20 minutes
Total Time 30 minutes
Author Renata Solski

Ingredients

  • 2 tbsp oil
  • 2 cups frozen Green Giant sweetlet peas
  • 400 gr spicy turkey sausage
  • 1 medium shallot
  • 1/4 tsp garlic powder
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 1/2 cup white wine
  • 1 454 gr package gnocchi
  • freshly ground black pepper to taste
  • freshly grated parmesan to taste
  • grated lemon zest

Instructions

  1. Put a 6 quart pot to boil.

    Set a non- stick pan on the stove and add 2 tbsp of olive oil and shallot.  

    Pull the turkey sausage meat out of the casings and roll into small balls.

    Add the turkey sausage balls to the pan with the shallots.

    Let the tiny balls of sausage brown.

    Deglaze pan with white wine.  

    Add the frozen peas.  

    Take the gnocchi out of the hot pot and toss into the pan.

    Grate some freshly ground pepper, some parmesan and some lemon zest over the gnocchi.  


2 Comments

Pasta with brussels sprouts and sun-dried tomatoes

Sun- dried tomatoes are kissed by the sun and brussels sprouts compliment the dish giving it colour.  My sun- dried tomato and brussels sprout pasta is an easy one to bring to the table.  The red and green give it a festive appeal for Christmas.

I love pasta and, of course, I bring much of it to my table.  Friends often ask me how long to cook it. That is a personal choice.  I like it “al dente” which is very briefly cooked, but my father, who is older, likes it softer these days. There are a few basic steps that are a must.  First, always add the salt to the pasta pot after the water comes to a full boil .  I use about one teaspoon for every 100g of pasta.  I read somewhere that the pasta water should be as salty as the Mediterranean. The biggest mistake you can make with pasta is to drain and rinse it. Never, ever, rinse pasta.  

As for pasta shapes and which to use, this is also a personal preference.  Keep in mind that longer pastas go well with thinner or fresh sauces.  I use shorter pasta for thicker sauces so that the sauce creeps into the centre and clings to the ridges.

I like to use Molisana pasta products.  You can use this link for their recipes and nutritional information at :  http://www.molisana.com/

Making pasta with a few ingredients is always the best. Choose ingredients of really good quality.  I bought these sun-dried tomatoes in Sicily this summer, but you can get good quality ones at local shops. These are touched by the sun of one of my favourite places: Sicily.

I love quick pasta sauces.  This one is made in one pan and I start the sauce as soon as I turn the pasta pot on.

Everything for my sauce is in the pan now and the pasta is cooking.  

The pasta goes into my pan with about 1/2 a cup of the pasta water. Stir it. The starch in the water makes the sauce stick to the noodles.

Ingredients

  • 20 medium-sized brussels sprouts
  • 6 medium sun-dried tomatoes
  • 1 whole clove garlic
  • 1 small onion, finely chopped
  • 2 tbsp olive oil
  • 1 tbsp butter
  • salt
  • freshly ground black pepper
  • fresh basil
  • 200 grams of capellini ( very thin pasta).  You can use spaghetti if you like.
  • 1/4 cup grated parmesan.

Directions

  1. Turn on your pasta pot.
  2. Heat olive oil and garlic in another pan over medium heat for one minute.
  3. Remove garlic.
  4. Gently saute the onion.
  5. Add the brussels sprouts that you cut lengthwise.
  6. Dice the sun dried tomatoes.
  7. When the pasta pot boils add your capellini and cook to desired taste.  I use Molisana Pasta.
  8. When the pasta is ready, reserve a cup of your pasta water. Drain the pasta and put in the pan with the sauce. Add a half-cup of reserved pasta water. Use the other half-cup if needed.
  9. Turn the pan off and add 1/4 cup of parmesan cheese.
  10. Plate and top with some fresh basil, a splash of olive oil and some freshly ground black pepper.

Ready for my table!!

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