Tuscany Cooking Traditions

Ossibuchi al Sugo -- Ossibuchi with Meat Sauce

• A medium onion, minced
• A medium carrot, minced
• A medium stick of celery, minced
• A small bunch parsley, minced
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 1/2 pound ground beef
• 4 slices of veal shank about 1 inch thick and 6-7 across, about a pound and a half in all
• 1/2 cup dry red wine
• A 1-pound can canned tomatoes
• Salt and pepper to taste
• 1 cup grated Parmigiano, served at the table
• 1 pound short pasta, such as penne, cooked in lightly salted boiling water
Make cuts at several points in the membranes surrounding the ossibuchi or they will shrink, causing the ossibuchi to curl as they cook.
Mince the onion, carrot, celery, and parsley. Set the oil to heat in a Dutch oven or earthenware pot big enough to hold the ossibuchi without stacking them and sauté the minced mixture till the onion's translucent. Stir in the ground beef and continue cooking till it's browned, then add the ossibuchi and cook, turning them once so as to brown them on both sides.
As soon as they've browned, add the wine and reduce to a simmer. When the wine's evaporated, add the tomatoes and simmer, partially covered, till the ossibuchi are quite tender (2 1/2 - 3 hours). Season to taste, keeping in mind that the sauce will thicken and become more concentrated. Turn the ossibuchi occasionally, stirring the sugo to keep it from sticking, and check seasoning when they're almost done.
Heat the water and cook the pasta; serve the pasta with the sugo and the grated cheese as a first course, and the ossibuchi with the vegetable of your choice as a second course. If it's very cold outside, use a pound rather than half a pound of ground beef, and serve spinaci rifatti with some of the sauce poured over them (this is an extremely traditional way of serving spinach in Tuscany).

Bigoli con Molluschi -- Bigoli with Shellfish

Bigoli are thick strands of pasta, which rather resemble the strings of a contrabass. Here's a simple recipe for them from Dino Coltro's La Cucina Tradizionale Veneta; he doesn't give quantities, which means you are on your own; I've given amounts, but if your sense of proportion dictates otherwise feel free to change things. I'd figure 2 pounds (1 k) of mixed shellfish, washed and purged (see instructions) to serve 4, and a pound of pasta. No cheese, since it's generally not served with fish sauces.
Begin by setting pasta water to boil, and as it heats crush two cloves of garlic. Heat them in about a third of a cup of olive oil, together with a quarter cup of finely minced parsley and basil (lightly packed). While this is happening, heat the shellfish in a broad skillet, shaking the pot repeatedly, until they've opened.
By now the pasta water should be boiling; salt it and add the pasta.
Mr. Coltro says to remove the shellfish from their shells and add them to the simmering herbs. I might remove some, but I'd be tempted to leave some of the more handsome individuals in their shells to add color to the sauce. In any case, stir the shellfish into the simmering herbs, adding a little pot liquor should things look too dry, and use the sauce to season the bigoli.
Note: if one of the shellfish fails to open upon being cooked, do not eat it! It was already dead when it went into the pot, and eating it could make you quite sick.

Home Made Pasta
Though it's often easier to buy pasta in a store, there is something special about making it from scratch at home: the quiet rhythms of kneading the dough, the exertion of rolling it out, the concentration involved in cutting the pasta into strips -- "Short bills and long tagliatelle, say the people of Bologna, knowing whereof they speak, for long bills frighten husbands, while short tagliatelle are proof of the inexperience of the person who made them, and look like left-overs when served," wrote Pellegrino Artusi a century ago...
In short, making pasta at home is satisfying. Moreover, you can make precisely the shape you want, and make specially flavored pastas that are quite difficult to find in stores. To make enough home-made pasta to serve four to six as a first course, you will need:
• A pound of fine white flour (grade 00 if you wish to use Italian flour, or American cake flour, which has slightly more gluten and is thus better because it will make for somewhat firmer pasta)
• 4 eggs (you can also increase the number of yolks while decreasing the volume of whites proportionally to make richer pasta)
• A healthy pinch of salt
Make mound with the flour on your work surface and scoop out a well in the middle. Pour the eggs into the hole, add the salt, and work the eggs and the flour together till you have a smooth dough, adding just a drop of water if necessary, and no more. Knead the dough for ten to fifteen minutes, until it is smooth, firm, and quite elastic. Don't skimp on the kneading or the dough will tear while you're rolling it out.
You are now ready for the hard part: separate the dough into two pieces. Flour your work surface (the marble counter tops in Italian kitchens are ideal for this, though wood or Formica work as well -- a pastry cloth gets in the way) and start to roll out the dough, rolling from the middle, flipping it occasionally, and flouring it as necessary to keep it from sticking. To keep the sheet from breaking, once it has reached a certain size, roll it up around the rolling pin and then invert the rolling pin; you can, as you are unrolling the sheet, gently stretch it by holding the unrolled part firm and pulling gently away with the rolling pin. Keep on flipping and rolling till you have a sheet that’s almost transparent -- as thin as a dime, or thinner, if you can manage it (the pasta will almost double in thickness while cooking). The Emilians, acknowledged masters of home-made pasta, say your backside should work up a sweat as you're rolling out the sheet.
Once you've rolled out the sheet, either use it to make stuffed pasta such as ravioli or tortellini, for lasagna, or cut it into strips. If you choose the latter course the easiest thing to do is roll the sheet of dough up into a tube, then slice the tube into rounds of the desired width and unroll them so the strands come free; set them to dry on a rack or between two chair backs, supported by a towel (you often see this in the country). Roll out the second piece and cut it as you did the first.
Cook the pasta in salted, boiling water. Since it's fresh, it will cook in three to five minutes. Do not let it overcook! Soft wheat flour has much less gluten than the durum wheat used in commercially prepared dry pastas, and will consequently become flabby if it overcooks.
Making pasta by hand does take effort and practice, and if you do it often you may want to invest in a pasta machine. There are two kinds:
• Hand operated:
These clamp to your work surface, and require that you make the dough. Then you crank it through the rollers until it reaches the proper thinness. They're limited to making flat types of pasta, such as spaghetti, tagliatelle, taglierini, and lasagne (which can then be used to make ravioli and the like).
• Motorized:
With the electric models, you pour the eggs and flour into the machine and it does the rest. Depending on the nozzle you choose, you can also make cylindrical types of pasta such as penne. There are also attachments for making ravioli and such.
While pasta machines won't work for everything (tortelli di patate, for example, are made with thicker sheets of dough), they’re a big help.
Some Variations

Pasta need not be pale yellow or cream colored. If you add puréed vegetables, chocolate, or other ingredients to your dough you can obtain a wide range of delightful hues. One thing to keep in mind is that the addition of the vegetable will influence the texture of the dough, which will be less elastic and consequently more difficult to roll out. Also, that you may not succeed in getting the sheet quite as thin as you would a sheet made from just flour and eggs.
Since the moisture content of the vegetables will vary from batch to batch, the quantity of flour is indicative. If the dough comes out overly moist and sticky, add more (you'll learn to judge how much you'll need with experience).
Green Pasta
This is the most classic color, and gives rise to pasta paglia e fieno (straw and hay) -- a combination of green and yellow tagliatelle, which is often served with cream sauces or salsa ai funghi. Green pasta is also an excellent alternative if you're making lasagna or ravioli. To make it you'll need:
• 1 pound (400 g) flour
• 8 ounces (200 g) raw spinach
• 3 eggs
• A pinch of salt
Wash the spinach well, shred it coarsely, and heat it in a pot with just the water that sticks to the leaves. Add a pinch of salt and stir it until it is completely wilted (5 minutes), then let it cool and squeeze it well to remove all the moisture you can. Blend the spinach and combine it with the other ingredients when you make the dough. As variations, you can also use wild greens, or nettles (use gloves when you pick and wash them).
Red Pasta
The proportions are similar to those for green pasta:
• 1 pound (400 g) flour
• 10 ounces (250 g) carrots
• 3 eggs
• A tablespoon of tomato paste
• A pinch of salt
Peel the carrots, dice them, and simmer them until soft in lightly salted water. Drain them well, blend them, add the tomato paste to the mixture, and heating it pot, stirring constantly, until it has become quite firm. Combine the mixture with the other ingredients when you make the dough. If you want the pasta really red you can dispense with the carrots and simply cook down a tube of tomato paste, though in this case the resulting pasta will be rather acidic and will require something along the lines of a cream sauce to balance it.
Brown Pasta
This is a comparatively new addition to the pasta cornucopia, and is made with powdered baking (unsweetened) chocolate:
• 1 pound (400 g) flour
• 3 ounces (75 g) powdered baking chocolate
• 4 eggs
• A pinch of salt
Combine all the ingredients, and make pasta as you normally would. Contrary to what you might expect, it's not sweet because baking chocolate. It will work quite nicely with rich game-based pasta sauces.
Cheese Pasta
In terms of color this really isn't that different from regular, but it is a pleasant change of pace:
• 1/2 pound (200 g) flour
• 1/2 pound (200 g) grated Parmigiano
• 3 eggs
You shouldn't need salt, due to the salt content of the Parmigiano. Combine the ingredients and proceed as normal, seasoning the finished pasta with unsalted butter and sage or a light tomato sauce. One warning: because of the cheese, this pasta doesn't keep well.
Orange Pasta
Not carrot this time, but squash: Pick one with orange flesh (pumpkin will also work).
• 1 pound (400 g) flour
• 1 pound (400 g) squash
• 2 eggs
• A pinch of salt
Peel and dice the squash, discarding seeds and strings, and boil the pieces in lightly salted water for about a half hour. Drain the pieces well, blend them, and should the paste be too liquid, heat it again, stirring briskly, until it has thickened. Use the paste to make the pasta.
Speckled Pasta
These are a surprising delight, and since the strengths of herbs vary from time to time, will never be quite the same from batch to batch.
• 1 pound (400 g) flour
• 1/4 cup or to taste finely minced fresh herbs, including sage, parsley, rosemary, thyme, and whatever else suits your fancy
• 4 eggs
• A pinch of salt
The exact volume of herbs will vary depending upon the herbs you chose and their potency. In any case, wash them well, pat them dry, strip the leaves from the stems, and mince the leaves. Combine the ingredients and make the pasta. The best sauce here will be unsalted butter, and a light dusting of grated Parmigiano.
Black Pasta
These are slightly unsettling the first time one sees them, but are perfect with creamy fish-based sauces.
• 1 pound (400 g) flour
• 4 teaspoons squid ink (fresh will be best, from your fishmonger, but it is also available, in packets, in well-stocked delicatessens)
• 4 eggs
• A pinch of salt
Combine the ingredients and make the pasta as usual.
Dark Tan Pasta
Chestnut flour works quite well in pasta. The proportion you'll want is 1/3 chestnut flour and 2/3 white flour; figure the usual number of eggs.
Another option to make light brown pasta is a 50-50 mixture of whole wheat and regular flours.
A third, lavish option is to use dried porcini:
• 1 pound (400 g) flour
• 60 g (about a packed cup) dried porcini
• 3 eggs
• A pinch of salt
Steep the porcini for 10 minutes in a small amount of boiling water, then drain them well, reserving the liquid. Blend the porcini. Strain the liquid, which may contain sand, into a pan, add the porcini, and heat, stirring constantly, until the mixture has thickened. Combine it with the other ingredients when you make the pasta. This pasta will be delightful with unsalted butter and a dusting of cheese, or a simple cream sauce.
Purple Pasta
The perfect thing for tifosi Viola, fans of Florence's soccer team, which has worn purple ever since the laundry service made a mistake with their red jerseys in the 20s...
• 1 pound (400 g) flour
• A fairly large beet (you can buy it ready cooked)
• 2 eggs
• A pinch of salt
Cook the beet if need be, skin it if need be, dice it, blend it, put the paste in a fine muslin bag, and squeeze out as much of the juice as you can. Combine the paste with the remaining ingredients and make the pasta. It tends to crack as it dries, so use it as soon after you've rolled the sheet as you can.
Pasta with Leaves
Gualtiero Marchesi, Italy's most respected chef, did these on a cooking show a number of years ago, and they are most impressive. Use them to make large ravioli, of the kind that are simple squares whose edges are tamped down around the filling, and serve them simply, with unsalted butter and grated cheese, lest the sauce cover the pattern. He used a hand-operated pasta machine to do the pressing.
Make pasta following the standard recipe given above and roll it out to the standard thickness. Next, take well washed sprigs of parsley or other leafy herbs and pinch away the stems so only the leafy crowns remain. Cut the pasta into strips about twice as wide as the leaves, brush one side of a strip with a little cold water, and lay down a row of leaves, separating them by about a half an inch. Cover with a second strip and run the sandwich through the pasta machine. The leaves will pattern the pasta.
Continue making strips and running them through the pasta machine until all is used up.

Cavatelli Con Cime di Rapa, Scampi e Calamretti -- Cavatelli with Collard Greens, Scampi and Baby Cuttlefish

According to Agricola Slow Food, which published this in a collection of recipes from Abruzzo, the choice of cavatelli as the type of pasta clearly reveals Puglian influence, as does the use of collard greens. They go on to say that the combination of greens and fish is quite common in the Abruzzo region, in part because of barter between farmers and fishermen, and in part because those farmers who had boats would take them out to supplement their incomes. To serve four you'll need:
• 3/4 pound (300 g) cavatelli (a shape of pasta, use penne, orecchiette or farfalle instead if need be)
• 1/2 pound (200 g) collard greens
• 3 ounces (75 g) shelled, deveined shrimp
• 1/4 pound (100 g) cleaned baby cuttlefish (you can also use baby squid)
• 1 clove garlic
• 1 fairly sweet hot pepper
• 5 tablespoons olive oil
• Salt
Bring abundant lightly salted water to boil.
In a large skillet, heat the pepper in the oil until it begins to brown, then remove and shred it. Stir in the collard greens, shrimp, and cuttlefish; salt the mixture to taste and cook it for a few minutes over a medium flame.
While the shrimp are cooking, cook the pasta. Drain it when it's al dente, reserving a little of the water it cooked in, and stir it into the skillet. Cook for a minute or so, tossing the pasta as if you were flipping an omelet, and stir in the reserved water if the dish looks too dry (at may well). Stir in the shredded pepper and serve at once.