Taccozze and Beans

Taccozze and beans

When winter is approaching and you want a good hot pot, there is nothing better than a nice plate of beans with taccozze  from Molise. It is a typical dish of our area, and it is often present in festivals and various parties of the country.

Its greatest success lies in the fact of being a simple dish but very tasty, made with simple ingredients and genuine. Ideal for warm up and recharge your batteries in the cold winter days. Would you like to taste it? Well, here's the recipe for you.

PASTA

The taccozze are a particular pasta shape, represented by a thin sheet and a rhomboid shape. You need to prepare them:

- Durum wheat flour

- Warm water

- Salt

Place the flour on a work surface and add to it the salt and, slowly, water. Knead and when you have got the right consistency, continue to work until the dough is smooth and homogeneous.

Proceed to roll out the dough with a rolling pin until you get a thin sheet. Cut the pastry into horizontal stripes, wide plus or minus 2 inches and then placed the knife at an angle, cutting again. This will give you the famous taccozze, easy right? 

SEASONING

For the SEASONING you will need:

- 250 gr. dried beans

- Celery and basil

- Olive oil

- Chilli

Soak the beans in water for at least 12 hours  before to the preparation. If you have it, take a nice pignata clay, ideal for this type of dish.

Cook over moderate heat the beans in salted water until they are soft, adding a sprig of celery and a bit of basil. In a separate pan, sauté the onion in the oil, and if you want to make the recipe even more substantial, add some chunks of bacon or lard.

Add to the latter seasoning the cooked beans and mix together over low heat. Meanwhile, put the taccozze to cook and pull out when they are slightly underdone. Pour in the sauce and mix well, sprinkle with pepper (if you like of course).

Examples of pignata

BREAD

Bread is the most important Italian food. We cannot eat without it and we should like to tell you how we made it and other information

Bread is a staple food prepared by baking a dough of flour and water. It is also popular around the world and is one of the world's oldest foods.

The virtually infinite combinations of different flours, and differing proportions of ingredients, has resulted in the wide variety of types, shapes, sizes, and textures available around the world. It may be leavened (aerated) by a number of different processes ranging from the use of naturally occurring microbes to high-pressure artificial aeration during preparation and/or baking, or may be left unleavened. A wide variety of additives may be used, from fruits and nuts to various fats, to chemical additives designed to improve flavour, texture, colour, and/or shelf life.

Bread may be served in different forms at any meal of the day, eaten as a snack, and is even used as an ingredient in other culinary preparations. As a basic food worldwide, bread has come to take on significance beyond mere nutrition, evolving into a fixture in religious rituals, secular cultural life, and language.

HISTORY

Bread shop, tacuina sanitatis from Northern Italy, beginning of 15th century

Bread is one of the oldest prepared foods. Evidence from 30,000 years ago in Europe revealed starch residue on rocks used for pounding plants. It is possible that during this time, starch extract from the roots of plants, such as cattails and ferns, was spread on a flat rock, placed over a fire and cooked into a primitive form of flatbread. Around 10,000 BC, with the dawn of the Neolithic age and the spread of agriculture, grains became the mainstay of making bread. Yeast spores are ubiquitous, including the surface of cereal grains, so any dough left to rest will become naturally leavened.

There were multiple sources of leavening available for early bread. Airborne yeasts could be harnessed by leaving uncooked dough exposed to air for some time before cooking. Pliny the Elder reported that the Gaulsand Iberians used the foam skimmed from beer to produce "a lighter kind of bread than other people." Parts of the ancient world that drank wine instead of beer used a paste composed of grape juice and flour that was allowed to begin fermenting, or wheat bran steeped in wine, as a source for yeast. The most common source of leavening was to retain a piece of dough from the previous day to use as a form of sourdough starter.

In 1961 the Chorleywood bread process was developed, which used the intense mechanical working of dough to dramatically reduce the fermentation period and the time taken to produce a loaf. The process, whose high-energy mixing allows for the use of lower protein grain, is now widely used around the world in large factories. As a result, bread can be produced very quickly and at low costs to the manufacturer and the consumer. However there has been some criticism of the effect on nutritional value.

Recently, domestic bread machines that automate the process of making bread have become popular.

How to prepare the typical Riccia’s loaf

INGREDIENTS for 4 people

 500 g. flour

 20 g. of fresh yeast

 250 ml. of water

 Two tablespoons of olive oil

 10 g. of salt

Dissolve the yeast in five tablespoons of warm water (the temperature should be neither too low, otherwise the yeast will not have the right push to inflate the dough, and  not too high, otherwise the live cultures contained in the yeast are killed) and add 80 g. flour and let it sit for an hour in a warm place.

After this time, pour the remaining flour, put the loaf in the center and slowly pour two glasses of warm water in which previously oil and dissolved salt were added (with this process the salt is not put in direct contact with the yeast, as it would burn its cells and would make a high percentage of inactive yeast).

Knead the dough with your hands rather vigorously, until it 'does not stick more' to work plan (at least 10 minutes lifting it up and making it fall firmly on the work surface, stretching it and reassembling ball: Repeat each of these operations several times) the dough will be ready when it results smooth and shows air bubbles.

Then shape the dough into a ball, a slit in the surface with a screwdriver and place in a large floured bowl, cover with a damp towel and place it in a warm, draft-free air until it will not double its  volume: it takes from three to four hours, depending on the season (a good gimmick is keep it to rise in the preheated oven and then turned off), the rise and' when finished, sticking a finger in the dough there remains the impression.

POLENTA

Most people think of pasta as the quintessential Italian Dish, and this is true for much of the Peninsula, especially the south. Polenta, on the other hand, was the staple food of the poor in the North, especially those living out in the country. Prior to the introduction of corn in the late 1700s it consisted of grains and/or legumes mashed and cooked to a mush, and seasoned with oil, onion, fennel, honey, or whatever was available. Uninspiring, but certainly nutritious enough to keep people alive. 

With the introduction of corn things changed radically, as the land owners discovered that the new grain was more productive than the traditional grains, and they could therefore devote more of their land to crops that would bring them income if they had their tenant farmers subsist on corn. The corn was milled like the traditional grains had always been, and polenta came to mean corn meal mush. 

Polenta and Black Leaf Kale

 

Though Italians generally associate cavolo nero with Tuscany, it's grown throughout the land, and this recipe is from the Valle d'Aosta. It's generally served as a one-course meal. You'll need:

Prep Time: 45 minutes

Cook Time: 2 hours,

Ingredients:

·         Polenta made with a half pound (225 g) of corn meal (instructions below)

·         1/2 pound (225 g) dried white beans, soaked overnight in abundant water

·         A slice of cured lard or pancetta, minced

·         1 1/2 pounds (650 g) black leaf kale

·         Simmering meat broth (have a quart, or liter, handy, though you won't need it all-

·         -- unsalted bouillon will work if need be)

·         Salt and pepper to taste

Preparation:

Begin by boiling the beans in abundant water for 2 hours or until soft, salting them when they are just about done.

While they are cooking, make the polenta: Heat a quart (1 l) of water in a pot, and when it begins to boil lightly salt it and add the corn meal in a thin stream, stirring briskly. Continue stirring for 40 minutes, adding a hot water if it looks to be thickening too much -- it should be fairly soft. It will be done when it is creamy, and comes away easily from the sides of the pot.

And see to the rest of the dish: wash the kale and strip the ribs from the leaves. Cut them into thin strips and simmer them in broth to cover until cooked, about 40 minutes. When the kale is done, drain the beans and add them to it.

Turn the polenta out onto a polenta board and serve it with the kale and bean mixture, together with a tossed salad and a lively red wine, for example Sassella Superiore from the Valtellina, a Valcalepio Rosso, or a Garda Classico Groppello.

 

LASAGNE

LASAGNE

Lasagne is a wide, flat pasta shape and possibly one of the oldest. As with most other types of pasta, the word is a plural form, lasagne meaning more than one piece of lasagna ribbon. The word also refers to a dish made with this type of pasta in several layers interspersed with layers of various ingredients and sauces.

Lasagne originated in Italy, in the region of Emilia-Romagna A traditional Bolognese lasagne is made by interleaving layers of pasta with layers of sauce, made with ragù, béchamel, and Parmigiano-Reggiano. In other regions and outside of Italy it is common to find lasagne made with ricotta or mozzarella cheese, tomato sauce, various meats (e.g., ground beef, pork or chicken), and miscellaneous vegetables (e.g., spinach, zucchini, mushrooms). In all cases the lasagne are oven-baked. Lasagne is typically flavoured with wine, garlic, onion, and oregano.

Traditionally, the dough was prepared in Southern Italy with semolina and water and in the northern regions, where semolina was not available, with flour and eggs. Today in Italy, since the only type of wheat allowed for commercially sold pasta is durum wheat, commercial lasagne noodles are made of semolina (from durum wheat).

ETYMOLOGY

There are three theories on the origin of the word "lasagne", two of which denote an ancient Greek dish. The main theory is that lasagne comes from Greek λάγανον (laganon), a flat sheet of pasta dough cut into strips The word λαγάνα (lagana) is still used in Greek to mean a flat thin type of unleavened bread.

Another theory is that the word lasagne comes from the Greek λάσανα (lasana) or λάσανον (lasanon) meaning "trivet or stand for a pot", "chamber pot" The Romans borrowed the word as "lasanum", meaning "cooking pot" in Latin.  The Italians used the word to refer to the dish in which lasagne is made. Later the name of the food took on the name of the serving dish.

A third theory proposed that the dish is a development of the 14th century English recipe "Loseyn"^[ as described in The Forme of Cury, a cook book in use during the reign of Richard II. This has similarities to modern lasagne in both its recipe, which features a layering of ingredients between pasta sheets, and its name. An important difference is the lack of tomatoes, which did not arrive in Europe until after Columbus reached America in 1492. The earliest discussion of the tomato in European literature appeared in a herbal written in 1544 by Pietro Andrea Mattioli while the earliest discovered cookbook with tomato recipes was published in Naples in 1692, though the author had apparently obtained these recipes from Spanish sources

   RECIPE

   ·         Cooking:
   70 min

   ·         Preparation:
   30 min

   ·         For:
   8 persons

 INGREDIENTs:

·         Lasagne: 500 g

·         Grated Parmigiano Reggiano 200 g

·         Bechamel: about 1 kg

BOLOGNESE SAUCE:

·       Carrot: 1

·       A dusting of pepper

·       Onion: 1

·       Olive Oil: 4 spoons

·       Milk: a glass

·       Butter: 50 g

·       Red wine: 1 glass

·       Salt

·       Bacon: 100 g

·       Minced beef: 259 g

·       Minced pork: 250g

·       Meat broth: 250ml

·       Pulped tomatoes: 250 ml

·       Celery: 1 rib

Prepare the meat broth. Then mince onion, carrot and celery and let them fry in a pan with the olive oil and butter.

Finely chop the bacon and a few minutes later, add it to the pan along with the chopped meat, then fry it all for a few minutes over high heat.

Add the red wine and let it evaporate keeping a high flame.

At this point add also the tomatoes, broth, pepper and a pinch of salt and let it cook in the pot partially covered for at least 2 hours, stirring occasionally and adding the broth remained and lastly the milk.

While your sauce is cooking, prepare the béchamel, remembering that for the lasagne  it should be fairly smooth. When sauce is ready, you preheat the oven to 160 degrees and begin to assemble your lasagne: Grease a rectangular pan (1), spread a couple of tablespoons of sauce (2) and line the bottom with pasta (3), then cover with a few tablespoons of béchamel (4). Then cover with plenty of sauce and a sprinkling of Parmesan cheese (5). Cover with the other dough (6) and proceed in the same way to achieve the second layer.

Formed more layers depending on the baking sheet and until exhausting all the ingredients. In a saucepan, mix the sauce with a little of béchamel  (7) and finish your lasagne with a thin and light coating of the mixture (8). Finally, sprinkle your lasagne with plenty of Parmesan cheese (9) and bake the whole thing for at least 50-60 minutes. 

The lasagne will be ready when they have a beautiful colour and a golden crust. Once ready, remove from oven and let the lasagne cool for 10 minutes, then cut into the pan and serve while still hot.