Mine is an adaptation from Mario Batali - no major changes, I just eliminate some of the extra fat he calls for by rendering the bacon/pancetta and using that to cook the vegetables rather than cooking them in additional butter/oil.
2 medium onions, ground in food processor finely chopped
4 celery ribs, ground in food processor until finely chopped
2 medium carrots, ground in food processor until finely chopped
2 garlic cloves, ground in food processor until until finely chopped
2 T. butter
1/4 pound pancetta or slab bacon, ground in food processor until finely chopped
1 pound ground veal
1 pound ground beef
1 pound ground pork (not lean)
1 (6-ounce) can tomato paste
1.5 cup whole milk
1.5 cup dry white wine
1 cup water (if necessary)
1 teaspoon salt (more or less to taste)
1 teaspoon black pepper
Grind vegetables in food processor; remove and grind bacon. Heat butter in large dutch oven and add bacon; cook over medium heat until rendered but not crisp. Add vegetables except garlic and cook until softened; add garlic and cook 2-3 minutes more. Add meat and cook until no longer pink, mashing with potato masher to break up lumps and create a finer texture. Add tomato paste and stir to incorporate, then add wine and milk. Simmer 2 hours or until meat is very tender, adding water as necessary to keep sauce from drying out. Season with salt and pepper.
Emglow - for you and anyone else who braises chicken skin on (your photo just made me remember this question), do you eat the skin or discard it after cooking? I know everyone is excited about a crispy chicken skin. Not so much a flabby boiled one… Curious. If you do toss it, then what is the reason to cook it at all, rather than just remove the skin prior to cooking. Curious minds!! Thanks
Talking about skin, my father worries that I would die young eating skin, and since I don’t listen to him, he asked my brother to put pressure on me. LOL.
Another adventure into hand-made pasta = PICI
Essentially hand-rolled long pasta
Simple flour and water dough, centimeter cubes elongated into lengths by extending the hands as rolling them outward. Easy but tedious unless you’re a practiced nonna.
The irregularity is part of the interest, the “toothsomeness”.
I really like this pasta and am willing to make it for two people. Four if I really like them, but beyond that you’d better be willing to come early and help in the kitchen.
@Saregama Unfloured seems to work best as you need some friction to make the dough respond, if that makes any sense. 1foot by 1 1/2 feet would be ample and a mat sounds like a good solution. Have fun!
This was plain but you can add rosemary or anise for interesting combinations.
A classic breakfast bread and maybe even better with a glass of vin santo.
