Primo
Pasta Alla Campagnola ~ Pasta With Fava Beans & Sausage
Serves 4
This recipe, pasta alla campagnola takes its name from countryside. Handmade sausage incorporating the springtime fava of the season is one recipe we just cannot get enough of!
Ingredients
- 1 kg fava beans, shelled then boiled until tender – half puréed, half kept whole
- Extra-virgin olive oil
- ½ kg fresh onion, sliced
- 1 clove garlic
- 150 g fresh sausage- out of casing
- ½ cup white wine
- 50 g Pecorino, grated
- 100 g Parmigiano, grated
- Fresh parsley, chopped
- 500 g tubettoni pasta- large short tubes
Preparation
In a large pan, heat a generous swirl of olive oil and add chopped onion and garlic clove. Sauté until blond, then add the sausage and sauté together to brown. Add the whole fava beans. Be careful not to burn the fresh onion, and add a bit of the fava-water as needed.
Sauté together for a few minutes, then add the white wine and allow to evaporate.
Meanwhile cook the pasta in boiling salted water until just barely al dente (the pasta finishes cooking in the pan with the sauce, so it should be very al dente).
Add the pureed fave to the whole fava beans and stir together – adding a bit more of the fava-water if needed. Check seasoning. Drain the pasta and add to the pan with the sauce. Toss together and just before serving, add the pecorino and fresh parsley. Serve with grated Parmigiano on top.
It pours like Prosecco but is from the Amalfi Coast. Its soft notes of apricot and apple pair well with pasta, fish and springtime fruit like strawberries. A light and refreshing white wine that every wine lover should have in their cellar.
Fresh Pasta with Wild Asparagus
Serves 4
Ingredients for the Pasta
- 300 g flour
- 3 whole eggs and 2 egg yolks
- 10 g salt
- 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
Ingredients for the Sauce
- 100 g wild asparagus
- 3 stalks of wild garlic,
- 40 g aged ricotta
- Extra-virgin olive oil, as needed
- Salt & pepper, as needed
Preparation
Lay out the ingredients for the dough on a flat surface. You can start mixing with a fork and then continue with your hands. Once you have obtained a nice, smooth dough, set it aside for 10 minutes.
Roll out the dough and cut in strips to form tagliatelle noodles. Begin cooking the pasta in boiling salted water – you will need to remove when it is al dente.
Wash and cut each asparagus stalk in half. Heat the olive oil in a pan and then add the asparagus stalks. Add a little of the cooking water from the pasta and let cook until the asparagus is tender.
Finely chop the wild garlic and add it to the asparagus. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
Once the pasta is al dente, drain and add it to the pan with the asparagus. Mix together well and then transfer to a serving platter. Top with the salted ricotta cut in very thin slices. Your dish is ready!
Getis, another great wine from the Amalfi Coast, is light and freshing and pairs well with pasta and spring vegetables and fish as well. Rose in color, its note are dry with a hint of berry.
Dolce
Prosecco Rose Petal Pops
Serves Makes 6 popsicles
May and June are the months of roses so take advantage of the brimming rose petals to create this refreshing aperitivo.
Ingredients
- 1 cup white grape juice
- 1 cup cold Prosecco
- 1/3 cup rose water
- 1 ½ teaspoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
- About 30 untreated red rosebud petals, rinsed
Method
Combine the grape juice, Prosecco, rose water and lemon juice. Fill ice pop molds about a third full. Drop 2 or 3 rose petals in each and freeze until set, about 30 minutes.
Fill the molds another third of the way full and drop 2 or 3 more petals in. Insert sticks. Freeze until set, about 30 minutes.
Fill all the way with remaining mixture, and drop 2 or 3 more petals into each mold. Freeze until set, at least 8 hours or up to 1 week.
Refined and elegant with exceptional acidity and full body. Perfect as an aperitif, it will also pair well with various cold meats and charcuterie and fully matured cheeses.