Pasta alla pecorara

Pasta alla pecorara

Duration: 1 h                      

  Difficulty: intermediate          

   Region: Abruzzo

Pasta alla pecorara is a typical dish of the traditional cuisine of Abruzzo. The "pecorara" is a particular form of fresh pasta ring, strictly accompanied by a rich and tasty dressing, rich in vegetables and sometimes meat, all covered by a good dose of fresh ricotta. Despite the simplicity of country cooking, this dish is actually a sumptuous preparation, dell'operosità expression of women of the past. In fact, this dish was prepared on holidays, especially on those occasions in which the diners at the table were in large numbers. Then the hard work in the preparation of this dish was justified.
However, for anyone who wants to try the tastes of those times, you may find this type of pasta ready in local supermarkets, but it is not easy to find in other areas and then you can safely prepare hand.

 Where to eat it: Trattoria da Mauro (Teramo)

Ingredients

For 4 people:

For the preparation of pecorara (fresh pasta)

Flour	400g
Eggs	4
Olive oil	1 cucchiaio
Water	q.b.

For the preparation of the sauce

Ricotta	150g
Carrot	1
Aubergine	1
Onion	1
Pepper	1
Zucchini	1
Grated Pecorino	50g
Tomato sauce	2 cups
Pork cheek	40g
Extra virgin olive oil	q.s.
Salt	q.s.

Other optional ingredients

Black olives	20g
Basil	1 mazzetto
Dried mushrooms (porcini)	25g
Beef (or Lamb) into pieces	100g

Procedure

First we need to prepare fresh pasta with the typical ring shape, "the pecorara".
In a pastry we pour the flour to form a fountain, add the eggs and the water and begin to knead first gently then gradually more and more vigorously. The dough should be firm and elastic at the right point. Once ready the dough, let rest for at least 30 minutes, suitably by covering it with a layer of adherent paper (so that it does not dry too).
After resting the dough, it extends into a sheet while maintaining a good thickness, and cutting it is then pulled out of about 8 cm cords that must be rolled and joined at the two ends of the rings to form, precisely the "pecorara". Let stand the rings so they will dry out a bit, sprinkling a little 'semolina so they do not stick to each other.
Now we think about the preparation of the sauce, which as we can see requires a large amount of ingredients. The recipe you can choose to use or not use certain ingredients, such as black olives, bacon, dried mushrooms, the beef (originally it was sheep) and so on.
Take the vegetables, wash them carefully and remove the parts that do not serve as stems and seeds. Take the eggplant, zucchini and bell pepper and cut into small cubes. If you are also using the pillow, also cut into small cubes. Same with the dried mushrooms. After being soaked in water for about half an hour, drain and triturateli into small pieces.
Take a pan and after adding a little olive oil, add the finely chopped onion with the carrot and begin to fry. Once the onion is well browned, add the bacon (if you use it) and the soaked dried mushrooms, vegetables and cut into cubes. Continue to simmer over high heat by frying the vegetables in the end nuanced adding the tomato puree. Season with salt and cook the sauce for about 20 minutes.
Fill a sufficiently large pot of water and boil. A boil, add a handful of salt. Then add the pasta rings and cook well, so they are evenly cooked. Drain the pasta and season with vegetable sauce.
Once you prepared the dishes, chopped above each ricotta. If you want you can pass it on with a potato masher. Finally even add a sprinkling of grated cheese.
Serve piping hot

This post is a translation of the original recipe Pasta alla pecorara from the Il Gran Consiglio della Forchetta.