Steak Salad
Eppicotispai Chitarra Pasta Cutter | Late-Night Shopping on Amazon
It’s a late night about 4 years ago, and I am cruising the internet. Just sitting around watching videos about fresh pasta and different ways to form it. At that time I was just trying to forget about the stress of work. It is not enough for me cook all day, I need to think about it after work to calm down as well. I am such a sadistic piece of shit. I have to admit I had a couple of drinks, and delusions of grandeur were setting in. Now this would be fine, but things are way too easy to get a hold of these days. Amazon is the Devil’s enabler. I found this device that makes a certain cut of pasta. Never seen anything like it before. I had to have it, and I said to myself, “Oh, you will so use this. Definitely.”
It is called an Eppicotispai Chitarra Pasta Cutter. It was invented in the Abruzzo region of central Italy around the 1800’s. It’s meaning refers to a guitar. It looks like a double sided harp with 36 strings on one side and 72 on the other. This type of pasta is usually prepared with some type of ragu made of pork, beef, and lamb. My mind goes straight to Bolognese.
So here we are 4 years later, and I find myself with some time on my hands. I took the opportunity to use said device. Why you ask? First of all, I’m bored, and second, all I can think about is pasta for some reason. Here is the hard part. I never got around to buying an automatic pasta roller. So we are going old school on this one. Doing this all by hand.
Yeah, I know. I buy this outrageously obscure object, but I won’t buy the one thing that would make it easy to roll the pasta dough. With that being said, this is a recipe that could be a lot easier with the right tools.
So many things in our lives are sparks for inspiration.
This recipe is not for when you want to finish a dish right now. The need to fill your belly will have to be patient for at least a day. That being said, I like to put together things that take multiple days to make. There is something so rewarding about cooking food that takes hours, if not days to cook. Also, if you do this recipe in parts it will not be so overwhelming when you go to put the dish together for dinner. That is why I set up everything the day before. On top of that it is really hard to make a small batch of Bolognese, and it never hurts to have this sauce hanging out in your freezer. It freezes really well so make a big batch.
If you read my Slumgullion blog you saw a pasta dish with cooked ground beef. In that dish you are quickly cooking the beef which causes there to be some chew to the meat. Ground meat is usually made from the left over cuts of meat that are not as tender as some whole cuts like tenderloin, or strip loin. In this dish we are going to cook this low and slow so that the ground meat becomes more tender, and melts in your mouth. So gather up some patience, and allow your house to be filled with great smells.
In a large heavy bottomed pot add 2 tbs olive oil. Low heat. Add the onion, carrot, celery, and garlic to the pan. Season with salt and freshly ground black pepper. Cook until all of the vegetables are tender. This should take about 20 minutes. Remember patience is a virtue with this dish. When the vegetables are tender add the dried thyme. Cook for another 5 minutes to start to bloom the dried product. Scoop off veg into a bowl to reserve for later. Add the other 2 tbs of olive oil to the pan. Now it is time to brown the ground beef and pork on high heat. Season liberally with salt and freshly ground black pepper. Once the meat is browned off scoop it into the bowl with the veg. Deglaze the pan with the chicken stock. Bring to a simmer. Add the meat and veg to the chicken stock. Now add the tomatoes and crush them. Rinse the can, and add that as well. Bring everything back to a simmer. Add the bay leaves and chili at this point. Simmer low and slow for about 3 hours. You want the meat to be very tender. Check for seasoning. Now it can go into the refrigerator to cool over night. I will usually spread it out as thin as I can in some sort of baking dish.
Create a well with the flour. Add the eggs, egg yolks, olive oil and salt to the well. Start to mix with a fork. Once it starts to come together move to a bench knife to bring everything together. Then move to just your hands. Knead dough for 7 to 10 minutes, or until smooth. Wrap in plastic wrap, and refrigerate over night, or at least an hour.
Cut the dough ball into six equal pieces. Roll out the pieces as thin as you can get them. Reserve in between pieces of plastic wrap, and let rest for 15 minutes, and then roll out again to get the dough thinner. Repeat one more time before moving on to the cutting part of this endeavor.
If you have a pasta roller this is much easier. No repeating steps.
Now that you have the dough all rolled out it is time to use the magic cutting device. Place on the Chitarra and roll your rolling pin over the pasta to push it through the cutter. This will form a long pasta that is square in shape.
Toss with a little flour and reserve for later.
Bring to a boil. Add pasta. Cook until pasta has just a little dry spot in the center when you bite into a piece.
Bring Bolognese sauce to a simmer. Add cream and reduce by a third. Taste for seasoning.
Add cooked pasta to the finished Bolognese sauce. Toss.
Place in a bowl and top with grated Pecorino Romano. Now, it doesn’t have to be Pecorino. It could also be Parmesan. I think it should be some type of hard cheese though. I like Pecorino because of it's sharp acid content. It helps with all of the fat that is going on in this dish.
So many things in our lives are sparks for inspiration. Whether it is a YouTube video, or a bee landing on a flower. Allowing those sparks to grow into reality is so much fun. Today was a harder day for me than most. It was one of those days when I really missed being at work. When I was in my 20’s I would watch my friends go to college and get degrees. After they would finish, they would go out into the work force. After working for a few months, they were surprised to be so miserable doing what they chose in college. Then they would go back to school to get another degree so that they could do something else. Constantly searching for that ever elusive happiness. I always considered myself so lucky to do what I do, and to enjoy it so much. I fell face first into the food world. Mostly by accident. I am so lucky. Cooking has been an amazing career, and on top of that it is something that I truly love.
I hope that you all can find, or have the chance to find, your enslaver of happiness as well. Good luck, and happy cooking.