copyright, 2010, art of living ,PrimaMedia,Inc/Maria Liberati

Nothing better than fresh pasta…the taste or maybe the memories of (making fresh pasta in Italy..in Umbria..in Le Marche..in Abruzzo) how could I even think about pasta and not think about the memories created around a large table of flour and water and eggs and people..lots of people passionate about the same thing ..food…. fresh pasta to be exact..

In all the cooking programs that I have hosted, throughout Italy…fresh pasta is the most requested course…one of my favorite recipes for a pasta dish and some of my favorite memories in photos of making pasta are here… Create your own pasta memories around a table…ones that you won’t soon forget….what you create will linger in your mind ..the camaraderie, the fun,the taste of an artisan dish of pasta…

These are some pasta memories from a country house in Umbria….

Fresh Pasta with Zucchini & Ricotta

2 ounces ricotta

2 cups white flour

1 ½ cups cold water

pinch of salt and pepper to taste

2 zucchini

10 cherry tomatoes

3 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil

4 tablespoons plain tomato sauce

Preparation for pasta:

Place flour on wooden board and shape into a well. Place water and salt in center of well. Blend by hand and work the dough till smooth and well blended. Let rest for 2 hours covered with a clean towel.

Divide pasta ball into 4 portions. Roll out each portion on well floured board. Cut into noodles that are ½ inch thick with the help of a pasta machine or by hand.

Cut each noodle into smaller strips. Sprinkle with flour, let sit.

Preparation for Sauce:

Place olive oil in saute pan with the zucchini that has been cut into quarters. Cook over high heat for 2 minutes. Place in tomatoes that have been cut in quarters with the plain tomato sauce. Let simmer together for 5 minutes. Add in salt as desired. Turn off heat.

Boil water ion pasta pot. Place in fresh pasta, cook for 2 -4 minutes (taste after 3 minutes do not overcook). Drain. Place in saute pan with zucchini, toss, serve with grated dried ricotta

Serve on rustic plates in a bright, sunny house in the country..ohh and don’t forget the wine..a Chianti..from the hills of Tuscany will do or a Montepulciano from the mountains of Abruzzo..

 Wednesday,May 26th, 11 AM-Book Expo America-Book Signing /release of second edition of The Basic Art of Italian Cooking: Holidays & Special Occasions. Hope to see you there. If you want more info on this appearance- email: info@marialiberati.com

Hudson Valley Wine Fest-Sept 9-12-Rhinebeck NY. I am very excited this year to be one of the two Celebrity Chefs selected to appear at this event.  Along with Celebrity Chef Vincent Tropepe, I  will be doing cooking demos all weekend. If you want more info on attending this event or sponsoring one of my on stage cooking appearances –email : info@marialiberati.com

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copyright, 2008, Maria Liberati 

I  am continuing to receive a lot of emails from you all about the wonderful products and events for World Pasta Day. Keep those emails coming!
As I always tell my readers, take any excuse you can to celebrate your meals..we certainly don’t have enough celebrations in our life.  World Pasta Day sure is a great excuse to make a pasta meal more than a special meal.  To celebrate World Pasta Day we usually have 3-4 pasta dishes..all using a different pasta and  different sauce.. add some great wine or even a non-alcoholic wine..

Unfortunately, we are not able to include all of your emails and suggestions into our World Pasta Day posts, but we have selected some here for you..

I found some really interesting ravioli at www.marxfoods.com   many shapes,sizes and colors  and even tri-colored ones..always fun to add to a meal..and

Our friends at Sur La Table stores have written  to let us know all the perfect  ’accessories’ they have for making your special pasta meals all year ’round from extra virgin artisan olive oils to pasta bowls ,plates ,olive oil drizzlers and and Pasta machines (see photo above of Atlas pasta maker available there) to make that ever so yummy..fresh pasta. If you have never eaten lasagne made with fresh pasta..treat yourself for World Pasta Day and make that one of your pasta dishes..you will not want lasagna made any other way once you taste this…

 My friends at  Carmine’s Restaurant in NYC, Atlantic City and Paradise Island wrote to tell me that their  new family cookbook is filled with ‘family friendly’ pasta recipes to celebrate with..

Gibbs Smith Publishers have written to tell me about their new cookbooks-Mangia! all about food events in Italy and Trattoria Grappolo..containing authentic Italian recipes..of course many pasta ones!!

Lagostina USA couldn’t wait to tell me about this wonderful pot to cook your pasta, couldn’t make pasta cooking any simpler, I’ve never tried this one but hope to try it out one day and wil let you know. If anyone gets to try it out  please write and let us know if you liked it, here’s some of the info they sent (see photo above ):

This mirror-polished, 18/10 stainless steel pot has an aluminum base that hastens boiling the water, and it comes with a close-fitting lid and perforated stainless steel insert for draining noodles. The unique double-loop handles stay cool on the stovetop and the Pastaiola is designed to make an effortless transition from the oven to the table. For more information on Lagostina, visit http://www.lagostinausa.com

Olivenation.com has sent me some guidelines to tell our readers about choosing pastas:

What is a good pasta?

You want a pasta that has the flavors of the original wheat but also holds on to the sauce. If sauce does not adhere to your pasta then you have that gloopy mess at the bottom of your plate. Its all in the baking and the type of pasta mold (to create the various shapes) being used. Nowadays they bake the pasta in 4-6 hours and then use Teflon or stainless steel molds – why? The pasta does not stick to the molds and you can produce more pasta per hour and therefore offer a cheaper product to the market. However, the really traditional way (the way the ancient Romans used to do it) – Bake the pasta slowly over 48 hours so that the original wheat flavor and moisture gets trapped inside the pasta. Then you use the “bronze mold” (sometimes called a die) t make the various pasta shapes. Bronze cuts into each shape just enough and create tiny abrasions just enough that when you mix the sauce into the pasta it holds on to the sauce. That’s a good pasta. Too bad that only very few small pasta makers do it nowadays.  

Egg Pasta

Its the king of pasta. It really only should have some egg, flour and water. That’s it. If you get hold of a truly great egg pasta then all it requires is a little bit of butter and parmigiano. Well, maybe a few slices of truffles. You don’t need anything else. It’s a whole other experience. Again, its too bad that its not really available in supermarkets. The Campofilone area of Italy is known for their egg pasta and their legendary egg-pasta makers. Yes, its expensive, but then life is too short not to enjoy this special treat..

“Mangia bene, Vivi Bene”

For more great recipes get your copy of the bestselling book The Basic Art of Italian Cooking  at http://www.marialiberati.com and more great books at http://stores.lulu.com/marialiberati

Maria

A special thanks to everyone that came out to my book signing and ‘Holiday Dinner in Tuscany’ event at Whole Foods Market last night. It is always so nice to see familiar faces and great to meet new ones and hear how you are using the recipes in The Basic Art of Italian Cooking. There is another event coming up at a Whole Foods on November 8th….if you go to http://www.upcoming.org/ you will find it posted there, or email us at events@marialiberati.com

I was beginning to feel as if  I was the only person in the US celebrating World Pasta Day, but since beginning my blogs on World Pasta Day I have been flooded with emails from companies and people all over the world doing something special for World Pasta day.

For all of my friends in the San Francisco area if you are in or near the San Francsico, California area.Fuzio Universal Bistro, a ten year old San Francisco based restaurant company that made its mark in the industry by putting global toppings on all different forms of pasta (www.fuzio.com), is celebrating World Pasta Day with a high-end pasta giveaway.
In honor of World Pasta Day, Fuzio is giving Americans some “economic relief” with free macaroni & cheese. Every entree ordered at Fuzio on October 25th nets a free macaroni & cheese (a $6.95 value). Fuzio makes its macaroni & cheese with black forest ham and three cheeses – cambazola, sharp cheddar and parmesan. In these tough economic times when many restaurants are watching food costs, Fuzio is giving away a high quality, high value menu item (you don’t see that much these days).
World Pasta Day is celebrated at all of Fuzio’s ten locations - http://www.fuzio.com/location.html .

This  year’s celebration is the eleventh celebration of World Pasta Day — always on October 25th.
  The celebration is organized by the International Pasta
 Organization (IPO), an association of pasta manufacturers around the
 world.  (see www.internationalpasta.org for more information). This year’s event will be held in Istanbul and will also incldue, as it does every year, a scientific colloqium on the benefits of eating pasta.

Stay tuned for tomorrow’s blog it will contain more info on World Pasta Day.  Here is another recipe to celebrate with using one of my favorites….orzo…….

ORZOTTO GAMBERETTI E CAVOLFIORE (orzo pasta, shrimp & cauliflower)

copyright, 2007,2008, Maria Liberati

The Basic Art of Italian Cooking

½ lb orzo pasta

1/2 lb cauliflower-cleaned, cut into florets and steamed

½ lb shrimp

1 pouch of saffron

2 scallions

3 tblsps extra virgin olive oil

Vegetable broth

Parmigiano-reggiano

1/ cup dry white wine

Fresh parsley

Place 2 tablespoons olive oil in sauté pan Chop scallions finely. Heat oil and place in scallions. Saute till they begin to turn golden. Add in ½ of teamed broccoli, uncooked orzo pasta to toast, stir with wooden spoon Pour in white wine let liquid evaporate. Then add in 1 cup vegetable broth and stir with wooden spoon. Using the same technique as cooking risotto, add in ½ cup of vegetable broth when liquid evaporates and repeat until orzo is al ‘dente’ (following cooking time directions on orzo package). Five minutes before cooking time is up- add in remaining steamed cauliflower, steamed, cleaned shrimp, packet of saffron. Stir until saffron is well blended in.

When finished cooking, remove from heat. Place 1 tsp butter on top, stir in. Sprinkle with freshly grated parmigiana-reggiano cheese, and finely chopped parsley. Stir. Let sit one minute before serving. For serving idea, serve in small glasses. Top with one whole shrimp and a cauliflower floret for decoration

Serve with a Spumante rose wine..

“Mangia Bene, Vivi Bene”

Maria

For more great recipes get your copy of the best selling book The Basic Art of Italian Cooking at http://www.marialiberati.com or for my  Holiday book on the Feast of the Seven Fishes go to  http://stores.lulu.com/marialiberati