Vicky Bennison (https://www.pastagrannies.com/vicky-bennison) takes us into the kitchens across Italy to meet the beloved “Pasta Grannies” who share their time-treasured techniques and secrets to pasta making. From her home in Italy, Vicky started exploring the food of the area and discovered that only the Italian grandmothers were preserving the tradition of making pasta by hand. She began capturing this culinary this culinary history on video and launched her successful Pasta Grannies Youtube channel. (https://www.youtube.com/user/pastagrannies)
You will learn heartfelt life lessons and culinary insights from these recipes and stories. Regionally methods and ingredients vary resulting in a wide variety of delicious dishes. Pasta making is an art that requires practice and a recognition of how the ingredients feel when you have achieved the perfect dough.
Vicky Bennison’s book, Pasta Grannies: The Official Cookbook: The Secret’s of Italy’s Best Home Cooks, (https://www.amazon.com/Pasta-Grannies-Official-Cookbook-Secrets/dp/1784882887/ref=as_li_ss_tl?crid=1355O9M7V84HL&keywords=pasta+grannies+the+official+cookbook&qid=1576868220&sprefix=pasta+grannies+,aps,150&sr=8-2&linkCode=sl1&tag=wwwkitchenc07-20&linkId=92d2f06737381ada28c7db969e31f609&language=en_US) will give you the opportunity to try your hand at making pasta that has been passed from generation to generation and experiencing the beauty these Pasta Grannies desire to share with us.
Are you ready to roll some dough? Here are some great recipes from the Pasta Granniesqp
AUTHOR: Vicky Bennison
BOOK: Pasta Grannies
PUBLISHER: Hardie Grant Books (ISBN 9781784882884)
ON-SALE DATE: October 29, 2019
RRP: $29.99 (Hardcover)
Photograph credit: Emma Lee
Suggested credit line: Recipes excerpted with permission from Pasta Grannies by Vicky Bennison, published by Hardie Grant Books October 2019, RRP $29.99 Hardcover.
Amazon link: https://www.amazon.com/Pasta-Grannies-Official-Cookbook-Secrets/dp/1784882887 (https://www.amazon.com/Pasta-Grannies-Official-Cookbook-Secrets/dp/1784882887)
MARICA’S STRAPPONI WITH PORCINI MUSHROOMS
The Garfagnana region of Tuscany is steeply wooded and rural – quite different from the more well-known parts of the area. Not only is the area a mushroom-hunter’s heaven, the mint the Italians call nepitella (Calaminthanepeta) grows wild here, too. So, this is a forager’s supper, and it is also an ace pasta for beginners. Strapponi are hand-torn pieces of pasta, ripped any which way; these ragged bits of pasta are also called straccetti.
Marica demonstrated this for us. She is a cook at the Agriturismo Venturo, in a little town called Castelnuovowhere we stayed during filming in the region. She’s too young to be a nonna but her recipe is too good to pass over! If you can only find dried porcini mushrooms, then use fresh mushrooms of a different variety – mixed wild mushroom, girolles or chanterelle will also work.
For 4 people
For the pasta
400 g (14 oz/3 1/3 cups) 00 flour or plain (all-purpose) flour
4 eggs
For the dressing
4 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
2 garlic cloves
3 tablespoons chopped fresh mint (preferably nepitella)
500 g (1 lb 2 oz) fresh porcini mushrooms, chopped
salt
Make the pasta dough as described in the Egg Pasta Dough Recipe below.
Once it has rested for 30 minutes, roll it out to the thickness of ordinary shortcrust pastry – i.e. it doesn’t have to be as see-through thin as tagliatelle. Aim for about 2–3 mm thick. Roll it up around your pin while you make the sauce.
To make the dressing, heat the olive oil in a large sauté pan. Add the garlic and mint and fry the mixture for a couple of minutes, before adding the chopped mushrooms. Keep frying to soften the mushrooms, season them with a pinch of salt, and add 100 ml (3 ½ fl oz/scant ½ cup) of water. Let this cook off, then continue frying the mushrooms until they are golden. Remove the garlic.
