Recipes from Ciociaria part 1

Here are some tantalising recipes that will whisk you away to the beauty of Ciociaria. With local fresh ingredients, you can’t miss these local food moments to make your mouth water.

Paola’s Fresh Pasta

Ingredients:

1 egg

100 grams of flour per person

Instructions:

Knead the egg with the flour then allow it to rest in a bowl. Cover it and allow it to sit for a minimum of 10 to a maximum of 30 minutes. To make ravioli, roll some of the dough, then fill it with a filling of your choice, then continue rolling the dough.

Paola’s Fresh Gnocchi

Ingredients:

1 kilogram of potatoes boiled with their peel

300 grams of flour

1 egg

Instructions:

Allow the potatoes to fully dry before mixing all of the ingredients to form the dough to make the small potato gnocchi.

Paola’s Hand-made Carbonara

Ingredients:

100 grams of spaghetti per person

50 grams of Pecorino cheese

50 grams of Guanciale or Pancetta (similar to bacon)

1 egg per person

Instructions:

While you are cooking the pasta, put oil and pancetta in a pan, and cook to taste. In a dish, beat the egg with the pecorino. Once the pasta is ‘al dente’ or ‘to the teeth’ (so a little hard), drain the pasta and put it in the pan with the oil and pancetta and with a bit of the pasta water. Allow it to become a little creamy in the pan. Taste the pasta and if it is ready, take it off the burner and stir in the egg mixture. If it is too dry, you can add more of the water from the pasta.

Paola’s Spaghetti Cacio e Pepe

Ingredients:

100 grams of spaghetti (per person)

100 grams of Pecorino cheese

Pepper (ground or fine pepper)

Instructions:

Cook the pasta. Put Pecorino and pepper in a bowl and add a little pasta water. Stir the pasta in the bowl till a sort of a creamy sauce appears. You can use as much of the pasta water that you need to make it as creamy as possible, but Paola says don’t exaggerate! Add more Pecorino and pepper to taste.

Buon Appetito!