Tag: smooth

smooth or stuffed, it is always irresistible – Italian Cuisine

These are pancakes of the Neapolitan tradition to accompany meats or to be stuffed with anchovies in oil

You know a crunchy cream puffs? Perfect to accompany a nice plate of cold cuts or fanciful pickles? There grown pasta is just that, a delicious salty pancake made of water, salt, flour and yeast, which goes well with many ingredients, for an irresistible home aperitif.

The origin of grown pasta

These bread dough pancakes they are one of the oldest specimens of Neapolitan street food: it still happens to find in the alleys of Naples women sitting in front of the house, frying in pots filled with boiling oil, these irregular balls of pasta then arranged in the classic "Cuoppo" the paper container for walking. from crispy crust and soft bake, grown dough pancakes are often stuffed with anchovies in oil, courgette flowers or small pieces of ham, to give even more taste to a much loved dish.

The recipe for grown pasta

Ingredients: 300 g flour, 10 g fresh brewer's yeast, 250 g water, a pinch of salt, peanut oil for frying

Method: in a large bowl put the flour and, in the center, the yeast dissolved in the water. Knead and when you have obtained a homogeneous but fairly liquid mixture, add the salt. In a large pan, heat the oil and then, with the help of two spoons, pour a small dose of dough, frying it and turning it gently so that it turns golden on each side. Once the crispy crust has formed, remove the pancakes with a slotted spoon and place them on a plate covered with a sheet of absorbent paper so that they lose excess oil. Salt if necessary and serve very hot.

Even more delicious variations

The flavor of these bread dough pancakes is very neutral and for this reason it lends itself to being stuffed with many ingredients. The difficulty lies in the consistency of the dough, which is very liquid. You can overcome this problem combining the ingredients with the dough and mixing them together. You will thus form balls composed of bread dough and vegetables, cheeses or salami, as you prefer. The most successful combinations are with anchovies in oil, diced cooked ham, speck or provolone, fish and vegetables such as courgette flowers, courgette cubes or bell peppers. To you the choice!

In the tutorial some more advice

The mystery of the smooth pen in the time of the Coronavirus – Italian Cuisine

Reviled and offended, abandoned in supermarkets, in reality they are among the most loved by Italians

These lines you read are a strenuous, decisive and powerful defense of the smooth pens, worthy of Alicia Florrick or Harvey Specter in their most televised moments.
I saw with horror the social accusers, those empty shelves except them, the only survivors, or abandoned: the smooth pens, in fact.
Sorry: but why don't you like them?
They are soft, delicate, they grab the sauce with delicate ease, they take over our palate by caressing it, they kiss the butter with the elegance of a geisha while playing shamisen, they sit with soft kindness in the remote corners of our oral cavity …
And you? You who run to the supermarket as if the world is about to end, leave them there?

One thing, this, inexplicable for me. I, who spent years looking for them when I lived abroad, just can't understand. What better are all the other pasta to be snubbed as if they were plagued?
Protagonists of the Norma, excellent with the classic salmon vodka, perfect in a baking dish with tomatoes … In short, of recipes, in our pages of "La Cucina Italiana", we have published many.

I came to this conclusion: the problem of smooth pens is entirely Milanese and I, until these technical tests of apocalypse, I had never noticed. So now a doubt arises: but how many guests at my table will have fake love for my favorite pasta without revealing the slightest sign of disappointment?

"I continue to look at this photo taken before at the supermarket and I think of the fact that the great defeat of this virus are the smooth pens that Italians make even when they are panicked and preparing for the apocalypse" (photo twitter. com / diodeglizilla).

Fortunately, the South is giving me tasty satisfactions. Yes, because it is here that one third of Italy's smooth pens are sold. We are talking about a total of 2.5 million tons, where Barilla is in first place with a 31% share. But legend has it that the first pasta factory to offer it was Voiello, and history has it that the smooth pen is the mother of all the other pens, which came only later, like the rigate. And if it were not so, and I want to believe that it is, how could those delicious penne alla sciaguratella with tomato, butter, garlic, extra virgin olive oil, chilli pepper, basil and cream be explained in Naples?

And then there are other numbers that make us understand the injustice of that abandonment on the shelves of Milanese supermarkets: the important market share that De Cecco occupies, which is around 15% of the total. Then, with smaller volumes, Pasta Rummo follows: here the penne are solidly placed in 13th place between spaghetti and bucatini, with 1.4% of the market against champion spaghetti.

And anyway, to avoid any misunderstanding, the Doxa reveals that the penne are on the podium in the ranking of short pasta for all Italians (it also includes the rigata, but oh well).

So tonight for dinner tonight … strictly smooth!

Smooth penne: our best recipes – Italian Cuisine

Smooth penne: the best sauces to make great recipes with a format not to be forgotten

Smooth pens are usually less popular than ribbed. To prove it, some packs of dejected smooth pens survived the great expenses of the Milanese put on alert by the threat of the Coronavirus. But why do we use them so little? Driven by the desire to collect as much sauce as possible, we usually rely on the dear old penne rigate, forgetting how perfect they are to prepare some dishes. Here are some perfect sauces to season smooth penne!

Smooth penne courgettes and shrimp

One of the classic sauces that make us fall in love with smooth penne is based on zucchini and shrimp. To respect the consistency of all the ingredients, we recommend dividing the raw courgettes into two parts: one will be steamed and pureed with extra virgin olive oil and pepper to season the penne, the other sautéed for a couple of minutes to keep the crunchiness. To prevent the shrimp from becoming chewy, we recommend blasting them for a minute with the sautéed courgettes and serve all with a minced black pepper.

Smooth penne with sauce

We like this recipe very much because it reminds us of the classic dishes of mothers in the 80s. To make it even better, we recommend preparing a light sauce with a clove of garlic, cherry tomatoes with peel, extra virgin olive oil and salt. If you love strong flavors, complete with a little grated salted ricotta.

Smooth penne with white sauce

If red ragù traditionally accompanies striped formats, smooth pens have a chance with white ragù. You can prepare it based on beef, pork, sausage, rabbit … To ensure that the ingredients are well blended, we recommend starting with the classic sauté, proceeding with cooking the meat, blending with white wine and following cooking by monitoring for presence some juice in the pot. To ensure that it does not dry out too much, we advise you to set aside a boiling broth or some milk. For an even richer result, use fresh cream.

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