Fresh Pastas Fuzi Mlinzi And Pasutice Food

PASTA POMODORO FOR TWO

Steps:

• Puree the tomatoes using an immersion blender or food processor. Set aside.
• In a saucepot over medium heat, combine the olive oil, pepper flakes and garlic. Gently toast the garlic until golden brown, being careful not to burn it. Add the tomatoes and bring to a simmer; simmer 5 to 8 minutes.
• Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add the rigatoni and cook for 2 minutes less than the package instructions. Reserve about 1/4 cup of the pasta water, then drain the pasta.
• Add the pasta to the pot with the sauce. Add 2 tablespoons of the reserved pasta water and cook until thickened, about 3 minutes. Add the butter, half of both cheeses and half of the basil and cook, tossing frequently, until the pasta is nicely coated. Season with salt if necessary.
• Transfer to a serving bowl, top with the remaining cheese and basil and drizzle with olive oil.

MLINCI (NORTH CROATIAN PASTA)

Steps:

• Make dough out of flour, egg, lard salt and some water. Leave it to rest not less than 30 minutes.
• Divide the dough into 8-10 little balls. Make thin surface out of each ball and put them into oven to dry (not more than 100°C).
• They must be dry and light yellow on both sides.
• Before cooking, crush mlinci into small parts (10 cm) and put them into salt boiling water.
• They should become soft very quickly, and when so, remove them with hollow spoon and put into hot poultry fat (from duck or turkey or chicken).
• Now fry them until all water evaporates and fat cover the pasta. Serve hot with roasted duck, turkey or chicken.

FRESH PASTA

Steps:

• Beat together the eggs, yolk and olive oil with a fork in a large spouted measuring cup.
• Combine the flour and a large pinch of kosher salt in the bowl of a food processor. Pulse briefly to combine. With the food processor motor running, gradually pour the egg mixture through the feed tube and let it run until the dough forms a ball around the blade. (If the dough is too sticky to form a ball, add a tablespoon or so of flour and process again. If it is too crumbly to form a ball, add cold water, 1 tablespoon at a time, and process again.) Once the dough forms a ball, process until smooth and springy, 20 to 30 seconds.
• Transfer the dough to a floured work surface and knead several times, until the dough comes together in a smooth ball.
• Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and let it rest at room temperature for 30 minutes. (The dough can be made 1 day ahead, wrapped and refrigerated. Let it come to room temperature before rolling.)
• Anchor a pasta machine to your countertop or secure the pasta attachment to a stand mixer. Set the machine to the widest setting. Unwrap the dough and cut it into 4 equal pieces. Wrap 3 of the pieces while you work with the fourth.
• Flatten the dough into a rectangle and lightly dust with flour. Roll it through the pasta machine at the widest setting. Fold the dough in thirds like a letter and feed it through the pasta machine. Repeat the folding and feeding of the dough through the machine 2 more times. (Rolling and folding in this manner will help strengthen and smooth the dough.)
• Set the pasta machine to the next setting (one setting thinner than the widest). Flour the dough as necessary and feed it through the machine. Repeat, feeding it through one more time.
• Adjust the machine to the next thinnest setting and feed the dough through 2 times as above. Continue changing the setting and feeding the dough through 2 times for each setting until you have fed the dough through the second-to-last setting. The dough should be thin enough so that you can see your hand through it.
• If you are cutting your pasta into noodles: Stop rolling the dough through after you have gone through the second-to-last setting.
• If you are making filled pasta, like ravioli: Change the machine to the final setting and feed the dough through.
• Cut the dough in half crosswise and cover it with plastic wrap. Repeat the folding, rolling and cutting process with the 3 remaining pieces of dough. Cover each piece of dough as you finish. You should have 8 pieces of dough total.
• If you are cutting your pasta into noodles: Affix the cutting attachment to the pasta machine. Choose the desired setting and feed the dough through. Lightly toss the noodles with a little flour on a baking sheet to prevent sticking and cover with a dry kitchen towel while you process the rest of the dough. Cook the noodles in a large pot of boiling salted water until al dente, 3 to 4 minutes.
• If you are making filled pasta: Proceed according to your recipe's instructions.

FRESH PASTAS: FUZI, MLINZI, AND PASUTICE

Steps:

• Put the flour in the bowl of a food processor and process for a few seconds to aerate. Mix the eggs, olive oil, and the water in a measuring cup or other spouted container. Start the food processor running, and pour in the liquids through the feed tube. Process for 30 to 40 seconds, until a soft dough forms and gathers on the blade. If the dough does not gather and is wet and sticky, process in more flour, in small additions. If it is dry and stiff, process in more water, by spoonfuls.
• Turn the dough out on a lightly floured surface and knead by hand for a minute, until it's smooth, soft, and stretchy. Press it into a disk, wrap it in plastic wrap, and let it rest at room temperature for 30 minutes before using. To use later, refrigerate for up to a day, or freeze it for a month or more. Defrost frozen dough in the refrigerator; return it to room temperature before rolling.
• Rolling and shaping pasutice and fuzi: To roll the dough in a standard home pasta-roller, cut it into six pieces. Keeping the dough lightly floured, roll the pieces at progressively narrower settings, gradually stretching them into strips about 2 feet long and as wide as your machine allows, usually about 5 inches. Cut each strip in half crosswise, so you have twelve strips about a foot in length. Lay them flat on a lightly floured surface, and keep covered with towels.
• One at a time, slice the strips lengthwise into long ribbons, about 1 1/2 inches wide, using a sharp knife or a rotary pasta-cutter and a ruler to guide the blade. You should get three such ribbons from a 5-inch-wide strip.
• To make pasutice: Cut across the ribbons with parallel diagonal slices, spaced 2 inches apart, forming diamond-shaped pasutice (also called maltagliati).
• Lay them flat on a lightly floured tray or sheet pan, spaced apart in a single layer. When the tray is filled, cover the pasutice with a lightly floured towel, and lay another layer of diamonds on top. Leave the pasutice at room temperature on the tray for a few hours. For longer storage, freeze on the tray until solid, then pack in ziplock plastic bags until you are ready to cook them.
• To make fuzi: First cut a pasta strip into ribbons, and then into diamond-shaped pasutice, as described above.
• Roll each diamond around a lightly floured chopstick or similar-sized thin rod to form a hollow tube, resembling a quill. Press on the overlapping pasta to seal the cylinder and slide it off the stick. Roll all the pasta diamonds into fuzi, using up all the remaining dough.
• Place the fuzi, spaced apart, on a lightly floured tray, and cover with a floured towel. Fill another tray if needed (do not put one layer on top of another, like pasutice). Leave at room temperature for a few hours, or freeze on the tray, then pack in plastic bags until you cook them.
• To make mlinzi: For mlinzi, you'll need a rolling pin or a pasta machine to roll the dough, and several half-sheet pans (12 by 18 inches) or other large baking sheets. Arrange your oven racks to hold as many baking sheets as fit comfortably inside, and preheat to 300˚.
• To roll mlinzi by hand, cut the dough into four pieces. On a lightly floured board, roll each piece to a rectangle about 11 by 17 inches (to fit in a half-sheet). To roll out in a pasta machine, cut the dough in six pieces and roll each piece at progressively narrower settings, into strips about 2 feet long and as wide as your machine allows. Always keep the dough lightly floured and roll until very thin, as for any fresh pasta.
• Lay the rolled pasta out flat on the sheet pans, cutting it as needed to fit. Arrange as many pans as you can in your oven, rotating them and shaking so they don't stick. When they appear dry, flip the mlinzi over. Bake a total of 18 to 20 minutes, until the mlinzi are completely crisp and crack apart when bent. They should be pale gold all over, or even darker, for a nuttier taste.
• Let the mlinzi cool on the sheet pans, or move to wire racks. When all the mlinzi sheets are baked and cool, stack them up on a tray and leave them uncovered, in a dry place, so the air circulates between the sheets and they remain crisp.

FRESH PASTA

Steps:

• Heap the flour, and make a well in it. Break the eggs into the well. Beat eggs with a fork. Stir into the flour from the bottom of the well with the fork until the dough in the center is smooth or shiny.
• With your hands, gradually incorporate the flour from the outside of the well toward the center, kneading gently until the mass of dough comes together. Knead the dough until it is smooth and resilient. You may need to add more flour, or you may not be able to incorporate all of the flour, depending on the humidity and the size of the eggs. If the dough is sticky or extremely pliable, knead more flour into it.
• Divide the dough into three portions, cover with plastic wrap or an overturned bowl, and allow to rest for at least 30 minutes.
• Roll the dough out very thin on a lightly floured surface, one portion at a time. If you have a pasta machine, follow the manufacturer's instructions for rolling out the dough into sheets about 1 millimeter thick. Use as desired.