Maccheroni Alla Mugnaia Con Peperoncini Dolce Forte Food

MACCHERONI ALLA MUGNAIA CON PEPERONCINI DOLCE FORTE

Steps:

• In a small saucepan, warm the oil and soften the garlic for several minutes, permitting it to take on a little color. Add the paprika and the crushed chiles, stirring them about. Remove from the heat, cover the oil, and let it stand for 1/2 hour or longer. Reheat the oil slightly before saucing the mugnaia.
• On a large wooden board or a pastry marble or in a large bowl, place the flours with the fine sea salt in a flat mound and form a well in the center. Break the eggs directly into the well, add 2 tablespoons of water to the well, drawing the flour from the inside wall of the mound gently into the eggs and water.
• Using your hands, continue to work the elements into a rough paste. Should the paste be too dry, add the additional tablespoon of water-or even a few drops more, if necessary-and work it vigorously. Should the paste be too wet, add a few tablespoons more of the all-purpose flour and work it with the same vigor.
• Flour is never the same, even if it comes from wheat harvested from the same field and ground at the same mill on the same day by the same miller. Age and humidity act upon it, changing its structure so that it will drink in more or less moisture.
• Knead the dough, then, deliberately and rhythmically, for 8 to 10 minutes or more, until it is smooth and resilient to your touch. Wrap the dough in plastic wrap, permitting it a 20-minute rest to relax its hard-worked glutens.
• Don't bother with a pasta machine for this rustic dough. I suppose the shepherds just patted it out on a flat stone. You'll find it easy enough to roll by hand. Begin by dividing the dough into thirds, covering two of the pieces to prevent their drying while you work with the first.
• Lightly sprinkle semolina over the work surface and, wielding a long, heavy wooden rolling pin, roll out the dough in one direction, using an outward motion. Roll the dough into a circle, rotating it often as it stretches and grows thinner. When the dough is rolled and stretched to a somewhat uniform 1/4 inch, roll it up, strudel fashion, and, with a sharp knife, cut it into 1/4-inch ribbons. Unroll the ribbons, dusting them lightly with semolina, and place them on metal sheets or trays, lined with clean kitchen towels. Proceed to roll and cut the remaining portions of dough.
• The mugnaia will be ready to cook after 1/2 hour or so or will keep nicely, tucked in under the kitchen cloths, overnight. Do not refrigerate the pasta.
• To cook the mugnaia, bring abundant water to a rolling boil, add 2 tablespoons coarse sea salt and the pasta. Cover the pot. As the water returns to the boil, begin counting. Mugnaia will usually take 4 to 5 minutes to cook, but test the texture after 3 minutes and cook it just to al dente.
• Drain the pasta, leaving it somewhat wet, and return it to the still-warm cooking pot.
• Add the sauce and coat the mugnaia very well. Serve the mugnaia in shallow bowls and offer the bottle of olio santo (see page 155). Cheese is not a classic adornment to this dish. I imagine the shepherds grew weary, once in a while, of even their own good pecorino.