by Victor Rallo

Homemade pasta is like a fluffy white cloud: light, soft, tender and delicious. Good pasta makes the sauce come to life and if done correctly, forms a beautiful harmony like a great Beatles tune. About 10 years ago during a visit to Italy, I stopped at the Bottene factory in Vincenza then at Molino Caputo in Napoli. After seeing the facilities with my own eyes, I knew I could make homemade pasta, gnocchi and ravioli with the same ingredients and machines used in Italy.

I was told by all the pundits it could not be done but I would prove them wrong and succeed in making the best homemade pasta, ravioli and gnocchi in New Jersey, and possibly the entire East coast.

Pasta has been made by hand “fatto a mano” for many, many centuries with one simple recipe: flour, water, salt, and eggs if desired. But its simplicity has inherent complexities. What type of flour? Why that flour? How much water? Eggs or no eggs? Then comes the choice of machine, of which there are plenty to choose from, but only a few that process the dough with hand-like movements.

So I am going to reveal some of my own research to help pasta lovers around the world.

1. Use Caputo flour. I use Caputo “00” pasta fresca e gnocchi flour mixed with Caputo semolina flour. Based on your water, mixer, etc. you will have to judge what’s best for you. Caputo has many flours, with different millings and protein contents.
2. The machine: clearly doing it by hand with grandma’s Imperia hand crank machine is the preferred method, but when you are making pasta for busy restaurants you need something automatic. I love the Bottene machines (we own 6) because they are made very well and priced very fairly, but maybe not so well priced right now with the euro at 1.48 at the time of this writing. Bottene machines are work horses and they have a 100 different dies. The magic here is the dies (the piece that the pasta extrudes from) are all brass, a very soft metal that dings and dents and gives the pasta its identity, and more importantly makes the pasta rough so the sauce sticks to it, yummy. Buy Bottene the machines, they are worth every penny.
3. Always use sea salt.
4. Don’t be shy, an egg or two makes great pasta better.
5. Leave the dough wet, it is hard to handle and work with but makes lighter pasta.
6. When making gnocchi use impastata ricotta. It is drier than regular ricotta, so you need less flour, and use less flour for lighter gnocchi. My trick: use 1 egg per 3 pounds of cheese. Please only use Caputo gnocchi flour.

The sauce choices are unlimited: pesto, pomodoro, puttanesca, bolognese, marina, alfredo, carbonara, norma …. Sit down and decide to do it right! Bring some wholesome goodness to your family and friends. Make some homemade pasta with your favorite sauce, open a bottle of wine and float up to pasta heaven.

 

 

www.bottene.net

www.molinocaputo.it

 

 

Join us the week of March 14 – 20 in Celebration of Saint Josephs Day

We will be serving St. Josephs Pasta all week

Saint Josephs Day March 19, 2010

A note from Victor Rallo Jr.

My Father loved this day and would always cook a feast for family and friends. I grew up eating pasta con sarde and the traditional sfinge on St. Josephs day. After my father passed away in 2002 I promised to keep the tradition alive, please join us and enjoy this special occasion.

Customs of the Day

St. Joseph’s Day is a big Feast for Italians because in the Middle Ages, God, through St. Joseph’s intercessions, saved the Sicilians from a very serious drought. So in his honor, the custom is for all to wear red, in the same way that green is worn on St. Patrick’s Day.

Today, after Mass (at least in parishes with large Italian populations), a big altar (“la tavola di San Giuse” or “St. Joseph’s Table”) is laden with food contributed by everyone (note that all these St. Joseph celebrations might take place on the nearest, most convenient weekend). Different Italian regions celebrate this day differently, but all involve special meatless foods: minestrone, pasta with breadcrumbs (the breadcrumbs symbolize the sawdust that would have covered St. Joseph’s floor), seafood, Sfinge di San Giuseppe, and, always, fava beans, which are considered “lucky” because during the drought, the fava thrived while other crops failed (recipes below).

The table — which is always blessed by a priest — will be in three tiers, symbolizing the Most Holy Trinity. The top tier will hold a statue of St. Joseph surrounded by flowers and greenery. The other tiers might hold, in addition to the food: flowers (especially lilies); candles; figurines and symbolic breads and pastries shaped like a monstrance, chalices, fishes, doves, baskets, St. Joseph’s staff, lilies, the Sacred and Immaculate Hearts, carpentry tools, etc.; 12 fishes symbolizing the 12 Apostles; wine symbolizing the miracle at Cana; pineapple symbolizing hospitality; lemons for “luck”; bread and wine (symbolizing the Last Supper); and pictures of the dead. There will also be a basket in which the faithful place prayer petitions.

The cry “Viva la tavola di San Giuse!” begins the feasting and is heard throughout the day. When the eating is done, the St. Joseph’s altar is smashed, and then three children dressed as the Holy Family will knock on three doors, asking for shelter. They will be refused at the first two, and welcomed at the third, in memory of the Holy Family’s seeking of hospitality just before Christ was born. This re-enactment is called “Tupa Tupa,” meaning “Knock Knock.”

The day ends with each participant taking home a bag that might be filled with bread, fruit, pastries, cookies, a medal of St. Joseph, a Holy Card and/or a blessed fava bean. Keep your “lucky bean,” and let it remind you to pray to St. Joseph. (The Litany of St. Joseph would be most appropriate today! You can download the Litany, in Microsoft Word .doc format, in English and in Latin).

Recipes:

Pasta di San Giuseppe (pasta with breadcrumbs that symbolize sawdust)

Bucatini or Perciatelli pasta

Sauce:
2 TBSP olive oil
5 cloves garlic, chopped
pinch of red pepper flakes
2 cups chopped fresh fennel
2 cups crushed tomatoes
2 TBSP tomato paste
1 TBSP chopped fresh basil
4 cans of drained, skinless, boneless sardines

Heat oil in large pot, and saute in it the garlic and pepper flakes. Add the fennel, tomatoes, paste, and basil. Cover and let simmer 30 minutes ’til fennel is tender. Add the sardines and simmer a few more minutes.

Topping:
1 TBSP olive oil
1 cup fine homemade breadcrumbs

Heat oil, and add crumbs and heat until golden brown. Pour sauce over the pasta, then sprinkle with the breadcrumbs.
Traditional St. Josephs Reading

Sermon 2, On St Joseph
By St. Bernardine of Siena

This is the general rule that applies to all individual graces given to a rational creature. Whenever divine grace selects someone to receive a particular grace, or some especially favoured position, all the gifts for his state are given to that person, and. enrich him abundantly.

This is especially true of that holy man Joseph, the supposed father of our Lord Jesus Christ, and true husband of the queen of the world and of the angels. He was chosen by the eternal Father to be the faithful foster-parent and guardian of the most precious treasures of God, his Son and his spouse. This was the task which he so faithfully carried out. For this, the Lord said to him, “Good and faithful servant, enter into the joy of your Lord.”

A comparison can be made between Joseph and the whole Church of Christ. Joseph was the specially chosen man through whom and under whom Christ entered the world fittingly and in an appropriate way. So, if the whole Church is in the debt of the Virgin Mary, since, through her, it was able to receive the Christ, surely after her, it also owes to Joseph special thanks and veneration.

For he it is who marks the closing of the old testament. In him the dignity of the prophets and patriarchs achieves its promised fulfilment. Moreover; he alone possessed in the flesh what God in his goodness promised to them over and again.

It is beyond doubt that Christ did not deny to Joseph in heaven that intimacy, respect, and high honour which he showed to him as to a father during his own human life, but rather completed and perfected it. Justifiably the words of the Lord should be applied to him, “Enter into the joy of your Lord.” Although it is the joy of eternal happiness that comes into the heart of man, the Lord prefers to say to him “enter into joy”. The mystical implication is that this joy is not just inside man, but surrounds him everywhere and absorbs him, as if he were plunged in an infinite abyss.

Therefore be mindful of us, blessed Joseph, and intercede for us with Him Whom men thought to be your Son. Win for us the favour of the most Blessed Virgin your spouse, the mother of Him Who lives and reigns with the Holy Spirit through ages unending. Amen.

 

Jersey Shore Restaurant Week 2011

April 1-10

3 Course Pre-Fixe Dinner $30.10

ANTIPASTI & INSALATE

Caesar: fresh romaine, traditional Caesar dressing shaved Reggiano, foccaccia toast

Escarola: crisp escarole, granny smith apples, candied walnuts and shaved provolone

 

Peperoni: Bufala mozzarella and house roasted peppers with extra virgin olive oil, fresh basil & ciabatta toast

 

Cozze: fresh black shell mussels, garlic, white wine, ceci beans, Italian parsley

 

Calamari: golden fried calamari, with homemade marinara sauce

 

PIATTI DEL GIORNO

 

Rigatoni Melanzane: House made rigatoni, crispy Parmigiana coated eggplant, filetto di pomodoro and fresh mozzarella

Frutti di Mare: House made chitarra pasta, mussels, clams, calamari, pomodoro fresco, basil &

extra virgin olive oil

 

Malfadine Bolognese : Northern Italian meat sauce with veal, beef and pork over house made ruffled papardelle and finshed with mascarpone cheese

 

Scarpariello – Bell and Evans Frenched chicken breast, Italian sausage, hot peppers, capers, olive oil and red wine vinegar, served over rapini flowers and fingerling potatoes

 

Pollo Francese – Tender chicken cutlet, white wine, capers and lemon with creamy

spinach risotto and lemon gremolata

 

Sogliola Milanese – Fresh hand cut filet of sole, breaded and pan fried in extra virgin olive oil, arugula and red onion salad, beefsteak tomato and grilled lemon

 

Salmone – Grilled King Salmon filet, with sautéed fresh Swiss chard and golden and red beet salad

Saltimbocca – Pork tenderloin pounded thin with Prosciutto di Parma, fresh sage, sauté escarole, and crispy fingerling potato

 

Costata di Manzo – Slow roasted beef short rib, with root vegetables and Chianti wine, sweet potato puree and brussel sprouts with pancetta

 

 

DOLCI

Cannoli– Miniature chocolate and traditional cannoli filled with homemade cannoli cream

Panna Cotta– Vanilla Italian custard, with fresh berries

 

Tiramisu – The classic “pick me up” espresso mascarpone custard with lady fingers, milk chocolate and fresh cream

No substitutions
Gratuity added to parties of 6 or more
Menu Subject to Change Without Notice

Served Until 7pm on Saturday