This is a winter recipe from the Val D'Aosta, and will be a rather nice one-course meal. If you cannot find chestnut flour with which to make the pasta, regular store-bought fettuccine will also work, as would whole-wheat pasta. To serve 4:
Prep Time: 60 minutes
Cook Time: 2 hours, 20 minutes
Ingredients:
- ** For The Sauce **
- A Savoy Cabbage
- 2/3 pound (300 g) spare ribs
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- A sprig of fresh rosemary
- 4-6 leaves fresh sage
- A bay leaf
- 3/5 cup (150 ml) dry white wine
- 2 cups (500 ml) vegetable broth or bouillon
- Salt and pepper to taste
- ** For the Pasta **
- 1 1/4 cups (150 g) chestnut flour
- 4/5 cup (100 g) all purpose unbleached flour
- 2 eggs
- 1 yolk
- A pinch of salt
Preparation:
Core the cabbage and remove and discard any blemished outer leaves. Separate the remaining leaves, rinse them, and blanch them in a pot of lightly salted boiling water. Remove them to a cloth to drain and cool.
Heat the oil in a pot large enough to contain the cabbage leaves and add the sage, rosemary, and bay leaves. When their aromas emerge, add the pork ribs and cook a few minutes, stirring them about so all sides brown lightly, and then add the wine and a little of the vegetable broth. Cover and simmer for about 40 minutes.
While the meat is simmering, cut the cabbage leaves into strips. Remove the spare ribs from the pot and replace them with the cabbage leaves, giving them a stir to coat them with the pan drippings. Bone the ribs, discarding fat if you would rather a lighter dish, and dice the meat. Return it to the pot with the cabbage leaves and continue simmering, adding more broth as necessary to keep the cabbage from drying out.
If you are making the pasta from scratch, it is now time to do so:
Combine the two kinds of flour and make a mound of them on your work surface. Scoop a well in the center of the mound, add a pinch of salt, and then the two eggs and the yolk. Work the mixture to obtain a dough, and knead it well, until it is smooth and elastic -- at least 10 minutes.
Put a towel over a chair back.
If you have a pasta machine, either hand-operated or electric, use it to make the fettuccine. If you do not, divide the dough into two pieces and roll the first out dime-thin (about 1 mm). Cut it into thin strips and hang them over the towel to dry a little. Repeat the process with the second strip.
Bring a pot of water to a rolling boil and salt it. Cook the tagliatelle until they are barely al dente, 3-4 minutes at the most, drain them, and season them with the cabbage sauce. Add a generous dusting of freshly ground pepper and serve at once, with a red wine, for example a Petit Rouge from the Valle D'Aosta, or a Bardolino from the Veneto.
Heat the oil in a pot large enough to contain the cabbage leaves and add the sage, rosemary, and bay leaves. When their aromas emerge, add the pork ribs and cook a few minutes, stirring them about so all sides brown lightly, and then add the wine and a little of the vegetable broth. Cover and simmer for about 40 minutes.
While the meat is simmering, cut the cabbage leaves into strips. Remove the spare ribs from the pot and replace them with the cabbage leaves, giving them a stir to coat them with the pan drippings. Bone the ribs, discarding fat if you would rather a lighter dish, and dice the meat. Return it to the pot with the cabbage leaves and continue simmering, adding more broth as necessary to keep the cabbage from drying out.
If you are making the pasta from scratch, it is now time to do so:
Combine the two kinds of flour and make a mound of them on your work surface. Scoop a well in the center of the mound, add a pinch of salt, and then the two eggs and the yolk. Work the mixture to obtain a dough, and knead it well, until it is smooth and elastic -- at least 10 minutes.
Put a towel over a chair back.
If you have a pasta machine, either hand-operated or electric, use it to make the fettuccine. If you do not, divide the dough into two pieces and roll the first out dime-thin (about 1 mm). Cut it into thin strips and hang them over the towel to dry a little. Repeat the process with the second strip.
Bring a pot of water to a rolling boil and salt it. Cook the tagliatelle until they are barely al dente, 3-4 minutes at the most, drain them, and season them with the cabbage sauce. Add a generous dusting of freshly ground pepper and serve at once, with a red wine, for example a Petit Rouge from the Valle D'Aosta, or a Bardolino from the Veneto.
