Saturday 24 September 2011

What's really important in life?

The beautiful and inspiring images of 'Terra Madre', a video from award-winning Italian director Ermanno Olmi. It's about food, love, nature and slow living.

photo courtesy of cultomedia.org

See the trailer to this great movie:
https://youtu.be/Iv0kO2tKXys

Sunday 18 September 2011

Fresh Tagliatelle (and no machine in sight!)


Making pasta by hand is, nowadays, a rare art. This is why, when I moved to Sabina from Rome years ago, it was important for me to learn this art directly from my next-door neighbour Lina, who has been making fresh pasta since she was little. Now I'd like to share this fresh pasta recipe with my blog readers. You can experiment with different types of flour, such as regular wheat, semolina (durum wheat), wholemeal, spelt. With practice, the whole process shouldn't take more than half an hour from start to finish: just enough time to let your favourite pasta sauce cook on the side.

Tagliatelle Fresche - Serves 6
350g of flour, 3 to 4 eggs (according to size).

Create a well in the middle of the flour and break the eggs into the centre. Carefully mix the eggs with a fork as if you were making an omelette. Once eggs and flour begin to mix, start working the dough with your hands until mixture is smooth but firm. Let dough rest for 20 - 30 mins. Roll out mixture with a rolling pin until thin and as circular as possible. Keep dusting with flour. Gently roll it up and cut into thin slices with a knife to make tagliatelle. They will cook in salty boiling water in a few minutes.