Maccheroni alla Mugnaia con Peperoncini Dolce Forte
- 1 cup extra-virgin olive oil
- 4 to 6 fat cloves of garlic, peeled, crushed, and minced
- 1 tablespoon sweet ground paprika
- 1 to 2 small, dried red chiles, crushed, or 1/3 to 2/3 teaspoon dried chile flakes
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- 1 cup fine semolina (sometimes labeled pasta flour), plus additional as needed
- 1/4 cup stone-ground whole wheat flour
- 1 teaspoon fine sea salt
- 2 large eggs
- 2 to 3 tablespoons water
- 2 tablespoons coarse sea salt
- 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 wateror even a few drops more, if necessaryand 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.
- Dont bother with a pasta machine for this rustic dough.
- I suppose the shepherds just patted it out on a flat stone.
- Youll 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.
extravirgin olive oil, garlic, sweet ground paprika, red chiles, flour, fine semolina, stoneground, salt, eggs, water, salt
Taken from www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/maccheroni-alla-mugnaia-con-peperoncini-dolce-forte-391086 (may not work)