Agnolotti Del Plin

PASTA SHOWSTOPPER with Domenica Cooks AGNOLOTTI DEL PLIN AGNOLOTTI DEL PLIN These tiny, distinct ravioli are a specialty of Italy’s Piedmont region. Delicate egg pasta dough is stuffed with a rich meat filling and cut into small pockets. The filling for agnolotti is typically made from leftover roasted meat; here I’m substituting a rich mixture of ground pork and veal flavored with wine, nutmeg, and Parmigiano cheese. The “sauce” is simple: browned butter and plenty of freshly grated Parmigiano, though you can also toss in some sage leaves if you like. Makes about Ingredients 300 g “00” flour, pasta flour, or all-purpose flour; or 280 g flour plus 20 g (2 tablespoons) semola rimacinata or semolina flour 3 extra-large eggs, at room temperature; or 3 large eggs plus 1 extra, lightly beaten; or 3 large eggs and 1-3 tablespoons water 1/4 teaspoon fine salt (optional) Semola rimacinata or semolina flour for dusting the work surface Mixed meat Stuffing (see recipe) Browned Butter and Sage Sauce (see recipe) Freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano for serving Instructions 1. Measure 280g (2 cups + 2 Tbsp) flour into the work bowl of a food processor fitted with the metal blade. Add the salt and pulse to combine. Break 3 eggs into the work bowl; pulse until the mixture forms crumbs that look like small curds. Pinch together a bit of the mixture; it should form a soft ball. If the mixture seems dry, dribble in a little more egg or water by the tablespoon and pulse until the dough starts to come together. If the mixture is too soft and sticky, add more flour by the tablespoon and then pulse until the dough starts to come together. 2. Turn the dough out onto a clean, lightly floured work surface, preferably wood (unlike pie dough, pasta dough loves a warm surface). Knead the dough using the palm and heel of your hand, pushing the dough gently but firmly away, and then folding it over towards you. Rotate the dough a quarter turn and repeat the pushing and folding motion. Continue to knead for several minutes, until the dough is smooth and silky. Form it into a ball and place a bowl over it or wrap it tightly in plastic wrap. Let rest at room temperature for 30 to 60 minutes. 3. To stretch the dough, set up your pasta machine with the rollers on the widest setting (#1 on my Marcato Atlas hand-crank machine.) Scatter a little semolina or flour on the work surface around the machine and have more on hand for sprinkling on the dough. Dust a rimmed baking sheet or a clean tablecloth-covered surface with semolina; this is where you will put your shaped ravioli. 4. Cut the dough into 4 equal quarters and rewrap three. Knead the remaining piece briefly on the work surface. With a rolling pin or the heel of your hand, flatten the piece of dough into a thick oval 5 to 5 inches long and 3 inches wide. Feed the dough through the pasta machine and then lay it on the work surface. Fold the dough into thirds, as though you were folding a business letter; sprinkle lightly with semolina if sticky and pass it through the rollers again. Repeat the folding and rolling process a few more times using that first setting to help relax and smooth out the dough. 5. Move the roller setting to the next narrower notch and feed the strip of dough through the setting twice, sprinkling it with a little semolina if needed to keep it from sticking. Continue to pass the dough through the rollers twice on each setting until you have stretched it to 1/16- inch (2-mm) thickness—thin enough that you can see the shadow of your hand through it. On my machine, passing the dough through the second-narrowest setting (#6) produces a very thin pasta sheet, so I don’t go past that setting and I often stop after #5. If the sheet gets too long and unwieldy as you are stretching it, cut it in half crosswise and roll the halves out separately to the desired thickness. Cover the sheets with plastic wrap or a clean kitchen towel to prevent them from drying out. Roll out the remaining three pieces of dough in the same way, covering the sheets as you work. The sheets should remain moist and supple so that you can shape and seal them. 6. Lay one sheet of dough on your work surface. Spoon small mounds of filling (about 1/2 tsp) at 1-inch intervals along the length of the sheet. Dip a finger with water and lightly moisten the length of the dough right in front of (above) the mounds. Fold the bottom half of the sheet up over the filling, pressing out any air around the mounds. Use a fluted pastry cutter to cut along the length of the dough sheet about 1/2 inch from the filling. You’ll have a long rope of pasta with many bumps of filling running its length. With your thumb and forefinger, pinch together the spaces between the little mounds of dough without pressing down—you want to create a ridge between each mound; this is your “plin” (plin means ‘pinch’ in Piemontese dialect). Now zip the pastry cutter through each “ridge” just a few millimeters on either side of the mounds of filling. This action will create separate the mounds into individual agnolotti and create the signature pocket that gives the pasta its distinct shape. Transfer the agnolotti to a semolina- dusted tablecloth or rimmed baking sheet. Continue to fill and shape the agnolotti until you have used all the dough. 7. If cooking the agnolotti right away, leave them be. Otherwise, set them on semolina-dusted baking sheets and put them in the freezer until frozen solid, about 2 hours. Transfer them to a tightly lidded container and return them to the freezer for up to 1 month. 8. To cook, bring a large saucepan or shallow-ish pot of water to a rolling boil and salt it generously. Gently lower the ravioli into the water and cook until al dente, 3 to 5 minutes, cooking them in batches if necessary, to avoid crowding the pan. Use a skimmer to transfer the cooked ravioli to a warmed serving plate and spoon sauce over them. Sprinkle with freshly grated Parmigiano cheese and serve. .

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