AUNTIE PASTA: Semola Battuta

SARONNO, Italy - There was an interesting question last week from a reader who calls herself Muzik Girl. 

 Beautiful Bari

“Hi there,” she wrote, ‘I'm really interested in figuring out the name of a soup that my grandmother used to make for her children. The recipe has been passed onto us but my father calls it "Belly Band" because he never understood the Italian name for it and that's the closest thing he could come up with. It's a basic chicken or turkey stock but the pasta is made of cream of wheat, egg, salt, pepper and fresh parsley.

Do you have any idea what this soup is called in Italian? If not, do you have any suggestions as to how I can figure this out other than to do a random Google search? My grandmother's family came from the Bari region in Puglia. Any thoughts or suggestions would be very helpful. Thank you.”

 Easy as One, Two, Three

The recipe I think she’s looking for is a Pugliese standard called semola Battuta. It’s an old, traditional Pugliese recipe that uses just a few ingredients and delivers a great taste.

 

While you may not think of food as family history, the truth is we all carry the memories of the foods we ate as kids, good and bad, and they make up a large part of us. Speaking for myself, I often cook things based on taste memories, flavors from my grandmother’s kitchen that have forever stayed with me. And judging from Muzik Girl’s email, apparently her family does the same thing. 

I have a feeling that this recipe, or a variation or this recipe, is found throughout Italy. It may have a different name, but the concept is the same.  My grandmother used to make something very similar using chicken stock, and my family is from Rome. I was only five years old, so I don't remember if it had a name or not, but I do remember the taste.

Semola, a Key Ingredient

Semola Battuta

Ingredients
200 gr of semolina or Cream of Wheat (semola di grano duro)
1 egg
water or stock (as needed) 

Finely chopped parsley  

On a pastry board or in a bowl, make a well in the center of the flour, add the egg and water (or stock) and parsley and mix together. Don’t mix too long – it has to crumble. Then chop it with a knife to obtain the texture you want. Add the mix to your soup.

Vegetable Broth  

Ingredients

2 carrots

1 tomato 

1 onion  

2 zucchine
3 medium size potatoes

salt
water

Chop the vegetables and put them in a pot, cover with water and cook for 45 minutes over medium/low heat.   Puree the cooked vegetables in a blender or an Italian passavedure and add to the soup.  Bring to a boil and add the semola Battuta and cook for 3-4 minutes. Serve hot with a sprinkle of freshly grated cheese. 

Semola Battuta can be served with any type of stock or soup. This is one of those recipes handed down from generation to generation. I hope the one I’ve printed is the one Muzik Girl was thinking of. 

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AUNTIE PASTA: Bella Bari

SARONNO,  Italy – All that reminiscing last Sunday about Bari and the trays of handmade orecchiette drying outside of the houses in the historic center got me hankering for a taste of Puglia.  

Bari, Italy

Pugliese food is simple to make and simply delicious. There are no complicated sauces or techniques needed, just some good Pugliese olive oil, a little garlic and the freshest ingredients available. You can find both fresh and dried orecchiette in the grocery stores in Saronno and I will often buy fresh orecchiette and freeze them. I like the texture of fresh pasta better (even after its been frozen) than dried. Probably because my grandmother used to make pasta and its a texture I grew up with.

There are beautiful, blood red pomodorini –  cherry tomatoes - in the markets as well, so it’s the perfect time to make Orecchiette with Pomodorini. 

The weatherman is promising a break in the 80 degree weather we are having, so I’m thinking about making soup over the weekend. I know 70 degrees isn’t exactly soup weather but this recipe for bean, barley and chickpea is so simple and delicious I’m anxious to fast forward the season.

The original recipe calls for dried beans and chickpeas, but it was obviously written by people who have more time on their hands than I have, so I find canned beans (you can use whatever kind you like) and canned chickpeas just as good. Barley cooks in 15-20 minutes and does not need to soak for hours like the beans and chickpeas.  

Orecchiette with Cherry Tomatoes

 Orecchiette with Pomodorini 

 Serves 4

400 grams of fresh orecchiette  

300 grams di arugula (sometimes called rocket)

10 mature cherry tomatoes

2 cloves of garlic spicchi di aglio

10 black olives  

1/2 of a hot chili pepper or red pepper flakes

50 grams  di aged ricotta  (or pecorino)

extravergin olive oil

salt

2 tablespoons of toasted breadcrumbs (optional) 

Wash the arugula under running water and dry. Boil it in salted water for about 2 minutes, remove with a slotted spoon and let cool. Then squeeze well to remove excess water. Save the cooking water for the pasta.

Wash and peel the cherry tomatoes, cut them into quarters and place in a colander. Sprinkle with coarse salt and set aside. Peel the garlic and dice it, along with the pitted olives.

Heat 4 tablespoons of extravirgin olive oil in a saucepan, add the chopped garlic and olives, the drained cherry tomatoes, chili pepper, stir and cook over moderate heat for about 5 minutes.

Add the arugula, season with salt and turn off the flame. Cook the orecchiette in the same water that the arugula cooked in. When the pasta is cooked, (if you are using fresh orecchiette they cooked rather quickly), drain and put them back in the pot and add the sauce. Mix and cook together for 30 seconds. Turn off the flame. Serve with a grated ricotta or pecorino, a few drops of olive oil and a sprinkle of toasted breadcrumbs.

 Bean, Barley and Chickpea Soup

Bean, Barley and Chickpea Soup

Serves 4

100 grams of of dried beans

100 grams of dried chickpeas

100 grams of barley  

4 Porcini mushrooms (medium size)

1 onion  

1 clove of garlic 

½ liter of hot vegetable broth

Two liters of hot water

extravirgin olive oil 

sprig of fresh rosemary

salt

pepper

Put a little olive oil in a soup pot. Add the chopped onions and garlic and cook for a few minutes until the onions are translucent. 

Clean the mushrooms with a damp cloth and cut off the tip of the stem. Then chop. Add the cleaned, chopped mushrooms and cook for a few more minutes. 

Add the hot water and the broth, stir, and then add the barley. Let simmer for 20 minutes on a low flame, until the barley is cooked, then add the beans (drained) and chickpeas (drained) and fresh rosemary. 

Simmer for another 20 – 30 minutes over very low heat. Season with salt (if needed). Turn off flame and let sit for at least half an hour to develop the flavor, then gently reheat if necessary. This soup shouldn't be served boiling hot. Serve topped with a few drops of good extravirgin olive oil.

Buon Appetito