DIFFICULTY: 3
35 minutes
INGREDIENTS PER 3 PEOPLE
Ingredients for the pasta dough:
Semolina flour of good quality, 3.5 Oz.
Warm water (I recommend weighing the water), 1,75 Oz.
Salt, a pinch
Ingredients for the herb dressing:
Garlic clove, 1 fresh
Shelled pistachios, lightly toasted in a dry skillet, 3 tablespoons
Fine sea salt , 1/2 teaspoon
Freshly harvested parsley, washed in cold water and patted dry, 1 Oz leaves
Freshly harvested marjoram, washed in cold water and patted dry, 0,3 Oz leaves
Freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano, 1 Oz
Freshly grated pecorino (see Note below), 0, 4 Oz
Extra Virgin olive oil, 1 tablespoon
PROCEDURE
Make a dough kneading the ingredients until nice and smooth. Let it rest, well covered, for half an hour or so.
Working on the kneading board, roll the dough into a thick salami and cut it into 5-6 pieces. Keep them covered while you shape spirali. Roll each piece into a pencil-size snake (3/8 inch thick), then cut into 5/8 inch long pieces.
Shape each small piece into a spirale using a bamboo sushi rolling mat. Lay a piece of dough on the mat on a diagonal with respect to the slats. Then, put the index and middle finger on the dough: they will completely cover it. While applying pressure, drag the dough towards you and sideways, so that it travels on a short diagonal path. The surface of the resulting pasta dough curl will have spiral ridges. Practice will teach your hands to apply the right amount of pressure to the dough, in order to thin it without making holes.
Lay spirali out on a lightly floured section of the kneading board (or a baking sheet lined with a cotton kitchen towel).
Repeat until you have used up the prepared dough.
Cook spirali and dress them as you like. The following dressing is just a suggestion.
Mince garlic clove and pistachios in the food processor. Add salt, parsley and marjoram leaves, then turn on the food processor again. When they are minced, add the cheeses.
With the food processor running, slowly add the oil through the feeding tube. Process only until blended, to avoid overheating the mixture by attrition. Use some immediately, move the rest to a storage container and refrigerate. Note that this will make a rather dense mix: you will thin it later using some pasta cooking water.
Bring a small pot of water to a boil, add some coarse salt, stir and then toss the spirali in it. The time needed to cook them is a bit variable, depending on their size and on how much dry they are, but it is not long.
In the meantime, take a tablespoon of herbs dressing and put it in a bowl. Pour a tablespoon of pasta cooking water on it and stir well to make a sauce.
When the spirali are ready, pour a glass of cold water in the pot, stir and drain leaving a little bit of the cooking water clinging to them. Drop the pasta into the bowl with the herb dressing. Stir well. Serve immediately.
Thanks to: Briciole