My husband and I got imported tricolor fricelli in our Christmas stocking last year (compliments of my mom who went to a specialty store for it) and we instantly fell in love - he more than I actually.
Every once in a blue moon when I randomly came across this pasta I would buy it - I even bought a couple bags of it in Italy to bring home from our honeymoon.
Speaking of our honeymoon, we took a cooking class one day and actually learned how to make it from scratch - our dreams came true. ;) This pasta is A LOT of manual love and work - but so worth it. It's a more technical handmade pasta than I've ever attempted. Having a pasta partner always helps cut down on the time, though!
In addition to making handmade pasta, we took this a step further and made individual gratin bowls baked with homemade mozzarella, parm, and fresh tomato sauce. Talk about a Sunday dinner!
My mom has been itching to use her gratin bowls for over a year now - we always had some sort of excuse not to do it, but this time we just went all out. This is one of my most proud dishes to date, if you are adventurous and love to cook - this is a must try. :)
Ingredients: 6-8 people
Pasta:
- 4-5 cups of Flour
- 1/2 cup potato starch
- 1 - 1 1/4 cup of HOT water
- pinch of salt
- extra flour for dusting
- Wooden skewer
Tomato Sauce:
- 1-2 Jars Fresh tomato sauce - Italian people, (or pureed tomatoes)
- 1-2 Garlic cloves, chopped
- Drizzle of Olive Oil
- Pinch of Crushed Red Pepper
- 3-4 Fresh Basil Leaves
- Salt to taste
Gratin:- Mozarella (my mom makes her own - can't beat that)
- Parmigiano Reggiano
- Gratin dishes for individually served, or a large baking pan
Tomato Sauce:
My family makes our own jars of tomato sauce, but you can buy fresh tomatoes and make your own sauce, or get whole pealed tomato in cans and puree it. Heat the olive oil in a sauce pan and add in he garlic and hot pepper. Sauté the garlic then pour in the tomato sauce. Add in the basil leaves and salt to taste...Cook for about 30 min and set aside.
Fricelli:
Place the flour, potato starch, and salt on your counter or mixing table and mix them together. Hollow out the flour so it creates a wall; this way the water won't spill out.
Slowly pour half of the hot water in the center. You may want to use kitchen gloves so you don't burn your hands. Mix in some of the flour.
... until fully blended and soft. Let it sit for a few minutes.
Slice the log into 1 inch squares.
Next, roll each square into mini logs with the balls of your fingers. Roll them in your extra flour so it doesn't stick when you get to the next step.
Now for the hard part - place the skewer in the center of the mini dough log and carefully press down. Roll until the pasta shapes around the skewer. If you don't have enough flour on the dough, it will stick to the skewer and will not work. I had to re-do a several because there wasn't enough flour on the mini logs!
Carefully remove the fricelli from the skewer.
Place the completed pastas on a clean kitchen towel layered with semolina flour. The semolina flour is needed so they don't stick to each other or to the towel.
Cook the pasta in boiling, salted water. Once they begin to float, they are ready!
Carefully remove the pasta from the water and place into a large bowl.
Spoon a little sauce on the bottom so it covers the entire dish. Add in a layer of pasta, mozzarella, and grated parm. Top off with more sauce. Repeat.
Repeat one more time and you should fill your dish. If you have a deeper dish, then add layers until you are done. Add extra cheese and mozzarella to the top layer.
Bake at 375 degrees for approx 20 minutes, depending on your oven. The cheese should be melted and sizzling. Let sit for about 2-3 minutes before serving.
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