October 29th
2009
Show me a neat – doable – pasta shape and I’m sold. It doesn’t take much to twist my arm and that’s what happened when I first laid hands on a dear friend’s book. Anonyme Köche is the name of Claudio Del Principe’s food blog as well as his brand new book and besides the fact, that I think he is a super talented writer and has the most wonderful name (Del Principe – I’m sure others would kill pay for his name, myself included), his book is a perfect way to introduce this cool blog to those who prefer a real book over its digital alter ego.
Claudio says that this recipe will serve four shepherds, which begs the conclusion that shepherds indeed must have a very healthy appetite. I halved the amount of pasta that went into the soup and still, we devoured it for two days in a row, providing us with six gracious portions. But since it was SO GOOD, this is no complaint, rather an extra big THANK YOU to the author ;)
Below you’ll find Claudio’s original recipe and the small changes I’ve made in brackets – this is the perfect comfort food for upcoming foggy, frosty autumn days!
Heat the olive oil in a large pot and sauté the gently squeezed garlic cloves, the bay leaves, the celery root (coarsely cubed) as well as the chili. Add the mashed tomatoes (I used tomato paste instead, about half of the original amount) as well as the rinsed black lentils (I used Pardina) and fill up with about 700 ml of water. Season very well with salt and black pepper and reduce over low to medium heat until the lentils are soft to the bite, about 30 minutes (I had to add more liquid).
Prepare the pasta before: Make a pasta dough from the flour and the eggs and add a little water if necessary. Roll out pretty thin with your pasta machine, then cut in thin stripes and lastly in tiny rectangles (6×6mm) called Quadrettini or Quadrucci. If you’re not in the mood for making pasta, buy fresh Tagliatelle and cut them into little rectangles with a huge knife. Cook in boiling salt water for 2 or 3 minutes and – important! – keep the cooking water when draining.
Add the Quadrettini to the lentils (I used only half of the pasta, next time I would also reduce the amount of lentils) and fill with as much of the reserved pasta water as necessary until you receive a tempting, shiny soup with a wonderful aroma. Whoever wants to pimp this soup with bacon or pancetta may do so, just add it finely chopped in the beginning.
Past'e lenticchie á la Claudio
Recipe source: Anonyme Köche, Claudio Del Principe, p. 124
Prep time: ~1 hours
.
Ingredients (serves 4):
8 tbsp olive oil
2 cloves garlic, gently squeezed
2 bay leaves
optional: pancetta or bacon
50 g celery root or 1 celery stalk
1/2 small chili (peperoncino)
1/2 celery tuber, coarsely chopped
8 tbsp mashed tomatoes
about 300 g black lentils
salt, pepper
.
Pasta (Quadrettini)
400g all-purpose flour
4 eggs
I think Claudios recipe - like his book - is great! And I agree with you: he is a very talented writer!!!
What a soul-warming dish. And those homemade quadrettini! wow - that's going the extra mile.
you can't beat fresh pasta. I am currently looking out to buy a pasta maker. any tips?
Hi Tobias, Mine is a classic Marcato Atlas and it worked flawless for more than 12 years now...
This sounds amazing! I love one-pot dishes that I can dip into for days.
Especially gorgeous photographs this week.
I've reallyyy been wanting to make pasta for a LONG time now!! This is really convincing me :)
This looks like quite a delicious and savory dish, it must have such an interesting flavor with the celery root and pancetta. Yummy!
Nicole, your photos are stunning. I've been meaning to try your pink pasta for a while but I'm a little intimidated by the whole hand-made deal. Love to see your blog update in my RSS reader. :)
Ja, das sind die richtigen Rezepte für den Winter. Hier ein Rezept für eine Minestrone.
Linsen in Kombination mit Pasta = wunderbar!
Sounds delicious!
But I was told not to salten lentils and beans before cooking because they wouldn`t get soft. Isn`t that true?
I fell in love with your blog some weeks ago (where was I living before, I don't know...) and yesterday I finally received you book!
It's DELICIOUS! I've already noticed hundreds of recipes to try as soon as possible!
Great job!
ciao
Giulia
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This looks fantastic - fresh pasta always impresses and is worth the effort
Am I flattered or am I flattered?
Nicky you are amazing! Didn't I tell you, yours is gonna look a hundred times better than mine? You've charmed me! Thank you very much.
Regarding the amount of tomatoes, it's up to everyone's taste. Some may like a rather thick soup with full tomato taste, others (even in my family) accept just a hint of tomato.
@Anke: It depends wich type of lentils you got. Usually my Lenticchie di S. Stefano di Sessanio cook pretty easy compared with beans. But if you want to be sure, yes, salt only at the end.
pasta e...lenticchi....fagioli....ceci...patate...alles eines köstlicher als das andere. und so schön "tradizionale". genau nach meinem geschmack
It's seem to be a wunderful combination
@Claudio: Thank you for your advice! I`ll just try the soup with my "Beluga"-lentils.
Nicky- The pasta photo drew me in..like always on your blog. The recipe looks fabulous. Will try it soon.
Fresh pasta is always special, and this soup is right in time for the season (at least in upstate New York, where I live). Growing up,my father would corral us to make pasta on Sunday mornings and by lunch time we would all be happily dusted in flour. I was going to make white bean soup tomorrow, but maybe now my mind is changed...
Mmmmmm... we make a version of this at home, but I've never made fresh pasta for it before. We also add some beans to it, so the texture is pretty different. This sounds great though and I'm definitely bookmarking it for the next time I feel like soup :)
gorgeous photos!
I love your blog! Such an inspiration. The food and photos looks gorgeous.
Hate to admit this...but I have never made pasta! I think if I ever do, I will have it with something simple like butter and Parmesan- just to taste what I worked so hard on. If there is any left over? Then it can go into your soup recipe!
This recipe is right on the button for the currebt economic climate - it satisfies both the need to be creative and the need to be careful with our budgets. Beautiful photography, too.
Jo
It is sometimes amazing to see how similar climate and similar food resources result in exactly the same recipes in different countries. I was surprised to see this soup as an Italian recipe, it is a very common dish in Turkey especially as you go more towards the south, southeast. Cheap, healthy and simple (of course we usually buy the pasta) it was cooked very frequently in our childhood home.
There are two basic differences tough. First, we don't add any kind of meat. We usually mix the garlic with a good amount of vinegar and add as a last minute sauce. I really advise using vinegar, it gives a nice touch. Any ideas which part of Italy this soup belongs to ?
Isin, I know what you are talking about, I know this dish from Antep. In Italy usually it is from the south, too; both Calabria and Apulia have their versions and claim to be the originators. These "original" versions don't have any meat either, it is supposed to be a "poor" dish; but as Nicky wrote, I think as an optional pancetta, bacon or sucuk(!) would be a nice touch.
A very healthy meal! Yummy!
hmm pasta is too yummi..and tasty..and good for health
This is a great recipe.
'Pasta e fagioli' nun mit Linsen - eine gute Abwechslung!