This is different to the usual fresh pasta people might think of. You don’t need a pasta machine or special equipment, it uses hard durum wheat instead of “normal” soft wheat flour, and it doesn’t require any eggs, so it’s incidentally vegan....
This was a great discovery from Jessica Filby of Canteen, in London. It’s a lighter but still incredibly flavorful ragù that’s perfect for summer, including a cook low and slow in the oven....
The original recipe I found for this — written for a UK audience — suggested using a cut called “silverside.” Here in the US, that’s called “bottom round” in most butcher’s shops....
Colatura di alici (“anchovy drippings”) is a fish sauce, much like the Thai-style fish sauce that I was more familiar with. That said, colatura is very different from Thai fish sauce....
While you can of course use whatever pasta shape you like, I think the traditionalists have a good case that orecchiette works well here. I do think that mixing this up a bit with broccoli rabe — leafier and more bitter than regular broccoli — is a good idea....
I’ve taken this from Felicity Cloake’s “How to Make the Perfect…” series. Pulverizing the porcini into a paste is a genius idea that I think makes this dish. The process of getting the porcini into a powder can be a bit of an ordeal....
This is one of those dishes that’s ubiquitous and still manages to raise the hackles of purists. I would argue that the purity tests around the ragù alla bolognese are unfounded....
There’s a case to be made for making this as the recipe suggests, with actual live mussels in the shell. It’s more work, but the oceanic flavor of the fresh mussels adds an undeniable complexity to the pasta....