[Sca-cooks] Re: Looking for a period cheese filled pasta/lassagna dish served cold (long)

[Louise Smithson]

I got this message yesterday and I know I've heard
cheese filled pasta 
dishes being discussed here previously, but I don't
remember that any 
of them were served cold. 
Thanks,
   Stefan
> From: Easter95 at aol.com
\I am looking for a recipe for a cold dessert lasagna
that 
> was served at an SCA feast I attended a number of
years ago.  It was 
> very simple, just sweet cheese filling and lasagna
noodles.  Have you 
> heard or seen a recipe for this kind of dessert? 
>  
> Any help would be greatly appreciated.
>  
> Carolyn B.

This is a request for a dish I have seen no sign of in
any of my cookbooks (which I browse regularly).  I
have translated quite a few cheese + pasta recipes,
some ravioli, agnoloti and lasagna recipes.  Nearly
every single one ends with the instruction to "serve
hot" or "keep warm under a cover".  Of course it could
be someones interpretation of the way that the
rennaisance and earlier Italians made lasagna.  Cooked
pasta layered with cheese, sugar and cinnamon.  If you
use a light hand with the sugar and cinnamon
component, and use a salty cheese, such as parmesan,
you have a savory dish.  If you were to use a heavier
hand with the sugar and cinnamon and used a sweet
cheese, such as ricotta, you could end up with a sweet
dish.  In the menus that I have translated from Scappi
(16th Century source) there are references to
maccaroni salad, but from my reading that is simply
maccaroni cooked and tossed with olive oil, as I have
been unable to find actual recipes or references to
such.  The Italians to this day tend to be very simple
with their salad dressings, which consist of olive oil
and vinegar.  So it may be that the dish in question
was just a sweet redaction of a savory dish, served
cold instead of hot. 
I couldn't find a lasagna recipe in Scappi that would
work for this dish but there is a maccaroni recipe
(essentially smaller flat noodle shapes) which because
of the addition of rosewater, cinnamon and sugar could
be interpreted as a sweet dish. This is from the
second book of Bartolomeo Scappi, Opera. Dell’arte del
Cucinare. (Venetia, 1570), libro II, pg 78, cap
CLXXIIII

Per far minestra di maccaroni alla Romanesca  

Impastisi una libra di fior di farina con oncie
quattro di mollica di pane bianco, che sia stata in
molle in latte di capra tepido, & quattro rossi
d’uova, due oncie di zuccaro passato per lo setaccio,
& impastata che sarà essa pasta in modo che non sia
troppo liquida, & mescolata che sarà per lo spatio di
mezo hora sopra una tavola facciasene sfoglio con il
bastone, lasciando asciugare esso sfoglio, con il
ruzzolo di ferro o di legno, taglinosi I maccaroni, &
fatti che saranno, lascinosi asciugare, & volendoli
cuocere con acqua semplice, faccioanosi cuocere in un
vaso grande, ove sia acqua assai, & sale abastanza, &
quando l’acqua bollirà, ponganosi dentro I maccaroni,
percioche se si ponessero in acqua fredda andarebbeno
al fondo, & farebbeno una pasta, come fa ogni sorte di
pasta tirata, bolliti che saranno per meza hora,
facciasis il saggio se saranno teneri, & non essendo
lascinosi bollire fin’ a tanto che siano ben cotti, &
cotti che saranno habbiasi apparecchiato un piatto
grande d’argento, o di stagno, o di terra
spolverizzato grossamente di cascio grattato, zuccaro,
& cannella, & fette di provatura fresca, & pongasi una
parte d’essi maccaroni che siano bene scolati
dall’acqua, & sopra essi maccaroni spolverizzisi
cascio, zuccaro, & cannella, & fetter di provatura, &
bocconcini di butiro.  In questo modo se ne faranno
tre fuoli, & si sbrufferanno di acqua di rose, & si
copriranno con un’altro piatto, & si lascieranno stare
su le ceneri calde o in forno caldo temperatamente per
meza hora, & si serviranno caldi.  

To make a dish of Roman macaroni

Mix together one pound of flour with four ounces of
crumb of white bread that has been soaked in warm
goats milk, and four egg yolks, two ounces of sieved
sugar.  Blend this pasta together making sure that it
is not too wet, knead well for half an hour on a
table.  Roll the dough into sheets with a rolling pin,
leave it thicker than the one (recipe) above.  Leave
this sheet to dry, then with a disc cutter of iron or
of wood cut the macaroni, making them thus, let them
dry.  You want to cook them in simple water, make them
cook in a large pan with plenty of water and enough
salt.  When the water boils put in the macaroni,
because if you put them in cold water they will sink
to the bottom and become a single (lump) of pasta.  As
one makes every kind of thin pasta, boil them for half
an hour, making sure that they are tender, but do not
leave them to boil until they are well cooked.  When
they are cooked have ready a large silver, iron or
ceramic plate that has been dusted heavily with grated
cheese, sugar and cinnamon, and slices of fresh
mozzarella.  And put on some of these macaroni, that
have been well drained of water.  Above these macaroni
sprinkle cheese, sugar and cinnamon, slices of
mozzarella and little pieces of butter.  In this way
one makes three layers, and then sprinkle with
rosewater and cover it with another plate, and leave
it in the hot cinders or in a medium hot oven for half
an hour and serve hot. 

For more translations from Italian, including menus
and other cheese filled pasta recipes I would
recommend my web site 
www.geocities.com/helewyse

Hope this is of some use.

Helewyse de Birkestad

 



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