[Sca-cooks] Roman noodles etc.

[Antonia Calvo]

Stefan li Rous wrote:

> I doubt I'm skilled enough for a souffle, but what is your recipe for  
> "Roman noodles"?
>
> Definitely doesn't sound like a finger-foods dish, so I won't be 
> using  it this weekend, but I am strongly thinking about replacing 
> the  gingerbread with shortbread after reading Johnnae's article in 
> the  most recent TI. I'm not sure I wouldn't end up at the site with 
> mostly  crumbs, though.

It's in Platina.: "Blend meal which has been separated from chaff with 
water in the best way. When it has been blended, spread it out on a 
board and roll it with a rounded and oblong piece of wood such as bakers 
are accustomed to use in such a trade. Then when it has been drawn out 
to the width of a finger, cut it. It is so long you would call it a 
fillet. It ought to be cooked in rich and continually boiling broth, but 
if, at the same time, it must be cooked in water, put in butter and 
salt. When it is cooked, it ought to be put in a pan with cheese, 
butter, sugar, and sweet spices."

Anyway, for 50 smallish portions of Roman noodles:

2kg casareccia* or similar pasta
650g fresh, mild, feta** or similar soft cheese cut into small dice
150g young provolone or other mild cheese, grated
100g butter, cut into small dice
Sugar and spices to taste (good with cinnamon and mace, I think, or 
maybe some fennel and maybe 1/4c sugar)

Put the cheese and butter in a large tray (ie large deep roasting pan or 
hotel pan-- big enough to hold all the cooked pasta.)
Cook the pasta (in broth or in salted water with a chunk of butter) and 
drain.  Immediately dump the hot pasta into the tray with the cheese.  
Briskly scramble the pasta and cheese together-- it will take a minute 
or two to get all the cheese melted and distributed.  Sprinkle the sugar 
and spices over and give it one more stir.   Serve hot.

Success tips:  the tray is important-- trying to distribute this much 
cheese through this much pasta in a deep pot is a complete pain. 
If you need more than 2kg of pasta, you'll either want to split it 
between two trays or cook it in two batches. 


Gratuitous biscuit/cookie recipe, from Max Rumpolt§
Take a fair flour/ clean egg yolks/ and a little wine/ sugar and anise/ 
make a dough with it/ roll it nicely long and round with clean hands/ 
and make little pretzels from it/ shove in a warm oven and bake/ that 
you do not burn it/ but until nicely dry/ like this they will be also 
crispy and good. You might also take cinnamon with it or not. And one 
calls them Precedella.

5 egg yolks
3/4c. sugar
1/4c. sweet white wine§§
1/2tsp. ground fennel seed or aniseed
1/2tsp. ground cinnamon
1/4tsp. salt
2c. flour

Preheat oven to 180°C (350°F). Beat the egg yolks and sugar together 
until thick and pale, and then beat in the wine. Stir in all the dry 
ingredients. The dough will be fairly sticky. Roll the dough into 
"snakes" a little less than a centimetre wide and curl them into pretzel 
shapes. Place on silicone paper or well-greased baking sheets and bake 
10-15 minutes or until slightly browned.  (I _think_ I get 2-1/2 dozen 
from this).

*yes, Platina describes flat, cut noodles and casareccia are curly, 
extruded noodles.  My reasons for favouring casareccia are that they are 
more robust than flat noodles and don't stick together as much, and they 
are not as conspicuously modern as many of the other available pasta 
shapes.
**I mean the soft wet-pack stuff, not the dry salted kind.
§Max Rumpolt is the Sex God of Germany and Ranvaig is his handmaiden.
§§Don't fuss-- nice dessert wine works, but so does el cheapo asti spumante.

-- 
Antonia di Benedetto Calvo

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Habeo metrum - musicamque,
hominem meam. Expectat alium quid?
-Georgeus Gershwinus
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