My February 2013 post (here) covers making fresh gramigna in a torchio pasta press. Home kitchens, restaurants and cookbooks typically pair the sprout-like shaped gramigna with a sausage ragù. I listed a number of gramigna recipes from various sources including a recipe from Trattoria da Gianni a la Vécia Bulàgna in Bologna that Slow Food Editore published in its Italian-language cookbook entitled La Pasta [2010]. Of the sauces that I have tried with gramigna, this version remains one of my favorites. The simple ragù, although rich, tastes bright and not heavy. Here’s my translation of Gramigna al Ragù di Salsiccia from La Pasta.
Time to prepare and cook:
1¼ hours
Serves: 6
800 grams gramigna
600 grams pork sausage
1 small carrot
½ onion
½ celery rib
500 grams tomatoes, peeled
a glass of dry white wine
Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese
extra virgin olive oil
salt
Prepare
a battuto with onion, celery and
carrot and lightly brown in a frying pan with a little oil. In the meantime,
skin the sausage, break it up in the pan, brown it for a few minutes over
medium heat, mixing to combine the ingredients and pour in the wine.
Once
the wine has evaporated, purée the tomatoes, pour them into the pan and simmer
over low heat, covered, for one hour, checking that the sauce doesn’t get too
dry and adding a little water, if necessary. Taste the sauce and season with
salt.
Boil
the gramigna in a large pot filled
with salted water for 5 to 6 minutes, draining when al dente. Coat with the sauce and finish with a generous grating of
Parmigiano-Reggiano.
Notes
As used in the above
recipe, a battuto is a finely diced
mixture of vegetables that, once cooked, become the flavor-base of countless
Italian soups, stews and sauces. In her Essentials
of Classic Italian Cooking [1992], the great Marcella Hazan writes: “At one
time, the nearly invariable components of a battuto
were lard, parsley, and onion, all chopped very fine.” Today, more often than
not, a recipe calling for a battuto
dispenses with the lard and cooks the chopped vegetables in olive oil or
butter. Hazan continues: “When a battuto
is sautéed in a pot or skillet until the onion becomes translucent and the
garlic, if any, become colored a pale gold, it turns into a soffritto.”
When I make Gramigna al Ragù di Salsiccia, I cook the vegetables for about 10 to 15 minutes over medium-low heat. After creating the soffritto, I turn the heat up to medium to brown the crumbled sausage. I use a dry Orvieto, about 200 ml or so, to deglaze the pan.
