Cook to Impress with these Delicious Recipes - Straight from an Italian Trattoria!
Winemaker Patti and Chef daughter Jacqueline of Ojai Pacific View
At our June 28th VeroTalk (Watch the recording HERE) we visited with Mother-Daughter-Winemaker-Chef duo Patti and Jacqueline Mitchell of Ojai Pacific View Vineyard & Winery in California and Trattoria Risorgimento in Piedmont Italy. While we chatted about wine, travel and food, Chef Jacqueline cooked away at the trattoria, which is popular even with the locals, so you know it’s good! She shared with us two delicious recipes, direct from the authentic Trattoria’s traditional menu: Bagnet Verd Parsley Sauce, and Tajarin Pasta.
Made with typical ingredients from Northern Italy, the parsley based Bagnet Verd (or literally ‘green sauce’) is an ubiquitous part of Piemontese cuisine. It is one of those recipes that have a million incarnations and every person makes it a little different, based on nonna’s family recipe. It makes appearances in multiple dishes, as a condiment such as with Bollito Misto (or a mixture of boiled meats) or as a more integral part such as Acciughe al Verde (Anchovies in Green Sauce) where the anchovies are marinated and covered in the bagnet sauce. Jacqueline paired her Bagnet Verd with Tuma, a soft local cheese, and her and her mom’s 2017 Dolcetto red wine, available to purchase in our online shop.
Tajarin Pasta with Sausage Sauce, or Tajarin al Ragu di Salsiccia as it is known in its native Piemonte, is one of the most classic pasta dishes in the region, along with Agnolotti del Plin, or small hand pinched ravioli. These tajarin noodles show just how easy it can be to make fresh pasta at home. The art of cutting them by hand, slicing so thin that they are finer than angel hair pasta, is something many chefs spend years practicing. Gioele and Elisa Colonna of Trattoria Risorgimento remember first slicing the pasta as children, guided by their mother’s steady hand. Now, as adults, they take great pride in the finely sliced pasta they serve today. Don’t be discouraged if first attempts result in thicker Tajarin… practice makes perfect! Jacqueline paired Tajarin al Ragu di Salsiccia with Jacqueline and Patti’s 2018 Dolcetto red wine, buy it in our online shop.
Bagnet Verd con Tuma Piemontese: Fresh Cheese with Green Parsley Sauce
Tajarin con Ragu di Salsiccia: Tajarin Pasta with Sausage Ragu Sauce
Bagnet Verd Parsley Sauce and Fresh Cheese
Procedure:
1. Wash and dry the parsley sprigs. Roughly chop the leaves. Add to a food processor with all of the other ingredients except the cheese. Pulse and blend until a homogeneous thick sauce. Cover and refrigerate for several hours to allow flavors to infuse.
2. Once it has sat, bring the sauce to room temperature for 5-10 minutes, and add a spoon or two of extra virgin olive oil until the sauce is pourable.
3. Slice the cheese into half inch wedges and spread them around a plate. Dollop the bagnet onto each wedge, letting it run onto the plate. Dress with olives and cherry tomatoes or fresh parsley leaves.
Cooking Time: 10-15 minutes
Portions: 6 servings
Ingredients:
400g Piemontese Tuma or another Fresh Soft Cheese
100g Fresh Parsley
2 tablespoon Red Vinegar
1 tablespoon Extra Virgin Olive Oil
1 Hard Boiled Egg
5-6 Large Capers
30g Pickled Vegetables
3-4 anchovies
Salt and Pepper to taste
To Garnish:
Olives, Cherry Tomatoes, or parsley leaves
Suggested Wine Pairing:
Ojai Pacific View | California Dolcetto 2017
Tajarin Pasta and Sausage Ragu
Cooking Time: 1 hour
Portions: 6 servings
Ingredients for Tajarin Pasta:
5 eggs
450g semola flour
40g all purpose flour
2 teaspoon salt
Ingredients for Ragu:
300g Sausage
1 medium Carrot
1 Celery Stalk
1 Small Onion
1 Garlic Clove
1 Glass Wine
1/4 cup Olive Oil
1-2 Large Tomatoes
500ml broth
To Garnish:
Freshly Grated Parmesan
Suggested Wine Pairing:
Ojai Pacific View | California Dolcetto 2018
Procedure:
Finely chop the carrot, celery, onion, garlic and sauté until soft in a spoon of oil in a pan. Remove the sausage from the casing, and add it to the vegetables. Stir to break the sausage up into small pieces. Once browned, add the wine to deglaze the pan, then add some stock to prevent it from burning. Remove the seeds from the tomatoes and dice them, adding to the pot. Season with salt and pepper to taste, then leave it to simmer on low, stirring occasionally and checking that it has enough broth and liquid.
In a bowl, create a well with the flours, and add the eggs and salt to the well. Using hands, mix all together. Once amalgamated enough to stay together, begin to knead the dough on a clean surface with a sprinkling of flour. Let rest a moment. With a machine set on the largest level, roll out several times the pasta, then move it to a medium width, and roll out several times more. Lastly, move it to the smallest setting and carefully roll out paper thin sheets of pasta about 12 inches in length. Let these sheets dry for about 10 minutes. Then, with lots of flour, lay one on top of the other, and roll them up together. Starting at one end, slice as thinly as possible. Gently shake the noodles to separate into a messy pile to allow them to dry.
Bring a pot of salted water to boil, and heat the sauce in a skillet. Drop the fresh Tajarin pasta into the boiling water and let cook for 2-3 minutes maximum. Drain and mix the pasta with the heated sauce in the skillet. Serve with freshly grated Parmesan on top.
Let us know how your take on Trattoria Risorgimento’s Bagnet Verd and Tajarin with Ragu turns out and how it pairs with Ojai Pacific View’s Dolcetto! You can pick up the wine in our online shop, and we will ship it directly to you!
