San Giuanniello Pasta From Bari Recipes

Steps:

• Heat a deep pot over medium high heat and add oil and pancetta. Brown the pancetta bits lightly, and add herb stems, bay leaf, chopped vegetables, and garlic. Season vegetables with salt and pepper. Add beans, tomato sauce, water, and stock to pot and raise heat to high. Bring soup to a rapid boil and add pasta. Reduce heat to medium and cook soup, stirring occasionally, 6 to 8 minutes or until pasta is cooked al dente. Rosemary and thyme leaves will separate from stems as soup cooks. Remove herb stems and bay leaf from soup and place pot on table on a trivet. Let soup rest and begin to cool for a few minutes. Ladle soup into bowls and top with lots of grated cheese. Pass crusty bread for bowl mopping.

Steps:

• Wrap the thyme, rosemary, and bay leaf in a piece of cheesecloth and secure closed with kitchen twine. Heat 1 tablespoon olive oil and butter in a heavy large saucepan over medium heat. Add the onion, pancetta, and garlic and saute until the onion is tender, about 3 minutes. Add the broth, beans, and sachet of herbs. Cover and bring to a boil over high heat, then decrease the heat to medium and simmer until the vegetables are very tender, about 10 minutes. Discard the sachet. Puree 1 cup of the bean mixture in a blender until smooth*. Before putting the puree back into the soup, add the macaroni and boil with the lid on until it is tender but still firm to the bite, about 8 minutes. Return the puree to the remaining soup in the saucepan and stir well. Season the soup with ground black pepper and red pepper flakes.
• Ladle the soup into bowls. Sprinkle with some Parmesan and drizzle with extra-virgin olive oil just before serving.
• *When blending hot liquids: Remove liquid from the heat and allow to cool for at least 5 minutes. Transfer liquid to a blender or food processor and fill it no more than halfway. If using a blender, release one corner of the lid. This prevents the vacuum effect that creates heat explosions. Place a towel over the top of the machine, pulse a few times then process on high speed until smooth.

Steps:

• Make the sponge: Dissolve the yeast in the water in a small bowl, stirring with a wooden spoon.
• Place the one-half cup flour in a larger bowl, add the dissolved yeast and mix with a wooden spoon until all the flour is incorporated and a small ball of dough is formed. Sprinkle the additional tablespoon of flour over the ball of dough, then cover the bowl with a clean dish towel and put it in a warm place, away from drafts. Let stand until the sponge has doubled in size, about one hour.
• Make the dough: Arrange the six cups of flour in a mound on a clean work surface or pastry board and make a well in the middle. Place the sponge from the first rising in the well along with one-half cup of the lukewarm water. Carefully mix the water into the sponge with a wooden spoon.
• Add the remaining water and then, using your hands, gradually begin to mix in the flour from the rim of the well little by little. Keep mixing until all but four or five tablespoons of the flour are incorporated (about 15 minutes). Then begin to knead the dough with the palms of your hands until the dough is homogeneous and smooth, about 20 minutes. Mix the remaining flour into the dough if necessary to keep the dough from being sticky.
• Shape the loaf into a round or oval and place it on a floured cotton dish towel. Wrap the dough loosely in the towel and put it in a warm place away from drafts to stand until double in bulk, about one hour.
• Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Be sure the bricks or tiles you are using are free of dust.
• As soon as the dough has doubled in size, carefully remove it from the towel and place it on the bricks in the oven. Bake the bread for 55 minutes. Do not open the oven for the first 30 minutes of baking.
• Remove the finished bread from the oven and place it on a board on one of its sides, so the air can circulate around it. Do not lay the bread flat. You may have to balance it in some manner. If you have one of those V-shaped racks used for roasting poultry, you can balance the bread in it for cooling. The bread must cool at least three hours before it is cut or broken for eating.

Steps:

• In a large pot over medium heat, cook beef until no longer pink. Drain and set aside.
• In the same pot, heat the olive oil. Cook onion, celery, garlic and black pepper until vegetables are tender, 10 minutes. Stir in beef broth, crushed tomatoes and tomato paste. Season with thyme, basil, oregano and parsley. Cover, reduce heat and simmer 1 hour. (At this point, you may put the pot on a back burner to keep warm and continue with the next steps about 1 hour prior to serving, if you wish.)
• Stir in the beef and simmer 15 minutes. Stir in the pasta and cook until al dente, 8 to 10 minutes. Stir in the beans and heat through, 10 to 15 minutes.

Steps:

• Remove and discard large tough stems from broccoli and cut the remainder into thick julienne strips, about 1 1/2 inches long and 1/4 to 1/2 inch thick. Soak the pieces in a bowl of cold water for about 30 minutes.
• Bring 4 quarts water to the boil. Add salt to taste. Add broccoli pieces to boiling water and cook for about 5 minutes. Drain broccoli, saving the cooking water. Place broccoli in a large warmed serving dish and set aside, covered, in a warm place.
• Bring the broccoli water back to a boil, add pasta and stir with a long- handled wooden fork or spoon to separate pasta and bring water rapidly back to the boil. Cover and cook pasta until done.
• While pasta is cooking, prepare the sauce. If using salted anchovies, fillet them and wash well, draining on paper towels. Heat olive oil in a heavy enamel or aluminum saucepan over low heat. When the oil is hot, remove the pan from the heat and quickly add the filleted anchovies and the red pepper flakes. Use a fork to mash them into the oil until amalgamated.
• Drain pasta and place in serving dish on top of the broccoli. Pour the anchovy sauce over the pasta. Sprinkle with freshly ground black pepper and toss gently but very well. Serve immediately.