Il Corvo Pasta

Now, before you all shout out , in unison, “I thought you made your pasta by hand?” 

-rest assured, WE DO.

We often do it with the assistance of machines, but there is no shortage of “handmadeness”

-even with the aide of beautiful pasta robots.

———

Behold “Stella”, as I will call her…

Mixing the dough still takes the exacting touch of human hands to achive the right moisture content,

And still needs a loving fingertips, to feel if the dough has been laminated, re-folded and worked again, and again,

until the proper, silken-yet-toothsome texture is achieved.

It’s just that………

My arms are just less sore this way…….

And to be honest, I’ve yet to meet a robot that can make these Farfalle, with our intended imperfectly varying sizes and shapes.

We prescribe to the Japanese concept of Wabi-Sabi, ’round here

Farfalle, with local asparagus, lemon and mint!

Also today:

Strozzapretti, with lamb, kalamata olives, eggplant and tomato

Tagliatelli, with duck egg and prosciutto carbonara

Oh look, its already time to open.

to make a short story even shorter……….

here’s some stuff that grows, it’s pretty…

heres some stuff we made with it……..

Also today:

Quadrucci: with braised lamb sugo

Tagliatelli, spicy eggplant marinara

Just as Primo described the “Timpano” to Anne, his love interest in the movie “Big Night”,

as being “filled with the most wonderful things on earth”

We used that inspiration for our “Lasagna of Kings” today.

Our “Lasagna Di Re” 

Is full of “Bling”(tm)……

with layers of bechamel, bolognese, sun-dried tomato-pistachio pesto,

boiled eggs, salsa pomadori, and nine sheets of rich egg pasta!

truly fit for a King!

And not to be confused with

Lana Del Rey,

also full of “Bling”(tm)

and is filled with …….um…..”sugar and spice and everything nice” ™

(did someone smack her in the mouth, or are her lips really that big?)

Either way, two of my favorite things!

Also today:

Tagliatelle, with Sicilian Pecorino Pepata and toasted hazelnuts

Maccheroni, with mushrooms, kalamata olives, fresh oregano and tomatoes

Sumac is fantastically underused and, other than chefs, little known.

(I stole this photo from http://www.formaggiokitchen.com/)

It’s flavor is quite unique, and reminds me a bit of pink peppercorns with a hint of black lime notes and dark berries.

But that aside, I just thought it would be fun to put it into pasta!

so, here’s me…

pow.

It definitely mellows quite a bit when applied to pasta, but the earthy complexly adds something to boring old Alfredo…. 

-wait a second, I cant remember the last time I made or had Alfredo?

…Holy S!@T this stuff is DELICIOUS! -no wonder everyone is always asking when I was going to make this,

It’s like drinkable Parmesan!

(sorry for all the dirty looks, your right, it’s good)

Also today:

Spaghetti, alla Amatriciana!

Cavatelli, with Washington Asparagus and Sunburst Tomatoes!

Time flies.

Here we are, arriving at May 2nd, exactly 1 year after our official opening date.

-288 blog posts and too many pasta dishes to count.

Thank you for coming along for the ride.

Without the support you’ve given, through your patronage, your writings, and your enthusiasm, we would not of made it this far!

I have no words to accurately express my gratitude.

-Grazie Mille. 

————-

Pesto of sun-dried tomatoes, toasted pistachios, fresh oregano and parmesan

with Malloreddi

Also today:

Gnocchetti, with fresh Asparagus and Sungold Tomatoes

Tagliarini, with Squid ink, Bread crumbs and Parsley

“International Workers’ Day (also known as May Day) is a celebration of the international labour movement and left-wing movements.

It commonly sees organized street demonstrations and marches by working people and their labour unions throughout most of the world.

May 1 is a national holiday in more than 80 countries. It is also celebrated unofficially in many other countries.”

-Wiki

I’m sure “Smashing the State” and “Crushing Capitalism” is hard, hard work, and you will need to fortify yourselves.

You cannot head out to the streets, clad in gasmasks, your Che Guevara t-shirts and red bandanas, on an empty stomach

 -You’re going to need some lunch first,

How about something as black as your distain for “The Man”

not to mention, pleasantly briny, garlicky, and with a touch of fresh italian parsley?

Tagliarini con il Nero di Sepia!

Tastes like revolution in every bite!

To support your cause, I promise NOT to send any of the %10 sales tax I collect today to the State, In stead, it will go to a more noble cause.

It will provide relief from the laboriously long hours of some of the local workforce, through the soothing power of libations.

A.K.A. Beer Money.

————–

Also today:

Papardelle, with spicy meaty ragu

Gnocchetti, with Salsa pomadori and mascarpone

Every now and then I get the erge to go all “Fancy-Schmancy ™” on you.

but more importantly, I had about 6 months of parmesan rinds taking up a corner of my fridge, that had been awaiting for their final destination.

———–

And as I hoisted the satchel of rinds out of the beef-knuckle stock they had been simmering in for nearly 16 hours,

The smell was intoxicating……

Someday they’ll finally invent “Smell-O-Blog-O-Vision(tm)”

and you will be able to fully appreciate a photo like this ….

Still clearly drunk from my aroma-gasm,

I decided, why not do something special, hun?

A little potato and mascarpone “Cappelletti” should do the trick!

Add a little smoked prosciutto and mirepoix, now you’ve got a comfort-classic Northern Italian meal!

BTW, I srongly recomend enjoying it with our new beer, imported from Ballard, Norticlandia -Hilliard’s, Saison and Amber Ale!

Also today:

Tagliatelle, Alla Puttanesca (capers, anchovy, green olives, oregano, tomato)

Maccheroni, Alla “Mahrgarita” Salsa Pomadori, Fresh Basil leaves, Fresh Ricotta.

Tangy, creamy, luscious, Blue.

super-cali-fraga-lip-smacking-sop-it-up-with-your-bread-comfort-tastic!

(we kinda sorta started eating it, before we looked to see if the first photo was good, woopsy. )

Also today:

Farfalle, with smoked prosciutto, english peas and cabbage spouts

Tagliatelle, alla puttanesca

…..Well, they ARE.

And no, you wont find any reference to these in the

Encyclopedia of Pasta,

and yes, sometimes I, as one might so eloquently put it, “make s#@t up”

But c’mon, everything in our world was “made up”, by someone, once upon a time.

Before DaVinci was famous, I’m sure that this was exactly what his friends said about him behind his back,

————-

 GLADIATOR 1,  to GLADIATOR 2:

 ”That DaVinci, just sits around in his studio, making s#@t up,

all day long, ….ppffttt, ….loser“

GLADIATOR 2:

“Yea, let’s go drink some spiced wine and smash some stuff”

——–

 -but more important than their cute lil’ dimples, or their lack of historical references, I “made them up” with two distinct purposes:

1. They have dimples, reach out and grab the sauce.

2. They are toothy and hearty enough to stand up to that said sauce.

That sauce being a spicy, meaty ragu, I’d say it’s working out just fine!

Also today:

Malloreddus, with spring garlic, spring onions, mushroom and cream

Tagliarini, with anchovy, garlic chili and tomato conserva

It is said that the only things needed for making a Prosciutto, in addition to a lovingly raised and well butchered leg of pig,

Are:

Salt,

and Time.

The ancient mystics, quoted of stating this, however, could not see into the future.

I’m sure they assumed that if you had raised a pig, you had a barn, and most likely a cellar

-to hang that Prosciutto, for one year minimum and often up to two.

Unfortunately, we have no such luxury, here, in our tiny Il Corvo.

So after 30 days of salt curing, and 60 days of drying, we decided to take our leg over to Dot’s Delicatessen, and have Mr. Miles James smoke it to perfection-

For immediate consumption.

———

At first, upon dropping it off, I felt guilty.  I felt as if I was possibly doing a dis-service to that pig.

- But then, when I received my leg back from the embers , I decided,

No sir, this is a fantastic way to enjoy that pigs life!

So I cranked out a sea of spaghetti, with the torchio.

(my morning workout)

-and whipped up a lil sumpt’n for you!

Ahhh, Carbonara! 

How could I ever feel guilty about you!

Also today,

Asparagus filled Raviolini, with salsa pomadrori

Tagliarini, alla Siciliana (anchovy, garlic tomato conserva)