Testaroli

A thin batter cooked on terracotta, then cut into lozenges and boiled like pasta.

Not vegetarian — contains parmesan whose rennet the source does not name.

Ingredients

• 300 g plain flour
• 600 ml water
• 1.5 teaspoons salt
• olive oil, for the pan
• pesto genovese, to dress
• parmesan, to serve

Method

1. Whisk the flour, water and salt to a thin batter, the consistency of single cream, and rest it 30 minutes.
2. Heat a terracotta testo or a heavy cast-iron pan until it is properly hot, and oil it very lightly.
3. Pour in a ladle and spread it to a thin pancake 25 cm across. Cook 2 minutes a side until set and freckled, and stack them under a cloth.
4. So far this is a panigaccio. HERE IS WHERE IT STOPS BEING ONE: cut the cooled pancakes into 4 cm diamonds.
5. DROP THE DIAMONDS INTO SIMMERING SALTED WATER, off the boil, for 60 to 90 SECONDS ONLY, then lift them out with a slotted spoon. They are already cooked — this is a soak to soften and warm them, and a rolling boil would turn them to rags.
6. Dress them in a warmed bowl with pesto loosened with a little of the cooking water.
7. Parmesan, and serve at once.

Our own recipe. This one was written for this site rather than taken from anywhere, so there is no source to point you at. The quantities and the order of the steps are choices, not the only way to do it.

Filed under Italy · All recipes