Morning
Cold feet wrapped in two pairs of socks and slippers on my stone kitchen floor.
Bay leaves, pancetta and chili whisper “Rome, Rome, Rome” as they tumble into the pot.
I am making Rachel Roddy’s Pasta with Lentils to last during the madness of the night and the aftermath of New Year’s day. Tonight, we will hunker down in our house on the hill and let everyone on the coast debauch and crawl back home at dawn. Soup, wine and fruit are all we need to be content. Forced merriment is not allowed. If you are interested in Roman food, I suggest you buy Rachel’s excellent cookbook “Five Quarters” immediately. Many of her recipes have become part of my repertoire, and it is one of the first books I would give a young person starting out in the kitchen. A fearless woman who truly “changed her life” by moving to Italy, she writes beautifully about her neighbourhood and life in Testaccio. She is also a woman who truly understands lentils and beans, and if you are on the fence about them, she will convert you into a cook who puts the modest little creatures on the table and lets them shine. You can learn more about her on her blog racheleats.wordpress.com.
Ligurians do not eat as many legumes as the Tuscans, the Umbrians or the people from Lazio do. However, they will have a few spoonfuls of lentils when the bell tolls tonight, joking and secretly hoping that the tiny spheres will “create wealth” in the New Year. I am one step ahead of them. Their “cenone” will easily cost them 90 euros a head. My meal will cost us significantly less. A Euro saved is a Euro earned
The Recipe
Adapted from a recipe by Rachel Roddy in her book “Five Quarters”.
Notes
I add pancetta, but it is just as good without it. Otherwise, I have not changed Rachel’s ingredients in any other way, as they are perfect. If you cannot get Castellucio lentils, use the French Lentilles de Puy instead. In Rachel’s original recipe, she cooks her pasta directly in the lentils. I am sure that this works for her and countless other people, but I tried something like this years ago and it was an unholy mess. Once bitten, twice shy, I therefore cook the pasta separately.
I prefer to use home made “maltagliati”. Just buy some fresh lasagne sheets and cut them up into squares. A Chinese “spider” is the best tool to take the pasta out of the water. If you don’t have one, consider buying one for your kitchen. Your ravioli will never fall apart again.
List of Ingredients
Serves 4
200 g small brown lentils, such as Castelluccio or Lentilles de Puy
2 bay leaves
5 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil, plus extra to serve
1 small onion
50 to 75 g of diced pancetta
1 garlic clove
1 celery stalk
A few stalks flat leaf parsley
200 ml canned, crushed plum tomatoes or passata (I prefer passata.)
One small chili
200 g of fresh “maltagliati”
Salt and freshly ground pepper
The Method
Spread the lentils out on a baking sheet and search carefully for any tiny stones. Do not skip this step. It takes only a minute. In a large pan, cover the lentils with 1 L of water. Add the bay leaves and a teaspoon of salt. Bring to the boil and then cook, covered over low heat until the lentils are tender but not mushy. This can take anywhere between 20 to 40 minutes. Drain the lentils, but reserve the cooking water. Meanwhile, finely dice the onion, garlic, celery, pancetta and parsley. Heat the oil in a large heavy-based soup pot. Add the onion, celery, pancetta and parsley, and cook over low heat until everything is soft and fills the kitchen with its brawny fragrance. This should take about 10 minutes. Add the garlic and chopped chili and cook for 2 minutes more. Be careful to not allow the garlic to burn. Add the passata, then stir and cook over low heat for 10 minutes, until the sauce is reduced and the oil begins to separate. Check for salt. You may not need any, because of the pancetta. Add the lentils to the sauce, along with around 3/4 of the water that they were cooked in. Continue to cook over gentle heat, uncovered.
Fill a large pasta pan with water and bring to a boil, then add salt. Add the maltagliati. Once they are just a little bit harder than al dente, scoop them out with the spider and add them to the lentils. Let them cook just a minute more, in order for the pasta to “become one” with the sauce. Add a bit more lentil water if needed. Otherwise, save it in case you need to re-heat the lentils later.
Serve with more olive oil and parmesan if desired.
Midnight
It was a good meal. Fireworks over the sea whistle and splutter in all their desperate beauty. Despite my bunker mentality, I miss the loud bangs of the cherry bombs that the in-betweeners used to light up in joy on our back street. They have all flown the coop and the village waits for new life.