[ID: A plate of large, very full ravioli sprinkled with fresh herbs. A close-up on one of the ravioli cut open to reveal and herb and cheese filling. End ID]
Pansooti (Ligurian stuffed pasta with wild greens)
This is a recipe for a cheese-and-herb stuffed pasta called "pansooti" in Ligurian, or "pansotti" in Italian. The name is derived from the Italian "panciuti" (singular: "panciuto"), meaning "pot-bellied"; and, as the name implies, they are meant to be stuffed until they are distinctly round on one side. In Genoan parlance, pansooti are sometimes called "ge in preixun" ("chard in prison").
Pansooti's origins can perhaps be found in Sant’Apollinare, where they were typically made for the feast of Saint Joseph on March 19. Because they are ravioli di magro ("lean ravioli")—that is, meatless pasta—they're perfect for a festival that always falls during Lent.
Pansooti's filling is cheesy and earthy, with bitter greens, nutmeg, majoram, and a light, tangy local cheese called prescinsêua (also known as quagliata, or cagliata). Traditionally, a mix of locally foraged wild herbs known as preboggión, including borage, aster, dandelion, and sow thistle, is used; and in spring, pre-mixed bundles of these pot herbs can be purchased in the markets in Genoa. In seasons when these greens are not available, Swiss chard may be used.
Pansooti is frequently served with a creamy salsa di noci (walnut sauce), which combines the sweet earthiness of walnuts, the zestiness of raw garlic, and the floral and fruity notes of good olive oil to form a perfect complement to the herb filling.
Recipe under the cut!
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Ingredients:
For the pasta:
250g 00 semolina flour (semola di grano duro rimacinata)
Pinch of table salt
Splash of white wine (optional)
About 155g water
Ligurian pasta is typically made without eggs. The adoption of eggs in pasta-making occurred in some regions of Italy over the course of the 20th century. I have seen someone go so far as to say that no true Italian adds eggs to pasta. Nor does any true Scotsman add sugar to his porridge.
For the filling:
1 compacted cup (180g) prepared preboggión; or Swiss chard
1 cup (175g) vegan ricotta; or vegan labna
2 sprigs marjoram
Freshly grated nutmeg, to taste
For the sauce:
Half a tea glass (1/3 cup) good olive oil
200g shelled walnuts
A clove of garlic
50g non-dairy parmesan cheese (optional)
200g soy or oat milk
A sprig of marjoram
50g stale bread, or breadcrumbs
Salt, to taste
Instructions:
For the pasta:
Mix flour and salt in a large bowl. Make a well in the center and add water and wine, if using. Knead by hand for 10 minutes, or in a stand mixer on medium-low for 6 minutes. The dough should be soft and slightly sticky.
Cover and let rest for 30 minutes to an hour while you prepare the filling and sauce.
For the filling:
Mince greens, or use a food processor. Mix all filling ingredients. Taste and adjust salt and nutmeg.
For the sauce:
Cut the stale bread in into cubes. Combine with milk in a small bowl, and work with your hands until the bread is fully hydrated and you have a grainy mixture.
Pulverise garlic in a mortar and pestle. Add walnuts and crush to desired texture.
Combine the olive oil, breadcrumb mixture, walnuts, marjoram, cheese, and salt and mix.
If you don't have a mortar and pestle, grate the garlic and finely chop the walnuts.
To assemble:
1. Divide dough into four pieces, leaving the ones you're not working with covered. Roll the first piece of dough out into a rectangle about 1/8" (3mm) thick.
2. Cut dough into 3" (7.5cm) squares and place a heaping teaspoon of filling atop each one. Fold each square diagonally into a triangle; then, take the two furthest points of the triangle and bring them together, pressing to seal. Take any extra dough that's crossed over and fold it around the point you just made, pressing again.
To cook:
Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Carefully add pansooti and cook 3-5 minutes, until pasta is cooked through. Remove with a slotted spoon.
Top with walnut sauce and fresh marjoram and serve hot.
[ID: A piece of toast topped with pesto and chopped walnuts; a sprig of dead-nettle is placed to the side. End ID]
Dead-nettle pesto
Purple dead-nettle (Lamium purpureum)—also known as red dead-nettle, or purple archangel—is a flowering plant in the mint family. It is unrelated to true stinging nettles: it earned its name because its leaves look a bit like those of a true nettle, but it doesn't sting (thus it is "dead").
Dead-nettles are some of the first wild edibles to appear in spring, and they are usually abundant. That makes them a great pick for pesto, saag, and other applications that require a large quantity of greens. Their mild flavor means that the flavor profile of the final dish can be taken in a lot of different directions.
A lot of pesto recipes use the same formula (pine nuts, parmesan, garlic, olive oil, lemon juice) regardless of what green they're using as the base, without considering what will best make that green shine. In my opinion, the sweet, zesty, peppery flavor of basil is better without most of these add-ins. But the herbaciousness—frankly, the grassiness—of dead-nettle is better when rounded off with the tanginess of a cultured vegan cheese, the slight bitterness of walnuts, and a little bit of sweetness from a good balsamic vinegar. This is a tasty, balanced pesto that can be eaten with bread, on pasta, in soups, and more!
Recipe under the cut.
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Ingredients:
80g dead nettle leaves and slender stems
1 clove garlic
2 Tbsp 18-year balsamic vinegar (or balsamic vinegar of moderna + a little date syrup)
1 Tbsp good olive oil
2 Tbsp vegan labna or ricotta (optional)
1/4 cup chopped walnuts
Salt, to taste
Black pepper, to taste
Instructions:
1. Crush all ingredients in a food processor or blender, or with a mortar and pestle. Taste and adjust seasoning.
Identifying dead-nettle
Dead-nettle, like all plants in the mint family, has square stems. The leaves are cordate (heart-shaped), petiolate (connected to the stem by a stalk), covered in fine hairs, and deeply veined, with wavy to serrated margins (edges).
The leaves are opposite (they form in pairs on either side of the stem) and decussate (each leaf pair is rotated 90 degrees from the last). Looking from the top, you'll see four leaves in columns down the plant. The leaves start out green: as the plant matures and flowers, the leaves at the top take on a purplish hue.
Leaves from above
Top of flowering plant seen from above
Small flowers grow towards the top of the plant. They are pink to purple and zygomorphic (symmetrical along a vertical axis), with two lower lobes, a larger hood on top, and two smaller 'spiked' petals on each side. Flowers have darker spots or streaks.
Close-up of flower
Look-alikes
Red dead-nettle has no real look-alikes, to my mind. Some guides cite henbit as a potential look-alike: but henbit's leaves grow in a collar-like formation around the stem. Either way, henbit is also edible.
Arbeitsstätte eines Expeditionsmitglieders in einem gewölbten Zimmer (Innenraum eines Tempels). 1888-1891. Ethnologisches Museum: VIII E 4477. https://recherche.smb.museum/detail/1682110 Maya-Tempel in Labná (Mexiko)
See also: Mr. Thompson's room: https://collections.peabody.harvard.edu/objects/details/654478
Finds from grave 2 https://collections.peabody.harvard.edu/objects/details/569278 see also: https://collections.peabody.harvard.edu/objects/details/573030 and https://collections.peabody.harvard.edu/objects/details/573031 and https://collections.peabody.harvard.edu/objects/details/569279
Copy in Berlin: Drei Keramik-Gefäße. 1888 - 1891 Ethnologisches Museum: VIII E 4499 https://recherche.smb.museum/detail/1649372
Dish with legs. Grave 2. Labná. Peabody Museum, Object Number 94-49-20/C2320.
The chultunes of Labná, Yucatan. Report of explorations by the museum, 1888-89 and 1890-91 by Thompson, Edward H. https://archive.org/details/gri_33125001146360/mode/1up
Chamber 3 inscription 2. Shows Thompson's initial carved into wall of cave. Peabody museum https://collections.peabody.harvard.edu/objects/details/569320
Una de mis fotografías del arco maya de Labná en Yucatán, México. La ruta Puuc, formada por varias ciudades mayas, está llena de misterios, algunos de los cuales se desvelan en mi nuevo libro Un viaje maravilloso, libro que puedes conseguir en estos enlaces. Papel y Kindle: https://www.amazon.com.mx/viaje-maravilloso-Chico-S%C3%A1nchez-Spanish/dp/B08KSL2NNW PDF: https://chicosanchez.com/blog/f/un-viaje-maravilloso---mi-nuevo-libro?blogcategory=Libros #librosrecomendados #libros #mayas #labna #historia #antropología #yucatan #mexico #mitología #chicosanchez (en Labna, Yucatan, Mexico) https://www.instagram.com/p/CI1sBGVJvmN/?igshid=p2so07u2z9ih
Before & After 😋. Making labna is super easy and the results are worth the time. Simply stir a little salt into full fat yoghurt (cow or goat works best), tie up into muslin cloth and then hang from the faucet for about 24 hours. Swipe to check out the transformation 🤗🧀🍞 #tmfood #labna #homecooking #cheese #Sydney #Stanmore #innerwest #food #fromscratch #beforeandafter (at Sydney, Australia) https://www.instagram.com/p/CG56EyiDGyl/?igshid=fvyr62wazo1b
