pansotti in salsa di noci
pansotti with salsa di noci
Salsa di Noci can be traced back to Liguria in the Middle Ages and is a one of Pesto Genovese’s great ancestors. It’s still one of the most popular pasta condiments in Liguria today and you can also use it on unfilled pasta, or as a base sauce to combine with other ingredients.
Pansotti also seem to be the original shape-shifting pasta. In Liguria you’ll normally find fillings of cheese combined with spinach or other greens to make filled ‘pansotti’ in a range of different shapes - from triangular ‘ravioli’ to half-moon tortelloni-like, pinched pasta parcels. ‘Pansotti’ is ‘bellies’ in dialect, so we’re basically just talking about stuffed pasta in almost whatever shape you like.
Taking a ‘pragmatic pasta’ approach, by far the quickest and easiest way to get close to classic pansotti would be to buy good quality, fresh supermarket spinach and ricotta tortelloni. Obviously the freshness and ingredients won’t be anywhere near what you’ll find in Italy or even what you could make at home, but it’ll be much quicker to get food on the table compared with the 2 hrs plus you will take to make the fresh pansotti, meaning that you can concentrate on perfecting your Salsa di Noci instead.
For those with more masochistic tendencies, I’ve also included some pointers and ingredients for completely fresh pansotti made from scratch.
WHAT YOU'LL NEED TO DO
(scroll down for the full method)
(fresh pasta version)
make the salsa di noci (45 mins)
make the fresh pasta (15 mins)
rest the dough (30 mins)
cook and mix the filling (30 mins)
roll out pasta and make pansotti (60 mins)
boil and cook the pasta
combine the pasta gently with the salsa
(store bought pasta version)
make salsa di noci
boil pasta
combine the pasta gently with the salsa
pansotti with salsa di noci
INGREDIENTS
FOR FIVE-EIGHT PEOPLE
SALSA DI NOCI
70g (2.5oz) walnuts, minus skins
50g (1.8oz) parmesan
100g (3.5oz)pinoli
1 small ciabatta roll or pannino
1 large garlic clove
6 tblspns EVO
150-200ml milk
fresh thyme/marjoram
PASTA
500g (18oz) homemade pansotti
/ store-bought fresh
Ricotta & Spinach stuffed pasta
FRESH PASTA
250g (9oz) 00 flour
1 egg
250ml water
PANSOTTI FILLING
200g (7oz) ricotta
500g (18oz) spinach or misc greens
freshly grated nutmeg
half a small onion
MANTECATURA
none
METHOD
To make fresh pasta pansotti, use the quantities and ingredients on the left as a guide and make a fresh pasta dough (see the Technique Section for tips on making egg pasta at home). The quickest and easiest pansotti to make are square, circular or triangular shapes using ravioli stamps. So make those if you’re new to making ravioli or fresh filled pasta! Begin making the sauce by grating the parmesan. Then boil the walnut kernals until each one has lost as much of its skin as possible. The skin is what increases the bitter taste of walnuts, and we only want a slight bitter hint in Salsa di Noci. You don’t have to scrape the kernals or poke at them, just let them boil and you’ll see the water turn a dark brown colour as the skins disolve.
When it looks like nothing else will come off them (about 20 minutes’ moderate boil) drain them and let them cool. Tear your pannino or ciabatta into small pieces and soak it in a bowl with the milk. It’ll only take a few minutes for the bread to absorb the milk. Pat it down with your fingers to help it soak the juices up, then cut the garlic into small pieces and remove a large handful of thyme leaves from the stalks. Then it’s back to our standard pesto technique of pulse-blending a small amount of all the ingredients together, then cycling through them all, adding one at a time to the blender, until you get the balance of flavours you like. Aim for a fairly ‘runny porridge’ consistency (you might have to add a little more milk or a splash of single cream, if you have it).
Be very aware of how strong your garlic is in the mix - most Ligurian versions of Salsa di Noci have a subtle garlic taste to them - you don’t want to let the garlic overpower everything if you’re aiming for an authentically Ligurian taste. When it’s done, set your finished Salsa di noci aside - you can store it in a jar under a small layer of EVO in a fridge for a couple of days.
Once you’re ready to use it, let the Salsa di Noci warm up to room temperature - so take it out of the fridge at least an hour before you want to cook with it. Follow the the tips in the Technique Section for Cooking with Pesto, to dress your chosen pasta with Salsa di Noci. It does have a tendency to thicken quite quickly, so bear that in mind when you dilute it with some cooking water, just before dressing the pasta. I’ve heard of a few recipes from further down Italy which combine Salsa di Noci with flaked fish.
There's another variation of pasta with Salsa di Noci on this site, with fresh poached salmon, but you could use almost any white fish. Grilled meats like pork or chicken work well too; if you do that, consider making more of a presence of a fresh herb, like sage for pork or rosemary for chicken or lamb. Using salsa di noci as a base sauce gives you a more interesting and textured foundation than just cream would - have fun and experiment!
NUTRITION per serving
KCAL: we're working on it!
Fat (g): TBC
Sat Fat (g): TBC
Carb (g): TBC
Sug (g): TBC
Fibre(g): TBC
Prot (g): TBC
Salt (g): TBC
