Genoa is a gritty port city, with steep hills and winding alleyways; many buildings date to the 13 and 14 century. On Thursday morning I gave a talk at the university (photo above of the library of the university on Via Balbi, housed in former church built in 14th century). Afterwards we went to lunch at Gaia, a small restaurant down a little alley off one of the main squares. It was a traditional place, with wood tables and chairs, a low, wood-beamed ceiling, the real thing, not a “traditional-Italian décor.” My colleagues introduced me to “trofie,” a rather petit pasta, home made and cut, thin and short (two-inches long) noodles. It was drenched in a very creamy pesto sauce and tossed with haricots vert (also cut short) and little quarter-size pieces of potato. The potato serves to soak up the oil from the pesto and the beans give it a little crunch and color. I am told this is Genoese comfort food and I can understand why. RECIPES FOLLOW. Followed by a dish that was made up of delicious meatballs (veal?) wrapped in lettuce leaves and braised in tomato sauce.
After lunch I walked down the via Girabaldi, where the museums are located in the former palazzo of the elites, and then wandered through the alleyways and shops, bought souvenirs and gifts…
While I was giving my talk in town, my friend went to visit a textile artist whom she had met recently in the U.S., who lives near Pavia, about one hour by train from Genoa. By the way, the Pope just recently visited her village. There remains in the square an enormous scaffolding made in the shape of his hat. It makes one think that the mass he gave was treated as though it were a rock concert.
…Dinner at “i tre merli”—some readers will recognize the name and logo from the one in NYC, or multiple ones, I think there was one on Seventh Ave. South near Barney’s some years ago but now there are two in the village and they also own Barolo in Soho. Anyway, my first reaction was, “I didn’t come to Italy to eat at a New York restaurant!” but my colleagues said this was the original one, run by sons of a Genoese family (these guys are very entrepreneurial), and it was very good. The restaurant in fact was excellent and also not without NYC influence. Our dining custom has been to have three courses, one dish each course, shared between the two of us. So we had as appetizer a sea bass and salmon tartare, with a light pineapple-infusion sauce, served with endive leaves. Then, for the first course, fettucine with baby squid and tuna roe with fresh tomatoes, and as entree, grilled whitefish and anchovy. The whitefish was amazing and I am totally sold!! on fresh anchovy, just as I am on the octopus. The restaurant (one of two in town--as I said, they are very entrepreneurial) was in the porto antiqua (old harbor) on the waterfront, next to Il Bigo, a huge crane-like scupture-structure (by Renzo Piano, I believe). There were many sailboats in the marina (though none as nice as Dulcinea) and a huge galleon ship named the Neptune…We took the train Friday morning to Moneglia, down the Lingurian coast (part of the Mediterranean) what they call the Italian Riviera. It is a sleepy little village on the water surrounded by hills with olive trees. We are about a 45 minutes south of Portofino and about 20 minutes by train from the Cinque Terre, where we will go hiking over the next few days. This is a holiday weekend (May 1 is Tuesday) so there are many locals on holiday, but Moneglia seems tranquil. We went to a deli in town and had a picnic lunch on a park bench near the beach: anchovy fillets in olive oil; thinly-sliced octopus in olive oil, grilled vegetables, mixed seafood salad, anchovies stuffed with a potato fritter. The olive oil here is very light and has a slight citrus flavor. We found a wine shop and bought proseco made locally (in an unlabled bottle) and Lemoncino made in Portofino (total for both, 10 euros).
There is a pizze/focaccia shop in town, specializing in "Focaccia con Recco." Recco is a town on the coast, near Portofino, known for its focaccia fromaggio (topped with melted cheeses). There are also the "torta," which are thin-crusted pies filled with vegetables, cheese and rice or just rice and cheese (which is like a rice-pudding pie). Farinata is a thin-crusted, baked shell made from ground-chick peas (no gluten). Here they were serving it plain but I think it's usually with a topping. (You can get it in Berkeley on Shattuck at that food court across the street from Cheese Board.) People coming off the beach or walking through town crowd into the little store and order enormous quantities of pizza and focaccia... Our hotel is on the edge of town on the side of hill, at the foot of a very old castle. The weather is warm and the air fragrant with flowers. I am writing this by the pool.
RECIPES
ANCHOVY
Marinated Fresh Anchovies: Alici Marinate
Recipe copyright 2000, Mario Batali. All rights reserved.
Show: Molto Mario
Episode: Christmas Eve At Grandma's
2 pounds fresh anchovies
2 cups white wine vinegar
2 cups extra-virgin olive oil
2 tablespoons dried oregano
2 tablespoons red chile flakes
1 bunch Italian parsley, finely chopped to yield 1/4 cup
4 cloves garlic, sliced paper thin
2 tablespoons sea salt
Using scissors, trim the fins off of all the anchovies. Using a sharp paring knife, gut the fish, and rinse well. Cut off the heads and carefully remove the spine and pin bones by pulling from the top with the index finger and thumbnail. Separate the 2 fillets and rinse again. Lay 1 layer of the fillets in a deep oval quiche plate and sprinkle over with vinegar. Continue until all the fish fillets are in the plate and pour over the rest of the vinegar. Let sit to marinate for at least 4 hours in the refrigerator.
Drain each anchovy from the vinegar, rinse, and pat dry with a kitchen towel. Wash out the oval quiche plate and dry well. Lay the cured anchovies into the quiche plate, one layer at a time, with 2 or 3 tablespoons olive oil, a pinch of oregano, a sprinkle of chile flakes, a sprinkle of parsley, a couple of garlic slices, and a sprinkle of salt. Layer until all of the anchovies are finished and allow to marinate at least 2 hours, refrigerated.
To serve, bring anchovies to cellar temp, just about 58 degrees F, and place 8 or 9 on each plate drained of oil. The cured anchovies will last like this for 1 week in the refrigerator.
TROFIE
Trofie is Ligurian pasta made with flour and water, no eggs. It is rolled by hand into little squiggly shapes and served with basil pesto. If you've never made fresh pasta before, this is a good one to start with for two reasons: you don't need a pasta machine, and trofie is almost impossible to buy outside of Liguria, so your efforts will be rewarded with a dish you can't just order in a restaurant. Cutting the dough into little pieces and rolling each one between your palms is somewhat labor intensive, so plan to serve this dish the Ligurian way - in small portions as a first course. A good way to cope with the task of shaping pasta is to enlist the help of your family. Kids find it particularly fun, and you'll be done in no time.
4 first-course servings
Dough (can be made the day before):
You will need:
3 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
2 tsp kosher salt (or 1 tsp table salt)
1 cup cold water
Mix flour and salt in a large bowl. Make a well in the center and pour in the water.
Using a fork, start mixing the flour into the water keeping the wet mixture in the center of the well. When the mixture gets too thick for a fork, mix the dough with your hand until all the flour is incorporated and the dough looks cohesive.
Clean your hands and press your thumb into the dough. It should feel tacky, but your thumb should come out clean without any dough stuck to it. If the dough is too sticky, add a bit more flour, kneed for a minute and test again.
Once the dough is the right consistency, it needs some serious kneading. Place it onto a clean work surface and knead for 8 minutes by folding and turning 90 degrees after each fold. Always turn the dough in the same direction. Do not short cut this step! You should end up with dough that is as smooth as a baby's bottom.
Form the dough into a thick disk, sprinkle with flour, wrap in plastic and let it rest in the fridge for at least 1 hour or overnight.
Shaping trofie (1-2 hours before serving):
You will need:
Semolina flour for sprinkling finished pasta
All-purpose flour for sprinkling the work surface
1. Sprinkle a large cookie sheet with semolina flour.
2. Sprinkle clean work surface with all-purpose flour. Place the dough on floured work surface and keep it covered with plastic wrap except when using.
3. Cut a 2/3" strip from the dough with a knife or dough scraper.
4. Roll it on lightly floured surface with 2 hands into a 1/3" thick rope.
5. Cut it into 1/4" wide pillows.
6. Pick up one pillow with your right hand and place it at the heel of your left hand. Hold your left hand in place over the cookie sheet. Roll your right hand forward in a fast motion applying pressure. Your piece of pasta will turn into a little cylinder with tapered ends and drop onto the cookie sheet. Don't roll your hands back and forth or you'll untwist the pasta. Repeat with remaining pieces dropping them all over the cookie sheet so that they touch as little as possible.
7. Sprinkle trofie with extra semolina flour and gently roll them around to coat.
8. Move finished pasta to one side of cookie sheet. Repeat with the rest of the dough. When the cookie sheet gets too crowded, start a new one. Pasta can be shaped 1 hour before cooking and kept uncovered at room temperature.
Cooking trofie
You will need:
2 Tbsp butter
1/2 cup pesto
Finely grated parmesan for sprinkling on pasta
Bring a large pot of water to a boil (at least 4 quarts). Season heavily with salt (pasta will be in the pot for less than a minute, so your water has to be salty enough to season it).
Pour the pasta from cookie sheet to a colander and shake to remove semolina.
Prepare a small bowl to reserve some pasta water.
Make sure your colander is ready in the sink, the pesto, and butter, and grated cheese are waiting on the counter, and you have serving bowls handy before you cook the pasta. Even half a minute can make a difference between perfect and overcooked pasta, so watch it carefully.
When the water is at a rolling boil, pour the pasta into the pot, give it a stir and cover. After 30 seconds, start testing every 15 seconds until the pasta is desired tenderness. It should be supple with a little bite. This usually takes 30 seconds to 2 minutes depending on the size of your pasta and how long it sat on the cookie sheet.
Reserve 2 spoonfuls of pasta water in a small bowl, and drain the pasta.
Put pasta back in the pot and mix with 1/2 cup pesto, 1 Tbsp pasta water, and 2 Tbsp butter. Serve immediately sprinkled with grated parmesan.
Note: see this site for recipe with photos: http://www.helenrennie.com/recipes/vegetarian/trofie.html
Here is the rest of the recipe for the pesto, beans and potato, though made with a different (hard) pasta:
Trenette with Pesto, Beans, and Potatoes: Pesto Genovese
Recipe courtesy Mario Batali
Show: Molto Mario
Episode: Hard Pasta
Pesto:
3 tablespoons pine nuts
2 cups fresh basil leaves, preferably "picolo fino"
1 clove garlic, peeled
1 pinch sea salt
5 ounces Ligurian extra-virgin olive oil
For the pasta dish:
1 cup fresh pesto
6 new potatoes or small red potatoes, boiled and halved
1 cup young green beans or haricots verts, blanched and refreshed
1 pound package Trenette pasta
To make the pesto: In a large stone mortar, place the pine nuts, basil, garlic, and salt and grind with a pestle until it forms a paste. Drizzle in the olive oil, beating the mixture all the while with a wooden spoon. This can also be chopped in a food processor before adding the oil. The pesto can be stored in jars, topped with extra-virgin olive oil, for several weeks.
To make the pasta dish: Bring 6 quarts water to boil and add 2 tablespoons salt.
Cook the pasta according to package instructions until "al dente" and drain.
Add pasta to a cold pan along with the beans. Toss with pesto, red potatoes and let the hot pasta and beans warm the pesto and potatoes. Do not reheat. Add more extra-virgin olive oil, to taste.
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