Farfalle, peas and mozzarella salad

Robbed from La Rai-TV this morning, September 16th!

This morning I "stole," but changed to suit La Nina’s style of cookery, two lovely recipes from La Rai—our Italian TV station that comes to us via satellite—Heaven forbid we miss una partitia di calcio! (a game of soccer), or the program Porta a Porta.

Recipe #1
Insalata di Farfalle (salad of bows in English, but the literal translation is "butterflies")

Ingredients:

1 lb of faralle (bows) sometimes you can find them tri-colored—use these if you have them because the color lends itself to a more appetizing look
1 lb of mozzarella
1 cup or more halved or quatered tomatoes
1 lb of cooked frozen peas
4-5 tablespoons olive oil
1/2 to 1 cup of basil
salt, pepper, garlic powder

Cook 1 lb of farfalle in salted water, drain tight and add 4-5 tablespoons oil beaten with salt, pepper and garlic powder to taste

Add 1 cup to overflowing of cut up small tomatoes—Roma, or grape or anything you like
or have handy

Add 1 lb of fat diced mozzarella di buffalo (if you don’t have this—at least fresh
mozzarella.

Add the cooked, drained frozen peas

Mix well and add chopped basil—as much as you like.

Taste, if you must, and adjust for seasoning…this last part, I never do. I’ve never tasted
anything I prepare…a habit from when I was a kid, I guess. neither did my Nonna.

Mix well and allow to rest for 15 minutes.

Serve at room temperature or cold from the fridge if you live in Florida.

Recipe # 2
Tortellone repieni di verdure
Tortellone filled with vegetables

For the tortellone:

3/4 lb of flour
take a handful out to save for rolling out.
make a well
add 3 hefty teaspoons of tomato paste
beat in 4 eggs with a fork as you pull in the flour around the well
set aside

Cook 2 large potatoes in their skins: cool, peel and mash

Cook 1 lb of Swiss chard mixed with rughetta (arugula) in boiling water

Remove greens when still very green and a little undercooked, drain and
chop fine

Add mashed potato, 1 beaten egg, salt, garlic powder, black pepper and
a fistful of grated Parmigiano. (Never stint.)

Roll out the dough into one huge circle. Cut into wide, long strips of about 3 inches
and re-cut to finish pattern of big squares

Add 1 chunky teaspoon or 1 skinny tablespoon of the filling mix into each square

Then form a triangle, pressing around so the filling doesn’t eke out. In the back, secure
edges—one inside the other if possible, or squeezed tightly together. Make sure
there is space between the fat part of the tortellone and the closure at back so the
water flows though when you boil it. Basically the finished product should look
like a tri-cornered hat worn during the War of Independence. Got it?

Boil in abundant water, lightly salted, then drain and put approximately 4-5 on each plate

While the pasta is cooking, melt ¼ to ½ pound of butter—watch out it doesn’t burn!
Drizzle some melted butter onto each tortellone, and bless the plate with a hearty helping of grated Parmigiano and a leaf or two of sage. Serve immediately.

On your table you should have a pepper mill for those who wish to add coarse ground pepper, and a dish of grated cheese for those who like to overindulge in sheer goodness.

You can also substitute this recipe with spinach, but the rughetta gives it a bit of a bite, especially if its harvested wild. So if you don't have that, try mixing the spinach with fresh mint

Grazie mille, Rai-TV