Ahh, spring — a celebration of all things green — fresh fava beans, asparagus, snow peas, green garlic, chives…the most glorious time of year. The season of (much needed) new beginnings.
While locally grown fava beans won’t make an appearance in my neck of the woods for a couple more months, I jumped the gun and snagged a couple pounds (at the vegetable market on 9th Street — for any Philadelphians out there). Just couldn’t resist.
In addition to fava beans, I added fresh herbs (mint, basil) and ‘nduja, a soft, spreadable pork salumi spiked with Calabrian chiles, to my homemade maccheroni.
The maccheroni — maccheroni al ferretto — takes a bit of practice, but I think I finally got the hang of it. The pasta rod you see in the photos below is known as a “ferretto”, a useful tool for making this homemade pasta typical of Calabria, where, by the, way ‘nduja hails from.
The key is getting the dough to the right consistency; not too dry, but not too wet so the dough sticks to the ferretto. The pasta dough is made from semolina/semola (rimacinata di grano duro) + water, and a pinch of sea salt. You can play around with their length; mine ended up being around four inches long, but you can make them even longer if you like.
Happy Spring!
To form the pasta al ferretto maccheroni…
I cut off a piece of dough and rolled it into a long, thin rope, then roughly cut the rope into one-inch long pieces. Thereafter, each piece is rolled around the ferretto until it forms a long, thin cylindrical shape/maccheroni. The tricky part is sliding the pasta off of the ferretto. Practice makes perfect (not so perfectly shaped maccheroni taste just as good).
Maccheroni al Ferretto with Fresh Fava and 'Nduja
Ingredients
- 2 pounds fresh fava
- 1 tbsp olive oil, plus extra for drizzling over finished dish
- 1/2 pound fresh maccheroni (recipe below)
- 2 garlic cloves, minced
- splash dry white wine
- 2 ounces 'nduja, broken into pieces
- small handful of fresh mint, chopped
- small handful of fresh basil, chopped
- salt to taste
- freshly grated Pecorino
- lemon zest
Instructions
- To prep the fava beans: Take the fava beans out of their outer pods. Bring a pot of salted water to a boil. Prepare an ice-water bath. Drop the shelled fava beans into the boiling water. Cook, about 2 minutes, until just tender. Drain and immediately drop into the ice-water bath. Drain again. Peel the fava from their inners shells.
- For finishing the dish: Bring a pot of salted water to a boil. Drop in the pasta and cook until al dente, aboout 5 minutes. Heat 1 tablespoon olive oil in a skillet. Add the garlic and saute a minute or two. Add the shelled fava. Add a splash of white wine (or alternatively pasta cooking water). Add the cooked pasta to the skillet. Add 'nduja and swirl to combine. When heated through, add the fresh herbs. Toss to combine. Taste and season with salt.Divide amongst bowls. Serve topped with extra grated Pecorino, lemon zest and a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil.
Maccheroni al Ferretto
Ingredients
- 200 grams semola (rimacinata di grano duro)
- ~100 grams water, room temperature
- pinch of salt
Instructions
- Mound the flour and make a well in the middle. Disssolve the salt in the water. Add the water to the well. With a fork, slowly begin to incorporate the flour walls into the well. Continue mixing the water with the flour until you have a shaggy, solid mass.At this point, using your hands, start folding and forming the dough, incorporating the rest of the flour until you have a stiff, solid mass (removing any dry clumps of flour).Knead the dough for about 10 minutes. Drive the heel of your hand into the dough, rotate the dough 45 degrees, and repeat until the dough is firm and bouncy and has a smooth, silken texture. Wrap the dough in plastic and allow it to rest for 30 minutes.
- Sprinkle baking sheet with a dusting of semolina to prevent the pasta from sticking. Cut off a portion of dough. Keep the rest of the dough wrapped in plastic wrap to prevent it from drying out. Roll out the piece of dough to form a thin rope, about a thumbs width. Cut the rope into roughly 2-inch long pieces.Place the ferrotto on top of one piece of dough and press down with light pressure. With the palm of hour hand, roll the dough back in forth until if forms a long, cylindrical maccheroni. Slide the maccheroni off of the ferrotto, place on the baking sheet and repeat.