Pasta al cioccolato in dolce-forte
6 Servings
Ingredients
| Quantity | Ingredient | |
|---|---|---|
| Stephen Ceideburg | ||
| 1 | medium | Red onion |
| 3 | Celery stalks | |
| 1 | medium | Garlic clove |
| 2 | mediums | Carrots |
| 10 | Sprigs Italian parsley, leaves only | |
| 4 | ounces | Pancetta |
| ½ | cup | Olive oil |
| 1 | pounds | Lean ground beef |
| 1 | cup | Dry red wine |
| 1 | cup | Drained canned imported Italian tomatoes |
| Salt, freshly ground pepper to taste | ||
| ½ | cup | Red wine vinegar |
| 4 | tablespoons | Raisins |
| 2 | tablespoons | Pine nuts |
| 1 | tablespoon | Semi-sweet chocolate chips |
| 1 | tablespoon | Sugar |
| 3 | cups | Unbleached all-purpose flour |
| 4 | Extra-large eggs | |
| 2 | teaspoons | Olive oil (optional) |
| 4 | Level tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder | |
| Coarse salt | ||
Directions
SAUCE
DOLCE-FORTE
PASTA
FOR PASTA
The sauce: Finely chop onion, celery, garlic, carrots and parsley together on a board or in a food processor. Cut pancetta into small pieces.
Heat the oil in a terra-cotta or enamel saucepan. When hot, add the chopped ingredients and pancetta and saute slowly over low heat for about 15 minutes, stirring occasionally with a wooden spoon. Mix in ground beef and when it is no longer reddish, add wine and let it evaporate for about 5 minutes.
Pass the tomatoes through a food mill to remove seeds and, when the wine has evaporated, add tomatoes to the saucepan. Taste for salt and pepper and simmer slowly for about 25 minutes.
Dolce-forte: Put all 5 ingredients in a small bowl and set aside for about 20 minutes. When the meat sauce is ready, add the dolce-forte to the saucepan. Stir to incorporate and simmer 5 minutes longer.
The pasta: You can make it by hand, of course, but this seems the simpler way. Place ingredients in a food processor with the metal blade and pulse on and off until a ball of dough forms. Turn out, gently knead into a ball, cover with a towel and let rest about ½ hour. Divide dough into quarters and knead until smooth by putting through pasta machine rollers, starting with widest setting and working down to the last setting (pasta will be very, very thin). Cut into tagliatelle (the wider cutter) and let stand on a board, loosely covered with a clean towel, until needed (do not let dry out).
Bring a large pot of cold water to a boil. Add coarse-grained salt to taste. Prepare a warmed serving dish by spreading 1 cup of the sauce over the bottom.
Add the pasta to the boiling salted water and cook for about 30 seconds after the water has returned to a boil. Drain and put in prepared serving dish. Pour remaining sauce over pasta and toss very well. Serve immediately.
PER SERVING: 650 calories, 22 g protein, 52 g carbohydrate, 39 g fat (12 g saturated), 158 mg cholesterol, 195 mg sodium, 4 g fiber.
Jayne Benet writing in the San Francisco Chronicle, 3/18/92.
Posted by Stephen Ceideburg