IL BATTUTO (translation “The beat”) … at least once to do, to understand what our mothers suffered in the kitchen! In the past they used lard, but nowadays we substitute it t with the bacon.
Ingredients for 4 people:
100 gr. of bacon
1 small red onion
4 leaves of sage
1 sprig of rosemary
1 clove of garlic
250 gr. Chickpeas (kept soaked 12 hours and then boiled for 1 hour and a half)
1 liter of vegetable broth
4 tablespoons of tomato paste
Half a glass of white wine
Extra virgin olive oil
salt
Black pepper (or chili)
Fennel seeds
To make the pasta:
2 eggs
200 gr. flour
One tablespoon of corn flour and lots of patience!
Cut the bacon into small cubes, and a large cutting board, add it to the onion, garlic,sage and rosemary and begin to “beat” with a knife, until you obtain an homogeneous slurry and creamy mixture. When the beat is ready, put it in a large pot and let it warm over low heat, add white wine, add the chickpeas and let them cook for 5-6 minutes. Put now the tomatoes’ paste and broth and boil on low heat for 45 minutes. In the meanwhile prepare the pasta: Put the flour in the pastry, make a fountain, break the eggs in the center and work the mixture with force and patience …. Let the mixture rest for 30 minutes, and then roll it out with a rolling pin until you get a sheet about 1 cm high. Sprinkle with cornmeal, cut into long strips that overlapped and then create the “bricks”, that is, cut the dough into small squares … mash to remove the excess cornmeal and add your pasta to the chickpeas that are bubbling. Season with salt and pepper and let it cook for 10 minutes. Serve the soup hot, with a few fennel seeds, a little oil and a sprinkling of pepper.