One Hundred Years in America

Tagliatelle agli spinaci con polpettine d’agnello

Gaetano Crocetti

One hundred years ago this month my grandfather, Gaetano Crocetti, arrived in America. He left his native Abruzzo and traveled west to Naples where he boarded the steamship Hamburg for the long voyage, trading the region’s towering mountain peaks, verdant hillsides, fields, vineyards for the smokestacks and steel mills of Steubenville, Ohio. America was good to him, but he never forgot his homeland, and my grandmother’s cooking kept those memories alive.

As a Blogger Ambassador for La Cucina Italiana magazine I received a selection of Delverde pasta and a bottle of Lucini extra virgin olive oil along with an invitation to participate in Delverde’s Dish your blog contest. The patrimony of Italian recipes is vast and afforded endless possibilities for my submission. I decided to celebrate the centennial of my grandfather’s arrival with a dish made of classic Abruzzese foods.

The first part was easy since Delverde pasta is a product of Abruzzo. The company is in the Majella National Park, a place of stunning natural beauty. Forests of beech and pine and majestic mountains that drop down to steep ravines carved over the centuries by rivers, this is home to Delverde. I selected the Spinach Tagliatelle Nests, known in Italian as nidi.

When I think of traditional Abruzzese food products, I think of three things: wines, saffron, or zafferano in Italian, and lamb. Zafferano is the most expensive and storied of spices, and lamb, whether it be the meat of the gentle creatures or the many wonderful cheeses made from their milk are classics of the region. Abruzzo, after all, is sheep country; it is the land of the Transumanza, where shepherds have moved their sheep for thousands of years.

The dish starts with an uncomplicated sauce, or sugo. It is perfumed with zafferano plucked from the dark earth of Navelli, and flavored with one of the delights of the Abruzzese vintner’s tradition, Montepulciano d’Abruzzo. Not to be confused with the famous Montepulciano from Tuscany to the north, this deep purple wine is made in Abruzzo with Montepulciano d’Abruzzo grapes. It is full-flavored and low in acid which makes it splendid for use in a sugo.

I used ground leg of lamb for the tiny meatballs, polpettine, as they are known in Italy. I chose leg over the more assertively flavored shoulder because the polpettine, aside from being small, are flavored with delicate zafferano and Trebbiano d’Abruzzo, a dry white wine. The wine imparts its gentle floral bouquet to the polpettine, providing a backdrop for the haunting taste of the spice. Pecorino, a sheep’s milk cheese, and some Parmigiano-Reggiano add a bit of tang and flavor. Dollops of ricotta drizzled with extra virgin olive oil finish the dish, softening and blending the flavor notes. Use a sheep’s milk ricotta if it is available, but a cow’s milks ricotta is also excellent here. For a final flourish, send a chunk of Pecorino to the table.

Tagliatelle agli spinaci con polpettine d’agnello
Spinach Tagliatelle with Lamb Meatballs

Serves 4 to 6

A note about preparing the zafferano: to fully release the flavors of this magnificent spice, you must first toast it. Place the zafferano in a large metal utility or soup spoon and hold the spoon over a flame, about 10 seconds, until fragrant. Place the toasted threads in a mortar and pestle and crush them. Finally, for both components of this recipe the zafferano should be dissolved in the liquids used, the chicken stock for the sugo and the wine for the polpettine. Some of the crushed threads may remain in the mortar. Pour some of the dissolving liquid into the mortar, swill it around, and all the precious spice will pour easily into the cooking pan.

1 package (8.8 oz.) Delverde Spinach Tagliatelle Nests
Sheep or cow’s milk ricotta
Pecorino to pass at the table
Extra virgin olive oil

Sugo
1 medium onion, finely chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
½ cup Montepulciano d’Abruzzo
1 tablespoon tomato paste
32 oz. canned tomatoes, chopped, with their juices
½ cup chicken stock
½ teaspoon zafferano threads, toasted and crushed
1 bay leaf
Kosher salt and black pepper to taste
Extra virgin olive oil

Polpettine
Makes about 55 ¾ inch polpettine

1 pound ground lamb (shoulder or leg)
1 small yellow onion, very finely minced
3 cloves garlic, very finely minced
¼ cup Trebbiano d’Abruzzo
¼ teaspoon zafferano threads, toasted and crushed
1 large egg
½ cup fine dry bread crumbs
¼ cup ground Pecorino
¼ cup ground Parmigiano-Reggiano
¼ cup chopped Italian parsley
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
Extra virgin olive oil

Make the sugo: pour 2 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil into a low 4-quart saucepan or Dutch oven. Over medium heat add the onion and ½ teaspoon of kosher salt. Saute until translucent and softened, but not brown, about 8 to 10 minutes. Add the garlic, and saute until fragrant, about 2 minutes, being careful not to brown either the onion or garlic.

Add the tomato paste and cook, toasting it to accentuate its flavor, about 1 to 2 minutes. Add the wine and reduce it by half. Add the tomatoes, chicken stock with zafferano and the bay leaf, and bring the mixture to a boil. Reduce the heat to a very gentle simmer. Remove and discard the bay leaf. Puree the sauce using an immersion blender, or in batches in a blender or food processor. Add several generous grinds of black pepper and taste for seasoning, adding more salt and pepper if desired. The sauce may be prepared to this point a day ahead or frozen for 3 months.

Make the polpettine: line a sheet pan with parchment or waxed paper. Line a second sheet pan with paper towels and set a rack over it to drain the polpettine after browning. Set both aside.

Pour 2 tablespoons of olive oil into an 8-inch skillet. Over medium heat, add the minced onion and ¼ teaspoon kosher salt, tossing to coat. Saute until translucent and meltingly soft, about 10 to 11 minutes. Add the garlic and saute briefly, about 1 minute. Add the zafferano to the wine. Once the garlic is fragrant, add the wine and zafferano mixture and continue cooking until the wine has evaporated, about 4 minutes. Transfer the mixture to a large bowl. Add the bread crumbs, cheeses, parsley, ½ teaspoon kosher salt and several grinds of black pepper, and combine well. Add the ground lamb and egg, mixing gently, but completely.

With dampened hands, form polpettine about ¾ inch in diameter, and place them on the parchment covered sheet pan. Pour 2 tablespoons of olive oil into a 10-inch skillet, and brown the polpettine in batches, about 2 minutes per batch. Transfer the browned polpettine to the prepared rack to drain. Add the polpettine to the gently simmering sauce and poach about 20 minutes until done.

Cook the tagliatelle and serve: Bring 6 quarts of water to a rolling boil. About 5 minutes before the polpettine have finished poaching, add 3 tablespoons of kosher salt to the boiling water. Add the tagliatelle nests and cook according to the package directions. Drain, reserving 1 cup of the cooking water, and toss with the sugo and polpettine. Add cooking water, 1 tablespoon at a time, if necessary, to loosen the sugo. Transfer to individual serving plates or a large platter. Place dollops of ricotta atop the tagliatelle, using a spoon to make small divots on top of the cheese. Dribble a bit of extra virgin olive oil over the ricotta, allowing it to pool on the cheese. Serve. Pass the Pecorino at the table.

Note: You can click on any picture for a larger image, and to see a slide show!

This recipe is posted as an entry in the Delverde Dish your blog recipe contest, in which a trip to New York City is a prize. I received free sample products in addition to an invitation to compete.

Buona fortuna! Good luck to all the contestants!

And, this from a 1965 Delverde postcard campaign.

Delverde pasta is a tradition in the Crocetti household.
Uncle Dean and The Duke stir it up!