![\"Stracnar](\"https:\/\/adribarrcrocetti.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/08\/StracnarWithSausageRagu-640x453-0219_1344.jpg\")
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This dish comes from Southern Italy where the days are hot and the sun is high. The regions of Italy’s south, known collectively as the Mezzogiorno<\/em>, include Abruzzo, Basilicata, Calabria, Campania, Molise, Puglia, Sardinia, and Sicily. This large swath of the country has long been regarded as separate, divided linguistically and culturally from the north. Even today, over one hundred and fifty years after unification, Italians proudly proclaim their own region’s unique heritage, and enjoy the same foods as their ancestors.<\/p>\n Stracnar is a classic example of the unique culinary heritage of Basilicata and Puglia (where it is known as stracenate.) It is formed on a cavarola board, a wooden implement with an intricately carved surface.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n The pasta itself is different from what one finds elsewhere, right down to the flour that goes into it. It is made with a combination of all-purpose flour and golden semolina<\/em> (known in Italy as semola) flour. Semolina, the pride of Puglia, is ground from durum wheat, and is referred to as a hard<\/em>, or strong flour<\/em>, a reference to its high protein content. It is slightly gritty and imparts a satisfying bite and spring to the finished product. Don’t be put off by working with semolina. Doughs made with only semolina and water, like those often used in commercial pasta making, might well pose a challenge for the home cook. This dough however, with two wheat flours and the addition of whole eggs is satiny, supple and surprisingly easy to work with. The artful pasta it produces has enough body to stand up to any robust sauce, and the ridges on the stracnar capture and hold the rag\u00f9. Lamb, duck, sausage, beef or pork all make very happy marriages of flavor for this unique pasta. This is hearty food for hard working people.<\/p>\n How to make stracnar (stracenate)<\/p>\n Dough Hand Method<\/em>: combine both flours on a spianatoia (wooden board.) Make a fontana (well) in the center by hollowing out a space about the size of an orange, and place the eggs and salt in it. Whisk the eggs and salt together, and with each stroke of the fork, bring a bit of flour into the mix. Move your free hand around the outside of the mound of flour, shoring it up until the eggs have been incorporated. You may have to add more flour if the dough is too wet or a bit of water if it is too dry. Once enough flour is incorporated to form a shaggy mass of dough, push it aside, and use a bench scraper or stiff spatula to clean the work area. Scatter a bit of flour over the work area and knead the dough for about 5 minutes, until it is smooth, elastic and just barely sticky. Form the dough into a disk, wrap it in plastic and set it aside to rest for 30 minutes.<\/p>\n Processor Method<\/em>: place flours and salt in the workbowl of a food processor fitted with the steel blade. Pulse twice to combine. Place the eggs in a measuring cup and beat lightly. Remove the feed tube and with the processor running, add the eggs in a steady stream until the dough comes together, about 30 seconds.<\/p>\n Check to see if dough is too wet or too dry, adding flour or water if needed. Remove the dough from the processor and knead it for about 2 or 3 minutes. Form the dough into a disk, wrap it in plastic and set it aside to rest for 30 minutes.<\/p>\n Form the stracnar<\/em>: Cover two trays or sheet pans with lint free towels and dust them with semolina. Lightly dust the work surface with semolina. Roll the dough by hand or to setting #5 on a pasta machine. Cut the dough into rectangles \u00be inches wide and 2\u00bc inches long. Place each piece of dough on the cavarola board. Emboss each rectangle by firmly passing a rolling pin over them. If you prefer, you may place a large sheet of dough on the cavarola board, emboss it, and cut it into rectangles after it is imprinted. Place stracnar on the prepared trays to dry briefly before cooking.<\/p>\n To cook<\/em>: bring 6 quarts of water to a rolling boil. Add a fistful of sea salt. When the water returns to the boil, add stracnar. Boil, stirring occasionally, for about 2 to 3 minutes, until done. Drain, toss with rag\u00f9 and serve. Pass the Parmigiano at the table.<\/p>\n Sausage Rag\u00f9 Parmigiano-Reggiano<\/p>\n Pour 3 tablespoons of olive oil into a low 4-quart Dutch oven. Heat over a medium flame, and add the sausage. Brown the sausage, breaking it up as it cooks, about 8 to 10 minutes.<\/p>\n Add the onion, carrot, oregano, peperoncino flakes, and \u00bc teaspoon kosher salt. Saute, stirring frequently, until softened, about 5 to 7 minutes over medium to medium-low heat. Add the garlic, and saute until fragrant, about 2 minutes. Add the peppers, and saute until softened, about 10 minutes.<\/p>\n Break or cut up the tomatoes. Add them with their juice to the pot. Add the wine, bring to a boil, and reduce to a gentle simmer. Cook uncovered, stirring occasionally, for 25 minutes. Add the parsley and basil, and simmer 5 minutes more. Add \u00bc teaspoon black pepper and stir. Check for seasoning, adding more salt, black pepper, or peperoncino flakes, if desired. This rag\u00f9 will keep, well covered, in the refrigerator 2 days or frozen 3 months.<\/p>\n I would be remiss if I did not extend my most sincere thanks to artisan woodworker Terry Mirri of Sonoma, California, owner of Artisanal Pasta Tools, maker of my cavarola board. With his cavarola boards, corzetti stamps, garganelli combs, polenta boards, rolling pins, and other handmade products, Terry is helping cooks everywhere keep the old ways alive. Grazie mille, amico!<\/p>\n Click here to go to Artisanal Pasta Tools<\/a>.<\/p>\n Click here to see Terry Mirri demonstrate<\/a> the use of the cavarola board.<\/p>\n For further reading: Note: You can click on any picture for a slide show!<\/em><\/p>\n I have no affiliation with any product, manufacturer, or site mentioned in this article.<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Stracnar and Stracenate, 2 names, 2 regions, 1 pasta It is the height of summer here in Southern California, and I’ve been busy with frozen desserts, but a family has to eat. In between grilled steaks, chops and lots of salads we enjoy pasta tossed with hearty sauces of meat, tomatoes and herbs. This dish […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[59,1650],"tags":[362,1020,688,42,705,1649,695,696,361],"class_list":["post-6086","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-recipes","category-tools","tag-artisanal-pasta-tools","tag-basilicata","tag-cavarola","tag-mezzogiorno","tag-puglia","tag-sausage-ragu","tag-stracenate","tag-stracnar","tag-terry-mirri"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pYzzK-1Aa","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/adribarrcrocetti.com\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6086","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/adribarrcrocetti.com\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/adribarrcrocetti.com\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adribarrcrocetti.com\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adribarrcrocetti.com\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6086"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/adribarrcrocetti.com\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6086\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7568,"href":"https:\/\/adribarrcrocetti.com\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6086\/revisions\/7568"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/adribarrcrocetti.com\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6086"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adribarrcrocetti.com\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6086"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adribarrcrocetti.com\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6086"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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\nSmall rectangles of egg dough are embossed by placing them on the cavarola board and passing a rolling pin over them. As the rolling pin moves over the pasta dough, the design in the wood is transferred to the dough. If this sounds like a woodcut to you, you have the idea.<\/p>\n
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<\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\nStracnar with Sausage and Pepper Rag\u00f9<\/em><\/h4>\n
<\/p>\nServes 4<\/h6>\n
\n2 cups all-purpose flour
\n1 cup semolina
\ngenerous pinch kosher salt
\n5 large eggs
\nextra flour and semolina, about \u00bc cup each, mixed together for rolling the dough<\/p>\n
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\n1 pound sweet Italian sausage, casings removed
\n1 yellow onion, diced
\n1 carrot, cut in \u00bc inch dice
\n2 cloves of garlic, minced
\n1 each, red, yellow and orange bell pepper, cut in \u00bc inch dice
\n\u00bd cup chopped Italian parsley
\n\u00bd cup basil leaves, cut in chiffonade<\/em> (thin strips)
\n1 28 oz. can San Marzano tomatoes
\n\u00bd cup dry red wine
\n1 teaspoon dried oregano
\n\u00bd-1 teaspoon peperoncino (red pepper) flakes
\nKosher salt and black pepper
\nOlive oil<\/p>\n
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\nBugialli on Pasta<\/em><\/a>
\nby Giuliano Bugialli
\nHardcover: 400 pages
\nHarry N. Abrams; Rev English edition (June 15, 2000)
\nISBN-10: 1556709846
\nISBN-13: 978-1556709845<\/p>\n
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