In honor of my love for Sicily I wanted to share a favorite article (fist published in 2017) featuring my dear friend Chef Manuel Morsiani.
June is also the month that we celebrate Father’s Day. I sure do miss my dad, known to my daughter Sophia as Papa Archie. I know that my dad would have loved eating this homemade pasta for Father’s Day. I’m going to make this for Eric to enjoy and cherish Father’s Day memories.
Many Sicilians from Monterey Bay are influenced from our shared family history. Lots of couscous, fresh fish and certain types of rustic pasta that embraces fresh tomato sauce within the folds. This is via the Western side of the island, where my family originated. Feel free to taste amazing fresh pasta at our family pasta company partnered with Chef Ruby. Featuring Pensi Pasta Company, using Sicilian traditional pasta artisan techniques. You can find our family business, called Sweet Sicily or at Ruby Cakes of Monterey and Pensi Pasta, at local farmers’ markets. We are also featured at several Monterey locations, so enjoy our pasta and a night out. Our award winning crab ravioli or sausage ravioli at the famous Monterey’s Fish House- on Del Monte Avenue in Monterey. Our fresh pasta is also featured in Pacific Grove, California at Alioti’s Victoria Corner. Also, our yummy butternut squash ravioli is a signature dish at Cafe Rustica in Carmel Valley.
Of course, making fresh pasta at home is fun also, enjoy!
I love what my dear friend, Manuel Morsiani made with his talented hands. It’s beautiful and he shared with me the wonderful history of Trapani and the influence of the needles that shape the dough to the fine pasta shape.
-Homemade Busiati Pasta-
This type of pasta is typical of western Sicily (Trapani). The name comes from the type of tool that is used to shape it. In fact, it is patiently prepared by hand with the help of needles, the same tools used to work the wool. From the Sicilian dialect this needle is precisely called “busi”.
Serves 2:
180 g semolina durum wheat
90 g water at room temperature
a pinch of salt
Method:
Pour the flour and salt in a bowl. Add you water a little at a time long kneading with hands until obtaining a compact, smooth and homogeneous dough. Cover with a clean kitchen towel and let rest for about half an hour.
Take small pieces of dough and knead with hands, on a pastry not floured, forming strings of dough about 10 cm long and thick 4 – 5 mm. Place a dough strip vertically in front of you and hooked its upper end to the knitting needle, place instead of horizontally. If you do not have it you can use, as I did, one of those wooden sticks that are used for the skewers.
Rotate the wooden stick (or iron – busu ) towards you on the strip of dough with your hands exerting a light pressure to flatten the dough. In this way the dough will scroll around the stick forming a curl.
Finally, carefully remove the stick from the dough. Proceed as described until exhaustion of the dough.
Suggestion:
You can allow to dry the dough on a cloth or cook immediately in boiling salted water. The busiati are traditionally served with pesto Trapanese, but they are also excellent with the simple fresh tomato sauce.
From the hometown of Bolgna Italy Manuel Morsiani travels through Italy and is based in Dublin, Ireland. He is a highly trained professional chef trained in fine Italian dining.
