Menu for 12.19

Menu della Festa (Natale) ed il Mercato...

Paste Ripiene / Stuffed Pasta
*Ravioli alla Rucola: Baby arugula from Squire Tarbox Farm, goat cheese from Appleton Creamery, ricotta, pecorino, and walnuts

*Fagottini al I'Toscano: pear, pecorino romano, and ricotta "purses." We discovered these at our favorite restaurant in Florence, I'Toscano.

*Ravioli con Mirtilli Rossi: Goat cheese from Appleton Creamery, cranberries from Sparrow Farm, orange zest, and our own thyme

*Ravioli ai Funghi: foraged Maine black trumpet and hedgehog mushrooms from Oyster Creek, oyster mushrooms, sauteed with shallots and butter, gorgonzola dolce, parmigiano

*Ravioli ai Porri: white wine braised leeks and fennel from Level 3 Farm, ricotta, pecorino romano, a bit of lemon and a dash of hot pepper

*Ravioli di due Zucche: roasted butternut and delicata squashes from Level 3 Farm and Goranson's Farm, mascarpone, parmigiano, nutmeg, and a dash of clove

*Ravioli la dolce vita: nutella, mascarpone, wrapped inside a sweetened pasta dough


Pasta Fresca / Fresh Pasta
*Spaghetti alla Chitarra *Linguine


Pasta Secca / Dried Pasta
*Our special Christmas blend of green, white, and red Orecchiette

Our first Holiday Menu and a quick glimpse of the Holidays...

Holiday events are just around the corner - if not closer - and there's nothing that typifies a family gathering more than a nice, big spaghetti dinner (of course, ravioli are a perfectly acceptable substitute!). It never sounds all that enticing to have 15 people crammed around a table meant for 8. You kind of need to sit sideways just so that your arm has enough space to flex, and to provide a nook for your other arm to rest while nearly sealed to your oblique - unusable. You look around quickly, and everyone else looks the same - one-armed bandits wearing a smattering of faded red and green attire with the obligatory snowflake somewhere on them. But finally, you situate yourself right in the middle of the table for prime pasta real estate. It's about to pay dividends. Go ahead, reach out and get it started...You grab the over-sized bowl of fresh spaghetti, which may as well be a wash basin it's so big, and start pulling it towards you. And then -

Papa: Aspetta la nonna!
You: Dov'e lei?
Fratello #1: E al piano di sotto...*sigh*
You: Perche?! Ho molto fame!
Cugino: Porta piu salsa per Zio Giacomo.
Fratello #2: Ogni anno! Sempre lo stesso!
Papa: Sta' zitto!
Mama: Basta! Lei viene adesso...
Nonna: Giacomo -Che hai voluto? Ho dimenticato.
Tutti: Oh madonna...

And that's just the first course. Let the Holidays begin... :-)

Menu

Paste Ripiene / Stuffed Pasta

*Ravioli ai funghi: foraged Maine black trumpet mushrooms, oyster mushrooms, crimini mushrooms sauteed with shallots and butter, gorgonzola dolce, parmigiano

*Ravioli di porri: braised leeks and fennel from Level 3 Farm, ricotta, pecorino romano

*Ravioli di due zucche: roasted butternut and delicata squashes from Level 3 Farm and Goranson's Farm, mascarpone, parmigiano, nutmeg, and a dash of clove

*Cappelletti Romagnolo: creamy italian cheese (burrata), nutmeg, lemon zest stuffed in a "tortelloni" (no meat = cappelletti). This type of pasta is a traditional Christmas pasta that will be a small-batch production of Ancora Pasta due to the difficulty in procuring burrata. First come first served for ordering!

*Fagottini al I'Toscano: pear, pecorino romano, and ricotta "purses." We discovered these at our favorite restaurant in Florence, I'Toscano.

Paste Fresche / Fresh Pasta

*Spaghetti alla chitarra
*Linguine
*Mafaldine

Paste Secche / Dried Pasta

*Orecchiette (most likely these will be available as red pasta and/or green pasta, as well. We'll
color the pasta according to the season!)
*Pici
*TBA

Thanksgiving, Ancora Pasta Style

We all know that Thanksgiving is the American food holiday. This year, because of Mr. Ancora Pasta's "real" job as a cook in the Maine Dining Room at the Harraseeket Inn in Freeport, ME, whose Thanksgiving buffet is enjoyed by over 800 people, the Ancora Pasta family is celebrating the holiday bit by bit over a whirlwind four-day period filled with food and family. Undoubtedly unsurprising to those who know us, this year's Thanksgiving meals feature Ancora Pasta's ravioli. Mr. Ancora Pasta was inspired by the traditional, seasonal flavors of Thanksgiving and created five different ravioli to be sold at the Bath Winter Farmers' Market. (Luckily Mrs. Ancora Pasta got to taste test each one...it's important to keep your better half happy, as I'm sure you already know.)

The first, and most common (though by no means common), was his Ravioli di Due Zucche: roasted delicata (from Goranson Farm, also at the BWFM) and kuri squashes with mascarpone cheese. This was the first, and only, ravioli we offered at our first farmers' market and it went like hot cakes! We sampled it out with a little EVOO, s&p, and some freshly grated nutmeg. Even at room temperature they were to die for!

At the second farmers' market we introduced our second ravioli, a dried Maine cranberry- and goat cheese-filled delicacy: Ravioli con Mirtilli Rossi e Formaggio di Capra. We got our cranberries from Sparrow Farm, who is at the BWFM, too. This is a little sweeter than your typical ravioli and will be an awesome addition to our Thanksgiving-Sunday supper tomorrow! (My dad, Ancora Pasta's own walking advertisement, is overjoyed that he was finally able to lay his hands on some of these ravioli as I previously sold the packages he'd reserved right out from under his nose!)

Mr. Ancora Pasta's favorite ravioli, the one he waxes most poetic about, is the Ravioli ai Funghi - Mushroom Ravioli. These are made with oyster mushrooms and locally foraged black trumpet mushrooms from Oyster Creek Mushroom Company (from my hometown of Damariscotta!). Mr. AP paired the mushrooms with a gorgonzola dolce, a softer, sweeter version of the strongly flavored blue cheese we commonly see here in the U.S. These ravioli are earthy and delicate and absolutely amazing.

The ravioli I provided for my Thanksgiving-day meal with my family was the Ravioli di Due Stagione (Two-Season Ravioli), named for its use of seasonal ingredients: maple syrup (spring) and acorn squash (fall), both from Goranson Farm. The maple syrup was a congratulations gift from my dad upon our highly successful first farmers' market, and the acorn squash was given to us in a trade between farmers' market vendors. (This act of trading among vendors is a nice little tradition at the farmers' market and certainly helps our goal of using as many products from the farmers' market as possible.)

And, last, but not least, the Ravioli alle Castagne. These chestnut ravioli were served today at our more "Italian" Thanksgiving brunch with Mr. Ancora Pasta's family. Chestnuts are one of those special treats common in his family's winter gatherings and there was no way we could overlook the perfect combination of nutty flavor and soft bite these nuts provided. Today we served them with a salsa alle noci, a light walnut and Tuscan cheese sauce. They were gobbled (ha!) up in minutes!

We anticipate many more types of ravioli and other stuffed pastas at upcoming farmers' markets. Christmas will feature new fillings such as a savory pear and pecorino cheese and a chocolate peppermint (dessert, anyone?). What would YOU like to see on our Christmas list?

10 Reasons I Love Being Mrs. Ancora Pasta

In no particular order, here are the top 10 reasons that my role as Mrs. Ancora Pasta works for me...

* I never have to eat store-bought pasta. Or store-bought sauce, for that matter.

* Mr. Ancora Pasta was in charge of making the pasta course at our wedding...I didn't have to lift a finger and could focus on stressing about everything else.

* I get to taste test approximately one thousand different types of pasta paired with multiple sauces prior to sale.

* I often come home from work to find dinner (aka today's taste-test) all ready to be finished and/or heated up.

* We go to Italy. And we go to Italy to eat. Oh, we also see sites; look at beautiful, ancient things; take tours of food-production factories, farms and kitchens. But mostly we eat and spend the majority of our not-eating time figuring out where and what we will eat next.

* A meal at my house is never more than 10 minutes away as we always have pasta and the fixings for a sauce.

* My husband sweeps every day. Mostly because there's always a thin film of flour on the floor from pasta-making, but I don't care why he does it.

* I get to eat the most original combinations of ingredients for stuffed pastas - pretty much whatever my heart desires. Roasted chestnut with mascarpone? Sure. Lobster with hollandaise? Of course! Pea puree and pancetta? Heck yeah.

* I never have to think about what to bring to a pot-luck, family gathering, or office party. Delicious fresh pasta anyone?

* My friends and family won't stop telling me how to-die-for Ancora Pasta (and, by default, its producer) is. And who doesn't love to hear how great their husband is?

Are you really Italian, Mr. Ancora Pasta?

Timothy O'Brien. About as non-Italian a name as you can get. Followed closely by Eric, Patrick and Allen, which just happen to be Tim's brothers' names. So, why pasta and ragù and not bangers and mash? Why a glass of wine and not a pint of beer? Why guanciale and pancetta and not corned beef and blood pudding?

In his 6th grade social studies class, Tim had to design his family tree. On one side he found a very proud English lineage, as far back as you could trace. On the other he found a hodge podge of Irish (O'Brien), German (Schlager), and even Swedish (Logren). The most predominant cultural influence, however, came from his paternal grandmother's branch of the tree - the Italian branch - which was the one most recently rooted in American soil. Marini, Capone, Cardarelli, Testa, Cappabianca - these names were the ones that attracted his interest and with which he was the most familiar.

Tim's grandmother, Viola Marini, is a first generation Italian-American, whose parents arrived in this country in the early part of the last century. Her father, Cesidio, never learned English. The household was about as Italian as you can get in Quincy, MA, and the food was no exception: they made their own wine; they drank goat's milk; they ate finocchio (fennel), rather than celery, stalks; and they made pasta and sauce from scratch every Sunday. Focusing primarily on the southern Italian cuisine of Campania, from where both Cesidio's and Filomena's families had come, Filomena taught her daughters - all five of them - to appreciate and cook in the old country's ways.

Tim grew up hearing Italian, especially words associated with food, thrown around in conversation. He grew up eating things no one in Maine had ever heard of: castagne (chestnuts) every Christmas; finocchio (fennel) with cream cheese and olives as an appetizer (it was only in the last couple of years that his now-wife informed him that "normal" people eat celery with cream cheese, not fennel with cream cheese); Auntie Ellie's biscotti, Grandma Viola's green (pistachio) cake and pizzelle, and Elsa's angelonies for dessert; and homemade red sauces with homemade meatballs. He grew up surrounded by people who ate their salad as a final course, drank sambuca and grappa as after-dinner aperitifs, and who never missed an opportunity for a family gathering.

So, when Tim's senior-year history project required him to focus on one aspect of his family's cultural history, he, of course, chose to study pasta. He'd seen his grandmother make it hundreds of times before. He'd watched her hang pasta to dry on the clothes drying rack every Sunday, just like her mother had done for decades. It was a no-brainer, really. He read every pasta book he could get his hands on, picked his grandmother's brain, borrowed her bastone (rolling pin), and set out to make fresh pasta. And how did it turn out? Horrible! Awful! Gummy, sticky, a glutenous mess. His mother asked him why there were worms in the water. He may have even ruined a pot. But he was hooked.

And today? Today's pasta is a far cry from that first disastrous experience. Frankly, we think it's delicious.

L'impasto - The dough

While I've got a few moments, I thought I'd discuss the complexity of pasta dough. Many people say, "You'll have to tell me how you make your dough," which, I would love to do, but it's just not that easy.

Virtually every type of pasta that we make has its own formula and/or feel. Naturally there are types of pasta that do use the same dough, and there are some that could use another's formula, but it just wouldn't be the same. Unfortunately for me, I'm tied to tradition. Innately, I need to make a type of pasta the way it was many, many years ago and have a very difficult time deviating from any traditional method. I admire people and companies that are able to make their mark on the pasta world by creating new products or that have an "out with the old" philosophy. Ancora Pasta is exactly the opposite: we want to go back in time and create the same pasta that my relatives made in the Old Country, which, ironically could be construed as a new product.

I'll give you an example of how one type of dough differs from another despite outwardly appearing to be very similar. Orecchiette (little ears) is a pasta that has its origins in southern Italy, and more specifically, Bari (near the little "heel"), which is where my uncle (Giacomo Cappabianca) comes from. In this area, durum-wheat (semolina) flour was, and still is, the mainstay for many pasta dough recipes. So when we make orecchiette, we need nothing more than semolina, salt, and water (a touch of wheat flour was common if handy to help soften the dough). These are the exact ingredients that are used to make cavatelli, which is very similar in shape to orecchiette. However, the difference lies in two areas: amount of flour and temperature of water. What? Temperature of water? Yes, you read correctly. The temperature of the water used in the dough-making process is crucial for many different types of dough.

Orecchiette, as mentioned earlier, has its roots in Bari, which is a small fishing city with beautiful views of the Adriatic; hence, the recommended condimento with this dish would be a great puttanesca with chunks of fish and anchovy that will easily attach themselves to the roughed-up surface or dimple on the backside of the pasta. Just like our fishermen here in Maine, a hearty dish is crucial to maintaining stamina and working through the grueling hours required to make a living.

So let's compare that to a pasta dough found farther north: garganelli, which is primarily from the Emilia-Romagna region, where some of the greatest cooking ingredients in the world originate (think parma ham & parmigiano). For this dough, let's grab some eggs, flour (tipo 00 and semolina), water, salt, nutmeg, and some grated parmigiano reggiano - one of the best cheeses in the world, so why not use it? You're already seeing the differences between the simplicity of the poorer southern ingredients and those of the more affluent province in the north (not rich by any means, just rich in resources). These of course are all combined and a dough is formed like most all other pasta doughs. The trick with this pasta is letting it dry just enough so when rolling it on il pettine ed il ferretto (the comb and iron/tool - now you're getting how we came up with the name for this blog...) it doesn't stick to the utensils. But wait! Not too dry otherwise the pasta will not stick to itself or be too brittle to work with. Oh those tricky Italians...There are actually some pictures on our Facebook page that show the garganelli being made if you care to take a look. We will be selling these at the next farmers' market. Serve this with a nice, hearty ragu, which is perfect for sticking to the ridged lines and inside the hollow tubes.

I definitely wrote more than I was anticipating, but there you have it. Two types of pasta in two different parts of the country and two completely different doughs based on local ingredients. I'll post this and see if I can figure out how to post some accompanying photos to elucidate all that was said... Ciao a tutti!

Who is Ancora Pasta?

Ancora Pasta is a family-run business that prides itself on producing fresh, dried, and frozen artisanal pasta the way it has been for centuries: by hand. You will not find heavy machinery here; just a pair of hands and old-fashioned pasta tools - some of which emigrated from Italy and have been passed down by our relatives.

Ancora Pasta is about as family-run as you can get. We are just two people, a husband and wife team, assisted by our friends and family on a volunteer (or "for pasta") basis. Tim, our pastaio (pasta man), is the culinary heart of the business. Carrie is the organizational center and administrative expert-in-training.

Our goal is to create a traditional regional-Italian pasta experience using ingredients that are local (to Maine, of course!), organic, and seasonal. This is not your standard American pasta dinner, by any means. The majority of types of pasta we make aren't even found in your average grocery store, let alone the state of Maine. You'll find that our pasta is not "cut and dried," so to speak. Each has been chosen carefully for its distinct form, texture, and, believe it or not, history (Tim is a big pasta historian). We want you to taste and feel how pasta is meant to be, not what we've been encouraged to believe it to be through our "fast-food" culture.