World Gourmet Summit 2004 - Culinary Masterclass

Handmade Corzetti Pasta with Lentils

From one of my many inspiring trips to Italy I learnt the ancient art of authentic and traditional handcrafted pasta. Specific to the region of Liguria, it is produced by pressing disks of fresh pasta between two hand-carved identical wooden stamps to form a “coin” impression.

	Serves 4
	INGREDIENTS
	Corzetti Pasta Dough
1kg 6 40ml	flour whole eggs (about 400g) warm water
	Lentils Sauce
50g 100g 1 ½ 2 1 30ml 400g 600ml 2	pancetta, diced minced pork Dandaragan Estate Extra Virgin Olive Oil celery stick, diced onion, peeled, diced garlic cloves, crushed red chilli balsamic vinegar lentils stock Sea salt and black pepper, to taste Grated Parmigiano Reggiano

Method:
1.	For the Corzetti Pasta: Mix the flour and the eggs with warm water to form a soft dough. Roll the dough through a pasta machine and hand-stamp the trimmed pasta sheets with the wooden stamp as directed. Cook the pasta in salted boiling water until al dente. Drain the cooked pasta from the water and toss with Dandaragan Estate Extra Virgin Olive Oil and grated Parmigiano Reggiano (if desired).
2.	For the Lentil Sauce: Sauté the pancetta and minced pork together with a little Dandaragan Estate Extra Virgin Olive Oil in a heavy-bottomed saucepan for 2 to 3 minutes. Add the diced celery, onion and crushed garlic and heat until they turn translucent; then add the chilli. Pour in the balsamic vinegar and reduce the liquid to half its volume. Then add the rinsed lentils. Finally, pour in the stock and gently simmer the mixture for 40 minutes until lentils are tender. Season with sea salt and black pepper to taste.

To Serve:
Toss pasta with the lentil sauce and serve hot.