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Antonio Di Viccaro
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Friday, November 10, 2006
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Liguria
George Bates
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Panigacci
Ligurian Pasta Layered with Pesto and
Parmigiano-Reggiano Cheese
 
In Nonna's Kitchen:
Recipes and Traditions from Italy's Grandmothers
by Carol Field, 1997, HarperCollins
Serves 8 as a
first course or appetizer, 4 as a main course
“Vittoria Genovese, a wonderful cook from the Lunigiana region of Liguria, was
amazed that I’d never heard of panigacci. To correct the gap in my pasta
experience, she whipped up a thin batter in a flash and then spooned it onto a
hot griddle, essentially making crepes. She stacked them in layers. Painting a
wash of pesto and Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese between each one and the next, and
served up the simplest and most delicious pasta torte in a matter of minutes.
The batter should be as thin as crepe batter; keep thinning it until you get it
right. Vittoria suggested using a nonstick pan instead of the ‘testo’, a large
flat griddle of fireproof terra-cotta clay or iron, but she told me I must use
oil in the traditional way: cut a potato in half, dip it into olive oil, and use
it to spread oil over the surface of the pan. Although most people make
panigacci and serve them immediately, Vittoria has been known to make ten or
twelve about half an hour before it is time to eat. She sets them in a deep bowl
over a pot of boiling water and covers them with a kitchen towel. When people
are ready at table, she dips each one for a second in the boiling water, puts it
on a plate, spreads a thin layer of pesto over the top, and repeats the process
until all the panigacci are used up. At the end, she sprinkles grated
Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese and drizzles olive oil over the top of what looks
like a cake. To serve, she just cuts a wedge for everyone and passes a little
extra cheese. Serve it with a wash of pesto with olive oil and salt, or with
tomato sauce. You can also cut panigacci into ribbons, like fettuccine or
tagliarini, and toss them with sauce.”
2 scant cups (9 ounces) unbleached all-purpose flour
3/4 teaspoon salt
2 1/3 cups water
1 potato
1/4 to 1/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil
1 cup pesto (recipe follows)
1/2 cup (2 ounces) freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese
Make a smooth crepe-like batter by putting the flour and salt
into a large bowl and mixing in the water, whisking at the beginning to prevent
lumps from forming, then stirring with a wooden spoon. You can also mix the
ingredients in a blender until smooth. Keep thinning until you get the fluid
consistency of crepe batter.
Cut the potato in half and dip one half into the olive oil. Heat
an 8- or 9-inch Teflon pan until it is hot, almost smoking. Impale the oiled
potato half on a fork and use it to spread the oil over the surface of the pan.
Fill a ladle half full of the batter and pour it in to coat the bottom of the
pan in a very thin circle. Use the bottom and side of the ladle to pat the
batter down and flatten it as much as possible. Let it cook for 2 to 3 minutes
and when it begins to pull away from the bottom of the pan, turn it over and
cook briefly on the other side. Bubbles will appear in the dough. When they are
cooked, both sides should look speckled and lightly brown, but you may need to
turn them twice to achieve this effect. You will probably have to throw out the
first crepe before you get it right. Lightly re-oil the pan for each crepe.
You may keep them for half an hour as Vittoria does or serve
immediately with a thin wash of pesto sauce and sprinklings of
Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese between each layer. You may also cut them into
strips, toss with pesto, olive oil, and salt ,and serve with grated
Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese.
Pesto
1 1/2 teaspoons minced garlic
1/4 cup pine nuts or walnuts, toasted briefly in a 350-degree F. oven
1 cup tightly packed leaves of fresh basil, cleaned
1/4 teaspoon sea salt
6 tablespoons grated Sardinian pecorino cheese and 6 tablespoons grated
Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese or 3/4 cup grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese
1/2 cup extra-virgin Ligurian olive oil
You may purée all the ingredients for pesto in a blender or food
processor fitted with the steel blade. To be authentic, pound together the
garlic and pine nuts or walnuts in a marble mortar with a pestle. Add the basil
and salt – use coarse sea salt – use coarse sea salt when making the pesto in a
mortar – and grind them, crushing into a coarse paste. Add the cheeses. Transfer
to a bowl and whisk in the best Ligurian olive oil drop by drop, as if you were
making
mayonnaise, until you have a creamy sauce. If the sauce is too thick,
slowly add more oil and taste for seasoning.
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