TUSCAN RECIPES … today, SPAGHETTINI con GORGONZOLA
Nonna Margherita Dottorelli in her kitchen, 1905
Here are some excellent Tuscan recipes from her granddaughter Marta, who refuses to be just a character in a novel called “The Whirling Girl” made up by that writer!
Spaghettini con Gorgonzola Dolce
Now it is March. There is a leak in the tiles of the roof of our house that was my husband’s grandfather’s — and before that his grandfather’s — and before that in the family of the Dottorelli for so many years that we cannot count.
My husband Niccolo is there in the rain, making the repairs.
Also, we have had an election in our country where one quarter of the people have voted for a buffone, a clown. This is not something to make one laugh.
None of these things does she write about – I mean that woman who puts us in her story that she calls The Whirling Girl. No, in her story it is all golden sunshine and adventure and — beh! — even love.
Non importa! I will give you now a way to make a very simple pasta for your husband when he comes down from the roof, wet from the rain. Or (perhaps even in your country this happens?) to cheer you, should the balance of your national politics be also in the hands of a clown…?
For this, it is all right to use Spaghettini that is “dry” – that you have already in your cupboard, bought in a package from the store.
But not too much.
We believe in “moderation” here in the hills of Tuscany (another thing that “she” who writes about us does not tell you).
You will need, for two people, perhaps 150 grams of pasta.
You will need a nice wedge of gorgonzola dolce which is soft and creamy with also much blue running through.
You will cut more or less 125 grams for each person
You will put the gorgonzola in a pot to melt with some milk, perhaps a quarter cup for each serving (you can use more) and you will melt it slowly while you boil a large pot of water for the spaghettini.
You will chop a nice handful of parsley from the garden outside your kitchen door where you scattered the seeds last fall and already it is growing.
If you wish, you will also grate some parmigiano cheese or if you have some nice rounds of pecorino stored in your attic, hanging on shelves that you have suspended from the ceiling beams so that the mice cannot make themselves happy with it, then some of your oldest pecorino will be even better.
Add your pasta to the boiling water with salt.
Watch it very carefully and drain when it is just barely al dente.
Put it back in the pot and toss it with a little very good olive oil.
Pour in the gorgonzola which has melted in the milk.
Toss in a nice amount of the chopped parsley.
Serve this on pretty plates with, perhaps, a little sprinkle of the grated cheese.
And remember what I have told you before. As we say in Tuscany: To eat well is the best revenge.